Redlands Liberal Democrats

The other lighting campaign

Away from the furore about Christmas lights, there is another lighting issue which needs our attention here in Redlands.

A message from a female student this morning reminded me that our campaign for better street-lighting in the streets on the edge of Reading University campus needs to be revived.

She was complaining that street-lighting around campus was very poor and was there anything that could be done about it...

I launched this campaign two years ago almost to the day calling for the out-dated (and inefficient) 'orange-glow' lighting to be replaced.

This was one of the first campaigns my friend and colleague Glenn Goodall got involved in: he joined me in calling for better street-lighting on Cardigan Road, Cardigan Gardens and Foxhill Road.

And I'm pleased to say we were successful.

Labour politicians and activists started backing our campaign and lighting in this part of the ward was upgraded a few months ago.

However there are still streets where lighting is inadequate. Currently on my list are:- Morgan Road, Allcroft Road and Upper Redland Road.

We are campaigning to get the Council to improve lighting in these areas.

Please let us know any other parts of the ward where street-lighting is a problem and we will do our best to help.

Funding is the major reason why we're in the position we're in. 

The current budget for street-lighting is not sufficent to ensure all roads in the Town have decent lighting, so the Labour-administration has pursued a policy of piece-meal upgrades.

There is some cash in the Safer Reading pot for lighting upgrades but it can be hard to tap into this and it doesn't stretch very far.

Like road resurfacing under Labour in Reading, at the current rate of progress it will years before all streets in Reading have modern street-lighting local people expect.

Switched off

My post about Reading's 'all-day' Christmas lights  has caused a bit of a stir making the front page of getreading and national party website Lib Dem Voice.

I wasn't surprised to be nick-named 'scrooge' in the local press. Pretty ironic title though given we are supposed to be seriously looking at ways of saving money in the middle of a recession.

Most people I've spoken to about it have been puzzled as to why we need Christmas lights on during the day.

It makes no environmental or financial sense to me or them.

I've now had a fuller response from Cllr Gittings (based on a reply he got to this question from Tim Smith of Reading CIC's BID Committee) about the cost-implications and thinking behind the Christmas lights in Reading Town Centre.

"The lighting scheme across the town centre uses ultra-low energy LED products except for a small number of compact halogen units in the "Starflash" bulbs. Last year, the electrical bill for the lights was £1,504; this equates to a cost per day of £34.18.

 The decision to opt for a ’24-hour’ burn was made during the first Business Improvement District (BID) back in 2006 - by Reading UK CIC’s BID Committee – so this is the fourth year of implementation.

This Committee oversees the delivery of the BID Business Plan, allocates funds to projects and makes decisions on project implementation; the Committee consists predominantly of business people - that pay the town centre BID levy. 

The original decision was based on getting the most from the Christmas lights and on contributing to making the town centre more welcoming and indeed feeling safer, whatever the time of day.

A further issue is that the scheme is fitted to a variety of different light columns. Some are older than others and their shape or size does not permit the installation of timers. For this reason, it would be difficult and costly to have the entire town centre on a timed schedule."

Reading this, two questions occured to me:

1. Shouldn't the decision to go for Christmas lights that blaze all day be reviewed in the light of growing environmental awareness in Reading and the Council's Climate Change Strategy (and Reading's Climate Change Partnership?) to see if '24 hour burn' is ecologically sound?
2. This decision was taken in 2006 - before the recession kicked in. Do town centre businesses want to spend money on 'daytime' lights when many of them are having to make efficiencies and tighten their belts?

In his email to me, Cllr Gittings said that he thought the explanation given by Tim Smith was 'fair enough'.

I still think that Reading's Lead Member for Environment should be doing more to champion the need for action on climate change at a local level.

The Labour administration in Reading seems far too wedded to 'gesture' politics when it comes to environmental issues.

Already this year we've had the u-turn by Labour on ethanol buses.

and the Big Switch Off ahead of and this year Labour's support for the national 10:10 campaign in Reading.

