Redlands Liberal Democrats

Women in politics

I'm nearing the end of another crazily busy week.

It started on Monday with a trip up to the Institute of Local Government based at Birmingham University where I was invited to give a talk to councillors from across the UK on "Chairing scrutiny".

It's hard to believe that a year ago I attended the same course as a delegate having only just taken over the chair of HHCC Scrutiny Panel in Reading.

The talk went well - I even managed to get a few laughs. According to the course organiser I left the attendees with the impression that I was "very single-minded and knew how to get things done".

Can't complain about that, really.

As my friends can testify I can talk until the cows come home on the importance of effective scrutiny.

Without it how can we be sure that taxpayer's money is being spent wisely and effectively by the people in power? It's just as important at a local level as it is at a national level.

For years in Reading scrutiny was an afterthought and one party (Labour) dominated everything - even the committees which were supposed to provide a check and balance on what the Executive did.

I think things are a lot healthier on the Council now but we still have a long way to go to improve accountability and transparency around the way some decisions are made.

Anyway, my second speaking engagement of the week was yesterday evening where I was invited by Reading University Lib Dem Society to join a distinguished panel including Susan Kramer - Lib Dem MP for Richmond Park and Baroness Thomas of Walliswood - an eminent Lib Dem Life Peer.

We were there to discuss women in politics but ended up spending a lot time talking about how we could get more women involved in politics and get in to the position where they can get elected.

The current stats are shocking and worth repeating:

• Only 19% of MPs are women
• Britain lags behind Afghanistan, Australia, Rwanda, Belarus, Pakistan, New Zealand and 27 other European states (in terms of the number of women MPs we have)
• There are only two Black women MPs, and there has never been an Asian woman MP
• 30% of councillors are women (2008 Councillors Census)
• There are currently even fewer Black/minority ethnic women councillors

We are not complacent either as a Party nationally or here in Reading: we know we still have a long way to go until we reach genuine equality.

A female campaigner writing in The Guardian last year said:

"For more than a quarter of a century, the political parties have said, repetitively and routinely, that they want to increase the number of female MPs. Party leaders have simply not delivered the goods. There is still only one woman in every five MPs."

In the debate, Susan Kramer and Susan Thomas both argued strongly in favour of positive discrimination.

Not a very fashionable view in any political party at the moment.

When David Cameron said recently that he planned to impose all-women shortlists to get more Conservative women MPs elected he was roundly attacked by many of his own Party members.

I have always been instinctively against all-woman shortlists.

Having been educated in a single-sex state school in inner London I was brought up to be suspicious of privilege. I felt strongly that I didn't need a leg up or preferential treatment.

I want to get on in life through my own hard work not special favours.

Having said that I recognise that being middle-class has helped a lot: I was lucky in that I could afford to go to University and I have had a very supportive family.

I think most people would like to see people get selected to stand for Parliament on merit not because of who they are -  in an ideal world.

Sadly we are not in an ideal world and we need to seriously  look at ways to get more women and Black, minority ethnic candidates involved in politics - at all levels.

As Susan Kramer said, on the current rate of progress we will not end up with many more women MPs this century.

And as Lynne Featherstone MP recently said paraphrasing Obama "idle aspiration is not enough".

Lynne is an outstanding campaigner for greater equality. Read her recent speech here.

Equality is an important end in itself but I also think a more equal Parliament this would lead to better decision-making and a more appealing political culture: better all round.

At a local level women councillors are still in a minority.

This is despite the fact many women have the perfect set of skills to be really effective councillors.

I find when I talk to women who I think would make amazing candidates they often put themselves down and say they don't think they'll be good enough.

I tell them they should come a long to a few council meetings and they would soon see they could easily do a better job them some councillors who've been around for years.

Sadly many women decide the very last thing they want to do is go into politics.

And you can't really blame them when you see what constitutes debate at some council meetings.

Just watch Prime Ministers Question time (which isn't that different to full Council except it features celebrities)

This week involved David Cameron and Gordon Brown tearing strips off each other.

What a turn-off.

As Kevin Maguire said, writing in The Mirror:

"Viewing Prime Minister's Questions on TV, hundreds of miles from Westminster (in my case South Shields), is to be reminded of what a turn off the jeering and cheering ritual is for most voters.

Quite frankly it's embarrassing, otherwise sane adults behaving badly for half an hour."

But there are other, more basic barriers which are preventing women getting selected or elected.

Like time and money.

