Redlands Liberal Democrats

Bulky waste in University area still a problem

Last night Kirsten and I were knocking on doors on Blenheim Road, launching our petition on the state of the roads in Redlands. We were shocked by  the number of houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) with rubbish and waste furniture dumped in the front gardens.
We are campaigning to get the Council to change it's disastrous policy of charging for bulky waste.

While we welcome the increase in waste collections at the end of term, but at present no one is taking responsibility for tackling regular flytipping that goes on year in year out around Erleigh Road.

Landlords and in some cases their tenants are not paying for large items to be collected and are using local streets as dumping grounds. This is not acceptable.

I will be writing to Council officers and Reading University asking them to visit Blenheim Road and De Beauvoir Road so they can see the problems for themselves and asking them to put greater pressure on landlords to deal with their waste responsibly.

Labour shocked by Reading food waste figures

The experts reckon that around £27 million pounds worth of food is wasted in Reading every year.

Some scary facts: for very tonne of food waste is the equivalent of 4.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere each year. Overall, food waste is responsible for 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted each year.

Today we read that the Labour Lead Member for Environment, Paul Gittings, is "pretty shocked" by these figures. Hard to know what to make of that response when many individuals and environmental pressure groups were aware of this issue long before the publication of the WRAP's damning report in May. Let's hope he and members of his group are shocked out of paralysis into action.

The Lib Dems have been campaigning to get Labour-run Reading Borough Council to do something to reduce this alarming figure and to stop sending food waste to build up in landfill for some time.

It's not rocket science: Lib-Dem controlled Islington Borough Council has been offering kitchen food waste collection for a few years now

Gordon Brown even sought to highlight the problem before settling down to a banquet at the G8 Summit earlier this week, although I got the feeling that was less about the environment than economics.

Are we to expect some practical action by the Labour leaders of our local authority to deal with this growing problem? It seems not and once again local residents are exhorted to take action in the absence of anything beyond warm words from Labour.

We will continue to challenge Labour in Reading to do more to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. Email us your thoughts and sign our petition here.

Focus on Erleigh Road waste and recycling

It seems the new bottle banks on Erleigh Road have proved very popular with local residents. So much so, we have received reports that they are regularly overflowing! We have raised this issue with Council officers directly and pressed them to increase frequency of emptying. Officers have responded by saying that these banks will now be emptied every two weeks (instead of the standard every four weeks).
We will continue to monitor the situation to check the banks are being emptied regularly enough.

I am not surprised at all to see the popularity of glass recycling in Redlands, particularly in the University area. Residents have been asking for this for years and we have supported them. Still, it's hard to believe that a couple of years ago a senior Labour Councillor attacked me publicly for suggesting that glass recycling should be introduced by RBC.

Bottle banks are one solution but not necessarily the only solution. As you may know we are campaigning for door-step collection of glass and food waste. Sign our petition here if you haven't already done so. Door-step collection would reduce the amount of on-street clutter and rubbish, as evidenced in the photo above.

Which leads me on to...more waste-related stuff.

Local residents have complained to us about the number of overflowing litter bins on Erleigh Road (like this one pictured). These make the place look untidy and attract pests so Kirsten has pressed RBC to get these bins emptied more regularly.

More generally we are campaigning to improve the street environment on Erleigh Road. Please let us know your thoughts on this and any improvements you would like to see so we can pass them on to RBC.

Glass recycling campaign: momentum grows

Bottle banks have been installed in the last week at locations in Cintra Park and Hexham Road (116-122), following years of campaigning by the Lib Dems. We are continuing to press RBC to install an additional bank to serve communties around London Road and Kings Road. If you experience any problems or issues using these banks please email Glenn so he can get issues ironed out quickly.

It seems that a number of Labour councillors are finally coming round to the Lib Dem idea of introducing glass recycling collection at the kerbside - better late than never we say! The previous administration was in the stone age on this issue claiming recycling glass was a "waste of energy". Glass recycling was raised at a meeting of the CCEA Srutiny Panel last week and a pilot is planned for later in the year ;-)

Keep the pressure up on Labour-run Reading Borough Council and sign our petition - campaign info and our petition can be found here.

The wait is over...

Following my post last week about the delayed installation of bottle banks in Redlands, I am pleased to report that the new banks will be installed next week (26 May).

We will continue to press for more local recycling facilities (particularly for the Kings Road/London Road end of the ward) and for kerbside collection of glass. Sign our petition here.

Why are we waiting...?

You may well be wondering whatever happened to the arrival of the long-awaited bottle banks, earmarked for 3 sites in Redlands (Hexham Road, Erleigh Road and Cintra Park).

