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News Archive - Week Beginning 1st Mar 2009
Caversham Court Gardens
A feature, 'Garden is on Path to Glory' describes the restoration work by English Landscapes at Caversham Court Gardens in Church Road. The Gardens are scheduled to be reopened in summer 2009. (Reading Evening Post 04/03/09 p15)
Charity
The Caversham-based drugs rehabilitation charity East-West Detox was visited by the Conservative shadow home affairs minister MP James Brokenshire this week as part of a Tory investigation into alternatives to NHS methadone programmes. East-West Detox founder Mike Sarson said "it's still a battle to find funding". (Reading Chronicle 05/03/09 p4)
Council Tax
After two failed attempts, the RBC finally reached a deal this week to raise council tax in Reading by 3.99% for the financial year 2009 - 2010. (Reading Chronicle 05/03/09 p9, Reading Evening Post 04/03/09 p2)
Crime
Three Vietnamese residents of Donkin Hill (described as vcannabis barons" by the 'Post') were jointly sentenced to more than 11 years in prison at Oxford Crown Court last week for conspiracy to supply cannabis and money laundering. The convictions follow on from the discovery of a cannabis factory in Bracknell in January 2008. Detective Sergeant Poole of the Thames Valley Police said "We are committed to finding and closing cannabis factories across the Thames Valley ..." (Reading Evening Post 06/03/09 p5)
Planning
The opposition of a local pressure group, "Caversham Heights Action Group" (CHAG) to the proposed redevelopment of Outlands, a 5-bedroom bungalow on Upper Warren Avenue, is described. The bungalow is to be demolished by the developer Nigel Clark and replaced by five three-storey houses. The protestors say that the resultant housing would be "like building on a postage stamp." CHAG spokesman Ron Elder said (ominously): "we are a strong group of around 150 people who are prepared to fight until the death". Watch out. (Reading Evening Post 04/03/09 p32)
The RBC planning committee rejected last Wednesday evening an application for floodlights on two tennis courts at the "prestigious" Caversham Tennis Club in Queensborough Drive. Planning officers had said that the floodlights would have a significant impact on the appearance of the area (there was a lot of local protest), and the Club is to now to take the matter to the House of Lords (really) next week for a final decision on the matter. The fulsome coverage in the 'Post' (06/03/09) is almost as brilliant as the proposed floodlights, and would tell an outsider much about living in middle England in the early years of the 21st century. (Reading Evening Post 02/03/09 p9, Reading Evening Post 06/03/09 p3)
Schools
RBC figures show that nearly 29% of all local school-age children failed to find a place at their first-choice secondary school. Highdown School in Emmer Green was oversubscribed by 52 pupils this year, with those unable to get a place being received by Chiltern Edge or Prospect School instead. (Reading Evening Post 05/03/09 p4)
14-year old Olympic diver Tom Daley, who competed for the UK at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, visited Queen Anne's School in the Henley Road on Friday, February 27th - the visit came as a result of the school winning a competition to guess how many hours he trains a week (21 hours, in case anyone cares). (Reading Chronicle 05/03/09 p6, Reading Evening Post 04/03/09 p12)
Surveys
The Audit Commission has awarded the RBC a three star rating out of a possible four stars - effectively meaning that (in its view) the Council is generally performing well. The Commission did however take issue with relatively high crime levels in the town, and said that the RBC "has not been effective in dealing with the high level of teenage conceptions in the borough ..." (Reading Evening Post 05/03/09 p4)
Traffic
The ruling West Berkshire Conservative group has issued a statement to calm fears over cross-boundary meetings that it has held with RBC officers about possible congestion charging in Reading. The issue has raised concerns within both West Berkshire and South Oxfordshire owing to Reading's cross-party Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) bid possibly being granted only if the town accepts congestion charging - with implications for the surrounding area. RBC deputy leader Tony Page said "I am more than aware that our TIF bid is causing concern ... particularly amongst parishes in parts of South Oxfordshire". (Reading Evening Post 02/03/09 p2)
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