As the recent Lib Dem 'Real Women' Policy Paper recognised a lack of work-life balance and basic financial problems need to be addressed if women are going to get real power over their lives.

Politics is time-consuming and the allowances at a local level in most cases are not enough to live  on unless you are independently wealthy or have a job.

For some women on low-incomes becoming politically active is just not an option.

Getting elected takes hours of knocking on doors and once you win the work really starts.

I regularly spend hours every week on casework and going to meetings. I don't mind - it's all part of the job.

But not everyone has the luxury of time to spend on politics and campaigning the way I do.

I have no idea how I would balance my current workload with a young family.

I think women MPs and councillors who manage to juggle both should be applauded not attacked for being bad mothers.

Anyway, lots of female (and male) students came to listen and participate in the debate, which was great.

I hope we were able to inspire a few people to give politics a try. I know of at least one man who said he was inspired by it. Because it's not who you are but what you can offer people, that counts.

I talked a bit about my experience and the reason I love being a councillor.

I said that 90% of my time is not spent making speeches but listening to people's problems, getting things done to improve the local area, and working to try and find solutions.

I also said my top tip for aspiring politicians was not necessarily to do a politics degree (as I did - complete waste of time!) but to do everyday things where you get to meet people.

I found working in a pub when I was a student gave me a great grounding for politics - you have to listen to a lot of problems if you work behind a bar! You also have to learn not to be too judgemental and to try and understand people.

But It hasn't all been plain sailing.

When I was elected a female former Labour councillor attacked me in the local press for combining my council duties with a full-time job.

Ironically a few years later I was regularly winning plaudits for being one of Reading's hardest working councillors.

I soon got used to ignoring the patronising remarks that some older councillors (of both sexes) made to me at meetings and functions.

One of my favourites was from a male councillor (who shall remain nameless to protect his identity) who said:

"When I first met you I thought you looked pretty clueless. But when you started speaking I realised you were actually really intelligent and you knew what you were talking about."

I took a deep breath and thought to myself: well, the difference between you and me is - you look stupid...and you actually are pretty stupid.

I can't imagine he would have dared say something like that to a male councillor.

Still, I do laugh when I look back at one of the headlines that was printed in the Evening Post when I was elected:

"Daisy set to be assertive on Council"

It annoyed me at the time but now I feel it was quite an accurate description.

But I'm not going to stop there. Now I've got my foot in the door right at the bottom of the political ladder I I am keen to help other people get involved in politics in Reading at whatever level they feel comfortable - regardless of class, race, wealth or gender.

Research has shown time and again that many people need to be asked to stand for election - that you cannot rely on people putting themselves forward. You have to belive in them and build their confidence.

So to anyone reading this - man or woman -  who is considering getting involved in politics let me say this:

Join a political party (ideally the Lib Dems!). Get involved, stand for election to something what's the worst that can happen? You never know you might enjoy it and you might even turn out to be quite good!

And don't sit at home wishing we lived in a perfect world. It ain't gonna happen.

'We love this street!'

Those were the words of one of my constituents who lives on Alexandra Road and who is currently one of a small handful of residents fighting against a controversial plan to convert No 22 into four flats.

This is one of many local campaigns going on the ward we are supporting to try and help maintain the unique character of the Redlands area.

The other 'biggie' on the go at the moment is our campaign against plans to redevelop 46 Redlands Road for ten flats. I sent in a five-page objection to that proposal earlier today and I know lots of local residents are doing the same.

Glenn has already written about the work he is doing helping residents campaign to save the trees on Alexandra Road which were removed by the Council. A petition is doing the rounds: please sign it if you see it.

Both these planning proposals have nothing to offer local people (for example they are too small to include any elements of 'affordable' housing).

They will do nothing to improvethe area and simply line the pockets of greedy developers.

One of the big worries is the problems more cars on this already overcrowded street will cause. No-one I've spoken to who lives there believes this wil be a 'car-free development'.

When 22 Alexandra Road was discussed at Planning Applications Committee a couple of weeks ago officers were recommending approval but we persuaded Members to defer the decision for a site visit to take place.

This was mainly down to some very heartful arguments in favour of preserving the character of this lovely area put across by my constituents Martin, Conor and Arthur, I.