It's great that the administration is prepared to add its backing to these campaigns but where is the local leadership?

What is lacking is an overarching strategy that binds everything together - a 'green thread' running through everything the Council does.

We would like to see RBC moving in the direction of those Councils who are really taking the lead on the climate change agenda.

Such as Newcastle City Council - run by the Lib Dems - which recently won an award for being the UK's most sustainable city or nearby Eastleigh Borough Council - also controlled by the Lib Dems -  which is showing that you don't have to be a big local authority to make a big impact on reducing carbon emissions.

It was named Beacon Council for Tackling Climate Change 2008/09.

At the time of Febuary's Big Switch Off in Reading, Cllr GIttings said:

“The Big Switch Off shows just what we can achieve when we all work together."

Despite the warm words, there is little or no evidence on the current showing that Cllr Gittings and his colleagues have any ideas or plans to lead Reading as a town and as a community in the radical direction we need to be going in if we are going to get serious about tackling climate change.

Action taken against Kings Tavern management

It was the Kings Tavern licence review hearing this morning.

This review - the second this year - was triggered by Thames Vallley Police.

I attended the first bit of the hearing as an observer.

It wasn't a very edifying site: barristers for Admiral Taverns and the Designated Premises Supervisor, Mrs Sama attempted to shift the blame on to each other for the recent licence breaches and problems at the pub.

It felt like a bit like an episode of Eastenders or another soap opera - except that the decision could have a real impact on the community.

All credit to Cllrs Jeanette Skeats, Cllr Jamie Chowdhary and Cllr Bet Tickner for finding their way through the claims and counter-claims. It's not an easy thing to do.

And as I've said before the Licensing Act 2003 does not make the role of councils and councillors straightforward in relation to licensing matters.

I was very grateful to Sergeant Dai Davies who was representing the Police for pointing out that this review was brought in the public interest and that failure to adhere to the licence - by, as was alleged, selling alcohol whilst the licence was submitted constituted a serious matter.

The incident was witnessed by a member of the public who bravely reported the incident and attended the hearing. Without his evidence no action could be taken against the management of this venue.

Anyway, I had to go to work but I have just heard via licensing officers that the Committee resolved to:

• Remove the current D.P.S from the Kings Tavern
• Not to revoke the premises licence

The D.P.S, Mrs Sama, has 21 days to appeal against this decision or it will take effect. An appeal is likely, I'm told.

Although the Police did not have enough evidence to press criminal charges against Mrs Sama, the fact that this was the second licence review that had taken place on her watch, and due to the seriousness of the allegations regarding illegal alcohol sales it is not surprising that councillors sought today to cut short her stint in charge.

Admiral Taverns did not support Mrs Sama during the hearing and are in the process of trying to evict her from the pub.

The Legal representative of Admiral Taverns was at pains to ensure that the pub company was not held responsible for problems the Kings Tavern.

This was because they are keen to sell the pub with a current premises licence.

To complicate matters further we are aware this pub is in the process of being sold.

All we can hope for at this stage is that after the recent troubles new management will take over at the Kings Tavern soon, put these problems behind them, and work to help turn it into a community pub.

November community safety update

We know that crime and anti-social behaviour can have a really detrimental impact on the quality of life of local residents in the ward.

We take these problems very seriously so when local people contact us about these types of issues we do our best to get action taken quickly by the Council and the Police.

The pictures below were emailed in by a constituent today.

They illustrate the worrying anti-social behaviour residents are currently facing on Stanhope Road:

I wrote to officers calling for urgent action after several residents contacted me with concerns about arson, motorbike nuisance and speeding stolen cars by the roundabout on Stanhope Road. 

I am campaigning for action by the Council and Police to include, potentially, barriers to be installed on this roundabout.

