Redlands Liberal Democrats

Redlands ward refuse collection consultation

On 11 July the Labour administration of Reading Borough Council agreed to proceed consulting residents in a limited number of streets over potential changes to refuse collections.

The Cabinet agreed that residents in 47 streets identified as priority areas would be consulted regarding the reintroduction of a weekly sack refuse collection to replace the current fortnightly bin collection, for residual waste.

These streets were identified by Council officers as those that could benefit from such a scheme as one where:

a)      Very limited or no storage space and narrow footways

b)      There are regularly access difficulties for collection vehicles

The Cabinet report presented on 11 July reported:

‘Where the change is made, collections will be from sacks only, no wheeled bins will be emptied. Residents will be welcome to retain their bins for storage elsewhere (presumably in rear gardens), but must bring refuse sacks to the street for collection.’

• Cabinet agreed that before introducing any changes, ‘residents in the selected streets will be consulted on their preferences.’
• Cabinet agreed that consultation letters should be distributed by Ward Councillors and their responses analysed by Councillor services.

We felt it was important as many residents as possible were able to respond to this consultation to ensure any decisions to change arrangements for refuse collections (or leave them unchanged) are supported by residents.

We wrote to all residents in the identified streets in Redlands and encouraged them to respond via Freepost envelope to let us know their views. 

We asked residents to indicate whether or not they were for or against moving to weekly sack refuse collections.

The intention behind this was to give residents more choice and influence over waste collection services.

We would like to thank all residents who have responded to our consultation.

To date we have received 83 responses and the results so far are as follows:-

Cardigan Road (total houses - 83)
For 1 Against 23
Cardigan Gardens (total houses - 26)
For 0 Against 7
Foxhill Road (total houses - 96)
For 1 Against 23
New Road (total houses 36)
For 0 Against - 8
Montague St (total houses 24)
For 2 Against 3
Eldon St (total houses (27)
For 2 Against 3
Eldon Terrace (total houses 210
1 For 2 Against
Town Place (9)
2 against
Victoria St
1 For 3 against
As you can see, the majority of responses we have received so far from residents have been opposed to changing refuse collections from fortnightly to weekly. 

However, in some streets the response rate has been relatively low which has made it more difficult to determine local views.

A number of residents who responded said they were content with existing arrangements, and others said they feared an increase in vermin and rubbish on the streets.

We respect the views expressed by residents on this issue.

It was always our intention to consult residents before recommending any changes to refuse collection services and we are pleased that Labour councillors progressed the consultation to enable resident’s views to be taken into account.

Previously when Labour introduced fortnightly collections residents were not consulted whatsoever about the change. This was wrong.

I have passed the results of the local consultation we carried out to Cllr Paul Gittings, Lead Member for Environment and Sustainability in the Labour administration of the Council who is responsible for making decisions about refuse collections to help give him an idea of local public opinion towards this issue.

He will consider the results and make a decision over the future of collection arrangements in due course. He has indicated he will only bring forward a change to weekly sack collections where there is overwhelming support from local residents to do this.

As a Party the Local Liberal Democrats are fully committed to ensuring that residents are fully consulted about any changes to local services and we will continue to lobby the Labour-run administration to give residents as much say as possible about how local services are delivered.

Lib Dem campaign results in cleaner University area for local residents

Earlier today I visited the University area of Redlands with the Lead Member for Transport, Streetcare officers and other ward councillors.

We were visiting the area following the end of the University term (when most students move out),and after the additional collections of excess waste (campaigned for by the Lib Dems) had taken place.

I have no doubt this visit would not have happened had we not got this issue on the political agenda in Reading - after all, that is what local campaigning is all about!

It is hard to believe Labour councillors thought they could get away with this avoidable cut to frontline services.

We visited a number of streets including Addington Road, Erleigh Road , Blenheim Road, Hatherley Road and Blenheim Gardens with Steve Archer from Streetcare who  with his team had worked very hard to remove all excess waste including a large number of contaminated red (recycling bins).

I have carried out such walkabouts many times in the past and noted down overflowing bins to pass on to Streetcare.

This role is now fulfilled by Environmental Liaison Officers and this has made a big difference to the way streets look and feel.

Officers acknowledged my regular complaints about rubbish build up had led to the introcution of extra collections a few years ago.

Overall the area looked very clean and tidy: the additional collection on Saturday was clearly needed and we are very grateful to all the staff working in Streetcare for working so hard on this.

Streetcare officers have agreed to monitor the area and to pick up any excess waste. Please contact me: redlandslibdems if you live in the area and notice any waste management issues.@hotmail.co.uk

I'm glad that following our successful local campaign Labour saw sense and reversed their planned cut to this vital service.

We believe strongly that residents should not have to in streets strewn with rubbish and have led the campaign in Redlands for a cleaner and green ward.

In recent years we have:

• Got bottle banks installed across the ward
• Increased choice for residents over waste collections
• Introduced deep cleans for overlooked out of town shopping areas
• Campaigned to get the Council to cut the number of missed bin collections

We are always looking for new ideas about how to improve Redlands. Please get in touch with any ideas you have.

