Katesgrove Lib Dems

Air Quality Matters

To Environment Scrutiny Panel this evening.  (As a substitute for Glenn Goodall who is at a conference in Montpellier - hopefully not going around their dreadful one-way inner ring road - remember that idea?).

I enjoyed this committee last year but - with the Council no longer in Labour control - this year it has the chance to get things done.  A good discussion around the Climate Change Strategy, encouraging officers to be bolder than following watered-down Whitehall targets.  But the main event was a discussion around the new transport plans for Reading (£300 million of them, potentially - of which more later), and air quality.

Reading has been a bit slow to latch onto the need to improve air quality.  Six areas in town - including the bottom end of Southampton Street - have air quality readings which fail to hit national targets.  This leads to more people suffering from asthma and other respiratory illnesses.  It's not a laughing matter.  The chief cause is heavy goods vehicles - and most lorries which go through town are just passing.  No need at all for them to drive through Reading.  A much wider area is due to be designated as an 'Air Quality Management Area' - joining the six areas together and requiring a plan of action.

Things are moving - but not nearly as fast as we'd like.  So we put the two together.  I suggested the Cabinet be recommended to include improving air quality, and by implication taking action on lorries, as an urgent issue in the town's transport plans (to give them a higher priority).  This was seconded by a Conservative Councillor and carried with cross-party support.

There will be plenty of discussion about transport measures in town.  Now we need to follow through on some of the options - including a 'Low Emissions Zone' to tackle polluters, as well as much better promotion of car clubs - something I've been pressing for since goodness knows when.  It was a useful meeting - and one which (for once) should result in real action. 

A Complete Load of Tory Rubbish!

I've had some people tell me that politics shouldn't be a laughing matter, but I've been handed a copy of the Conservatives' attempt at a local "newsletter" for Katesgrove. No surprisingly, it starts from the premise that the Tories think that voters are stupid. I'm pleased that Nick 'local boy' Allen loved his time working at the sandwich shop in Basingstoke Road so much that he pays us the occasional visit, but really this was desperate stuff.

Yes, there is fly-tipping behind the HSBC... but here's a clue, which locals would have picked up on - it's private land! It's not just Gordon Brown who wants to steal from the poor to give to the rich. We've been urging the council to use their Section 215 powers more to force landlords to clear up their mess, but Rob Wilson seems to think that it's the council's job to clear up private land at public expense.

If you want a photo-op get a Tory. If you want action - ask a Lib Dem. The rubbish behind the HSBC was reported by me to the council and also picked up on an EVA (Environmental Visual Audit - run by the police Neighbourhood Action Group). If Nick had bothered to attend the EVA (any EVA would be a start), he would know it is a regular event attended by the council, the police and local people, of whom I count myself as one. After I wrote to them, the council told the bank to contact their managing agents immediately to sort it out.

I can’t recommend EVAs highly enough to local residents and I'd urge people to attend EVAs if they can and care about Katesgrove. It gives local people the opportunity to point out to the council and the police areas that they want to draw attention to. Details of EVAs can be found in the Katesgrove NAG (Neighbourhood Action Group) web site. Oddly enough for such a 'local activist', I've not found either Nick or Rob Wilson attending a single Katesgrove NAG meeting.

The mysterious moving bin bags. Now you see them, now you don't!!!

And here's an interesting thing. I've obviously been keeping an eye on the litter in the area and reporting incidents as they happen , but there were three green Biffa bags on the corner by the HSBC, again on private land, waiting for collection which I reported to the council at the same time as the matresses. So it must have be a complete co-incidence then that there were three green Biffa bags in Nick Allen's "fly-tipping" photo in the Tories "Community Newsletter" - and even more odd they are not there now whilst the rest of the rubbish is. Really, does he think local residents were born yesterday? The council's fly-tipping squad should investigate and bring the miscreant who moved them to behind the HSBC to book!

As for the claim that he is the only person who has done anything to consult residents about Tesco, he should speak to Gareth, who was out giving more information to residents this morning about the planning applications.  Or maybe he could have even picked up either local paper, which covered the public meeting we organised three weeks ago to consult residents on this very issue.

When it comes to comedy, there's not much that can beat the local Tories.

