Reading Liberal Democrats

Meri O'Connell (in red), Daisy Benson (to the right) and Duncan Hames MP (to the right) with Lib Dem Campaigners in Tilehurst

Following a visit from a Catherine Bearder MEP last week, Duncan Hames – Member of Parliament for Chippenham – paid a flying visit to Tilehurst this Tuesday to show his support for local Liberal Democrat candidate Meri O’Connell.

Whilst helping Meri on the doorsteps of Tilehurst Duncan said “It’s clear Meri is working hard. She lives here and people already know Meri and her team in Tilehurst. We have a shared experience in that she’s a school governor, as was I for my Local Authority. I can see she will be a strong voice standing up for her community.”

Meri added “Even though my focus is on local politics it was great that Duncan offered his support in Tilehurst. Duncan gave up his business when he was elected as an MP and his campaign, like mine, wasn’t funded either by unions or big business. It’s that kind of ‘no strings attached’ commitment to democracy that I want to offer to Tilehurst.”

Meri, Peter and Catherine in Tilehurst

Liberal Democrats were delighted to host Catherine Bearder MEP as she came to town to help their new Tilehurst candidate with a spot of campaigning last Monday.

Meri O’Connell is hoping to take up the baton from current Tilehurst councillor, Peter Beard, who is stepping down from the Council this year after more than a decade of continuous service in Tilehurst.

As she was helping Meri on the doorsteps of Tilehurst Catherine commented “People in Reading need more local councillors like Meri who are passionate about improving their communities – people they can rely on to work hard and speak up for them and I was happy to come down and support her on the doorstep.”

Meri added “When I heard that Peter was retiring from being a councillor I decided that I wanted to carry on the long tradition of active councillors who really are local and who don’t take Tilehurst for granted.”

“As a local councillor I will focus on the things that matter in my ward, like safety railings on busy roads, cleaner streets, and providing a strong voice in the Council for the resdients of Tilehurst.”

Peter commented further “I was first elected to Reading Borough Council in 1974 and had to stand down in 1983 for work-related reasons. When Liberal Democrat Jim Day retired as a councillor in Tilehurst I was elected in his place in 2001 and I’d be overjoyed to see a continuity of the hard-working spirit that I inherited from Jim be passed over to Meri.”

Liberal Democrat priorities in Reading this year are as follows:-

1. Review street cleaning services to deliver cleaner streets in public areas and neighbourhoods through a reduction in graffiti, fly-tipping and litter.
2. Work with parents, schools and partners to ensure good quality school places are available for every child.
3. Cut waste at the Civic Offices and focus resources on improving the local environment and protecting services to vulnerable children and adults
4. Increase opportunities for public involvement in transport decisions and review Parking Services to increase customer satisfaction.
5. Extend the range of materials that can be recycled at the kerbside.
6. Use powers available to the Council to help protect and enhance local shopping areas.
7. Work with government and housing associations to build more affordable housing and cut the number of empty homes in the Borough.

Launching the policies, Councillor Daisy Benson, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Reading Borough Council said:

“Over the past year on the Council while the Conservatives have been busy infighting Liberal Democrat councillors have been the only effective opposition to a tired and out of touch Labour party in Reading”

“We have been unafraid to hold Labour councillors to account on the issues that matter to local residents from drivers being ripped off in bus lanes, threats to sheltered housing and lack of action to tackle child poverty.”

“We want to see residents getting better quality and better value for money services – currently only a third of people in Reading surveyed said they thought the Council delivered this.”

“A vote for a Liberal Democrat candidate is a vote for someone who will put residents before vested interests and work hard for them all year round not just at election time.”

Meri O'Connell wants a safer Tilehurst for everyone

A guest article from Liberal Democrat Candidate for Tilehurst in the May 2012 Local Elections

Since the Reading Chronicle kindly gave such prominent local coverage of my ongoing campaign to get a safety railing put up in front of Tilehurst Library, lots of people continue to approach me to offer their support for the idea.

This all began when I was chatting with a friend of mine outside the library entrance with our daughters after one of our Friday Rhyme Time sessions. Another mum came out of the library and crouched down to do up one of her sons coats, as she did so her other child made a break for the road. As he toddled off he kept looking back at his mum and laughing, he thought he was playing a game of chase with her.

