Katesgrove Lib Dems

Artic Conditions

After the success in getting warning signs for Elgar Road to stop lorries heading down to a dead end and getting stuck, I think I've found another road that might need some warning signs... mine!

Outside the house is a 34 tonne articulated lorry. I think I might need my camera!

Update: Never question the ability of an artic driver. One expertly executed u-turn and he was off out the one way street the wrong way!

Gurkha Justice Now!

Warning: Politics Alert!

Katesgrove has a large number of Gurkha veterans living in the ward.  Their hopes and, indeed, expectations had been got up by the Labour Government that a change to the unfair and discriminatory settlement policies of the UK would be changed.

Today their hopes have been cruelly dashed, as another piece of cruel spin - see the way the BBC reported how Labour wanted the news to be reported at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8014265.stm - has been shown up for the hollow lie it is.

Not very long ago I lived in Reading next door to a Gurkha family whose elderly grandfather was facing removal from this country.  There will be families of people who fought wars for this country in Reading now facing removal by our immigration 'service' while others from other countries are allowed to stay, as a result of this announcement.  It is discrimination, pure and simple.

The Government minister responsible is Phil Woolas - a man whose closest friends could not dare describe as a beacon of tolerance and fairness.  How any Minister can make this sort of shameless, shabby announcement as a Government from a party supposedly committed to equality, I simply do not know.

Councillors' Surgery

If you've got problems you'd like either Gareth or myself to look at, we have one of our regular surgeries, this time at New Christ Church School on Saturday 18th April from 10.30am-12.00pm.

68 Swainstone Road - Planning

Katesgrove gets a relatively small number of contentious planning applications.  This is partly because of the make-up of housing (meaning less sites for major developers).  However, we had two at the most recent Planning Committee on 1 April.  One was the bizarre tale of the new DAIS (Drug and Alcohol Information Service (DAIS) centre on Queen's Road, which saw vehement objections from a lawyer in a nearby practice, despite no evidence of problems from the existing premises on London Street.  Bizarrely, all Conservatives on the committee abstained - despite Planning being a quasi-judicial process on which party politics is supposed to be set aside.  I hope they are not trying to vote as a group, as anyone daft enough to do that would be liable for severe sanctions.

Then there was the matter of 68 Swainstone Road.  This is for a major extension to the end terrace, highly visible from the footpath from Waterloo Rise.  A local resident spoke very well about some of the problems in the area, particularly parking.  From this and my comments as local councillor, we were able to demonstrate that the parking figures were not for the acute problems in the Swainstone Road area - they were for the whole of Katesgrove Ward.  Other issues were discussed centring on design and concerns over a spate of badly-managed HMO conversions in the area.  Eventually, as councillors were scrambling for a decision that reflected a number of series of concerns, the right decision was taken, which was to defer a decision, as floor plans were not available to the meeting.  (So if Committee had refused it, the Council would have been left vulnerable at an appeal).

Hook & Tackle Underpass

I seem to be reporting what seems to have been an endless stream of graffiti recently, as documented in the Evening Post (story at: http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2048283_baffled_about_latest_taggers).  There is a lesson that people who paint walls white seem to be a special target.  The best thing about the report is the news at the end that four people have been picked up on Erleigh Road, which I saw at the weekend was being no less badly hit.

One of the areas I've been reporting is the underpass connecting Katesgrove Lane with the centre of town by the Hook & Tackle pub.  Despite the landlord being active in reporting local issues and my lobbying the Council for better lighting of this dimly-lit route, the Council had ignored concerns from a number of residents.

Finally, though, something has clicked.  Not only has graffiti been removed (again) but I've managed to secure improved lighting for the underpass - to be installed later this year.

Which is why I never hear the words 'it can't be done'......!