Reading Liberal Democrats

Following a meeting at Caversham Baptist Church organised in early September by Liberal Democrats it was agreed that the route of the Number 22 bus would be altered to better suit the needs of local residents, however, this was subject to acceptance by the Traffic Commissioner. Reading Liberal Democrats have today learnt from Reading Buses that the variation of the route which Liberal Democrats and local residents campaigned for has been rejected by the Traffic Commissioner.

James Freeman, Chief Executive of Reading Buses who kindly spoke with and listened to residents in Caversham about the bus route changes contacted the Liberal Democrats today to inform us of the latest twist in what is fast becoming a confusing situation, he told us:

I think that I may have explained that the last minute change that we made to the route of the 22 to divert it via the Mount and Kidmore Road was subject to acceptance of the short term-variation by the Traffic Commissioner.

We yesterday received a letter from the Traffic Commissioner refusing our short term variation application variation for the diversion of route 22 via Kidmore Road .

This means that we will have to divert 22 back to the originally registered route via Oakley Road until the full 56 days has elapsed, namely on Wednesday 9/11/11.

In addition, the Commissioner has received information from members of the public alleging that Kidmore Road is dangerous for use by buses because of its narrowness and the junctions at both ends.

We are therefore required to change the route of the 22 as soon as possible in order to comply with the Commissioner’s instructions.

We must then revert to the Kidmore Rd route at the conclusion of 56 days’ notice subject to any action that the Commissioner may wish to take as to the suitability of the route in question.

We will do our best to communicate this change to users by means of a door drop, leaflets on buses and e-mails/letters to as many people as we can. The temporary change starts tomorrow, Saturday.

I attach a copy of the notice that we intend to distribute as widely as possible today and over the week-end. In fact, we have staff out in the area as I write and we shall be distributing the attached leaflet door to door this evening in the areas directly affected.

As you may imagine, this is not what we had hoped.

The Community Link service 28, sponsored by Reading Borough Council, is unaffected by these changes and continues to provide a service via Albert Road, The Mount and Priest Hill as it has been doing since 26th September.

Annette Hendry, local Liberal Democrat campaigner said:

“We were delighted that Reading Buses had listened to the concerns of Caversham residents and had worked with us to make adjustments to the planned route of the pink 22. Though this latest development will no doubt cause confusion, we shall continue to campaign for bus routes that are both safe and useful to the residents of Caversham.”

“I’d like to thank James Freeman for his support and for giving us notice as soon as he could of both the concerns of the Traffic Commissioner as well as the changes to the bus route and I look forward to working further on this matter in which many local residents have such a large stake.”

Reading Lib Dems have welcomed the announcement by the Dept for Transport of a further tranche of £9.6m which will help fund the north and south terminals of the new Reading station.

Transport Spokesperson Cllr Ricky Duveen commented, ‘this is a key project for the development of our town and the willingness of the coalition government to fund it despite the current economic pressures shows a commitment to revamping the country’s infrastructure after many years of neglect.’

‘For Reading this will be a new entrance to the town and one that will cater for visitors and commuters alike. It is right that we make the station entrances suitable for the public travelling to the capital of the Thames Valley.’

Commenting, Cllr Daisy Benson, Liberal Democrat Group Leader and Lib Dem Housing Spokesperson said:

“Just months into their administration Labour are planning cuts to sheltered housing services which will hit some of the most vulnerable people in Reading.

“This will come as a nasty shock to many elderly people living in RBC sheltered housing as Labour kept their plans for sheltered housing hidden in the run up to the election.”

“Proposals including the number of support staff and support provided and making changes to night time services.’

“This is not about improving services it’s about saving money.”

“Labour councillors should rethink this decision.”

“We are urging tenants and families affected to respond to this consultation and for local residents to sign our petition to help fight this needless cut.’

“We think these cuts are wrong and totally unnecessary.

“Our top priority remains to protect the most vulnerable childrens and adults in Reading. We would not have made these cuts.’

At a meeting of Reading Borough Council’s Cabinet on 26 September, Cllr Daisy Benson, Lib Dem Group Leader urged Labour councillors to support plans to reform Business Rates to enable the Council to retain and spend a proportion of business rates.

Cllr Daisy Benson, Group Leader of Reading Liberal Democrats commented:-

“At the moment 100 % of business rates raised in Reading go back to Whitehall coffers and are spent elsewhere.”

“This reform would mean Reading Borough Council could keep a proportion of local Business rates, invest in Reading and help make it a better place for residents to live.”

“It  will also give the Council a real incentive to drive economic growth locally- helping promote business and jobs.”

