Reading Liberal Democrats

Lib Dems in Reading have slammed the rescue package for at-risk homeowners as offering nothing for Reading residents struggling to make mortgage repayments – and have said it could make things worse for local people.

Patrick Murray, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary campaigner for Reading West, commented:

“These measures are quite deeply irresponsible. Encouraging first-time buyers at a time when house prices are still falling risks plunging people into negative equity. Not that many people in Reading will benefit from the proposals on stamp duty – very few properties in Reading cost under £175,000, and the changes will have no effect at all on other housebuyers because of the way stamp duty works.”

Cllr Gareth Epps, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary campaigner for Reading East, commented:

“Gordon Brown and the Labour Party have again shown how deeply out of touch they are. The first priority has got to be to take measures to stop the rising ride of mortgage repossessions, which we have revealed are going up in Reading. Other measures include examining a windfall tax on utilities companies, and reforming Stamp Duty to abolish the ‘slab structure’. This would make a difference to the housing market.”

Katesgrove’s Liberal Democrat Councillors have organised a public meeting this Thursday (4 September, 7.30pm in the Conference Room at RISC) as controversy rises about Tesco’s plans to open an Express store at Crown House, on the corner of Crown Street.

Residents and local businesses have been in touch with Gareth and Warren expressing numerous concerns, including:-

• Parking concerns as Crown House has virtually no nearby parking for deliveries or shoppers
• Anger at Tesco’s plans to increase their monopoly in retail in Reading
• Concerns about their record on licensing and socially responsible busines

Tesco has applied for an alcohol premises license for Crown House, the former location of the popular Fun ‘n’ Frolic fancy dress store, and local councillors understand that planning applications are imminent from Tesco, although the use of the premises for retail already has planning permission.

Commenting, Cllr Gareth Epps says:-

‘We have had a lot of feedback from residents and others about this issue. Most local people are not happy that Tesco are seeking to open yet another store in Reading so close to local retailers.

‘I would urge local residents and others with a view to come to the meeting and make their voices heard.’

This will be Reading’s Climate Change event of the year. Places are limited. Venue on Sunday 28th September 2008 1.30 – 4.30pm at Friends Meeting House, 2 Church Street, Reading RG1 2SB

The September 28 event is a fully facilitated open space meeting in which you will be supported in forming “Climate Action Groups” aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of the Greater Reading area.

Turn your ideas into action and receive ongoing support over a six month period and beyond. No prior knowledge or experience necessary.

The hosts of the event, GREN (Greater Reading Environmental Network) provides a forum for a broad range of groups to share ideas and formulate collective views. They facilitate action together that individually might not be possible. Along with COIN (Climate Outreach and Information Network – a national charity)the event aims to create a powerful and vocal community of people working together on climate change.

To book your free place phone 01865 403334 or email catrina@coinet.org.uk, for further information also see the Climate Outreach and Information Network

Liberal Democrats in Reading have accused Reading Borough Council of failing the most disadvantaged children in the town, following a highly critical report issued this week.

The report, compiled for the Campaign to End Child Poverty and published by Save the Children, placed Reading 6th from bottom in England in terms of the GCSE performance of the poorest children. Only 22.4% of children entitled to free school meals gained five or more good GCSEs in Reading, compared to more than half of similar children in top-performing boroughs such as Kingston Upon Thames.

Cllr Kirsten Bayes, Lib Dem Spokesperson for Education on Reading Borough Council said, “These figures give the lie to Labour’s boasts about Reading being a Learning City. It can be a great place to learn, but only if you are lucky enough to have wealthy parents and access to private tuition.”

Cllr Gareth Epps, Lib Dem Group Leader on the Council and Parliamentary Spokesperson for Reading East said “The children taking their GCSEs today were in reception class when Labour took office in 1997. There has been a Labour Council in Reading all through this period. One has to wonder what benefits the poorest children have received from Labour.”

He went on, “We want a Government which will tackle the educational divide. Liberal Democrats would directly link funding to children from deprived areas, to make sure they get the increased and personal support they need. Our poorest children should get a much fairer deal from our education system.”

Editor’s Notes:

A summary of the report’s findings are available from the Save the Children website

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Campaigner for Reading East, Cllr Gareth Epps, has expressed alarm at the rapid increase in mortgage repossession claims at Reading Crown Court.

The Ministry of Justice published figures on August 15, 2008 showing that the number of mortgage possession claims between January and June 2008 at Reading Crown Court were 26% higher than a year earlier (see justice.gov website Mortgage Repossessions). Compared with last year, figures from the second quarter of 2008 show a 37% increase. Possession orders were 16% higher.