Cleaning up Clayton Walk

 
Today as part of our regular walkabouts around the ward I spoke to a resident on Clayton Walk off Hexham Road who took me to see this mess in the alleyway behind his house.

He told me an absentee landlord had dumped the rubbish over a month ago and that despite reports to the Council's Housing Department it was still there.

Residents should not have to put up with this.

I have reported the issue to the Council calling on officers to clear up the rubbish as soon as possible and use the powers available to the Council to take action against the landlord for fly-tipping.

Campaigning for better Streetcare services for local residents

Today I met with officers from Streetcare and Highways to discuss the thorny issue of missed bin collections in around Foxhill Road .

The meeting was arranged by officers after I contacted them following a large number of complaints from residents.

At the moment residents are not getting an adaquate explanation as to why collections are getting missed and many are feeling short-changed, as you might expect.

My colleague Cllr Glenn Goodall has tabled a question to the next Council meeting on this to ensure the Labour Lead Councillor prioritises action.

Many residents feels that a reliable bin collection service is the minimum they should expect from their local Council.

We agree and we are supporting residents on this and calling on the Labour-run Council to investigate possible solutions.

Officers have offered to go away and look into the issue.

They have also agreed to my request to communicate to residents what the process is for missed collections and how they plan to deal with the problem in the future.

As ward councillors for the area our role is to stand up for residents and campaign for better services for them and we will continue to do this vigorously.

Council reinstates end of term collections - good news for residents!

Great news for residents and students in the University area today as the campaign we launched a few days ago has resulted in Reading Borough Council, (which is currently controlled by a Labour minority administration) reinstating end of term bin collections.

Labour had planned to cut the collections without letting residents know.

We thought residents might have something to say about this - and they did!

The Council has confirmed that on Saturday July 2 there will be a special collection in the student areas.

As I pointed out this was a completely unnecessary cut to frontline services that we would never have made had we been running the Council.

Labour councillors blamed officers for the decision (and attempted to blame us) but they are running the Council and they must take ultimate responsibility for all Council decisions.

We would like to thank all the residents who signed our petition and who supported our campaign.

 We are always happy to work with any political group if it helps improve the quality of the local environment for residents we represent.

Full details of planned waste collections are outlined below:

• Household waste will be collected – Week commencing 27 June  & 11 July 2011
• Recycling waste will be collected – Week commencing 4 July 2011
• Crews will collect ALL domestic or recycling bagged waste adjacent to bins throughout this three week period (Monday 27th June to Friday 15th July).  We promise to take all rubbish put out for collection
• The Waste Operation Management teams will survey the area daily (excluding weekends) and identify any properties with visible excess bagged waste. If a regular collection is not due within 48 working hours the team will arrange a separate collection within 24 hours (any identified on a Friday which will be collected the following Monday).
• Environmental Wardens will knock on known student properties on Monday and Tuesday  evenings for w/c 20/6 and 27/6 to make sure as much household waste is put out in good time for scheduled refuse collection each week.
• On Saturday 2 July there will be an extra collection in the student area

We are pleased to see on this one Labour councillors have listened to residents' concerns and ditched their plans to scrap extra collections.

We will continue to stand up for residents and fight for better services in our ward.

Saga of missed bin collection on Foxhill Road continues - when will Labour act?

 
This is a view of Foxhill Road taken by a local resident who took this picture this morning. Looks pretty clear, doesn't it?.

The resident emailed me to report yet another day when Labour-controlled Reading Borough Council failed to collect refuse on time:

"Our bins should of been collected last thursday instead of wednesday due to the bank holiday.. I'm afraid this did not happenand today (Monday) the dust cart come down the road and did not clear any bins now its catchup again...There was no issue
with parking as Foxhill road was clear, other wise dustcart wouldn't have got all way round to come down."

Another resident emailed in:

"no collection again today ( even having flagged the missed collection on Friday)  one more day and were on a 3 week black-bin collection cycle."

Finally a third resident copied me into this email:

"Myself, and many others, are very frustrated with this persistent, shoddy service and the fact, that our present council does not seem to be in a position to correct this! Whether through Reading Council's incompetence or disregard in this matter, please be reminded, that a percentage of our council taxes cover the cost of such a service and we therefore expect "value for money"! 

i wonder how the same residents will feel when they learn that Reading Labour councillors have agreed to scrap planned end of term collections, as a I reported yesterday.

I have written to officers again asking them what they will do to fix missed bin collections in the area.

In the meantime, if you haven't already done so - sign our petition to stop Labour councillors unilaterally cutting waste collection services.

Rubbish News: Labour scrap extra bin collections at end of University terms

Over the past five years we have actively campaigned to get the Council, University and Students' Union to work together to tackle the problem of excess waste at the end of University terms - in particular the summer term.

With the introduction of fortnightly collection of household waste by Labour in 2006 the management of waste in student houses became an even bigger issue.