The site visit took place last week and Members were greeted by residents bearing placards which read:

"Over development - Loss of amenities"

"Don't be fooled: work goes on relentlessly (till 1h55 on 23.10.09) -visito f councillors due between 2pm and 4 pm - the 4 flats are nearly ready"

"The garage was ATTACHED & PART OF the house ( as its other semi) We have been watching since March No. 22 being transformed day in day out, weekends included, without planning permission and are appalled"

The developer was apparently in the vicinity handing out written material contradicting what residents saying.

Residents I've heard from today cannot believe officers are still recommending that this application should be approved and that parking is not an issue.

Arthur who is Chair of the Alexandra Road residents association emailed me to say:

"I'm sure I speak on behalf of nearly everyone at this end of Alexandra Road. We don't object to development of our street. We love this street as a living evolving and changing environment. We do object to development which is unsympathetic and out of character. This property was a beautiful example of Victorian architecture before it had its garage unceremoniously removed. Important trees have been pulled down. And with four flats, the property looks likely to put yet more cars on this already crowded street if planning is approved."

Arthur's neighbour, Conor added:

Despite the Council's positive commitment to the special character of the area, residents in the conservation area of Alexandra Road are likely to have their objections to the proposals to convert a familyhouse into 4 flats ignored.

Parking is the big issue - 4 flats could mean 8 cars! Local residents are angry that this blatant overdevelopment (if approved) will see the chronic parking situation get worse and will create a less safe street.

This doesn't seem to worry the developer as work has been underway for a number of months without planning permission.

If this scheme is approved - it will be a travesty for the Conservation Area make a mockery of our planning process and will make our street less safe."

We are backing these residents 100% in their fight to maintain all that is great about the area they live in.

Sadly there will be no opportunity for public speaking at that meeting but I really hope Members of PAC see sense next week (4 November) and they agree to reject this dreadful plan.

If you are moved by what you have read please email your objections through to julie.williams@reading.gov.uk before 4 November!

Have your say on changes to local bus services

I bumped into a resident from Woodley on the 64 bus on my way to the station today and he reminded me Reading Buses are currently consulting on changes to bus routes and timetables which they plan to introduce in January 2010.

It made me wonder how many Reading residents were aware of these changes as they do not appear to have been well advertised.

Sometimes 'small' service changes can have a big impact on residents so it's important that concerns are raised with the bus company. Please contact Glenn, Kirsten or I if there are any changes that you would like to discuss with you.

The public consultation is running from 22 October to 4 November so there isn't much time if you want to have your say on changes.

The latest plans follow the 'postponement' of previous proposals. Details on the background below taken from the Reading Buses website:

"The original proposals, which were due to be implemented last month as a result of the economic downturn, were postponed as a result of Reading Borough Council’s short term financial support.

The package of service changes were part of making a significant reduction in Reading Transport’s operational costs and implementation of an action plan designed to bring service levels in line with revenue.

The first phase of the action plan was the introduction of the EasySaver 10 and other fares changes on June 1.  This was followed by bus timetable changes in Reading on July 13.

On September 7 changes were made to Newbury operations and on September 28 Reading Transport altered the Vitality routes.  Further changes were planned for the Reading urban area also from last month.

Reading Borough Council, acting as transport authority, took steps to buy back most of the changes planned for 28th September for three months.  This has allowed further consideration of the measures suggested to respond to initial representations from the local authorities and local people about a number of issues."

Main charges are as follows (from the Reading Buses website):

• Woodley services – A revised pattern of services to replace Premier Routes 63/64 and service 62
• New University service – via University of Reading, Whiteknights campus, to Bulmershe campus through to Woodley Centre
• West Reading services - Changes in the Tilehurst area to Premier Routes 15 and 33
• Caversham services – Slight change to route of Premier Route 23
• 27 – Frequency increased to every 30 minutes, change to route
• Premier Route 22 – Change to timetable with frequency between RBH and ASDA, Lower Earley, reduced to hourly
• Other changes to timetables are planned on Premier Routes 4/5/6, 9, 33, 17, 20/21, 23/24 and 26.

Changes to services which may be of particular interest to Redlands include:

• The introduction of a new '19' service: This new service will operate on Mondays to Fridays (all
  day) and Saturday (evenings) between Central Readingand Woodley via RBH (Craven Road), Addington Road and Redlands Road
• 63 and 64: these services will be withdrawn and replaced by new Premier Routes 65, 65a, 66 and 67
• 22:one journey per hour will terminate in Central Reading, one will continue to Foxhill
  Road and one will continue via the present route to Lower Earley (Asda)

Given how unreliable postal services are at the moment I would recommend people use the email facility to submit comment

Comments can be emailed to: consultation@reading-buses.co.uk

Another Lib Dem win for Hexham Road residents

Back in July I blogged about our local campaign to improve Hexham Road estate which has been gaining momentum in recent months.

