Continue reading »]]> RESIDENTS who are interested in support and services for older people now and in the future are being encouraged to attend a public meeting next week as part of the Let’s Talk Care consultation.

The meeting takes place on Friday May 31st at the Civic Centre towards the end of a detailed three month public consultation. Service users, families and those who may use services in future have been asked how they believe the Council should meet its commitment to ensuring its day care services support existing users while meeting the changing needs and expectations of people in the borough. This includes looking at how best to make a range of services available to older people – from exercise classes through to craft and hobby activities and advice about equipment to support independent living.

The event runs from 10am to 12.30pm and is the final public meeting taking place as part of the Let’s Talk Care consultation. The Council will share themes from the feedback received so far and talk to people about how these themes can be reflected in service development.

Residents who are interested in attending can call 0118 937 2969 to book their place. They should also let the Council know if they have any special requirements on the day.

For those who can’t make it there is still time to take part in the consultation. Questionnaires are available online at http://www.reading.gov.uk/letstalkcare. Paper copies are available from the Civic Centre reception and other public buildings across Reading. They should be returned by post to: Modernising Day Care Services Consultation, Reading Borough Council, Level 11, Civic Centre, Reading RG1 7AE.

The closing date for responses is June 14.

Lead Councillor for Adult Social Care, Rachel Eden, said: “This consultation is an important part of ensuring Reading Council’s commitment to supporting older people reflects what they want. This includes ensuring that services meet the changing needs of local people while reflecting that the administration in Reading is totally committed to continuing to provide day care services which we know are vital to the people who use them.

“Next week’s meeting will be an important stage in this and I’d encourage as many people as possible to attend and everyone with an interest in this to take part in the consultation.”

Continue reading »]]> The photo opposite is the amount of rubbish cleared away from Hexham Estate on Saturday 18 May – all 3.5 tonnes!

Thank you for all the help and support from residents, Hexham Residents Association, the Streetcare team and members of the council’s housing team on the day.

Also, thank you for the spectacular BBQ laid on by Mo and Hexham Residents Association at the end of a very fruitful 4 hours.

Continue reading »]]> Let’s Talk Housing Launched in Reading

Reading Borough Council has launched ‘Let’s Talk Housing’ – a three part consultation which takes a closer look at the housing issues which affect people in Reading the most.

Running from June until December, ‘Let’s Talk Housing’ will focus on talking to residents about strategies and policies that aim to improve the ways that the people in our town are housed.

The Council wants to engage with the community regarding a number of changes, new policies and new initiatives that could affect residents of Reading across all housing sectors. We want to hear from home owners and tenants of both the private rented and social sector, so that we can ensure that residents views are reflected in the decisions made and the way services are delivered in the future. We will also be listening to organisations that work in the housing sector and with homeless people to ensure that their experiences are included.

‘Let’s Talk Housing’ begins on 1 June with a detailed consultation Reading’s Private Rented Sector.

Reading is unique within Berkshire. Latest figures showing more than one in four households in Reading are made up of private rented accommodation and is estimated to be home to 75% of Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO’s) in Berkshire.

Redlands has a high proportion of such housing, particularly HMOs let to students.

Private rented accommodation can provide flexible and accessible housing solutions for many residents, but there is growing evidence that poor management in certain parts of the sector is impacting on the quality of neighbourhoods.

New research released last week by housing charity Shelter, based on a survey of 4,000 renters, shows that one in nine renters says their health has been affected by their landlord failing to carry out repairs or deal with poor conditions in their home. Shelter is warning that a minority of rogue landlords who are failing to meet their responsibilities to keep their properties in a decent state of repair are putting renters and their families at risk.

Reading Borough Council is one of 61 local council’s across England who have signed up to Shelter’s campaign, committing to do all they can to stamp out rogue landlords in their area. With one in four households in Reading now living in the private rented sector, the Council is keen to ensure that the health, safety and welfare of tenants are protected and that it takes a balanced approach to regulation and support of landlords.