We successfully campaigned to get the Council to introduce extra collections at the end of terms to reduce waste.

We also planned to increase weekly collections in areas where waste managment remains a problem.

I hear that Labour councillors have taken the decision behind closed doors to scrap extra collections in the University area.

This is very bad news for residents who will be forced to put up with rubbish piled high in front gardens.

It will also be highly-detrimental to student-resident relations which we have worked hard with both the University, the Students Union and the Council to improve.

Neither we as ward councillors for the area or residents have been consulted about this change.

The question is did the Labour councillor for Redlands know about it? And what has she said about it?

This cut is highly unecessary and is example of the type of reduction in service we have warned residents with the advent of a Labour administration in Reading.

Labour's short-sighted plans such as those to scrap charges for green waste collections which will leave a £320k shortfall in the budget mean they will have no choice but to make cuts to frontline services to balance the budget.

Labour's election literature made no mention of this cut. Did the Greens know about it and agree to it?

This is not what we would have done had we still been running the Council.

We will be campaigning to reinstate these collections to keep Redlands clean and green.

Please sign the petition!

Another week, more missed bin collections on Foxhill Road

A resident has just 'phoned to tell me that black (household waste) bins have not been collected again this week on Foxhill Road.

Bins were supposed to be collected earlier this week.

The resident told me she reported it twice to the Council who reportedly told them they had tried 3-4 times to access the road but couldn't due to parked cars (or vans).

My colleague Cllr Glenn Goodall has tabled a question to the Lead Member for Environment & Sustainability on the issue to be answered at the next Council meeting.

As the Evening Post has reported, it's not just bin lorries that are finding it almost impossible to access the street.

Following my complaint to officers I have also been promised a walkabout with the Director of Service. Hopefully this will lead to improvements for residents.

As my constituent said:
"We pay our Council Tax like everyone else - this just isn't good enough."

Too right it isn't. The Council's Transport and Streetcare departments must work together to sort this problem out.

Update - Foxhill/Cardigan Road area bin collections

Following my post earlier this week about reported problems with refuse and recycling collections in and around Foxhill Road, this evening Glenn and I went down to talk to residents in the area to find out what they thought.

A number of residents reported problems and a number have reported missed collections to the Council.

However, it was disappointing to hear that problems we identified a few years ago with the service concerning poor communication and customer service continue.

Below is a message I have sent to the Chief Executive, Directorate of Environment which summarises the issues:

1. Residents have been reporting missed bins to the Council on several occasions. Despite calls coming in from more than resident only individual bins are being collected.
2. This is an issue Lib Dems have been raising for years and it concerns me that the systems are not in place to ensure that missed collections are detected.
3. Bins are not being collected on the right day (for various reasons - parking, traffic - it is unclear to residents why) so much so that many residents don't know which bin is being collected when.
4. This is linked to poor communication - residents are not being told when bins are missed and not being told when they can expect them.
5. Some residents are reporting that inconsiderate parking - by two owners of large white vans (including kangarooremovals.co.uk) is causing problems.
6. If this is so can Environmental Wardens not contact the companies and make them aware of the problems these commercial vehicles are causing?
7. Other residents are reporting that the parking problems are not the cause but that Streetcare teams are not attempting to get round the street.
8. Again this problem is exacerbated by lack of adequate communication to residents.
9. Residents report that Streetcare vehicles are trying to access the street and neighbouring streets at peak times - 8am for example.
10. Is this sensible given this is often when roads are most congested? Is thought given to the optimum time for services & shifts?

My colleagues and I have been raising these issues on and off for years so it is disappointing that a number of issues haven't been tackled.

There have clearly been a number of improvements - notably in the call centre but my concern is that back office systems are not up to scratch to deliver residents the excellent customer service they deserve and which I know staff are working hard to deliver.

I  am keen to be constructive on this and would be happy to discuss the above in more detail - I really hope the Council can learn from these basic problems and deliver an improved service to Council Taxpayers.

I will keep you posted on the response!

Lib Dems win more recycling litter bins for Erleigh Road

  Last month I blogged about plans by the Borough Council to extend on-street recycling which came about because of lobbying by my colleague Glenn Goodall and the Lib Dems in Reading. As a result of our campaign new bins are being installed across Reading - in Kings Road opposite TVU also Lowfield Rd shops Caversham, Farnham Drive Precinct Caversham, Meadway Precinct (Asda) Tilehurst, The Triangle School Rd Tilehurst,Coronation Square in Southcote,Wensley Rd shops in Coley,Wokingham Rd shops,Whitley Wood Lane/Northumberland Ave shops in Whitley, Whitley Street shops in Katesgrove, Caversham Road,and Oxford Road/ Norcot Road. These new recycling bins will be used for recycling cans, plastic and paper.I wrote to officers in March requesting that Erleigh Road be added to that list - ideally outside the Co-Op. I received a response back from officers yesterday to say they are actively investigating my proposal and they are hopeful that bins will be installed later this week. I was in the area yesterday and lo and behold it had already been sorted. Thank you Streetcare!