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News Archive - Week Beginning 21st March2010

The editors say: We would strongly urge all our readers to get involved in the planning issues currently under discussion, which will have a major impact on Reading and Caversham for years to come. You can't say it's too difficult - you can participate online! Read more.

Buses

Cheap £1 fares on Reading Buses’ 27 and 29 routes to and from Amersham Road in Caversham are to be retained ‘until at least July’ by the bus company after passenger numbers rose steeply on the routes. The discounted fares were originally to have been curtailed at Easter. (Reading Chronicle 25/03/10 p7)

There has been criticism of Reading Buses’ plan to ‘shake up’ the local fare structure by introducing a single ticket which will allow passengers to travel all over town for a single set price. Although there will be cheaper travel for those going long distances, passengers simply journeying to the town centre will now have to pay £13 for an adult weekly ticket – up from £11. The new ‘SimplyBus’ scheme comes into operation on April 6th. (Get Reading 26/03/10 p1, p3, Reading Chronicle 25/03/10 p5)

Caversham People

The Reverend Jeremy Tear was licensed as community priest by the Bishop of Reading, the Right Rev Stephen Cottrell, at St John the Baptist Church on Wednesday, March 10 th. He will work in the parishes of St John the Baptist, St Peter’s in Caversham and St Margaret’s in Mapledurham to develop the life of the church. (Reading Chronicle 25/03/10 p32)

Elections

The Conservative candidates for the RBC councillor elections on May 6th have been announced. Cllr David Stevens is standing again in Thames Ward (where he has been a councillor for six years), Cllr Mark Ralph is standing again in Peppard Ward (again having been a councillor there for the last six years) and Cllr Andrew Cumpsty is standing again in Caversham Ward. (Reading Post 24/03/10 p20, Reading Chronicle 25/03/10 p24)

Peppard Ward Conservative Councillor Jamie Chowdhary is the subject of a major ‘webchat’ / interview by ‘Get Reading’ as a part of a pre-local election series. He answered a series of online questions and said: “we desperately need the third (Thames) bridge to begin with. We were hoping the money for this was going to come from the TIF project, but sadly the Government has shelved this…” On the subject of waste collection, he said: “we are troubled with rubbish that is left, especially in the summer months, particularly around terraced properties where rubbish is virtually on the footpath…” (Get Reading 25/03/10 p4)

Planning

More than 120 people, including Caversham activists, attended an RBC-initiated public meeting at the Town Hall on Monday, March 22nd concerning the Station Hill 2 scheme, changes to town centre bus routes and Network Rail’s Station upgrade scheme. RBC Transport Chief Pat Baxter is said to have ‘quashed’ rumours that the Vastern Road will become single-lane, pledging that it will stay two lanes in both directions for cars. Separately, Caversham campaigner Bob O’Neill and others attacked the RBC’s plans for tall buildings (skyscraper blocks) near the station: RBC planning chief Alison Bell responded that the drawings ‘were only illustrative’. To see the Station Area framework visit this web site - and the comments deadline has been extended to Tuesday, April 6th. Further details are on our ‘Local Events’ page. (Reading Post 24/03/10 p10, Reading Chronicle 25/03/10 p7)

The RBC’s ‘Reading 2020 Partnership’ document is open for public consultation at the moment- providing the Council’s views of where development should be targeted over the next decade. The draft document is available to view and comment on via this site. Alternatively residents can post their comments to Reading 2020 Partnership, 7th Floor, Civic Centre, Reading RG1 7AE by April 16th.

Rubbish

The Conservatives are pledging to bring back weekly rubbish bin collections if they win control of the RBC in May. The Tories also plan to ‘rip out’ traffic lights in favour of roundabouts and to construct more cycle lanes. The proposals are contained in the local party’s manifesto for the May 6th elections, published last Monday. (Reading Chronicle 25/03/10 p24)

Schools

Representatives from the basketball team Reading Rockets were special guests at the official opening of the new changing pavilion at St Anne’s Primary in Washington Road on Friday, March 12th – built by the Theale-based construction company Morgan Ashurst. (Get Reading 26/03/10 p17)