A quick update on some other issues we are currently trying to get sorted in the ward:

• Morgan Road - I spotted some broken glass in the street (near the junction with Redlands Road), evidence of a break-in and reported this to RBC and TVP. Historically car break-ins and other asb has been a problem in this area. I wrote to officers earlier this week to request a lighting upgrade (it is a very gloomy spot).
  Officers responded today saying that crime data shows that this is a hotspot and they are investigating crime-reduction measures including promoting 'empty car' messages locally.
•  Bede Walk - following recent vandalism to cars in the garage area I am continuing to call for action by the Council to improve the security of this area. No solutions have been put forward as yet.

If you are a resident living in any of these roads who has been affected, or if you have any crime problems in your bit of the ward please do get in touch with us so we can follow it up with the Police and Council.

Low crime reporting is still a major issue locally and without the crime data to back up what we hear from residents it can be hard for us as councillors to get action taken.

I led a high-profile campaign last year calling for a better Police response to local crime reports after receiving lots of complaints from residents who felt they were not being listened to (and as a result they stopped reporting issues).

For example, Council spending on crime-reduction measures (from the Safer Reading Campaign pot) have to be linked to crime stats.

We would like to urge any residents reading this who are affected by crime and anti-social behaviour to please contact Thames Valley Police with the details via the anti-social behaviour action line on 0845 8 505 50.

Finally, I'm grateful to constituents from the Marlborough Avenue/Elmhurst Road Neighbourhood Watch who drew my attention to the problem of distraction burglaries which are apparently on the increase in parts o Redlands.

I attach the Police advice they have given me below:

 The tactics used are as follows:

1. Bogus water board or other utility callers.

2. A boy calls to say he has lost his ball in your garden.

3. "I'm working in your street and notice you've got a slate lose" etc etc.

4. "I've broken down and don’t have my mobile with me can I come in and use your phone"?

All such tactics employ two people, one acting as the decoy whilst the other one gains entry, steal keys, or mobiles, or wallets or check the place over for valuables.

DON’T Let anyone into your home under any circumstances unless they have previously arranged an appointment with you and have official photo identity, or are family or friends.

Parking on Hexham Road estate - progress at last

Looking back at previous entries on the blog I worked out it was as long ago as July 2008 that I first started nagging officers to do something about parking problems faced by residents living on a number of roads around Hexham Road estate.

I knew that we faced particular hurdles sorting these problems out because the land on the estate is partly the responsiblity of housing and partly the responsibility of highways...

But still the responsibility of the same Council, I hear you cry!

Well it took well over a year to arrange a site visit with officers from housing and highways department... but I'm pleased to say it finally happened today and we are really grateful to Avril Wilson and Pat Baxter for giving up their time to meet us and residents on the estate on what turned out to be a very chilly November afternoon.

A brief summary of the issues we talked about:

• Problems of car vandalism by the garages in Bede Walk and the fact that garage areas in general on the estate are tending to be crime hot-spots
• Parking problems on Morpeth Close. Officers are going to look at potentially marking out some parking bays by the flats and doing something to stop residents getting block in by visitors
• Lack of parking spaces for residents on Newcastle Road

But it's not all doom and gloom. As we walked around we noticed improved lighting on Newcastle Road, tidier bin stores across the estate, and car parks around some of the flats on Hexham Road - all things my colleagues Glenn, Kirsten and I have actively campaigned for in recent years.

We were joined on the walkabout by a number of local residents, many of whom I have spoken to frequently over the years about these problems. They were able to give officers a real insight into some of the parking issues.

Avril and Pat pledged to meet again and hopefully come up with some draft proposals we can put to residents.

We are not looking for another survey/consultation exercise. Officers from the Council know where the problems are and more importantly, the last survey the Council carried out as part of the Hexham Improvement Plan showed that parking was second only to policing as one of the top issues residents are unhappy with on the estate.

After years of inaction by Labour-run Reading Borough Council, residents from this bit of South Reading  now want to see some action.

Why are Reading's Christmas lights on during the day?

I was busy reading through planning committee papers earlier today when the following message flashed up on Twitter on the Reading hashtag - #rdg - in Twitter-speak.