It all happened so fast, by the time I realised the danger he was in, his mum had already sprinted down the library driveway towards him. I honestly thought that my friend and I were going to witness an awful accident because School Road, as any local person can tell you, is a really busy road. Luckily mum got to him before he reached the road. Accident averted and everyone got on with their normal lives.

Except that over the next few days I kept replaying the incident, over and over in my head. I started mentioning what I had seen to other parents and grandparents that I know from various pre-school groups. What I discovered was that almost everyone who uses the library had a similar story to tell. No child has been hurt on the road in front of the library entrance, but there have been countless near misses and scares. Worry about their children running out into the road had even caused a couple of parents I spoke to, to stop attending toddler sessions there.

Our local library runs 3 Rhyme Time sessions a week (it started out a one, but proved too popular!). It also hosts Sure Starts Explorer Club and Playdays sessions for under 5’s. This valuable community resource is at the heart of Tilehurst’s pre-school activities. If we are encouraging parents and carers to bring their little ones to the library, then we have a responsibility to keep them safe too.

The more I thought about it, the more I realised that something needed to be done and it was the abandoned railing in front of the old pedestrian entrance for Park Lane School that provided the solution. Schools in Reading all have protective railings in front of their entrances. The Council could simply erect one in front of the library.

I investigated the possibility with the library staff, but because the proposed railing would be off their premises (on the pavement by the kerb), they had no authority. I contacted Ricky Duveen (Lib Dem Councillor), who received a less than enthusiastic response from the appropriate council department. I thought that the council need to know the strength of local feeling about this issue and so started the railing petition.

I presented the petition to the council and was allowed to speak for a few minutes about why Tilehurst residents and library users think the railing is a good idea. I was disappointed at Cllr Pages response:

Our priority will always be to reduce casulties on Reading’s roads and we will consider all locations where people get hurt.

We have no evidence to suggest that this is a problem area but as we are already considering safety related improvements in Tilehurst…I will ask officers to look at this request

What really disappointed me was that, whilst petitioning, some people said to me that the council would only act after someone got hurt. I told them that they were being cynical and that I believed that our railing would get cross party support because it was a clear win/win solution. It seems that the cynics were right.

What made my presentation to the council even more poignant was that Karen Blake presented a petition straight after me, calling for a 20 mph limit along the Kings Road because 12 year old Harsh Dharmendra was killed there recently. Cllr Page offered his sincere condolences to the family, I hope that he doesn’t find himself doing the same thing to any Tilehurst parents because we have ‘no evidence… that this is a problem area’.

I haven’t lost hope, I am sure that when the Tilehurst Traffic Management Measures initiative, takes place they will see the simple sense of this request by Tilehurst residents and Library users. Hopefully there will be a consultation period before any final decisions are made and so you, brilliant residents, will get your say and have your voices heard!

A guest article from Janel Blattler, a Katesgrove activist and Liberal Democrat Candidate in the Local Elections, May 2012.

Warren Swaine, Janel Blattler & Rebecca Rye outside the buildings to be demolished

Without a doubt the Katesgrove Community Garden is my favourite initiative in the ward to date. It was one of the main drivers in me seeking to run for council, as I had long wondered why the façades of these derelict buildings were left standing. What made it even more enjoyable was seeing the support from my neighbours and local residents as I knocked on doors seeking signatures for the petition, and in the end collected close to 300 signatures! Everyone was keen to finally see action taken to improve this longstanding eyesore. After all, it has a broad appeal, as it is on Southampton and Crown Streets, one of the main junctions in the ward and an area that suffers from a lack of green space.

There were of course a handful of people that expressed concern that a garden would be a haven for the homeless and the drug trade. But for those naysayers, I refer them to the Forbury Garden, or even Eldon Square which are both thriving green spaces. Fitting a fence and gates around the perimeter of the proposed garden would help to prevent people lingering there overnight.

I’m pleased that others are as excited as I am about the idea of bringing a community garden back to Katesgrove. As you may know, what we’re proposing is a long overdue replacement to the popular Common Ground garden that was on the other end of Crown Street, at the junction of Silver Street.

To help bring the garden to life, we have an architect living in Katesgrove, who has volunteered to design the garden for us! Now that the council has undertaken to purchase the remaining two buildings, all we need is a bit of progress on the demolition of the buildings, so we can move forward with the project.

