Redlands Liberal Democrats

Thames Valley Police asb hotline set for review

You may remember back in April, I highlighted the problems here faced by residents trying to report crime via the Thames Valley Police anti-social behaviour/non-emergency telephone number.

I have publicly pressed for improvements to this service since 2006 and I continue to receive complaints about the way calls are handled/mishandled by the out of town call centre. This needs to be sorted so people think it's worthwhile reporting crimes to the Police and to ensure that our neighbourhoods get the Police attention they deserve.

Residents in North Whitley who I have been encouraging to phone in issues relating to mini-motos have certainly had a mixed response via this number and this has delayed getting action taken to tackle this nuisance.

Anyway, success at last tonight as I got the issue on to the agenda for the next meeting of the Council's Safer Reading Campaign on 20 October. Please contact me with your experience of reporting issues to the Police via the hotline number (0845 8 505 505) and I would be happy to raise these with TVP representatives at that meeting.

I also pressed the Police to update members of the Campaign on the progress of Neighbourhood Policing in the New Year, one year after it as rolled out across Reading.

Confirmation too tonight from officers that our bid for improved street lighting on Foxhill/Cardigan Roads, Blenheim/Cardigan Gardens is progressing.

With luck around 19 lamps will be upgraded in this area over the coming months - long overdue.

Making Bede Walk safer

I'm pleased to say that it looks as though my campaign to make Bede Walk, off Northumberland Avenue, a safer more pleasant place to live is finally getting somewhere.

I have been in close touch with residents living there over the past year about a range of issues which have caused them frustration:from flooding to flytipping. Residents have been very supportive, sending emails to officers and signing petitions to help get things need to be done.

Last week officers confirmed that funding is likely to be made available for 6 additional lighting columns on the Walk, as well as an anti-cycle barrier (mini-motos have been an ongoing problem). This is fantastic news.

After a fair amount of nagging on my part I'm also pleased to report that the vandalised alley-gates have been repaired. Glenn visited the area with officers and residents this week - we would prefer to see a different type of alley-gate used (preferably not one that can be opened without a key on a regular basis!)

We are still pressing RBC to come up with a more permanent solution to repeated fly-tipping at the end of the Walk. I have written once again to Reading Girls School asking them to sort out their hedge - both to reduce littering, and to make the Walk feel safer. They had promised to do this as part of the development of their Post-16 centre, which I blogged in January. I really hope it happens.

One thing I do still need to do is get RBC to improve signage on the Walk: at the moment there are no signs to tell people where it is and this is proving frustrating for residents awaiting deliveries etc!

Alley gates - partial success

Since I raised the issue of ineffective alley gates in and around Hexham Road last week, the Council's Housing Department has responded to me today:

"Thank you for your enquiry concerning the Alley gates at Hexham Road. Having investigated I can confirm that a job will be raised next week to service all the gates."

I'm glad the Council is finally taking steps to ensure that the gates are secure and that any outstanding repairs are fixed. Local residents have complained to us for a long time that these gates have not been effective in protecting their properties.In the longer term we will be pressing the Council to install tamper-proof gates that are a better defence against would-be burglars.

Alley gates on Hexham Road estate: time for action

On Thursday evening I received an email from a resident about a break-in to a property on Hexham Road. The burglar had got access to the property via the alley gate which had been vandalised. This is the second break-in that's been reported to me in the past 3 weeks and it's very worrying.The problem is this: the gates are lockable but children are able to put their hands through the gaps and open gates. As you can see from this photo, anyone with a slim wrist could do the same. The other problem with them is that these gates are very prone to vandalism (particularly of the  closing mechanism), and the Council does not repair them quickly enough.

A number of families and elderly people live in houses which back on these gates. I visited the estate yesterday and talked to residents who have been affected.They told me that they do not feel safe and they are fed up with the Council doing nothing about it.

I have written to RBC's Housing Department asking them to urgently review the type of alley gating used on the estate - residents deserve better.

Cycle Theft is out of control!