This follows years of neglect of the area by Labour politicians on Reading Borough Council.

Today I spoke to Council officers about exciting new plans designed to make the external estate environment on Hexham Road 'greener' and more appealing to residents and visitors.

They include plans to:

• plant around the estate on the open green spaces mature trees designed to offer seasonal colour to have the greatest impact, together with seasonal bulb planting, offering colour to the estate over a number of months. Please refer to your enclosed plan for locality.
• create a “wild garden” with many different wild flowers planted at the bottom of Hexham Road, with mown pathways through it, providing bench seating areas under the large oak tree and surrounding area. 

Find out more here: Download Housing estate hexham road 1_1000 outline proposals v3[1]

RBC's housing team will be writing to all residents on the estate about these proposals later this week to get their feedback. They have asked for comments by 13 November 2009.  Residents can email Tenantservices@reading.gov.uk or ring 01189 390161.

These proposals have been put forward after extensive consultation. It is important that what is proposed is what local people want so I hope local people will give feedback about these ideas.

These improvements have been paid for out of the new Decent Neighbourhoods Fund - something the Lib Dems sucessfully campaigned to get included in this years budget earlier this year.

In September the scrutiny panel I chair discussed a report from officers which showed the difference this extra cash is making improving the look and feel of estates in Reading.

As far as I'm aware this is the first serious bit of landscaping that has been done on this estate by the Council for many years.

We are hoping that young and old will want to get involved in helping plant bulbs and new trees on the estate.

We are very excited about these long-awaited improvements and I really hope the local residents go for it.

Labour in Reading forced to review failed approach to community safety

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that I've long been critical of the approach taken by the Labour administration in Reading to reducing crime and anti-social behaviour at a neighbourhood level.

Officers involved in this area at RBC work hard but they are stymied by diktats from Labour nationally and lack of leadership locally.

Labour's approach to community safety has been heavily critcised in recent years and led many residents to stop reporting crime in their areas.

This is damaging as it means that many issues in the local area are not getting tackled simply because the authorities don't know about them.

I led a campaign on this issue last year after meeting many residents deeply frustrated by the lack of response to crime reports. We have made some progress but talking to officers recently it is still a major issue in parts of town including South Reading.

Little things don't help in Reading such as having more than one telephone number to report anti-social behaviour: one for the Police, one for the Council.

Crazy.

The Lib Dems in Reading have long been campaigning for a more joined-up approach from Thames Valley P olice and RBC and one which is more effective at reducing anti-social behaviour and listening to local people.

And it seems at long last the Labour administration of Reading Borough Council might have finally got the message, as we learn that a review of community safety has been launched.

This was launched out of the blue at a meeting of the Safer Reading Campaign on Monday evening.

This development follows the publication of damning statistics back in the Summer which showed that local people lack confidence in the Police and Council's ability to tackle crime in Reading.

And this was on top of news that a Home Office task-force was being sent to Reading which was identified as one of the worst places in the entire country for anti-social behaviour.

Some background.

The main mechanisms we have in Reading at the moment for dealing with local crime issues are Neighbourhood Action Groups  (NAGs)and Safer Community Forums (SCFs).

The former is run by Thames Valley Police, the latter by Reading Borough Council.

There are currently 7 SCFs and 13 NAGs (covering 16 Neighbourhood Police areas).

One of the main problems I see when I attend meetings of the Forums and NAGs in my ward in my capacity as councillor is a lack of involvement of local people.

Often these meetings consist of a handful of councillors and officers discussing what they believe to be the key issues, rather than local people setting the agenda.

I have disagreed with RBC officers in the past who have argued that SCFs should not be public meetings (but should be invite only). 

I Chair the South Reading Forum and it is disappointing how few members of the public attend our meetings.

I am very grateful to those residents who do attend -they are in the minority compared to most residents.

That said, I fully understand the reasons why local people don't come. It's most probably because they aren't aware of this group's existence.

If I wasn't a local councillor would I attend my local Forum?

Honest answer - probably not. It's not clear to residents what the objectives of these meetings are and why they should attend.

And, what's worse, is that I know for a fact there are areas of Reading where anti-social behaviour and crime is a real problem and local people are not able to get their voices heard by the Council and the Police.