I hope to have another update in a couple of months, advising when the council has a date agreed for the demolition of the buildings. Watch this space!

A guest post from Janel Blattler, Liberal Democrat Candidate for Katesgrove ward in May 2012 Local Elections.

As I live just off Elgar Road, the Katesgrove Lane Underpass is my usual pedestrian route into town. If I needed to come home after dark, I would intentionally avoid the underpass.

Janel and Gareth in the underpass before the light upgrade… dark even during daylight!

I figured that others would have similar concerns about the underpass, so I spoke to Rebecca Rye and Warren Swaine, our Lib Dem councillors in Katesgrove about the issue. I was pleased to hear the team had already been working on this issue. While he was still a councillor, Gareth Epps, along with Warren applied for a grant from the Safer Reading funding to improve the underpass lighting. But for reasons unknown, there was an ongoing delay in obtaining a quote to replace the lights.

Given the recent crimes in the area, I sought to get an answer to when we could expect the upgraded lighting. So, I submitted a question to the council’s cabinet meeting on 12 March 2012, questioning the delay and requesting a date to install the upgraded lighting: “Would the council please explain to Katesgrove residents when we could expect to see the upgraded lights in the Katesgrove Lane Underpass.”

Councillor Page, the Lead Councillor for Regeneration, Transport and Planning, said:

“The replacement of the lighting in the Katesgrove Underpass will be completed by the end of March 2012. The delay has been caused by the need to source a more cost effective lighting fitting and the long lead in times for their supply”

Janel Blattler, Warren Swaine & Rebecca Rye admiring the underpass lighting

Much to my delight, the council upgraded the lighting just two days after I asking the question to cabinet! It’s proven to be a popular discussion topic both on the doorstep and at the Katesgrove Residents’ Association.

It’s made a marked improvement on the lighting in the underpass — though now it’s made the graffiti on the mural more visible! Needless to say, the next item to tackle in the underpass is the graffiti that’s ruined the mural.

Following earlier selection of Meri O’Connell in Tilehurst, Janel Blattler in Katesgrove and James Moore in Redlands, Greater Reading Liberal Democrats are delighted to announce the remaining Liberal Democrat Candidates for the Local Elections.

Abbey – Kirsten Bayes. A long-time campaigner, as Deputy Leader of Reading Borough Council in 2010 Kirsten delivered the first 0% Council Tax rise ever seen in Reading, along with a budget that cleared the way for a second 0% Council Tax rise this year. Kirsten lives in central Reading and works in IT.

Battle – Mark Whiley. Mark is a former graduate of the University of Reading where he was active as a Community Warden for 2 years in the University area. Mark currently lives off the Oxford Road and works in Reading for an IT firm.

Caversham – Jenny Woods. Dr Jenny Woods is a trained scientist and professional administrator, currently coordinating a national network of researchers looking at how science can improve our lives in future. She is passionate about building a fair society where everyone has the chance to make the most of their lives and is a strong believer in accessible learning and new technologies to help bring this about.

Church – Annette Hendry. Annette has been a Reading resident for over 30 years and a long-standing community activist and is a Trustee of various voluntarty organisations. Annette was formerly a Councillor in Peppard ward.

Kentwood – Jon Walls. Jonathan Walls first moved to Reading in 2001, when he started working for a small, young, entrepreneurial software company. He has lived in Kentwood since 2009 and has just joined another new venture as a senior consultant. Jonathan also enjoys music, and his band plays regular gigs around Berkshire.

Mapledurham – Chris Burden. Chris, a business support professional and long standing resident of Caversham, takes an active interest in environmental and quality-of-life issues. A keen supporter of the Reading Tree Wardens, he has planted trees in Richfield Avenue, Christchurch Meadows, and Westfield Rec., and is involved with Caversham GLOBE.

Minster – Georgina Hughes. Georgina joined the Liberal Democrats to fight for a fairer society for us all. She is currently Chair of Greater Reading Liberal Democrats and commutes to London for her work in web development.

Norcot – Margaret McNeill. Margaret worked for many years in local government, so has lots of experience of how councils work.  Now retired, she takes an active interest in the community and wants residents to have a bigger say in what happens in their neighbourhood.

Park – Hoyte Swager. After having moved to Reading in 2008, Hoyte currently lives in Park near Cemetery Junction. Hoyte works in Dinton Pastures Country Park at the Hurst Golf Course as acting Head Greenkeeper and is studying for NVQ in Sports Turf.