"Why the f*** are the Christmas lights on during the day in Reading Town Center?? What a waste"

I wasn't following the correspondent but I was keen to find out more, so I tweeted him back offering to get in touch with Reading Borough Council for some answers.

Another couple of tweets flashed up:

"Thanks it's not that hard to have them come on when it's dark, a la street lights. It was the same last year too.

"It's almost as bad as the shops leaving their lights on at night. Who wants to be walking through #rdg at 4am and window shop?"

I immediately got in touch with Cllr Paul Gittings, Labour's Lead Member for the Environment, and self-appointed climate change champion.

He wasn't aware that the lights were being left on during the day.

I pointed out that leaving Christmas lights on was not particularly environmentally-sensible, especially as the Council recently signed up to the national 10:10 campaign for action now on climate change.

On the Council's pledge, Cllr Gittings said at the time:

"10:10 is a great way to build on the work the council is already doing to reduce emissions. We hope that by stepping out in this way more groups and individuals will sign up to 10:10 and sign the local climate change pledge".

And at last week's Reading 2020 Forum meeting where climate change was the main topic up for discussion Cllr Jo Lovelock was at pains to demonstrate the Council's committment to doing more to reduce carbon emissions in Readng.

I hear Reading West Labour MP, Martin Salter was also vocal in his support for action at a recent meeting of the Greater Reading Environmental Network.

And yet his Labour colleagues in Parliament overwhelming rejected a Lib Dem motion calling for Parliament to sign up to 10:10 campaign.in October.

So I have to say I found Cllr Gittings' response to my email today: "I'm not sure about the facts re the Xmas lights" a bit disappointing. True, Christmas lights are not directly the responsibility of the Council (shops pay for them as part of the Business Improvement District) but the Council should have a say.

Surely it is Cllr Gitting's job to ensure that environmental sustainbility lies at the heart of all local decisions and activities that the Council and local businesses are involved in?

Anyway, Cllr Gittings promised to look into the Christmas lights and get the issue of shops leaving their lights on all night on the local agenda via the Reading Business Improvement District and Reading CIC (the local economic development company).

I mentioned the issue to Linda Fort at the Evening Post and she was able to find out that the light-bulbs that are being used are low-energy bulbs - which is something.

But do these lights have to be blazing all day? This simply does not make finanical or environmental sense. 

Christmas lights in the Town Centre are very visible. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas lights.

But what message does leaving them on all day send out about environmental responsibility?

I'm afraid this episode goes to show again for all the fine words from Labour politicians in Reading about tackling climate changes there is still far too little action, far too little leadership.

Reading's 'weak' ambulance service under the spotlight

You may have read last month that the performance of our local ambulance service here in Reading was heavily criticised by inspectors. You can read the inspector's report here.

The South Central Ambulance Trust which runs the ambulance service is a relatively new organisation and covers a massive area - not just Reading, and not just Berkshire. 

As I've said before, due to a number of factors including its geographical location the population of Reading does not always get the provision of health services it really needs.

In the Lib Dems we want more accountability for health services and less 'postcode lotteries'. Where you live should not dictate the quality of health services you receive.

The Trust's headquarters are in Bicester (!) which give you an idea about how local they are.

Some more facts about the Trust:

• It was established on 1 July 2006 following the merger of four ambulance trusts in the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and Oxfordshire.
• This area covers approximately 3,554 sq miles with a resident population of over four million
• The Trust's emergency call centres handle more than 400,000 emergency and urgent calls a year.

The two main functions of the Trust are:

• the provision of an accident and emergency service to respond to 999 calls
• the Patient Transport Service

Bloggers in Bracknell recently raised the alarm about perfomance and staff shortages in their area.

Key concerns inspectors raised include response times by the Ambulance Trust to emergency calls from the public. These fell well short of national standards.

Overall, quality of services overall has gone down hill over the past two years - from 'good' to 'weak'.

The Trust responded to the criticism as follows:

"We fully accept the findings of the CQC AHC review for last year. Prior to the
publication of this report, South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SCAS)
has already made significant improvements to address the areas highlighted by
the annual health check"

Read the statement in full here.