However, given these Forums have around £80,000 pounds a year (in total) at their disposal to spend on community safety initiatives around Reading every year, the I think the lack of community involvement is a missed opportunity.

I wonder how many residents across Reading know they can bid for this money?

Councillors can submit bids on behalf of residents but I do not feel that enough residents are made aware by the Council that they can request funding for things like better streetlighting and alley-gating.

Also, how can residents and councillors be sure we are getting value for money for every pound of taxpayer's money that is being spent on these local crime-reduction projects?

When I was community safety spokesperson for the Lib Dems (between 2006-09) I was successful in getting officers to scrutinise spending on Safer Reading projects for the first time -  to see if they made a difference and were value for money.

Not exactly rocket science. But very necessary.

As councillors in Redlands we have been very successful in recent years in getting funding for a range of projects to cut crime in the local area.

An independent inspection of RBC's Community Safety department in January 2008 found:

"The role of the Safer Reading Forums is not sufficiently clear in relation to other neighbourhood groups, and they are not representative of Reading's diverse and changing local communities."

And with the advent of Neighbourhood Action Groups which arrived in Reading a couple of years ago as a concept, I have detected further confusion in the local community about the roles and responsibilities of these different groups.

As I've said before this is not helped by the fact that Neighbourhood Policing Boundaries and Council ward boundaries are not coterminous.

How many of my neighbours know they are in the Newtown Neighbourhood?

Not many I would argue (given this area is not part of Newtown!) Redlands has been carved up into a number of Police Neighbourhoods none of which mean much at all to local residents.

My colleagues over in Katesgrove have made this point on numerous occasions.

My impressions were borne out by the Labour government's own statistics which showed very few people know who is in their local Police team.

A damning indictment of former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's vision of Neighbourhood Policing, I'd say.

The Audit Commission in its inspection picked up the same problems in its inspection report:

"There is confusion among stakeholders aboutthe roles of the seven Safer Reading Forums and the 12 Neighbourhood Action Groups. It is not clear to stakeholders which is open to all residents and which is by invitation. The issues which each group is intended to resolve are not clearly understood."

NAGs don't have a budget...but Safer Community Forums do. Safer Reading Forums have a publicity budget...NAGs don't and so on.

The fact that local residents didn't hear from NAGs (because they had no means of publicising their activities) lots of residents didn't come to meetings.

This is why I led a successful campaign last year to get the Council to offer financial support to NAGs which ended up with £50k funding coming out of this year's Council Budget. I heard recently that Police forces in other areas provide the cash.

Since then we have been disappointed at the time it has taken RBC and TVP to sort out how best to support NAGs to help them communicate with residents. Hopefully progress is now being made on this.

But it's not just about publcising the work of NAGs to get people to attend: once people are involved in meetings they need to feel they can influence local decision-making. The Police are trying hard to get this right but I don't think we are there yet.

Capacity is also a problem.

RBC officers have worked out there are 156 meetings of NAGs and Forums that they and TVP need to attend every year.

As councillors we struggle to get to all these meetings and you do wonder whether they are the best use of everyone's time.

It's also tough on residents who have busy lives too. There must be better ways of engaging local people.

So, those are some of the current problems we face in Reading at the moment.

These problems are clearly getting in the way of reducing crime and anti-social behaviour and more importantly building community confidence. Fear of crime is still to high in many parts of town.

My Lib Dem colleagues and I will be looking into the details of the community safety review with interest to see if what is planned will address some of the problems we have identified.

Details of the proposals outlined in the review are  going to all the Safer Community Forums for discussion and it is likely that these plans will go through Council for a final decision early next year.

The review document is not currently up on the Council's website - I have emailed officers to point this out  and will attach it on the Blog here when it is.

Redlands Trees

In August this year, I reported that several trees in the Alexandra/Addington road area were going to be cut down on grounds of safety. Now that the branches have been removed from nearly 20 Lime trees - deemed too dangerous to remain - they will be felled some time before christmas. This will add the numerous tree stumps which have been left in the ward.

This is a subject which is very dear to me and I had been working with officers to ensure that trees are replaced when they are removed but also to ensure that they are not removed in the first place: making sure that prominent trees have tree protection orders, and are taken into consideration during planning discussions.

At full council on the 13 October I asked the following question:

Could the Lead Councillor comment on the progress to replace the trees which were (or are in the process of being) removed from the Addington/Alexandra road area of Redlands - as a consequence of fungal infection and decay?