After years of campaigning by the Lib Dems, we were told by Council officals earlier this year that sites would be installed during April.

Well, we're half way through May now and there is still no sign of them!

I've been trying to get answers from Council officers for weeks but to no avail.
As soon as we have any more details from RBC (such as precise dates!) we will post them here.

Glenn is also looking into potential additional sites where glass bottles could be collected including the car park of the Upin Arms pub.

Recycling aluminium cans in Redlands

I was in Cintra Park on Sunday and had a bit of brainwave. I saw a number of drink cans in the bins in the Park and I wondered if we could get the Council to introduce aluminium can recycling bins - that way cans could be recycled and not thrown away. Lots of children

I emailed Council's Streetcare team  asking them if this might be possible - their response was a little lukewarm. Apparently as Cintra Park is by RBC as a trustee litter etc is an issue for the Parks team so I will be taking the matter up with them.

Skips in Donnington Road

A constituent got in touch with me today regarding an overflowing skip and bulky waste which is causing a nuisance on Donnington Road.

Bulging skips are a menace and can be found all around the ward. They reduce the amount of on-street parking and also attract flytipping.

Skips need a license from RBC and should not be left to accumulate excess waste for weeks on end. As my constituent commented to me 'they make our area look like building site'. We couldn't agree more.

I have raised the matter with the Highways and Streetcare teams asking them to get in touch with the builders using the skip.

These skips are the visible evidence of the re-development of a number of terraced houses in and around Redlands to convert them into houses of multiple occupation (HMOs), sometimes (but not always) to be let to students. Kirsten is keeping an eye on this issue to ensure that landlords do not go to far when they build extensions etc and that the impact on the local area is considered.

Please contact Kirsten if you have any concerns about this issue or would like to discuss her campaign further.

Glass recycling on its way in Redlands...at long last!!

Just a quick note to say that we received confirmation today that the Council is finally going ahead with the installation of the FIRST EVER bottle banks in Redlands ward, after a successful campaign by the Lib Dems.

The new banks will be on Erleigh Road (pictured, on the edge of Donnington Gardens) and Hexham Road (by 116-122). They should hopefully be installed during April.

These bottle banks are arriving after a long campaign by Kirsten and I.

Local residents have been asking for local glass recycling facilities for ages. You only need to see how much needed they are by walking around the University area and seeing the glass mounting up on doorsteps.

I first gave the Council a list of possible sites in 2006. The introduction of glass recycling sites was supposed to coincide with the introduction of fortnightly bin collections...or at least that was the theory!

Anyway, there were smiles all round today and local residents I've spoken to have told us they can't wait.

We are not complacent, however.Glenn, Kirsten and I will continue for press for more banks by Cintra Park and the Upin Arms, which have been held up slightly.

This is just step one in terms of our recycling campaign. We will also continue to press for weekly collection of food waste and kerbside collection of glass. 

Please sign our petition if you haven't already done so!

Food waste collection: Reading's Labour Council lagging behind

News today that the Labour government is now actively encouraging councils to introduce weekly food collections as a means of saving money and to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. This is already happening in Lib-Dem controlled Eastleigh and Islington, and the Lib Dems in Reading have been calling for it for ages.

Sadly  thanks to the crazy waste PFI contract Reading Labour signed us up to a few years ago, it will be very difficult for the Council to expand the amount of materials recycled in Reading.

Cllr Gareth Epps, our environment spokesman, successfully campaigned to get this contract on the agenda at last month's meeting of the Environment Scrutiny Panel. I don't think many residents in Reading realise how restrictive the contract is and the limitations it places on recycling in Reading. If they did, they might ask a few more questions like are we getting value for money from it?

The latest research by the goverment-funded WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) on attitudes to food waste collection found increasingly positive public attitudes:

* widespread support for separate food waste collection - 78% agree the environmental benefits are important to them; only 1 in 10 households don't see the point;

* Two in three households (65%) use their food collection regularly, but 23% have never tried it;

* Dedicated food-only systems capture more food waste than food waste mixed with garden waste. Overall, weekly food combined with fortnightly residual waste collection generates the highest kilogramme amount of food recovery per household;

* People take part because they think waste is bad and like to do their bit for the environment;

* People who don't do it tend to be the 'bad' recyclers and can be seen by others as letting everyone else down.

So Reading Labour councillors (if you're reading this), Isn't it time residents in Reading were offered a food waste collection service?

If you support the Reading Lib Dem campaign for kerbside glass recycling and weekly food waste collection please sign our petition here.