The reasons behind the problems identified by inspectors are no doubt complex and varied.

Things like Swine Flu could have an impact, for an example.

I really hope they are not linked to financial pressures - as these pressures are set to increase.

However, it's vitally important we get a better understanding of the challenges the Trust is facing so that any problems can be tackled swiftly.

Wearing my Chair of Scrutiny hat I have invited senior officers from the Trust to the next meeting of the Housing, Health and Community Care Panel in Reading on 8 December.

This is the only real opportunity we have in Reading to get some answers. We need reassurances too that people in Reading are getting a good service.

Find more details about this meeting in this RBC press release.

The meeting will be held in public at 6.30pm in the Kennet Room at the Civic Offices.

If you have any questions or concerns your would like to raise with the Trust at the meeting or you would like me to raise on your behalf please email me: redlandslibdems@hotmail.co.uk.

National Week of Action on Empty Homes: 22-27 November

Readers of this blog will know I have been leading a campaign in Reading for a number of years to reduce the number of empty (private) properties in the Borough.

You can find out more about our local campaign by visiting www.redlandslibdems.org.uk/emptyhomes

This week is the annual National Week of Action on Empty Homes which is being spearheaded by the independent campaigning charity, the Empty Homes Agency.

Because this problem goes far wider than just Reading.

There are currently nearly one million empty properties in the UK and given we are in the middle of a housing crisis this is a national scandal.

I was invited to join the Board of the EHA earlier this year and I am keen to promote the work of this excellent charity and to help them campaign to bring down the numbers of empty homes in the UK.

Launching the Week of Action, David Ireland, Chief Executive of the EHA said:

"House building is unable to keep up with our growing need for housing, but one in thirty homes in this country is empty. If everybody in this country is going to be well housed we don’t just have to build new homes, we need to make use of the ones we already have.

Getting an empty home back into use costs a fraction of the price of building a new home, and we know that leaving homes empty costs the taxpayer billions of pounds a year. In our view the case for action is a no-brainer!”

This campaign coincided with figures released by the Halifax bank which showed that there are currently over 300,000 privately owned long-term homes in England. In total there are 970,000 empty homes in the UK.

Government statistics show that there are 4,800 government - owned empty homes, yet just one government agency: Defence Estates admits to have over 9,500 empty homes.

This is a scandal when we know that hundreds of thousands of families are currently waiting for affordable housing to become available.

This is leading to real problems like overcrowding and a general detirioration of many neighbourhoods right across the UK. Check out this story about an empty home belonging to two MPs!

The Empty Homes Agency would like to see the government take the following action on this issue:-

• Redirect unspent funding intended for building new homes to fund the renovation of empty homes.
• Publish an annual report on the true number of vacant homes owned by government. It should set out an action plan for how and when these homes will be sold or returned to use.
• Help owners who want to bring their properties back into use by reducing the VAT on the costs of renovation. But it should close the loophole that enables many property owners to claim long term council tax discounts and exemptions for keeping their homes empty.
• Help councils to become more skilled in tackling empty homes by supporting a programme of skills development, which would enable councils to support owners in bringing their homes back to use.

Nationally, Sarah Teather MP (Lib Dem housing spokesperson) has led the way in lobbying the government for real action on this issue.

And earlier this year I took our local campaign to Westminster and won ministerial backing for action.

The Lib Dems in Reading have time and again shown we are the only political party prepared to actively campaign on this issue to bring down the number of empty homes in the Borough. My colleagues over in Katesgrove have been particularly active in this area in recent months.

Thanks to me, empty homes is now a standing item on the HHCC Scrutiny Panel agenda so that never again can this issue be overlooked by the Labour administration of the Council - a council which years ago, when Cllr Tony Jones was Lead member for housing won awards for it's empty homes work.

And thanks to the strategy that the Lib Dems got the Labour Executive to introduce last year we are now seeing real, tangible progress and empty properties being brought back into use in Reading for the first time in years.

