Katesgrove Lib Dems

Still working hard for you!

I have now received details of the Council's casework statistics; still they show that Liberal Democrat councillors work harder than others and that this is true in Katesgrove.

During the period July 2009-April 2010 I dealt with 162 cases, Cllr Swaine 35 and Cllr Stainthorp 17. I should stress that these figures do not include enquiries outside my ward that I dealt with as Parliamentary candidate.Once again of the three hardest working councillors, two (myself and Cllr Daisy Benson) were Liberal Democrats.

Of the ten councillors (excluding the Mayor) with the workrate of former Labour councillor Stainthorp or less, six were Labour and four Conservative. None were Liberal Democrats.

I have consistently been one of Reading's hardest-working Councillors since my
Election, and intend to carry on that way!

Residents' parking changes: update

On Thursday I attended the Traffic Management Panel to support some changes to parking restrictions on Collis Street - despite local councillors not being consulted as promised, we have managed to get some of the yellow lines shortened, and a promise of further discussion.  (After a year when Labour was in charge when our campaigning on this issue was met by obstruction, it's amazing how things change!).

There was also support for the removal of a small residents' parking bay after complaints from emergency services, and at Iliffe Close, an inconclusive consultation with residents led to limited yellow lines being agreed to stop dangerous parking.

Contact your Katesgrove Liberal Democrat Councillors for more details.

Improving housing quality

I've just had it confirmed that a young couple we met while canvassing have been rehoused with a little help from us - one of those little bits of news I take some personal satisfaction from.

But it's not the whole answer.

We had originally got talking because the bedroom for their baby daughter had damp problems. Privately-rented, they had got onto the Council's Environmental Health department (rightly) as the Council had found them the house.

But neither they nor the Council had heard back from the letting agency (which, I note without comment, had been busy erecting Labour Party stakeboards in the gardens of its properties). So the damp, the poor quality housing, remains a problem.

So I'll be encouraging the Council to take further action against this and other agencies who let out substandard accommodation - and to use what powers they and I have to improve the quality of Reading's private rented housing.

I'd rather they were dug out to be used again, but... (London Street closure)

Just received this.....

During the period of bad weather we had earlier in the year part of the carriageway on London Street adjacent to the Grosvenor Casino broke up to reveal tram lines buried just beneath the surface. Reading Borough Council is intending to resurface the carriageway at the London St / IDR junction as part of this years resurfacing programme (due to take place between the end of July and September) and because the tram lines are so close to the surface they need to be removed before we can do this.

Next Wednesday (2^nd June) one of our subcontractors will start removing the tramlines with the work expected to take up to a maximum of 3 days. In order to carry out the work safely it will be necessary to close London St / Duke St from outside the London St Brasserie to the IDR.

In order to maintain access for businesses the northbound bus lane on Duke St will be suspended to allow delivery vehicles to enter and exit from Kings Road. The closure will commence at 9.30 am on Wednesday 2 June. A signed diversion will be in place whilst the work is being carried out. The bus companies, taxi group and local businesses have been informed that the work is taking place.

Aggressive Beggars

One problem that causes a regular nuisance at the town centre edge of Katesgrove Ward is the presence of aggressive beggars. There are a small number of them, and some have been given ASBOs for the town centre only (not very thoughtful).
This is part of a wider problem and I have raised this with the police, not for the first time. The police need evidence and/or reports including a description of the individuals concerned. One of them has been seen selling the Big Issue, and his behaviour has been reported to the magazine with a view to his seller's badge removed. I am happy to channel any reports to speed up a resolution to this problem. Please email me with any information.

Tesco loading update

After photographing Tesco delivery vehicles blocking the London Street bus lane, as well as customers parking in the most dangerous places, I have had a belated response from the Council, over a month after making the report.

Tesco's proposal for a lay-by in Crown Street (eating up the pavement) has not yet been worked up, and the council does not want (it seems) to bring in new restrictions. Amazingly, it seems there is nothing to stop Tesco delivery lorries blocking the bus lane.

Readers will remember that a noise abatement order was served on Tesco after they woke London Street residents up as early as 5am. Those residents still complain of disturbances, and it seems unless the Council is prepared to take a more responsible attitude, the misery for those residents will continue.

