Reading Liberal Democrats

Reading’s Lib Dems have campaigned for many years for action to tackle the problem of speeding on many of Reading’s roads.

Local people in 7 of the 16 Police Neighbourhoods in the town have identified speeding as a priority for police action.

Lib Dems on Reading Borough Council campaigned successfully to get the Labour-run Council to invest £10k as part of the 2009-10 Budget in speed guns to help local communities record speeds in their areas and get action taken.

The use of mobile speed guns where speeding is a problem will mean that motorists will need to take heed or risk points on their licences and fines.

Lib Dem councillor for Tilehurst and spokesperson for transport, Cllr Ricky Duveen welcomed the move.

Cllr Duveen said: “In Tilehurst, like many areas, the local Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) registered speeding as its second key priority after anti-social behaviour.

Without any enforcement action motorists simply ignore speed limits and the biggest contributory factor on most road accidents is speed.

Up until now, NAGs have been unable to take action on speeding due to the lack of equipment but now local Police Teams will finally get the tools to enforce speed limits on our streets.”

Cllr Gareth Epps, Lib Dem Group Leader on Reading Borough Council and Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Reading East added: “Finally we can provide local neighbourhood police teams with a method of enforcing speed limits. This is an excellent result that stems from Lib Dems pushing for more action on local priorities.”

Reading Lib Dems have condemned today’s inflation busting increases in rail fares and criticised the government’s lack of control of rail fares.

Spokesperson Cllr Ricky Duveen (himself a commuter to London) said, ‘I am disgusted that train operators like First Great Western can be allowed to push up fares at double the rate of inflation. The Labour Government has shown itself, once again, to be toothless in regulating private sector companies.’

‘A 6% increase on an annual season ticket to London means an extra £240 that commuters need to find in an increasingly bleak economic outlook.’

‘I rang this morning to enquire about the cost of a new season ticket to London (including the Underground) and was quoted £4,152. This is outrageous. How does this government hope to get more commuters to leave their cars and use public transport instead with these prices which are far and away the most expensive commuter fares in Europe.’

‘A lot of Reading commuters will be very angry when they next go to renew their season tickets.’

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.”

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

A public meeting will be held on 3 July in the Town Hall which will give Reading people and councillors the chance to discuss rail services with bosses of First Great Western (Reading Borough Council press release of 20 June refers).

Cllr Ricky Duveen, the Lib Dem transport spokesperson on Reading Borough Council remarked:

“We look forward to this meeting, which is the result of a Lib Dem motion to Council earlier this year. Residents have shared their worries with us about poor service and high fares on the railways. They will now get the chance to put these concerns directly to First Great Western bosses.”

Editors Notes

Reading Lib Dems have put First Great Western’s poor performance at the top of the political agenda this week. The Lib Dems have tabled a motion to this Tuesday’s full Council meeting highlighting widespread public concerns about the poor performance of First Great Western trains (FGW trains), and demanding that the Council organises a public meeting to invite FGW to listen to the concerns of Reading’s commuters.

The Lib Dem motion seeks cross-party support on this pressing issue and asks for the Council to take the argument to FGW.

Lib Transport Spokesman Cllr Ricky Duveen will say (on Tuesday evening):

“I have a personal interest in this as I am one of those commuters who travel daily in and out of London on First Great Western trains, and have done so for many years.”

“What we are proposing tonight is that not only do we make First Great Western aware of our concerns over the misery they heap on the travelling public but that we ask them to come out and publicly defend their record in a public meeting where passengers will be able to have their say and question First Great Western directly.”

The Lib Dem motion calls on Reading Borough Council:

a) To direct the Chief Executive to write to the Chairman and Managing Director of First Great Western expressing the Council’s dismay at the poor service and overpriced fares and asking what improvements can be expected following the disastrous year of 2007 and

b) To organise a public meeting in Reading and invite First Great Western to meet the long suffering commuters face to face

Editors Note

Follow this link for further details and also for details of FGW’s limp response Limp Darling

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary campaigner and Environment spokesperson on the Council, Gareth Epps, is pressing for Reading Borough Council to make it easier to set up a full-scale car club scheme, as it emerges that the company CarPlus is workking to reopen the service based at Cemetery Junction which closed down earlier in January.

Gareth has asked the Council to look at a number of ways to make it easier for car clubs to be run in Reading, including:

• Provision of car club bases on all new town centre developments, in part to reduce the demand for parking;
• Providing residents’ parking permits for car club vehicles, something not provided for by current policy;
• Investigating making the Council’s car pool available as part of the car club fleet, as pioneered in Bristol under Liberal Democrat control.

Gareth will discuss these at a meeting with Council officials in February. This follows on from previous campaigning and pressure on the Council to promote car clubs. Gareth has also been in touch with CarPlus to encourage them and offer help. CarPlus have held meetings with car club users and the Council, and hope to be able to offer a service from the end of February.

Car clubs offer a number of advantages:

1. Reduced car mileage: between 25% and 45% reduction for individual drivers.
2. Each car club car typically replaces 6 private cars.
3. Typical car and typical useage: cost saving over fully owned vehicle up to £2000 per year.