The 37% year-on-year growth in mortgage repossession orders from April-June at Reading Crown Court is one of the highest increases in the South-East.

Gareth Epps commented:

“This dramatic increase is very worrying. We look set to see the highest level of repossessions at Reading Crown Court for at least 10 years.”

“Around the country, thousands of families are now paying the price for the Government letting the economy get hopelessly out of control.

“With rising mortgage repayments and sky high food and fuel costs, more and more people’s budgets are being driven to breaking point.”

“There is a lot of helpful advice available to people in financial difficulty – for example from the Citizens’ Advice Bureau – but we also need a change in the rules.”

“If we are to avoid the mass repossessions of the 1990s, it’s vital that the Government creates a statutory code of practice to ensure that lenders only ever repossess as a last resort.”

“This should not just apply to the big banks but also to the large number of secondary lenders who are using court action to pursue their debts in a very aggressive way.”

Liberal Democrats have welcomed the results of the recent Neighbourhood Consultation on highways and traffic in the Maidens, Christchurch Rd and Whitley Street neighbourhoods, and called on the Council to respond quickly to residents concerns.

Cllr Daisy Benson, Redlands councillor, whose ward includes the Christchurch Road neighbourhood said, “We have been campaigning for some time now to get the traffic flow in the area looked at. The mix of parking, speeding cars, buses, and pedestrians on narrow streets in the area has worried many local residents. We will keep pushing the Council to sort out the problems.”

Cllr Gareth Epps, Lib Dem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Reading East, and Katesgrove Councillor, whose ward covers the Whitley Street neighbourhood said, “It is clear that road safety and the safety of pedestrians are key concerns. The Council must act now to make the roads in these areas safe for everybody to use.”

“Local centres are what should give Reading its character. It is important that we give these areas special attention to make them as pleasant as possible, to encourage more people to use them and help local businesses to thrive.”

British Gas has today confirmed that it has increased gas prices by 35% and electricity prices by 9% with immediate effect. The increase will see average annual bills for people living in Reading East rise to more than £1,250.

Cllr Gareth Epps, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Reading East, has said that energy companies should be compelled to use the money from a £9,000,000,000 (£9 billion)European windfall to help protect some of the most vulnerable people from the effects of fuel poverty. The energy firms received the multi-billion- pound windfall thanks to the giveaway of free permits to emit Carbon Dioxide under the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme. Previous estimates have put the proceeds of that windfall at £9bn, although Ofgem estimates the true figure could be even higher.

Gareth commented: “Many people will wonder how energy companies can enjoy such a massive subsidy at a time when we are all finding it harder to pay our energy bills.”

He continued “This multi-billion pound windfall should be used to protect the most vulnerable people from the effects of fuel poverty. If action is not taken now then many families are going to face an increasingly tough time paying their bills this winter.”

“Everyone I meet is worried about rising prices. There is also a lot of fear about job losses and the threat of repossessions as house prices fall. People want to see action from Gordon Brown, but nothing seems to be happening.”

“Gordon Brown and Labour are simply out of touch with real life in Reading and elsewhere. The increase in prices by British Gas comes just a few days after EDF Energy put up gas prices by 22% and electricity prices by 17%, with other firms expected to follow suit. Consumer watchdog Energywatch said it believed the 35% gas bill rise was the biggest single increase in the price of a utility seen to date.”

Liberal Democrats in and around Reading have warmly welcomed the news that the Government has finally decided to block the controversial proposal by Prudential PIM for a development of 7,500 new houses around the Kennet Meadows and the floodplain. But they have warned that Labour plans to increase the total amount of development in Reading and the surrounding communities will not be sustainable.

They have paid tribute to the leading role played by Liberal Democrat councillor for Burghfield, Cllr Royce Longton, in whose ward the bulk of the development would have been located.

Katesgrove Councillor and PPC for Reading East, Gareth Epps, has welcomed the news to protect the Kennet floodplain but is concerned that the Government appears to be further accelerating Reading’s rate of growth. He says:

“It is of course fantastic news, not least to my constituents on the Kennet, that the floodplain will not be breached by the Kennet Valley Park development which would have been a reckless and irreversible threat to Reading.

“However, without a sensible dialogue on how we match Reading’s growth with its infrastructure, and in particular transport, the Government’s imposition of still faster growth is unsustainable. The affordable housing target lacks ambition and fails to meet need. The town and its neighbours must now have a major debate on how this is achieved.”