Three separate questionnaires will be distributed over the coming weeks to residents, landlords and their agents and other stakeholders. The questionnaires will also be available to fill in online at www.reading.gov.uk/letstalkhousing and available at libraries, children’s and community centres etc as well as targeted at households and businesses in areas where there are particularly high levels of private rented accommodation.

‘Let’s Talk Housing’ road shows will be touring neighbourhoods in Reading over the course of the consultation providing an opportunity to see what the Council offers and complete questionnaires. A particular focus will be given to gathering feedback from traditionally hard to reach groups.

Councillor Rachel Eden, Lead Member for Housing at Reading Borough Council, said:

“In Reading we want to live in decent homes in good neighbourhoods as part of connected and strong communities. The Council signed up to Shelter’s ‘Evict Rogue Landlords’ campaign last year, and the launch of ‘Lets Talk Housing’ is an important step in the work to drive up standards for all our homes, starting with a focus on the private rented sector. This consultation will ask landlords, tenants and neighbours about their experiences and help to make the private rented sector work better for everyone.”

Assistant Lead Councillor for Housing, Councillor Richard Davies, said:

“More than a quarter of households in Reading live in private rented homes so it is a major priority for this Council that we drive up standards in that sector.

“We want to hear about the experiences of people who live in the private rented sector, the problems they face and the things that can be done to help improve things. There are some great landlords in Reading and we want to do all we can to level the playing field for those that want to offer decent accommodation to their tenants, so we are keen to hear from them as well as Estate and Letting Agents about what obstacles or barriers they encounter.

“HMOs can also bring with other issues which can affect local neighbourhoods, like pressures on parking spaces or increased noise levels for example. Whilst the Council is already doing things like placing controls on the number of new HMO’s which can be created in a particular area, we want to know what else we can do.”

Campbell Robb, Chief Executive for Shelter, added:

“Every day at Shelter we see the devastating impact rogue landlords have on people’s lives, and we’ve been campaigning to urge Government and Councils to crack down on this small but highly dangerous minority who make people’s lives a misery.

“We urge other councils to follow Reading Borough Council’s lead and do everything in their power to crack down on the worst offenders in their area and stamp out rogue landlords for good.”

For more information go to www.reading.gov.uk/letstalkhousing  

Continue reading »]]> Action Plan:

The university year officially ends on Friday 28June, so there will be lots of students moving out of their rented houses and flats in Redlands in the weeks leading up to that date and over the following week.

Reading Borough Council working with the Students Union and the University has made the following arrangements to cope with the extra clearance which is typical at this time of the year.

Extra Domestic waste bags will be collected during the weeks commencing 12June and 26 June.

Extra Recycling waste bags will be collected during the weeks commencing 19 June and 3 July.
Crews will collect all domestic or recycled bagged waste adjacent to bins throughout a three week period on the relevant week, in the lead up to an additional Saturday collection on 6 July.

It is anticipated that the majority of bagged waste not collected during the preceding weeks will be presented in front gardens for collection on Saturday 6July.  Waste operations staff will collect all bagged waste from the area on this extra date.

The Waste Operation Management Team will survey the area daily (excluding weekends) and identify any properties with visible excess bagged waste.  The team will arrange for the crew attending that property to take extra bagged waste on the domestic week following Saturday 6 July.

Any complaints or councillor enquiries received by Streetcare Admin will be cleared without investigation by the attending crew on the next domestic collection after Saturday 6 July.

As in previous years, no bulky waste collections will be made by Waste Operation staff.  These are available to residents and landlords on request at a cost.  Streetcare Environment Team will deliver Bulky Waste leaflets once students have vacated properties.  The University will also advertise the service as part of the build up to the end of term.

Environmental Wardens will visit various areas and write to occupiers regarding items found in front gardens.

Environmental Wardens on late shifts each week will be tasked to knock on known student properties to ensure as much household waste is presented in good time ahead of scheduled refuse collection each week.

Streetcare Environment Team will monitor properties after students move out to ensure landlords remove and dispose of appropriately bulky items and waste from gardens.

Continue reading »]]> How will it work?