No waiting for Tesco!

The problems of illegal and nuisance parking at Tesco number 9 (London Street/Crown Street) continue to anger residents.  I've just replied to residents about the latest problem in the area, which is more dangerous than most.

It's not the age-old problem of delivery vehicles like this one, parked on Tuesday morning blocking the London Street bus lane, unloading illegally while pointing the wrong way up the road!

There is increasing evidence of a danger to pedestrians on the junction.

Of course, had Tesco talked to a traffic consultant with half a brain, they would have worked out that this was an exceptionally irresponsible location for a store, with nowhere for legal loading/unloading and far too much temptation for drivers to 'just pop in'.  The latest maneouvre is to use the pedestrian crossing ramp (yes.....) instead of the kerb to park on the pavement.  Pedestrians complain about near-misses from drivers who do not look out for people about to use the crossing.

I've asked the police to pay close attention to the area and have tickets ready.  Ultimately we need some bollards so that anyone stupid enough to try this will be physically prevented from doing so.

Unfortunately it seems the Council is awaiting detailed plans for the proposed consultation on Crown Street changes including the proposed eastbound bus land and the mooted loading bay from...... guess who?

Tesco!

On-street recycling: at last the penny has dropped!

Well, it's only taken 3 years since I first suggested it, as almost every other town, city or town aspiring to be a city has them.

I'm talking about on-street recycling bins.  A trial running at the Christchurch Road shops and at Shinfield Road has been successful (as predicted) and the second half of March will see the bins appearing at other shopping parades including, I'm pleased to say, the Whitley Street shops.

Yet another idea that's come from us that has (eventually) been taken up.

The question is: why does it take so long for Reading Borough Council to do these things?  In fact, why does it take them so long to do anything at all where recycling is concerned?

More anon on the answer to that question.

London Street contraflow bus lane closure

I've just been advised that the contraflow bus/cycle lane on London Street is to be closed overnight next Tuesday to allow for emergency repairs to a water main.

The exact timing of the closure is 9.00p.m. on Tuesday 9 March 2010 to 5.00 a.m. Wednesday 10 March 2010.

I await with interest what effect this has on the increasingly annoying illegal and dangerous parking around the Tesco Express store, on which I long for some serious enforcement action.

Budgeting for Real

In any council, the budget is the time of year when things happen for real.  Unlike many meetings in which the Cabinet system has taken over the powers that Councillors think should be reserved to them, it is when decisions are made on how well services are funded, how much tax is levied, and so on.

Last night, as the local press is stating, the Conservative position of claiming a 'council tax freeze' was undermined as they were out of the Council chamber when Labour forced a vote on the budget resolution, effectively giving Labour a majority to get their budget through; then they abstained rather than vote against the 2.2% Council Tax increase they had earlier voted down.

The great irony, as their leader Cllr Cumpsty acknowledged, was that the Conservatives had started to discuss with us (the Liberal Democrats) proposals to achieve a nil Council Tax increase without impacting on frontline services. (It was clear that they had no such proposals worked up at the start of the meeting)

The simple fact is that an adjournment (the fourth?) was been called until 10.40pm; knowing this, we were in the Council chamber on time, but they were not.  Labour moved to a vote on the budget with a notional £1 difference from their original and as soon as I could, I stood up and asked for a recorded, named vote, but this was turned down by the Mayor. The vote was carried 19 (Lab) for and 8 (Lib Dem) against.

But it gets stranger - Council Tax levels are set by a separate resolution by law, and by this time the Tories had re-entered the Council Chamber, and this was voted against. There was then a further delay, and an attempt to see whether the adopted Labour budget could be reviewed (which would have without doubt stretched the budget debate into a second day), but instead Cllr Cumpsty declared on the fifth resumption of the debate that his group would abstain and let the 2.2% Council Tax increase through - to my great surprise.

It would have taken some £1.46m of savings to achieve a nil increase. I referred in my speech to £1.5m of potential savings which could have achieved this - all on non-essential items, just like the budgets (Marketing & PR, consultancies, agency staff) where we were able to find savings in our adopted budget last year.

Put simply, it could have been done - had the Conservatives merely been where they should, when they should.