Katesgrove Lib Dems

Katesgrove Empty Homes Update

This starts with a tip.  If you want a coffee in town, for a meeting maybe, try Picnic, sandwiched off Market Square between Costa and Starbucks.  Genuinely independent and great coffee.  I can particularly recommend their macaroons!

Back before I was elected in 2007, Reading Borough Council had forgotten all the good practice it had built up on bringing empty homes back into use - it no longer even had a current strategy.  A Liberal Democrat motion soon rectified that.  I recently caught up with Nick the excellent Empty Homes Officer to check up on progress:-

South Street

41 South Street as seen in early 2007.  With the exception of the handrail, the transformation now is remarkable.  These former offices had planning consent for partial conversion into residential use, and following only a little attention from the empty homes officer, the block is pretty much as good as new.

7 South Street has seen less rapid progress.  Without going into too much detail, a lot of effort has gone into tracing the landlord and informing them of what needs to be done.

2-4 Winchester Road are one of the early successes of the programme, where only a little encouragement has been needed to bring the properties back into use.  This pair of semis were attracting a lot of dumping and graffiti; a lot of pressure and constant reporting (and passing onto the landlord) appear to have done the trick.

Now to the more complicated ones.

Townsend House - the hostel behind the John Lewis/Heelas depot - has a new owner and a planning application.  It appears there are good reasons why this building (a former hostel with a covenant to be used as affordable/social housing) has not attracted much interest.  I hope that the new owners are able to bring this property back into use.

67-73 Southampton Street - the tumbledown houses at the corner of Crown Street and Southampton Street.  I am limited in what I can say on this other than that there is some progress; it requires a number of Council departments to keep things moving; but there is now more progress than for years.

I also know that many Katesgrove residents are dismayed at the state of 35 Christchurch Road, the long-empty property opposite Christ Church and overlooked by Katesgrove as well as Redlands residents.  Building work is well under way although the owner, not for the first time, seems to think this is a suitable location for an outdoor rubbish dump.  I have asked the Council to put pressure on him to clear up and use financial penalties if necessary.

Summer Walkabout

It's been a busy few days.  After us pressing for seemingly ages, the Council has announced a crackdown on the use of illegal mini-motos and quad bikes.  The Redlands/University police neighbourhood - which takes in a chunk of Katesgrove ward - has also announced a crackdown on flytipping in rented properties - using fixed penalty powers we have pressed the Council to use for some time.  It's an initiative I support and will press to have extended to cover the rest of Katesgrove.

This morning on a walkabout I picked up some Housing maintenance issues (though it has to be said that the grass was cut and with one exception the cleaning high quality), reported some rubbish in grot spots (back to the fixed penalties again!); spoke to a few residents; and have spent much of the last hour reporting issues as a result.  All in the name of keeping the area clean and green.

Before that I met Reading Council's excellent Empty Homes officer for an update about action on empty homes in the ward.  There are a number of successes including long-term empty properties on Winchester Road and South Street brought back into use.  All down to the Empty Homes Strategy which - but for the actions of Liberal Democrat councillors - would not be in place.

And I got in a cup of coffee and a piece of Evie's excellent cheese bread in Pau Brasil while I was at it!

Now out for a spot of evening surveying!

Katesgrove pub the Kennet Arms under threat

I'm writing this with something of a heavy heart.  When the Claddagh Ring shut suddenly I was deeply worried for the future of the pub - especially as the owners were Enterprise Inns.

Since then Enterprise have lived up to their local nickname (see above) by their appalling closure of Newtown's Jolly Anglers.  (See http://reopenthejollyanglers.co.uk/ for details).

When the Kennet Arms reopened a few months ago under its former name, and with a lick of paint (and more besides), things were looking up for what had always been a community pub.

However, things have not always gone well since then.  We have had complaints, and today the news came through that the Council is seeking to review the Kennet Arms' license.

Under the old licensing rules this would have never happened.

When I first heard from residents of problems around the pub, I put it to the licensing authorities that help and training should be offered, especially as the management is new to the pub trade.  The answer came back that there is no incentive for the council (or for that matter the police) to do this.  Crazy.

"Anyone living within a reasonable distance" i.e. residents living close to the premises (around 100 metres - despite the fact that those affected by the pub for good or bad may live much further away) are the only ones allowed to comment on the license review.  The final date for responses is 3 September.  If the reports we have heard are confirmed in writing, then there are real issues to be addressed by the current management.

Please contact either of us if you want a hand understanding the finer nonsense of the 2003 Licensing Act.  There's a real tension between the need to keep a community facility and the need to deal with a significant number of problems caused by the way the pub has been operating.  Either way, what we hope is a temporary problem of management must not be allowed to be Enterprise's excuse to deprive the community of a valued facility.