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• Archive Index 2009

News Archive - Week Beginning 31st May 2009

The editors say: In the run-up to last Thursday's European elections, we (collectively) received just three pieces of election literature and just one door-step visit, and that's across all the team's adresses. Quite how politicians can accuse voters of apathy escapes us ...

Environment – Caversham Court Gardens

According to the Friends of Caversham Court, Caversham Court Gardens will reopen to the public on Wednesday, 8th July – preceding the Caversham Fete, which takes place at the Gardens on Saturday, 11th July. (FCC, 04/06/09)

The RBC has been placed in the top 10 worst local authorities for long waits for allotments, according to research conducted by LV-home insurance the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (the Council says the research is ‘way out of date’). The Caversham Court allotments on St Peters Hill share the highest waiting times, with a wait of three years and eight months. (Reading Post 03/06/09 p6)

Environment – King’s Meadow

The RBC Cabinet at its meeting on Monday, 1st June asked RBC officers to work with the hotel developer Askett Hawk and the King’s Meadow Campaign (KMC) on ‘detailed heads of terms’ – these are said not to be binding, but would provide business information to the Council as landowner on how their competing schemes to redevelop the King’s Meadow Baths would be paid for. The Cabinet’s decision follows on from the Council’s Conservative-led corporate and external affairs (CCEA) scrutiny panel calling in the decision to approve the Askett-Hawk proposals for a rethink. (Reading Post 03/06/09 p4, Reading Chronicle 04/06/09 p35)

A letter to ‘Getreading’ says there needs to be ‘a serious rebalance’ of business and leisure in Reading – ‘we need King’s Meadow Baths reopened’ as an open air swimming bath. (Getreading 05/06/09 p13)

Festivals

The ‘Chronicle’ profiles the Caversham Park Village Association (CPVA) annual festival, which runs until Saturday, June 13th. All activities take place in and around the Milestone Centre in Northbrook Road, concluding with a fete on the afternoon of June 13th. There’s more details on our ‘events’ page, and also at the Association’s own website. (Reading Chronicle 04/06/09 p42)

Roads

A group of Henley Road residents are protesting at RBC plans to paint double yellow lines on the road, as a result of (in the Council’s words) “concerns about safety due to inconsiderate drivers parking on the footway”. The protesting residents fear that there will be nowhere for visitors to park, and that the ‘draconian’ parking plans will lead to side roads becoming overcrowded with cars, causing hazard and congestion. The matter was (according to the ‘Chronicle’) due to be considered by the RBC’s Traffic Management Advisory Panel on Monday, June 8th, with a final decision on whether to impose parking restrictions to be taken by the Council’s Cabinet at its meeting on Monday, July 6th. (Reading Post 03/06/09 p15, Reading Chronicle 04/06/09 p10)

An entire page of comments from the ‘Getreading’ website is devoted to the issue of the proposed Henley Road parking restrictions. The majority of letters seem to be in favour of placing ‘No Waiting at Any Time’ restrictions on both sides of the road between Prospect Street and Donkin Hill and just before All Hallows Road to the county boundary - however, in the words of one writer: “as residents we were not consulted. The notices appeared covertly. The Council is just looking for another means of extorting money out of us”. (Reading Post 03/06/09 p86)

A letter to the ‘Chronicle’ from a Henley Road resident concerning the RBC’s proposed parking restrictions there says: “if local councillors are indeed claiming to have consulted residents, then I think they may wish to reconsider their claims, as I am a local resident and I was not consulted by anyone”. He also says: “the cycle lane on the north side of Henley Road has been poorly used since it was first introduced”. (Reading Chronicle 04/06/09 p14)

‘Getreading’ reported at the end of the week that an RBC worker had been spotted measuring up line markings for the proposed parking restrictions on the Henley Road. (Getreading 05/06/09 p4)

Shops

Warings Bakery in Church Street has a series of promotions during the week to celebrate National Craft Bakers week. The week begins with ‘Meaty Monday’ on June 8th, where each customer is given a free sausage roll, through to ‘Sensational Saturday’ on June 13 th, where all prices will be reduced by 10%. Unmissable. (Reading Post 05/06/09 p32)