 The written response from Councillor Page (Lead Councillor for Planning and Transport) was:

The Council is in the process of assessing underground utilities in this area of Reading and considering different tree species to ensure that new trees, when planted, will not damage underground services or suffer any potential damage themselves. This will result in a plan of action to replant and replace trees wherever possible.

I can assure Councillor Goodall that there will be full consultations with local members prior to any final decisions.

Last night, I attended a very interesting meeting hosted by residents at the lower end of Alexandra road who have been as concerned by the loss of trees as me. At the meeting it was noted that too many trees had already been taken down, without any concrete commitment from the Council to replace. They understood why stumps had been left but felt they made the ward look unsightly and were a constant reminder of what had been lost. Plus they couldn't understand why there was a delay in replacing these trees.

So last night the residents group 'save our trees' came into being and will continue to campaign, with the full support of myself, and my Lib Dem colleagues, to get replacement trees.

I will keep you posted on future developments and if you would like to attend the next 'save our trees' meeting please get in contact and we can point you in the right direction.

Urgent need for more affordable, family-sized housing in Reading

A few weeks ago I blogged about my battle to help a local family who are living badly overcrowded in a Council house managed by Reading Borough Council to try to move into more suitable accomodation.

I have been in touch with RBC about this case almost every day for the past three weeks and I'm sorry to say that despite the chasing I have done on their behalf this family is still waiting for basic repairs to be carried out and for a chance to move.

I can't fault the officers in the housing allocations department. They can't help the fact there are simply not enough 3 and 4 bed houses to go round.

With nearly 5,000 people on the Council housing register pressure on available stock is intense.

However, there is no getting away from the fact that overcrowding causes health problems and can contribute to stress and family breakdown. For this reason I will do everything in my power to help families like this who contact me in distress about their housing plight.

I highlighted the problems this family and other families are facing in my speech on the Council's draft housing strategy 2009-14 which was approved at last week's full Council meeting. 

After I spoke Cllr Deborah Edwards, Labour's Lead Member for Housing pledged to look into the case personally, which I welcomed.

My experience of helping many families with housing problems and specifically the number of people regularly contacting me who are overcrowded got me thinking about how widespread this problem actually is in Reading.

To find out more I tabled some formal questions to the Lead Member for Housing about demand and supply of family-sized housing in our Borough.

My questions revealed:

• There are currently 913 families registered looking for a three or four bed council/housing association property in Reading ( 4 beds-79 homeseekers /94 transfers, 3 beds- 422 homeseekers /318 transfers)
• Average wait time for a three bed Council/RSL property in Reading is a shocking 20 months
• Average wait time for a four bed Council property in Reading is currently 22 months
• 435 council homes have been sold off by RBC since 1997
• 276 new 'larger' family houses provided by RBC in partnership since 1997

These figures confirm my experience supporting constituents in the ward: there is a chronic under-supply of affordable family-sized (3 and 4 bed) housing in Reading and the time some families are having to wait for housing is far too long.

And these are just the figures of the families we know about.

We know hundreds more families are struggling in private rented housing which in many parts of town is in worse condition that council housing.

As Kirsten and I said in our speeches at the full Council meeting on the draft housing strategy we must as a Council build more larger family-sized houses and work with developers to get more of the sorts of houses local people so badly need.

The failure of successive Tory and Labour governments' housing policies can be seen around Reading today. There is an over-supply of one and two bed flats in the town centre and in parts of town the number of larger Council or housing-association properties has dwindled.

Allowing hundreds of council houses to be sold off via  'Right to Buy' which started under the Conservatives and continued under Labour was not sustainable (leaving RBC's stock of family houses much depleted) and now means hundreds of families have to wait years for decent, affordable housing in Reading.

If we are going to reduce the number of families suffering as a result of overcrowding councils such as Reading must be given more power to build council houses in their areas and keep rent receipts to help maintain their housing stock for future generations.

Campaigning to preserve the character of the Redlands Road/Allcroft Road area

I've just come from a residents' meeting on Allcroft Road in Redlands.

Kirsten, Glenn and I have got to know residents pretty well in this area over the years and I always enjoy catching up with them to talk about local issues.

It's just a shame it usually happens when a flawed planning application has been submitted!

I had called the meeting having picked up a number of concerns from constituents about a new planning application that has been submitted for the redevelopment of 46 Redlands Road.

The plan is for 10 flats and associated parking on the site of Abadair House which is currently operated as a guest house. 