In Reading as a whole there are very few dedicated cycle lanes and the ones we have don’t connect. As a result cyclists must use the already crowed roads. If we are to convince people to ditch their cars and take up cycling we need a connected system which is easy to use. Cllr Daisy Benson has been campaigning on this issue for some time now, see this earlier blog enty: click here, and has been raising this issue on the Safer Reading Campaign (crime committee) for some time now.

I’m originally from Peterborough, and there we had excellent cycle paths and the ‘green wheel’ what orbits the city. Moving people from their cars to bikes for short trips and the commute to town for work will reduce congestion on our roads - making it easier for those who work outside the town to level painlessly. However, there is another deterrent to increased bicycle use and that’s the ever increasing levels of bicycle theft. Around 1200 bicycles a year are reported stolen from public places in Reading Borough and Wokingham District combined, corresponding to over three cycle thefts every day. Incidents of bike theft have risen from 149 in 2006/07 to 219 in 2007/08! That’s around a 30 % increase, the current Labour Administration don’t seem too want to take this seriously. Cllr Tony Page (Labour) has dismissed the problem as being down to middle class students not securing their bikes properly.

This issue needs to be addressed, perhaps using lessons learnt by other councils such as Oxford – We need well lit, multiple lock-up areas in strategic positions throughout the town.

Hanging on the telephone

I had an interesting morning, listening to a public evidence session held by the Home Affairs Select Committee. I attended in my capacity as Safer Communities spokesperson for the Lib Dems locally.

The Committee was on a visit to Reading as part of their inquiry into Policing for the 21st Century. This follows a visit to Reading yesterday by the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, to look at Neighbourhood Policing in action.

She could have visited any part of Reading, but she decided to tour the marginal Labour ward of Abbey for some reason.

Given that Martin Salter MP is closely linked with both the Committee (he is a member), and Mrs Smith (he used to be her PPS), it's pretty obvious that both these visits were designed to raise the profile of Reading Labour Party, ahead of a crucial set of elections on 1 May.

It's worth pointing out, however, that Reading town centre (and Redlands ward) are in Reading East constituency, which is represented by another MP we don't see very much.

As I've written before, Reading Borough Council is the last Labour Council in the South East and is clearly on the Party's critical list. I won't be at all surprised if more Labour ministers drop in for a visit in the next few days.

Anyway, the evidence session was very interesting, with a large amount of time devoted to the real issue of recruitment and retention of Police officers in the Thames Valley.

A representative of the Thames Valley Police Federation commented 'Thames Valley Police is the training ground for the Metropolitan Police'. There is a shortage of experienced officers in our area as they are drawn to work in London (attracted by the free train travel) and increased pay. This means that we have less experienced officers in the Reading area as more specialists leave to work for the Met.

Lack of affordable housing and other costs of living hit our local Police officers hard. In 2001, the South Eastern Regional Allowance of £2,000 was introduced for all officers who had been in the Police force since 1994. This allowance has not been increased since then. This clearly needs to change and the Lib Dems will continue to support our local Police in their campaign for fair funding and fair pay.

There followed a short discussion on the impact of Neighbourhood Policing in Reading that only really scratched the surface. There was afterwards a very short amount of time for public questions. I asked Sara Thornton , Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police what could be done to improve the Police's anti-social behaviour hotline (o845 8 505).

At present, If you report a crime via this number you get through to a call-centre based outside Reading. Call operators do not know the local area and they do not tell callers whether a local Police officer will attend the scene. Residents have told me that they have found reporting crimes this way deeply unsatisfactory and that it might well put them off reporting crimes to the Police in the future.

The other problem we have in Reading is the fact that there are two anti-social behaviour hotlines, with another line being run by RBC. This just adds to the confusion.

Jacqui Smith said earlier this year that Neighbourhood Policing would mean that people would be able to get the mobile phone numbers of their local Police team.This hasn't happened in Reading where Neighbourhood Policing has recently been rolled out.