Keep It Local

During the Lib Dem conference, I went to a fringe event organised by the Federation of Small Businesses. The invited speaker was our current president Simon Hughes who spoke passionately about supporting these businesses which make such a huge difference to the local economy. The Federation has launched a local parking campaign to help small businesses which simply cannot compete with the large out of town shopping centres.

People often misunderstand the Lib Dem position on car use. We are not anti-car, I have one myself, but reducing their effects on the environment can take many forms from buying a smaller one to reducing the pollution caused as they sit there stuck in traffic. We recognise that some journeys simply cannot be made by bus, as anyone who has tried to get a 2.0m x 0.6m laminate worktop home by bus can tell you!

However, reducing emissions caused by congestion is absolutely something we support and better local parking can actually go some way towards achieving that whilst also helping the small shop keepers that employ a huge number of people in the UK.

A case in point is Whitley Street. Despite a gloom and doom piece in the local paper it's not all bad news for the local parade. The character of the shops has undeniably changed over the years. The local bakers and butchers went first to be replaced with fast food take-aways and their reliance on passing trade meant that no real change was needed to promote their businesses.

It is also true that the HSBC is closing, but new shops are opening. However, as the more traditional shops have closed we have seen them replaced by a tanning salon, a dentist, an opticians and a fitness centre, all businesses where the current 30 minute restrictions can seriously hamper their attempts to attract customers.

As part of the A327 corridor study, we have lobbied for the car park opposite the shops to be made a two hour zone and the exit to be turned into a two way exit to allow cars coming from the south to return south without having to go down to the Oracle roundabout adding to the congestion there and having to come back up London Street adding to congestion at the Crown Street junction. Only time will tell whether the council will make these small changes which could have a lasting and positive impact on keeping it local.

Speeding and road safety in Katesgrove

Speeding and road safety are a constant source of concern in many local streets.  The twin problems of Reading's severe congestion and Katesgrove's narrow side streets, not to mention woeful cycle lane provision, make for a heady brew.

Now the Council is to run a speed awareness programme, which is welcome.

The trouble is, they haven't spoken to local people or the police about which areas to start in.  The result in Katesgrove is a really strange selection of streets to get attention in the first wave.

I have asked Katesgrove NAG to look at this, and thrown a number of street names into the mix (including Kendrick Road, Pell Street and Northumberland Avenue).  It seems only sensible to ask the NAGs about road safety - they contain local people and are a genuine example of partnership working.

Seaside Special

This is the first time I have spent a full week at a party conference. They are often seen a jolly day out at the seaside by people not involved in politics, but, as I have discovered, they are actually anything but that.

It's not all speeches in the big hall, although you'd be forgiven for thinking that if all you saw was the television coverage. The day starts at nine in the morning with training helping us to be better local councillors and stretches throughout the day with fringe events organised by people such as the Federation of Small Businesses going on until 10.30pm. In fact it is possible to spend 13 hours in training or attending meetings and not see a single debate if you so desire.

I managed to conduct a pitch invasion during the safe standing debate to make my first ever speech from the platform and Daisy Benson also spoke to conference on the issue of crime. The more observant of you may have noticed Gareth Epps chairing the Security and Liberty in a Globalised World debate.

Conference also gives us the chance to speak with our MPs about matters that concern our constituents and, at the risk of name dropping, I've spoken to Lembit Opik and Tim Farron and was especially pleased as vice-chair of Reading Borough Council's Culture and Sport Scrutiny Panel to collar our shadow Culture, Media and Sport minister Don Foster for a chat about the many problems facing football fans and to discuss the work of the Arts Council.

I'll be writing up a few more notes on certain topics over the next few days.

Campaigning for Katesgrove at Party Conference

Many people are cynical, and rightly so, of political parties and their conferences - many of which have moved from a forum for decent debate to spin and window-dressing.

Not entirely so!

There is plenty that can and will be done to help Katesgrove.

We have had an amendment accepted by the movers of the Crime debate to call for better funding of neighbourhood policing and action to tackle the police recruitment and retention problems that have plagued Katesgrove and Reading for years.  I am intending to speak in the debate this afternoon.  Labour have proved that can't make anything happen on this - and the Tories won't!

I've also been talking to the plethora of organisations at the exhibition, from the Gurkha veterans' justice campaign to the Federation of Small Businesses who are doing an excellent job promoting their Keep Trade Local campaign - very topical with us.  Do go to their website and sign up.