Peppard – Mustafa Chaudhary. Mustafa was born in Reading and has lived in Caversham since 1978. His history of community activism speaks for itself. He has served as a trustee with Reading Voluntary Action, was a member of both Thames Valley Police IAG and Caversham NAG. He is currently Vice-Chair of Reading SACRE and a member of Reading Inter-Faith Group. Mustafa runs his own architectural practice.

Southcote – Dave Warren. Dave was born in Reading and has lived in the area ever since. A former postal worker he is now a tireless campaigner for carers rights and a community activist in Southcote.

Thames – Guy Penman.  Guy is a history graduate and works in London at The London Library. He has lived in Thames ward since 1974 and stood for election there in 2010. As well as being interested in maintaining and improving the provision of library services in Reading he is also concerned with such issues as community policing , public transport , planning  and the environment.

Whitley - Rebecca Chester. Becki is a former journalist who became interested in Liberal Democrat policies after working on the election campaign for the Bournemouth Daily Echo. Being a long-standing resident of Reading, Becki wants to ensure that decisions made regarding its community benefit all concerned.

Georgina Hughes, Chair of the Reading Liberal Democrats and Minster candidate said “With the announcement of our remaining candidates, the strength of our local team is clear. Our candidates offer a diverse range of talents and a great mixture of experience from across Reading along with the energy to deliver great things for our communities.”

Statistics revealed by Reading Lib Dems obtained from Reading Borough Council’s Highways Department via a Freedom of Information Act request appear to show higher spending over the past year in wards with Labour councillors.

• The top 5 wards by spend are all either completely Labour controlled or, in the case of Katesgrove, have one Labour Councillor and are looking to make it two.
• 3 out of the bottom 5 wards are Conservative held, with 2 being jointly held by with either Lib Dems or Greens.
• Little or no funding was spent in Kentwoood or Mapledurham (both Tory strongholds).

Commenting on the figures Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson Cllr Ricky Duveen, said:

‘These figures appear to show a bias in spending decisions by the Labour controlled Council towards improving areas with Labour councillors. If so this is totally wrong.”

“Yes there may be more traffic on some town centre roads but that does not explain all these figures.”

“Spending should be on the basis of need not party politics.”

“The Labour Administration needs to explain these figures to the people of Reading.”

The Liberal Democrats are unique amongst the 3 main political parties in that our members can and do have a real input into Party policy through our Conferences. At our latest Conference in Gateshead, local campaigner Jenny Woods literally took a stand against the Communications Capabilities Development Programme (or ‘CCDP’), which many Liberal Democrats fear would constitute a serious breach of Civil Liberties.

This was Jenny’s first full speech at Conference and it was written with input from Information Technology experts from around Reading who, regardless of political affiliation, could see the dangers posed to basic rights and freedoms that the CCDP represents as it stands.

In the weeks since Conference, the CCDP has become a national issue. Jenny, who is standing to be a Councillor for Caversham in the May 2012 local elections in Reading, said: “I’m delighted at the positive support I’ve been getting from around Reading on this debate. Reading is home to a high proportion of Information Technology professionals who understand better than many policy makers how the proposals within the CCDP could be abused.

“As a Liberal Democrat, my role is to safeguard civil liberties. That’s why I think it’s critical that Government proposes legislation based on informed professional advice and open public debate rather than the opinions of a narrow selection of Ministers and advisors who may not neccesarily understand the full technological and societal implications of surveillance techniques proposed in the CCDP.”

Jenny’s speech to Conference was recorded and is available below, along with a full transcript.

“Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society.” Those words were written more than 20 years ago and in that time society, and the ways we exercise our freedoms within it, have changed dramatically, and they’ll continue to change in future – but our role remains, we exist to safeguard the rights of citizens in a free society.

That’s why, as Liberal Democrats, we should be concerned by proposals for surveillance of our mobile and online communications. 20yrs ago, who could imagine the different ways in which we’d communicate? but, now that we are, we must safeguard the privacy all of these methods.

In 2006, Labour first proposed the ‘Interception Modernisation Programme’, for central surveillance of everyone’s phone and online communications. It was a serious intrusion into privacy, the technology was unviable and it would have been extremely costly – so the programme was put on hold.