Sara Thornton replied that she was aware of the issue and that Thames Valley Police would shortly be changing its policy which would meant that local Police officers would attend the scene of crimes reported via the hotline. This is welcome news.

The most surreal moment of the day came at the end of the session when Martin Salter was presented with a birthday cake! Overall a worthwhile event, however.

Campaigning to reduce crime around Redlands

I'm the Lib Dem Safer Communities spokesperson, so I spend a lot of time speaking to residents and the Police about ways we can reduce crime and disorder both in Redlands, and across Reading. Kirsten helps me greatly in campaigning on this agenda as a member of the Redlands & University Neighbourhood Action Group. I thoroughly enjoy this role: it brings me into contact with lots of interesting people and when I am able to make a difference it feels very worthwhile.

On Monday evening I attended the inaugural meeting of the Whitley North Neighbourhood Action Group. This covers Redlands from Cintra Park down to Hexham Road and Northumberland Avenue We elected a very capable Chair and it was really encouraging to see a good number of local residents at the meeting. I hope these residents will help focus Police resources on issues that matter to the local community. Drugs is the top priority of this NAG. Drug-dealing and drug-related crime causes misery in parts of Reading, and Whitley suffers more than most. It certainly wont be something the Group can tackle over night, but discussing the issues and highlighting hotspots is a good first step to doing that.

On Wednesday evening I had my crime-fighting hat on again for a meeting of the Safer Reading Campaign. This Council committee meets quartelry to look at problems of crime across Reading. I am also a member of the South and East Reading Safer Forums which focuses on reducing crime in those specific areas.

We had a very interesting presentation from the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service about the work they do in Reading as a member of the Crime Reduction Disorder Partnership,the Safer Reading Campaign, which includes the Police and RBC among others. I was surprised to learn that improving road safety is one of the Fire Service's priority and I was impressed by the range of activities they carry out to improve awareness of fire safety in the community.

Inspector Andy Bellman, gave an update report on the roll out of Neighbourhood Policing in Reading. Andy has project managed the roll-out as well as being responsible for policing of the Oxford Road area of town.

There are now 41 PCSOs out and about, and every Neighbourhood Police Team is now in place. We agreed that visible policing is having a positive effect and building confidence of local communities in the Reading Police force. This follows years of Police shortages in Reading and the Thames Valley.

I said that the proof would be in the pudding and that TVP and the Council needed to monitor the impact of Neighbourhood Policing to see that it is in fact delivering crime reduction, otherwise it will be seen to be a fad. My concern is that we keep local residents engaged on the NAGs: they will need to see progress to stay interested and engaged. Andy reassured me that the Police would be keeping tabs on this.

Finally,the Council's Community Safety team gave us a quick update on capital projects to reduce crime. The following projects relate to the Redlands area:

- Muirfield Close will be getting an extra lighting column, after a campaign by the Lib Dems.

- There is a bid in for better street lighting on Foxhill Road, Cardigan Road and Cardigan Gardens (thanks to Glenn for highlighting this at the recent East Reading Safer Forum!) which should go ahead.

- Bede Walk: after a campaign by residents and myself to get RBC to help reduce anti-social behaviour in the area RBC is looking at a range of options including better lighting, improved fencing and CCTV

I left the meeting feeling positive that crime issues in Redlands are on the Council's agenda, even if it took some battling by the Lib Dem team over past two years!

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Hexham Estate: updates on street lighting and motorbike nuisance

A resident contacted me yesterday evening to point out that there are currently FOUR street lights out of action on Hexham Road and at least two lampposts have been out of action for four months.

This is clearly completely unacceptable and raises serious issues of the effectiveness of the Council's processes for monitoring street lighting across the Town.

I have contacted officers in RBC who have told me they will flag the street lights for repair urgently with SEC (the contractor) and also ask them for the fault report prepared by SEC's night scout.

The question is, why is  SEC and the highways department not picking these faults up more promptly?

We are continuing to receive complaints from residents on the Estate about motorbike nuisance. The latest reports says that young adults (18-19) are riding full size motorbikes around the Estate without helmets. I flagged this at a meeting of the Safer Reading Campaign on Wednesday (of which more later). RBC officers are working with Police to try and improve reporting of these incidents.

