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• Archive Index 2010

News Archive - Week Beginning 28th March 2010

The editors say: General and local elections are now confirmed for the 6th May. Apathy is widespread. It seems most people are - understandably - totally turned off by the corruption and greed of so many MPs, not to mention illegal wars, economic mismanagement, wasteful local politics (one-way IDR anyone?) ... and so on.

With such a dismal showing by all the main parties one way or another, it's very easy to get sidetracked into either not voting or voting on the basis of personalities rather than policies. We'd urge everyone to vote, but we'd urge everyone to first visit the Vote For Policies web site to find out some possibly surprising truths about party policies first.

Planning – King’s Meadow Baths

A feature on the proposed redevelopment of the open air swimming baths at King’s Meadow says that the King’s Meadow Campaign (KMC) faces competition for National Lottery funding from the demands of the 2012 Olympics, and that the Architectural Heritage Fund ‘had not been helpful’ in providing advice on how to raise money to restore the buildings. The information came at the RBC culture and sport scrutiny panel meeting on the 24th March – the KMC has been given until 28th September 2011 to find ways to fund the restoration of the pool there. (Reading Post 31/03/10 p 4)

A letter from KMC campaigner Anne Jessel describes fund raising plans and initiatives on behalf of restoration of the open air pool at the Meadows. Further information can be found either at the KMC website. (Get Reading 02/04/10 p12)

Planning – Reading Station

A letter from Caversham campaigner and activist Bob O’Neill comments on the meeting at Reading Town Hall on Monday, March 22nd that discussed the station area development and the station plan. He says that the plans do not cater for the needs of the people of Reading, with a reduction in the number of car parking spaces at the redeveloped station, together with rearrangement of bus facilities and the provision of ‘new remote bus stops in Friar Street’ – inconveniencing the general public. (Reading Chronicle 01/04/10 p14)

Another letter on the subject of the station area development meeting on March 22nd from Paul Bardos says that he although he welcomes (with reservations) an RBC statement that the Vastern Road would remain in two lanes in both directions for traffic users, he remains worried about car parking provision at the new station – which at the moment is scheduled to cut parking capacity by 75%. (Reading Chronicle 01/04/10 p15)

Another letter from Paul Bardos criticises civic waste on the part of the RBC, saying that the Council could have paid for the cost of repairing the Abbey Ruins by transferring the cost of the consultations for the abandoned one-way IDR and new Civic Office plans – “together these accounted for more than £2m of wasted public money”. (Get Reading 02/04/10 p13)

Politics

RBC councillors’ allowances have been frozen at 2007-2008 levels for the coming financial year. Conservative leader (and Caversham Ward councillor) Andrew Cumpsty gets £12,460, Labour deputy council leader Tony Page gets £14,578 and the RBC’s Labour Council Leader Jo Lovelock gets £12,460. (Reading Chronicle 01/04/10 p5)

Roads

Caversham resident James Day has won his campaign to get the police to move a road sign 100 yards to its new position at the start of Heron Island where Mill Road and Mill Green meet. He had been clamped by a Regional Clamping Services (UK) Ltd and had to pay £425 to retrieve his Alfa Romeo – the old road sign had been confusing, and had not made it clear when a vehicle was parked on the partly private cul-de-sac Mill Green. (Reading Post 31/03/10 p25)

Rubbish

Conservative proposals to reintroduce weekly refuse collections in Reading should they win the May council elections have been criticised on cost grounds by the RBC’s Labour administration. Conservative lead spokesman on the matter (and Caversham councillor) Tom Stanway said “the Labour Party has arrogantly imposed fortnightly refuse collection on the people of Reading and we will work to introduce a weekly collection of rubbish in all parts of the borough as soon as it is practicably possible...” (Reading Chronicle 01/04/10 p16, Get Reading 02/04/10 p2)