Any redevelopment of this site could impact on residents living on Redlands Road, Allcroft Road and the surounding area as it is right on the junction.

This site may look appealing to developers but is not an easy one to re-develop - it is next to a tree with a Tree Preservaion Order on it, on a slope and near a busy junction. It's also on the edge of several Conservation areas.

We should know what the problems with this site are by now: local residents, my Lib Dem colleagues and I successfully campaigned against an earlier planning application which was submitted for redevelopment of this site by Hicks Developments in early 2008.  

30 letters of objection were submitted by local residents - feelings ran high.

That application was subsequently rejected by the Council's Planning Applications Committee (PAC).

Hicks Developments attempted to get the PAC’s decision overturned but a Planning Inspector later dismissed their appeal application in September 2008.

Anyway, back to tonight's meeting and the latest planning application for this site.

Residents from across the area around Redlands Road attended to voice their concerns.

People who spoke at the meeting are very worried about the impact that this development could have on the character of the area.

46 Redlands Road is not in a Conservation Area but it is close to three important Conservation areas.

To the southeast lies The Mount Conservation area, the Redlands Conservation area lies to the southwest and not far away lies the Kendrick Road Conservation area.

I would like to see this bit of Redlands Road included in a Conservation Area as I think it is worth preserving for the sake of the coherence of the area as a whole - the fact that it isn't is an anomaly and I will be making this point again to officers.

The houses round about No 46 Redlands Road are mainly suburban in style. So the proposed mix of 1 and 2 bed flats planned for this development is out of keeping with the local area. T

here are virtually no similar flatted developments on Allcroft Road where the impact will mainly be felt.

Other concerns that were raised by residents tonight were about overlooking as well as the impact the development could have on existing parking problems and road safety. 

We discussed the fact that Information submitted by the developer to accompany this application refers to out of date (2001) census data.

Any visitor to the area will tell you that there are no parking spaces to be found on Allcroft Road or Redlands Road most times of the day.

Access to the development would be on to a busy road and right next to a bus stop. There are a number of schools in the area, as well as a major hospital. School-children, parents and visitors to the Hospital already find it very difficult to cross the road.

Dumping more flats here would exacerbate existing problems and make matters worse for residents already living in the area.

A new pedestrian access to the rear of the development also sparked fears about increasing vulnerability to burglary etc.

It is disappointing that despite the obvious flaws that were identified in the previous application by a planning inspector, officers, residents and councillors the latest developer seems keen to repeat some of the mistakes.

The application is an improvement on the last one, but not by much.

This application follows some planning battles we have recently fought in the ward in Kendrick Road and Alexandra Road.

We are keen to support local residents in their campaign to preserve and enhance their neighbourhoods.

Several residents expressed dismay at the meeting that yet again we are seeing a planning application for 1 and 2 bed flats. 

Aside from the fact these 'executive style' developments don't blend in well in parts of Redlands, there is a strong feeling locally that there is an oversupply of this type of housing in central Reading and I am inclined to agree.

How you can help

If you are a local resident who is concerned about the impact this proposal could have on the local area I would like to encourage you to email your comments about this application to Reading Borough Council’s Planning Department: justin.turvey@reading.gov.uk or via the Council's Public Access for Planning website.

I have sought clarification from officers about the deadline for public comments about this application and I have been told that the official deadline is 4 November but that RBC will accept public comments up to 19 November. 

 Officers anticipate this application will be determined at the 2 December meeting of the Planning Applications Committee. I have written to the Chair of the PAC to ask if another site visit can be carried out to allow Members of the Committee to get a better feel for the site.

I will post more updates about this campaign as and when we have any news to report.

Don't stop moving!*

So much going on both inside and outside the ward at the moment, it's hard to know where to start! I thought it was worth doing a quick recap.

It was great to be out in the ward this weekend after a week in which I spent four out of five nights in the Council Offices.

I took an afternoon off work on Tuesday to attend the Credit Crunch Summit on supporting young people and as well as two formal Council meetings (full Council and the Children's Health Scrutiny Review) I also managed to squeeze in a visit to Reading Job Centre Plus, the 47th Reading (St Paul's) Scout Group Open Day, Basingstoke Road (see pic), our regular ward surgery, and a debate on higher education funding organised by the ever-energetic Reading University Lib Dems.

The debate was of a very high standard and it was chaired by RUSU VP Education Tom Gilchrist who did a good impression of David Dimbleby - "is there a question in there somewhere?!"