Now that proposal is being resuscitated through what’s called the ‘Communications Capabilities Development Programme’. It says communication companies must store, not just the data they need for business operation, but all other third-party data – that’s things like webmail, posts to discussion boards, Facebook and Twitter – for government reference on demand.

It requires recording of the fact people communicated with each other and to sample at least some of the content of their communication. Now, recording such communications is not currently legal, and it is certainly not Liberal. The Programme needs changes to our laws. So, this amendment sets out our negotiating position as Liberal Democrats against those changes.

The Coalition Agreement says “We will end the storage of email and internet records without good reason”. More fundamentally, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees correspondence is protected by law from arbitrary interference. Correspondence by Facebook messaging is easier for government to interfere with than that written longhand on paper – but that doesn’t make such interference acceptable.

Our rights in digital space should be protected no less than our rights in real space.

As Liberals, arguments based on individual rights should be enough, but there are others. Surveillance databases would be under threat from hackers or data protection neligence. The infrastructure needed is vast and complex – Government doesn’t have a great record of running such projects! and despite this bloated technology, it’s easily bypassed by safe browsing methods, such as those used for internet banking.

In years to come we’ll often have debates like this – technology now gives us the power to do something, should we therefore do it? In this case the answer is, very definitely, “no”. We don’t give police blanket permission to enter every home in the land without a warrant, just on the off-chance a crime is being committed inside, so why should we monitor the communications of every citizen, just in case they do something wrong?

The proposal is illiberal, unworkable and eye-wateringly expensive – the London School of Economics estimated it would cost 12bn pounds.

If you truly want to prevent crime and terrorism:

• invest that in community cohesion and education;
• invest it in rehabilitation;
• but don’t waste it on a white-elephant, black-box surveillance system intruding into the privacy of every innocent person in the country.

Conference, let’s shove this unwanted beast back in its box. Vote to continue upholding our founding role as the party that protects freedoms within a free society, vote for this amendment & vote for the policy motion.

Reading Liberal Democrats are pleased to post this contribution from Meri O’Connell, our Candidate in Tilehurst.

Meri at the Gypsy Lane Rescue event, with her children Sian and Owen and their friend Aaron

I have recently had the pleasure of helping out at a couple of events run by the Tilehurst Globe and thought I would share them. I’m always impressed by individuals who are motivated enough about something that they give up their spare time for free and get out and do things. Most of us talk about what should be done to make our world a better place, but these people actually make change happen.

Firstly the Tilehurst Globe organised the planting of the Landmark trees up at the Triangle. I think most people who have seen them agree that they are already making our shared space at the Triangle more attractive. It will be lovely once they are big enough to provide shade in the summer months and a place to put Christmas lights in the winter.

I was proud to have the chance to help Globe members dig the hole for the Redwood to go into. It was a really frosty morning and I was the only member of the public to turn up at 11am. My back garden will testify to my lack of horticultural talents, but I hope that whatever I lacked in skill was made up for with enthusiasm (my shoulders certainly thought they had worked hard the following day!)

Peter Beard told me that the turn out later in the day was much better and that the planting ceremony in the afternoon was excellently attended (well done to those schools that let their pupils out early to have the chance to attend and meet an Olympian!). I love the idea that my children will grow up alongside these living landmarks.

Having had a good time at the tree planting I decided to join in with the Rescue event that The Globe hosted in Tilehurst. It was these clean up events that first made me notice the work that the Globe does locally and encouraged me to get on their mailing list. I thought it would be a wonderful thing for the whole family to get involved with. I was right.

The children loved exploring a new hidden away spot in our neighbourhood. They quickly got the knack of spotting bits of litter amongst the trees and bushes and then grabbing it with the special grabbers that were provided. There was a real sense of achievement when it was agreed that the area we had tidied was done. The children could see the results of their hard work (and thoroughly enjoyed the ice-creams that I felt were small reward for their working up a healthy glow). Being part of the clean up gave me a chance to answer their questions about why people litter and what we can all do as individuals to help keep things nice.

I would recommend that anyone with a bit of spare time and an enthusiasm for keeping their local area looking nice should contact the Tilehurst Globe (they have a notice board next to the library) and get involved. I know from personal experience that they will make you feel welcome.

Thank you Tilehurst Globe!

Meri with the Redwood she helped to plant and her children Niamh and Owen