But we are not complacent.

There is a lot more work to be done and hundreds more empty homes to bring back into use here in Reading.

If you are concerned about an empty property in your area report it to the Council for action emptyhomes@reading.gov.uk today.

Support this important campaign: visit www.emptyhomes.com and learn how you can start taking action in your area now.

November Planning Update

Some news about a couple of local planning campaigns we are actively involved in in Redlands at the moment:

1. 22 Alexandra Road planning application

We have been campaigning alongside a group of local residents for several weeks to stop a planning application to convert No 22 into four flats.

After being deferred twice (once for a controversial site visit) officers are now recommending this application be rejected at Planning Applications Commitee next week (2 December).

There were a number of complex issues that cropped up the last time this application was discussed by members. It's unclear at this stage whether or not these have been totally resolved.

It will be important that members find strong planning reasons to refuse it when the time comes.

We await the latest officers' report with interest and hope that members of the Committee make the right decision in relation to this application.

2. 46 Redlands Road planning application

We heard today that the developer behind plans to redevelop 46 Redlands Road for 10 flats has submitted amended plans to RBC..just days before the Planning Applications Committee is due to decide on the application.

I'm not surprised by this - there has been a large number of objections to this application sent into RBC in recent weeks.

I submitted a detailed objection expressing concerns about the negative impact this plan could have on the Redlands Road/Allcroft Road area.

It would have been a whole lot more straightforward and better for all concerned if the developers had bothered to consult ward councillors and residents before submitting these plans.

We could have told them what issues were likely to be raised and what concerns local people have about redevelopment of this site so that they could have put together something more amenable to the community.

As it is we are faced once again with a deeply flawed proposal which has caused a lot of disquiet locally (that could have been avoided).

Anyway, It looks as though officers are set to recommend that this planning application be approved by members of the Planning Applications Committee at the 2 December meeting.

This is bad news and we will continue to work hard to support local residents who have grave concerns about this proposal.

Housing repairs hell II

Earlier this month I blogged about a housing repair howler experienced by a constituent on Hexham Road.

Yesterday  I was faced by an even worse tale from three constituents living a couple of streets away.

Some background.

One flat in a block I visited yesterday had recently had central heating installed.

Admittedly this was two years after it was orginally promised by RBC, but the tenant was pleased it had arrived. What happened next was near enough disastrous.

Contractors working for the council installed the central heating hastily. Too hastily it now transpires.

A few days later the tenant in the flat downstairs was horrified to find water pouring in through the light fittings into his bathroom. The carpet in his bathroom was ruined.

But things were set to get even worse for residents in this RBC block.

The tenant in the flat next door to the flat with the new central heating has not had hot water for three weeks.

We're not sure if it's connected to the other problems but it might be.

This tenant has been forced to go to friend's houses for showers. RBC's response was to offer him a kettle.

And that's not the only problem these tenants are facing.

The tenant who has new central heating complained that she is unable to regulate the temperature.

She had requested a card meter so she could keep track of payments and this was refused. As a result the new heating is costing her more than she can afford.

I met all three tenants today to listen to these various problems.

There were common themes: multiple phone calls to the Council. Lack of feedback. Different contractors turning up, work not being completed and information not being shared. They were frustrated and angry at the way the Council had treated them. "No one takes responsibility" one said.

This is familiar stuff and really very disappointing.

Once again I have been forced to raise the matter formally with senior officers in the housing department.

Council contracts are much sought after and we should not giving them to firms that do not deliver a good service to tenants.

And those contractors that fail to meet agreed standards must not continue to receive contracts.That must be the bottom line.

Accountability must lie with the Council, even if work is carried out by a third party.

Perhaps when Labour councillors are not busy slapping themselves on the back about RBC's performance over the years, they might take some time to speak to tenants like these (and I'm pretty sure they're not the only ones!) who have been on the receiving end of some pretty shoddy service c/o the Council. 

They might get an altogether different view of some Council services.