Inevitably you get caught by the media circus.  Some people may even spot us on TV.  But the democratic process is important - and we're the only party who actually take decisions at our Party Conferences in the open.  And long may that continue.

Keeping Elgar Road quiet and slow...

With a bit of encouragement from Katesgrove's excellent Neighbourhood PCSOs, not only is the area around the Elgar Road bollards sporting tidied planter beds (next step is a planting programme for next year).

But they now have, too, some nice new signs to indicate that motor vehicles (in this case, motorbikes said to come from one takeaway premises) are not allowed through.  The PCSOs will be stopping and ticketing them - they have been warned!

Now to tomorrow and 12 separate residents' parking proposals...

A busy weekend...

Well it certainly was!

Inbetween dodging large quantities of rain, and keeping the house tidy, there was wet weather activity in the shape of writing a letter of objection to the Tesco licensing application.

Comments to the Reading Post website seemed to miss the point - that there is already a record of drink-related disorder nearby, and Tesco's record elsewhere in hosting irresponsible drinks promotions and being caught for underage alcohol sales is hardly something that should be condoned.

Today brings news that Tesco has submitted three planning applications for Crown House.  We are looking through them and will give some views very soon.

Meanwhile some light relief came in the form of the very enjoyable Community Garden event.  It's a tribute to all those involved that what started out as a protest against lack of open space has now received legitimacy from the Council.  I'm confident that the winter will see progress towards a much more permanent garden (either at Silver Street or elsewhere).  People power at its best.  The music and relaxed atmosphere - of local residents having fun (Warren and I must have raised the average age) happened despite the lousy weather.

Tesco Express Crown Street

RISC 7.30pm 4th September

Following concerns from local residents, Gareth and I organised a meeting for locals to discuss the proposed opening of a Tesco Express at the corner of London Street and Crown Street. Officially there is no word from Tesco about their plans and enquiries from the press have been met so far with a 'no comment'. However, there has been the posting of an alcohol licence application for Tesco on the old Fun n' Frolics shop so it is fairly safe to assume it is going ahead.

The meeting was well attended with over 40 people including the local press. After introductions, Gareth gave a brief outline of the steps that Tesco had to negotiate including the alcohol licence application and planning for signage, air conditioning units and a cash point. It was also pointed out that as the unit already had A1 planning permission, they did not need to obtain planning permission to simply open a shop. At this point we threw the discussion over to the audience which was quite wide ranging and we're pleased to say didn't degenerate into a 'Tesco are evil' discussion although there was some mention of their business practices.

One Tesco customer told us that prior to the meeting he had taken a trip to Oxford Road to ask shopkeepers about the effect of the Tesco there and reported that it had led to shop closures, unregulated parking and had generally depressed trade in the area contrary to what Tesco had been claiming prior to the opening of their store.

There were concerns raised about placing a store that has a track record of selling to underage drinkers so close to a route home from school, with the point being made that the existing family run businesses have much more control over sales than a multi-national with a large turn over of casual staff. Allied to these concerns was the availability of cheap alcohol on their doorstep to the students in the new accomodation above the shop and for the 600 plus number scheduled for the Mansfield Hall site and the potential for increased anti-social behaviour as a result.

Parking was seen by most as a huge problem, from deliveries to people temporarily abandoning cars in the road whilst they pop out to get cigarettes and use the cash point. The junction at Crown Street is a major bottle neck at times during the day as well as at peak. There were also concerns about the increase in pedestrian traffic across a busy road and the potential for more accidents.

We understand that the proposed schedule is for opening on October 20th, although that has yet to be officially confirmed. Gareth and I agreed to help residents by producing an action pack outlining the steps they can make to object at the various stages and the timeline for the process. The first of these is the alcohol licence application, objections to which have to be in by the 11th September. People were enncouraged to write individually about their concerns as this will carry more weight with the committeees, but the possibility of a petition was not ruled out for the more general concerns about Tesco's potential effects on the area.

We will keep you up to date as things progress.

Tesco meeting: brief report

Well, it was the first public meeting I've held in Katesgrove and it went well.  Just short of 50 people present, in an area where it is hard to get information to residents (almost all of whom live in flats).

Lots of concern about Tesco in a number of different ways (parking, alcohol, threats to small shops among others).  We explained the difficult planning situation, and of course that Tesco are aware of this and how to exploit it.

Lots of things to do now.  Back soon!