As regular readers will know Labour in Redlands has fought hard to get powers to control the unregulated spread of houses in multiple occupation so we can ensure we have balanced and sustainable communities.  One way of doing this is an Article 4 Direction.  We started the process a year ago and we are delighted that the Article 4 Direction’ that was made in May 2012 to remove permitted development rights to convert from a  dwellinghouse (C3 use) to a small house in multiple occupation (C4 use) in parts of Redlands, Katesgrove and Park Wards comes into force on 16th May 2013.

The Council has produced a draft Residential Conversions Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).  This document interprets existing policy relating to residential conversions covering aspects such as amenity and character of the area, loss of privacy, car parking, unduly diluting or harming an existing mixed and sustainable community, the minimum size for converting properties to flats or large (‘sui generis’) HMOs and ensuring these larger HMOs have an appropriate balance between communal and private areas.  The SPD will also be used to assess applications that are required as a result of the Article 4.

This is a very detailed document but the most significant proposal is that if there are 25% or more of houses in multiple occupation within a 50 metre radius of the house proposed for conversion, this guidance would give us the right to refuse permission.

We want to know what you think about the draft Residential Conversions SPD.  The consultation period for this document will run from 15th May to 31st July 2013.  The SPD can be viewed on the Council’s website here, at all Reading Borough Libraries during normal library opening hours, or at the Planning Reception

counter of the Civic Centre (9am-5pm weekdays, excluding bank holidays).

Responses can be made in writing to:

LDF Planning Team, Planning Department

Civic Centre

Reading, RG1 7AE

Email: ldf@reading.gov.uk

Tel: 0118 937 4741 Fax: 0118 937 2435

Public Exhibition

There will be a Public Exhibition on the Draft Residential Conversions Supplementary Planning Document on Monday 3rd June 2013 between 3.00 and 7.45pm at Room H004 at the Youth and Community Centre, 135 Bulmershe Road (The Hamilton Centre), Reading RG1 5SG.

Continue reading »]]> Reading Borough Council Press Release

LOCAL groups and families in South Reading will soon be able to enjoy the use of a community garden thanks to a team of volunteers from the Prince’s Trust working with New Directions.

The small plot of land surrounds the New Directions Centre in Northumberland Avenue and was derelict before the team of volunteers got to work.

The site will now be further developed to grow plants, vegetables and herbs. The centre also features a teaching kitchen which will be used by various organisations to cook with some of the local produce being grown.

The Prince’s Trust volunteers study for the Certificate in Employment, Teamwork and Community Skills and the transformation of the garden became the community element of their qualification. Sir John Madejski and Mr Charles Brims (High Sheriff of Berkshire) presented their certificates at a ceremony at Madejski Conference Centre last month.

New Directions is Reading Borough Council’s Learning and Employment Service and is part of the steering group working towards transforming the garden.

In addition to New Directions, the steering group includes Let’s Get Going and Eat 4 Health (both linked to the NHS and promote healthy eating) to adults and families), Food 4 Families (have a network of food growing gardens across Reading where parents and children will learn how to grow their own food together), Thames Valley Housing, and the Reading Borough Council’s Planning Team. Thrive, a local charity that enable those touched by a disability to transform their lives using gardening, has shown an interest and would like a group to use the garden.

Lead Councillor for Education, John Ennis, said “I’m delighted that New Directions continues to find innovative ways to work with a broad range of partners providing opportunities for all the community”.

Community groups interested in making use of the garden should contact New Directions on 0345 842 0012.

Continue reading »]]> HEXHAM CLEAR UP EVENT

18^th May 2013, 10am – 2pm

Meet at 9.45am at The Hexham Community Centre

Gloves, pickers, collection bags all provided

Hexham Residents Association will provide a FREE BBQ to all those who help out to clear up the estate.

Housing Services are arranging a refuse truck to clear away unwanted items you have such as old furniture, toys and any general household items.  This is a great chance to get rid of all the stuff you have been meaning to take to the dump for ages!

