Katesgrove Lib Dems

Dumped!

This year the University and Student Union put in a lot of effort to try to minimise the effects of the mess left in areas with large student populations like Katesgrove after the end of term. However, it is obvious from complaints we got from residents, it's not there yet by a long chalk.

It's why both Gareth and myself have been in dialogue with the University and the council for over a month over the lessons that need to be learned from the end of year. Given our work on this, it's nice to see the other parties both attempt to leap on this fast moving bandwagon at this late stage. I hope they don't fall off trying to board.

Once again if you want something done about a problem, ask a Lib Dem. It you want to see someone gurn in a press release, please contact the other two parties!

Bin There, Done It

For more than two years Gareth has been highlighting the problems caused by bins blocking pavements and now the Environmental Scrutiny Panel will be discussing the success of a scheme piloted in Katesgrove to stop pavements being blocked by bins.

Last August the Council's Streetcare team began a trial in Alpine and Edgehill Streets, two streets with narrow pavements and a mix of front gardens. Persistent offenders who regularly blocked pavements with their bins were sent an escalating series of letters and notices, starting with a friendly warning letter reminding them of their responsibility to clear their bins from pavements.

Where bins continued to be left out, a Section 46 Notice - prohibiting them from leaving their bin on the pavement - was issued, warning the householder that they risk being prosecuted. In cases where the offences still continued, a third and final warning letter was sent out. 
 
Fixed penalty notices of £100 were only issued if the third letter was ignored and people continued to block the pavement with their bins. Trials showed most people complied at each of the various stages of warning, well before a fine was issued. 

The problems with bins blocking pavements in Alpine Street has been regulalrly reported to us and was a particular problem as the narrow width in places and a mix of properties with and without front gardens was stopping disabled residents from getting around. Because of this we supported this move.

It is not been without controversy but we have had many residents praising it, with only one complaint. It is not a question of Councils enforcing their policy: it is a fundamental question of people's right to get about.  We couldn't support a situation where residents were fined 'on the spot', but a balance has to be struck somewhere.
 
However, it is equally important that the Council listens to residents, especially those with little or no front garden.  There are still many problems caused by forcing residents to have two large wheelie bins, no matter what size their house. 

Liberal Democrats have consistently said that 'one size does not fits all'. The Council needs to tackle problems by giving people smaller bins or putting them onto sack collections where this is the best solution.

If you have a particular problem with bins on your street, please contact either of us.

Fly Tipping Paradise

It was a fun packed night at full council with the Conservatives and Labour snuggling up to each other in public in a way that would have made newly-weds blush. Their shameless public canoodling showed that the Tory-Labour pact running the council doesn't take the problems of Reading seriously, preferring instead to talk about it for months rather than actually do anything.

With fly tipping, there is no real enforcement and the cost of clearing housing land is hidden in the housing budget reducing the money that can be spent on the houses themselves. Council tax payers' money is being wasted right now by Labour with the connivance of the Conservative party whilst the rubbish piles up.

We hoped that the bare facts would speak for themselves and that we would get support to sort out the mess, but instead we had the ridiculous situation where neither party wanted to hear our costed plans for dealing with the matter, preferring to stick their fingers in their ears and sing la-la-la.

It's a simple choice in Reading. If you want people who will fight your corner and make things better, you need a Lib Dem. If you want to be ignored or marginalised, then it makes no difference as either of the Tories or Labour are for you.

To shake them out of their complacency, here's a little something we prepared earlier...

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.

Rat-tled Ride

Both Gareth and I visited the Reading Campaign for Racial Equality Annual General Meeting at the Civic and it was so good to meet so many people who make such a positive contribution to this town.

But the real reason for this post is I wonder if anyone else has encountered this problem...

Dodging the traffic because of the woeful cycling provision in the town, I encountered an obstacle I've not faced in all my years of cycling... as I ran over a dead rat in the gutter near the old Central Club. I'm sure it was never like this.

Kennet Meadows saved? Not yet!

The news that Kennet Meadows have been 'saved', according to the press and the quotes of certain politicians, is a bit premature.

The meadows may have been removed from the current draft of the South East Plan, which certainly should help Katesgrove residents living close to the Kennet to sleep a little easier.  However, those who love the Meadows and their important role in stopping large parts of Reading from flooding still have a job to do.

As colleagues from the 'Save Kennet Meadow Campaign' tell me:

"The news was actually to announce the start of the consultation
period to remove the 7,500 homes from the south east regional plan,
and is out for consultation. There are 12 weeks to respond.

You can bet that the Pru and its' allies are going to vigorously
object, and therefore it is essential that as many people as possible
write to support the proposal.

You have 12 weeks to write in, by letter, to the RSS Team, Government
Office for the South East. 1 Walnut Tree Close, Guildford, Surrey,
GU1 4GA

You can email rss@gose.gsi.gov.uk."

Time to get writing!

Recycling boost

Much as we worry that residents get bored of us saying it, Liberal Democrats have believed for ages that the combination of alternate weekly bin collections (AWC) and a lack of recycling in Reading have caused lots of problems in Reading.

Now Labour has lost control of the council, things are at last starting to change.

Firstly, the new bottle bank at Cintra Park, long argued for by Liberal Democrat councillors in Redlands, has finally come into use.  This at least makes it easier for a few more residents to recycle their glass.

Secondly, after constant pressure to get a consistent policy towards which properties can have weekly sack collections, as opposed to struggling because there's (for example) no space to store bins (a problem affecting lots of terraces in central Reading), things are moving.  Not officially - at least not yet - but after two residents in particular contacted the Lib Dem FOCUS team, I am told that a real think is taking place.

Then, newly-Independent councillor Tony Jones surprised everyone at the CCEA Scrutiny Panel (of which I'm the vice-chair) by asking for a formal investigation into a pilot glass recycling scheme.  This welcome move was followed by a further call to investigate another Lib Dem manifesto commitment - food waste recycling.  We were slightly taken aback - it is the Environment panel which should probably look into these things - but it's saved us the job of getting it onto the agenda!  Now to crunch the figures and find out if there's really a reason why Reading cannot do these things that other councils seem to manage perfectly easily.

Meeting Your Waterloo

The annual Katesgrove Residents Association May Party took place at at Waterloo Meadows on Bank Holiday Monday featuring a visit from the Mayor. It also saw the new councillor for Katesgrove proving to be a hot shot at Splat-A-Rat although he swears that he had no-one in mind when playing it! Thankfully the traditional Soak-A-Councillor game was notable by its absence, but I can't help thinking that it would have made a fortune.

After the excitement of the election, it was back down to earth as a trip around the ward revealed a litany of burnt out cars, abandoned matresses and sofas and poorly maintained paving. It's a good job I didn't promise to sort it out overnight.