Cllr Prue Bray, Liberal Democrat PPC for Wokingham and group leader on Wokingham Borough Council, says:

“I am very pleased that common sense has prevailed and the proposal to put 7,500 houses on Kennet Valley Park has been rejected. This is good news for everyone in the area.

“But whilst the number of houses for West Berks has been reduced, the number for Wokingham Borough remains as it was before. Some of the Borough’s road network is already experiencing capacity problems.

“It is vitally important that the transport infrastructure, including public transport, gets the investment it needs – otherwise there will be huge increases in journey times and traffic pollution in the area over the next few years.”

Editor’s Note. See also Wokingham Lib Dems Story

Cllr Ricky Duveen, the Lib Dem Spokesperson on Transport, today outlined his party’s response to the Briscoe Commission.

Cllr Duveen emphasised that the Lib Dems had engaged wholeheartedly with the work of the Commission since it was set up. They had sent in a comprehensive list of suggestions for dealing with congestion in Reading, many of which had been adopted by the Commission.

‘Unlike the Tories whose central plank seems to be building a new road to bring more traffic in to the town centre, we do need to find new and innovative ways of dealing with road congestion which is the biggest threat to the town’s future development.’

The Briscoe Report does set out the need for one major scheme, the Third Thames Bridge but steers clear of making any recommendations for solving the key bottleneck of Cemetery Junction where there is little consensus as yet. It does support Lib Dem ideas for expanding Park and Ride schemes to cover all major access routes into the town, for better ticketing options for bus users and for improving cycling and pedestrian routes. It also very clearly buries the one-way IDR scheme.

The Briscoe Report sets out two very key issues that need to be set out for the people of Reading as it is they who must decide on any eventual solutions.

Firstly, there is an unwelcome fact to address in that all the major schemes for reducing traffic congestion in Reading rely on the co-operation of neighbouring authorities who have differing priorities. Our council does not have a good track record on joint schemes, although the current work at Junction 11 is progressing well. The Third Thames Bridge has been talked about for 30 years with very little to show for it. There is clearly a need for a Traffic Authority of some sort that will take a regional view of the transport infrastructure in the Thames Valley as a whole and will have the power to push through such schemes if they can be shown to bring major benefits to the region as a whole. Such an authority would, in our view, also require a democratic mandate from the people of the Thames Valley, a government appointed quango will simply not do.

Secondly, the Report states that road charging in some form will be part of the solution to Reading’s traffic congestion. The Lib Dems have for some time now been promoting the idea of charging lorries using our town as a through route and causing a lot of the congestion, not to mention air pollution and wear and tear to our roads. We already have the technology to introduce such a scheme and we need to put the case to local residents and businesses now. If we can convince them that this is key factor in reducing congestion then we can go forward and put together a fully costed proposal for the people of Reading to make the final decision. It may be that taking a large number of lorries off our roads will be enough to ease the worst of our traffic problems and avoid the need to bring in further charging, but we need a full and open debate on road charging now and that is one of the key findings of the Briscoe report. We welcome this opportunity to engage with local people on such a vital issue.

Cllr Duveen re-iterated that politicians of all parties now had the task of engaging with local residents and setting out the case for schemes to combat congestion and to ensure that the town continues to thrive economically. ‘I look forward to a lively debate following the excellent work of the Briscoe Commission. We have always said that any major scheme will need the support of the people of Reading and we need to win their backing before imposing grand ideas such as the one-way IDR.’

Editor’s Note
Follow this link to the Briscoe Report page Independent Commission reports

Liberal Democrat Councillors in Redlands Ward have welcomed the start of work to protect the lawns at Cintra Avenue, which have been subject to a series of incursions from travellers.

Reading Borough Council has said it expects the work will take several weeks to complete, and will include fencing, gating and width restrictions on the access road. The first section of fencing was installed on Wednesday (2nd July).

Cllr Kirsten Bayes met with local residents and officers from the Council’s Park Service on Tuesday, to make sure residents were happy with the proposed work and that the Council understood their concerns.

Kirsten said, “The Council needs to get the balance right between protecting the lawns while making it easy for residents to live their daily lives. Glenn, Daisy and I as Ward Councillors will make sure the Council listens to residents and does a good job.”

Cllr Daisy Benson who has campaigned for this work since April 2007 said, “It is pleasing to see the Council finally start work to protect the lawns at Cintra Avenue. This has been something we have been raising for more than a year. If only the Council had listened earlier, the problems with the repeated traveller incursions could have been avoided.”

Cllr Glenn Goodall added, “It is vital the work proceeds quickly.

Residents have told us how worried they are that the travellers could return. We need to have the fencing installed before another incursion is attempted. The Council must hurry up and get the job done.”