Gareth says:

“Car Clubs are a win-win-win for people in built-up areas. They let people have a car when they need them, saving car club members money, saving unnecessary road trips and freeing up space on our streets and roads. It is high time Reading’s Labour Council took serious action to encourage them – if they are committed to taking real green action.”

Editor’s Notes

The contact at Carplus looking to set up a facility in Reading is Philip Igoe. He can be contacted on 0113 234 9299 or by email at Philip Igoe. CarPlus’ website is at Carplus

Reading Lib Dem Transport Spokesperson, Cllr Ricky Duveen, has submitted his party’s ideas to the Transport Commission looking into congestion in Reading – as official figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats showed that the number of vehicles on local roads has increased since the Labour Government came to power.

The key Lib Dem proposal is to introduce a charge for lorries using Reading town centre as a north-south through route instead of the A34 or A404. Cllr Duveen said “I am not a great fan of individual authorities all setting different road charges but the case for charging lorries running through Reading is very strong. We want lorries to avoid our congested town centre and use the perfectly good alternatives that are already available. Charging lorries for passing through Reading will hopefully make them avoid the town and lessen congestion. It is not a money-making scheme as the whole idea of charging is to keep this unwanted through traffic out of our town.”

Lorry charging was among more than 20 ideas put forward for discussion by the Lib Dems, including:

• Support for a Third Thames Bridge, with Reading Bridge becoming a public transport corridor once the new bridge is constructed;
• More Park and Ride schemes serving Reading.
• A major investment in better pedestrian routes and a cycle network;
• Safeguarding enough land for a better bus station by Reading Station during and after the redevelopment;
• Investigation into reducing the number of car journeys needed inside the IDR, and rejection of turning the ring road one-way (a point on which Lib Dems have taken the lead).

Lib Dems also want to see more done to support car clubs where people give up their private car and belong to a club that retains a fleet of cars that can be booked for use by members as and when they need.

Figures uncovered this week by the Liberal Democrats in Parliament show that over the past decade, the number of vehicles on roads in Berkshire has increased by 9% since 1997. Whilst this figure has now stabilised, it means that congestion on local roads has gone up since Labour came to power in 1997, despite promises to reduce the number of people relying on cars to get about.

Cllr Duveen commented that: “When Labour came to power in 1997, John Prescott, who was then deputy Prime Minister, said, ‘I will have failed if in five years’ time there are not many more people using public transport and far fewer journeys by car. It’s a tall order but I urge you to hold me to it.”

“We are still waiting for Mr Prescott’s apology.”

“The rise in traffic across England generally is clearly a huge failure by the Government who promised so much but have delivered more congestion, pollution and more expensive buses and trains. Knowing the effects of large numbers of car journeys, why do we insist in making public transport so expensive ?”

Editor’s Notes -

The Reading Chronicle article [MP: we must be asked about Heathrow, 29 November] shows Reading’s current MPs doing a passable impression of Tweedledee and Tweedledum, while ignoring the fundamental issue at stake.

Gareth Epps Liberal Democrat Parliamentary spokesperson for Reading East has written to the Chronicle saying – “There is no justification for a third runway at Heathrow and the destruction it will cause, not only to the communities it will obliterate but to the impact on Reading of vastly more flights. Given the impact of climate change, and with air travel the fastest growing source of carbon emissions, doubling the capacity of Heathrow is the last thing we want or need.

Worse, Rob Wilson as quoted seems to misunderstand the concept of consultation. The word means asking the public for their view, as opposed to the Labour Government’s proposal to inform the public about a decision they have already taken. So calling for the ‘roadshow’ to be brought to Reading is meaningless.

For far too long Labour and Tory politicians have ignored the environment and allowed the expansion of air travel while failing to promote solutions such as high speed rail. Liberal Democrats would not expand Heathrow, and all the posturing in the world about consultation can take nothing away from that.

Liberal Democrats secured assurances last night that Labour-run Reading Borough Council are removing the status of their one-way IDR plans as a ‘preferred option’, as the Council approved the nomination of Sir Brian Briscoe to Chair the independent commission on congestion in central Reading.

The Lib Dem amendment was surprisingly accepted by the ruling Labour group as Liberal Democrats challenged the mixed messages sent out by Labour over the IDR in recent months.

Welcoming the change of heart, Lib Dem transport spokesperson Cllr Ricky Duveen said:

“It is important that all Reading’s transport options were treated equally. We had to force the issue for Reading residents to know what Labour’s position actually was.

Now it’s up to Reading Labour Party to make it clear to the public what exactly is their preferred option to solve the congestion problems. It is up to them to do as we shall do – and present our ideas to the Briscoe Commission.”

In the debate, Cllr Gareth Epps referred to Reading Conservatives breaking an election pledge to “review plans for the IDR” and slammed their broken promise as a “shambles”. Gareth says:

“The Tories pledged to review the one-way IDR, having been split over it. Now they are refusing to take part in the commission – acting immaturely and irresponsibly.

It’s clear they have nothing to contribute to the debate on solving Reading’s congestion problems, and that their promises to win votes cannot be believed. They are nothing but a shambles.”

Editor’s Note: Reading East Conservative literature for the May elections pledged that they would “review plans for the IDR”.