There were local representatives on the Panel from Labour, the Lib Dems, NUS and Reading Youth Cabinet.

But for some reason no sign of either Rob (White or Wilson) at the meeting to put forward Conservative or Green viewpoints.

Wendy from Reading's Youth Cabinet spoke very confidentally - at 16 she was the only Panel member who hadn't yet gone to university but she certainly gave the more experienced politicians a run for their money!

No doubt that tuition fees and graduate debt are going to be hotly debated between now and the next General Election - great to see local students engaged and campaigning.

I organised a visit to Reading Job Centre Plus not because I lost my job (although no-one is immune and I don't want to tempt fate!) but because I was keen to understand better what it is like looking for work in Reading at the moment both from the point of view of job-seekers and staff.

The visit followed the Credit Crunch Summit and my recent meeting about theproblem of NEETs so helped give me a much clearer picture of problems many people in Reading are facing.

I'm really grateful to the staff of the Job Centre Plus who met me and talked about their work and the challenges local people are facing in the recession.

I was particularly impressed by staff who's job it is to support lone parents and young people navigate the complicated world of benefits, New Deal etc.

They reckon about 1,000 people are coming through the doors of the JCP each day. The Centre has been forced to take on more staff to cope with demand over the past year and more expansion is planned.

I was supposed to sit in on a group session for 18 year-olds but it was cancelled as no-one had turned up - an indicator of some young people's morale at the moment.

On a more positive note they are seeing a reasonable number of vacancies in the Reading-area which compares more favourably with other parts of the country.

Still, the number of people who are unemployed in the Reading area is a concern and it is a a particular concern that the number of 'low skill' jobs in Reading is predicted to fall by 25,000 by 2025 (something that was revealed at the Credit Crunch Summit).

Back to the ward, these are a few of the things that we've been working on on our constituents' behalf this week:

• Picked up complaints about poor streetlighting on Cintra Avenue and dog fouling in Cintra Park - we're calling for a lighting update and extra enforcement + dog waste bins
• Got extra litter picks on Hexham Road and Addington Road following complaints from residents
• Advised residents about a new planning application which has gone in for 10 flats on Redlands Road - we're meeting residents next week to discuss in more details
• Chased overdue repairs to a couple of Council properties around Hexham Road

I could do with next week being a little less hectic, having also picked up a cold!

* Reference to the fact I was forced to do Karaoke by some of my Reading Uni friends earlier this week. I would have preferred something by Girls Aloud but I was given no choice but to sing along to S-Club 7...Well, my ward is 50% student I suppose!

Friday first person: GCSE Results

The Government publishes the national provisional figures for GCSE attainment today, with the usual self-congratulatory remarks about the numbers getting 5 A*-C including English and Maths.

Normally this is followed at short order by a similar piece of self back-slapping from the Labour administration in Reading, saying how we well we are doing against these national trends.

I'm not one of those people who believe GCSEs have become easier, and am pleased that so many students do well.

Still, the situation in Reading is rather more complex than the Council might reveal. We are a comparatively small education authority with two large selective schools - that draw their pupils from the best and the brightest in Berkshire and as far away as Buckinghamshire and London.

Strip out these schools and the figure for 5 A*-C inc Eng & Maths becomes closer to a third of pupils, rather than the 50pct or so that reflects the national average. Or to put it another way, two thirds of pupils going to the schools which serve the majority of Reading pupils don't reach the standard which is considered to open the door to higher education or advanced technical training. As one local employer put it to me, "You need to give me more people who I can actually short list for the jobs I have".

The importance of this was highlighted in the discussion Daisy led this week on young people not in employment, education or training.

It becomes even more worrying with the situation at Thames Valley University - whose further education is still up in the air - is considered. The lack of the availability of capital - needed to build new schools or expand the facilities at existing ones - is extremely worrying, and was the subject of questions to Council this week. Things cannot, unfortunately, only get better.

Something to think about when you see the headlines in the Reading Post or Reading Chronicle.

Still there is hope. The most positive correlation with success at school is that of parental interest. It is undoubtedly the case that many of the success stories we hear about come not from the efforts of the Council but from dedicated parents, hard working teachers and diligent pupils. As I said at Education Scrutiny this week, our young people today are smarter than we were at their age, and that's how it should be. We will encourage the Council to looks for novel ways of boosting early learning, and to give all our young people the skills and support they need to do well.

--Kirsten