Street lighting around the University area

Following the concerns raised by local residents, Daisy Benson and the local Lib Dems launched a campaign at the end of last year calling on Reading Borough Council to upgrade street lighting around the University area. As a result of this, the Council agreed to increase the amount of money it spends on street lighting but we are concerned that the Council is still not investing enough in this vital area.

On Tuesday I asked the following question of RBC at its full Council meeting:

 
“The street lighting around Redlands and the University is mostly of the old-style sodium-discharge lighting and has been found to be seriously inadequate both in terms of poor light output and crime reduction. Police crime figures show that several streets in particular Cardigan Road, Cardigan Gardens and Foxhill Rd are crime hotspots which could be overcome with lighting upgrades.

 
Since Vaughan Norris of RBC's Highways department, has recently stated:

 
“Clearly this initial allocation does not allow for a significant number of streets to be carried out in each ward. Whilst the priority has to be replacing those that are life expired, it is intended to try and identify at least one scheme in each ward in the initial £500,000 allocation.”

 
How many more years does the Lead Member for Transport expect Redlands residents will be expected to wait for streetlights to be brought into the 21st century? Also do they believe funding only 1.5% of the street lighting stock across the whole of Reading is acceptable to achieve safer streets?”

 
The Labour Council’s Lead Member for Transport gave the following written answer to my question:

 
“The council acknowledges that the replacement of the older style columns throughout the borough requires major investment. The annual Local Transport Plan settlement includes an element for the replacement of life expired streetlights within its highway maintenance element. Whilst there is no specific guidance, a general rule of thumb is that 5% of the budget should be allocated to this replacement work. Based on last year’s allocation, the LTP budget will be around £65,000.”

 
This requires us to look to alternative sources of additional funding to meet the ambitious programme of renewal works the Council is seeking to carry out. Cabinet has approved an additional £500,000 of capital funding for 2008/2009 to support this programme.

 
“The Council will endeavour to identify additional funding for future years, but it is impossible to make certain predictions about when particular streets or columns will be given attention. “

 
I have also raised the matter with Emma Jones, Neighbourhood Projects Officer based in the Community Safety Team at RBC. I have asked her to consider making funding available for better streetlighting on Cardigan Road, Cardigan Gardens and Foxhill Road as a priority. Cllr Daisy Benson has also requested that the Council reviews lighting on Hatherley Road, Donnington Gardens, Blenheim Gardens, Junction Road and Donnington Road to see if they can be added to the Council’s list for upgrades.

 
It is clear that at present improving the lighting around the University area is not a priority to Reading’s Labour-run Council. My Lib Dem colleagues and I will continue to campaign for lighting improvements.

A local champion!

This week's Chronicle and today's Evening Post both feature our campaign to get the Council and Police to tackle mini-motos.

We've achieved step one which was to get this worrying issue on everyone's agenda , but what local residents want to see now is actions not words.

My contituent Kay Nash has been leading the campaign against anti-social behaviour on Bede Walk and around Hexham estate. Without Kay and other residents like her dotted around the ward, it would have been impossible for us to make the progress we have made in making Redlands clean, green and most importantly, safe. Kay's done a fantastic job and is a credit to her community. 

Kay has joined the North Whitley Neighbourhood Action Group and she is busy encouraging her neighbours to stand up for their area and take back their community. Kirsten, Glenn, and I are doing all we can to support her in this.

If the Lib Dems ran Reading Borough Council we would devolve more power to local communities and empower them to take decisions and have greater influence over issues that affect them. Residents have told me they feel powerless and ignored by RBC over issues such as crime and anti-social behaviour. We think that area committees or something like them made up of local residents and ward councillors would work better than decisions handed down by Council officers from the Civic Centre.

This is starting to happen in a limited way on the Police NAGs but we need to go further to put power back in the hands of local people.

Anyway, you can read the Post article about Kay's campaign here.