“The Council should get behind these reforms which will mean more taxes raised locally are spent locally”

Responding to the news that Reading Borough Council will be consulting residents about HMOs, Lib Dem Group Leader and Housing Spokesperson, Daisy Benson said:

“It’s positive to see the Labour administration continuing with the work the we started last year, following the scrutiny review I led in 2008 Reading’s private rented sector.”

“However, this move will do nothing to reduce the number of existing HMOs in Reading which in some streets outnumber the number of family homes.”

“Therefore the Council needs to continue to work with closely with landlords to ensure that residents living in areas with high-numbers of HMOs do not suffer from parking problems and waste-management issues.”

Speaking at a meeting of the Council’s Cabinet on 26 September Cllr Daisy Benson, Lib Dem Group Leader highlighted the fact that the Labour administration is banking on bus lane fines to get themselves out of a financial black hole.

Cabinet budget monitoring papers revealed yesterday that £575k is being budgeted from an increase in bus lane fines to plug the growing gap in Labour’s finances although officers acknowledge that this income ‘is not guaranteed.’

‘Four months since Labour took control of Reading Borough Council there is a growing black hole developing in the Council’s budget which Labour politicians plan to fill in part by fining unsuspecting motorists including visitors to Reading’

‘It is wrong to gamble services on people being forced to pay fines – this money shouldn’t be use to cover up bad budgeting.’

“Demand for services for vulnerable people is growing and the Council has a duty to provide for Reading’s neediest people not just now but in future years.”

‘We set a fair budget which protected services to vulnerable children and adults – these same services are now in peril due to Labour’s inability to manage a budget’

An open letter to Tony Page, Lead Councillor for Transport & Planning from Councillor Ricky Duveen:

Tony,
I understand that you, as Lead Councillor, have agreed the increase in car park charges in the two car parks in Tilehurst run by NCP on behalf of the council.

I am not sure whether you realise the precarious nature of retail trade at the moment but Tilehurst shopkeepers are irate at the potential affects on their trade, not from increasing existing car park charges but from withdrawing the free first hour. When the charges were first introduced, the reason given was the necessity to prevent day commuters from filling up the then very heavily used car parks. We ran a campaign on behalf of the shopkeepers to allow a minimum free period for shoppers to use the shops along School Road without paying a parking charge. We were very grateful when the council agreed to waive charges for the first hour and this has enabled the car parks to be run for the shoppers they were intended for rather than for the benefit of commuters.

We cannot understand why you would now want to to depress trade in Tilehurst even further in the current poor trading conditions. Shopkeepers, and their customers, are angry at the introduction of this charge and fearful of the effects on shops in Tilehurst.

I do not have the figures from NCP about the expected income from charging for the first hour, but I do not believe that in the grand scheme of things this amounts to a large amount of income. If you do have the figures then I would very much like to see them.

I was shocked when I visited the local hardware store yesterday to be told by the shop assistant that new car park charges were being introduced without any form of consultation. A petition has already been drawn up and will be presented to the council at the first opportunity.

In short, can I ask you to reconsider your decision to do away with the free first hour in the interests of Tilehurst’s local shopping centre which we would all like to encourage rather than depress even further.

Regards
Ricky

Warren Swaine has today issued an apology for his actions on the 27^th January:

“I would like to take this opportunity apologise for making derogatory comments during the BBC Question Time programme on the 27^th January especially those relating to Chuka Umunna MP. I made a lot of comments that were insulting that night and I regret that.

“In respect of one particular tweet, no offense was meant but I absolutely acknowledge that it was recklessly worded and liable to an interpretation that was never intended. For that I would like to offer my sincere apologies to Mr Umunna and to anyone else for any offence caused.

“I take the values of the Liberal Democrats very seriously and as someone of mixed heritage myself, I can fully understand why it has upset many people. For that I offer an unreserved apology.”

“Labour promised residents they would be fully-involved in decision-making, yet they are clearly being ‘fobbed-off’ by this sham exercise.

“This superficial consultation ignores the true budget situation. It’s about time they started being honest with the electorate and fully involved them in the difficult decisions this council has to take.”

Reading Lib Dems have warmly welcomed the announcement today by the council of the list of roads being re-surfaced in the annual summer operation. Transport Spokesperson Cllr Ricky Duveen said, ‘this is a welcome use of the extra cash given out by the Coalition Government following two severe winters. Reading received an additional grant of £400k for road repairs this year over and above the normal budget.’

‘There is never enough money to repair all the roads that need mending at any one time but this extra funding will make a big difference to road users in Reading.’

The list includes many of the roads that local Lib Dems have campaigned about over the last six months.