Unfortunately they can’t take:

• Fridges/ Freezers
• Batteries
• Other Electrical items/white goods
• Hazardous items i.e. paints, oils

Collection Points and Times

1. Newcastle Road outside allotments                   10.10

2. Car park at top of Newcastle Road                      10.30

3. Lay-by near Clayton Walk/Hadrians Walk           10.50

4. Bottom of Hexham Road (wild flower garden)   11.10

5. Hexham Rd recycling area by Denton Court       11.30

6. Car park off Bamburgh Close by Kershope Court 11.50

7. Car park at top of Bamburgh Close                      12.10

8. Car park at Redesdale Court                                 12.30

9. Hexham Road outside Kielder Court                   12.50

10. Car park at top of Morpeth Close                        13.10

11. Hexham Community Centre                                13.30

The council will also be organising:

• Litter picking around the estate
• A motorised sweeper will be cleaning pavements, bin areas and car parks
• Clearing alleyways

For more information contact:

Richard Gundry (Neighbourhood Officer) – 0118 937 2161

or Mo (Hexham Resident Association) – 07548653236

The more people who come along to help the more we will get done and the better the estate will look. 

Hope to see you all on Saturday morning!

Continue reading »]]> PLANS to invest more than £1.6 million in new road surfaces across Reading are progressing with the Council currently evaluating a number of companies which have expressed interest in the major resurfacing contract.

As part of its annual Highways Maintenance Programme, Reading Borough Council has agreed a £1.16 investment in major roads and £446,000 towards smaller residential roads this year.

Last month the Council’s Highways Team began the process of advertising for companies to bid for the resurfacing contract. A number of companies are now being evaluated and those that pass the first stage will be invited to tender before a final decision is made on the successful contractor in June / July.

Tony Page, Reading Borough Council’s Lead Member for Regeneration, Planning and Transport said: “The prolonged heavy rainfall we experienced last year followed by snow and ice has caused significant damage to our roads. Across the country, councils of all types are facing huge challenges with their road surfaces and Reading is no exception. Our crews are currently out repairing the worst of the potholes in advance of the major resurfacing programme which begins in around 3 months’ time. This major work is timed to coincide with the school holidays to minimise disruption for all road users.”

The major roads resurfacing programme will see more than 60,000m2 of carriageway re-laid across a total of 18 different roads which have been identified as most urgently needing repair. The ones in Redlands are:

• Christchurch Gardens (full length)
• Kendrick Road full length
• Redlands Road (Sections from Elmhurst Road to Morgan Road )
• Eastern Avenue Full length (or sections depending on tender price)

After resurfacing work on the 18 major roads has been completed, work will begin in September on 35 residential streets. The ones in Redlands are:

Elmhurst Road
Crescent Road (Hamilton Road to Eastern Avenue)

Continue reading »]]> Reading Borough Council Leader Jo Lovelock has announced the team who will lead the Labour Administration under the new committee system – a system she believes will enable more Councillors to get involved in developing policies to address the issues important to local residents.

Cllr. Lovelock says: “Firstly I’d like to thank the three Cabinet members who have decided not to continue as Lead Councillors:

• Mike Orton, who has held many senior positions, including that of Leader of the Council, for over 30 years – Mike told me some time ago that he believes this is the right time for him to stand down from being a Lead Councillor. He will continue to be an active councillor for Whitley.
• Marian Livingston, who it has already been announced will be next year’s Mayor.
• Bet Tickner, who has worked hard on the handover of public health to the council, has told me she wants to focus on her role as the Council’s representative on the Royal Berkshire Hospital Trust as well as continuing her work as an active Abbey Ward councillor.

“The Labour group has elected a very strong team – a team that blends experience with new talent – to tackle all the difficult issues we are facing, particularly the continuing onslaught on local government by the Coalition Government nationally. We are very focussed on the need to protect the most vulnerable while finding creative ways to ensure the services all residents need and want are delivered as efficiently as possible. The way we do things is continually changing to meet that challenge, and I know the new system will enable us to give more Councillors the opportunity to use their talents to contribute to our wide ranging agenda.”

Following the Labour Group AGM on 29 April the following will be appointed at the Council’s formal AGM on 22 May:

• Leader:  Jo Lovelock (who will also chair the Policy Committee)
• Deputy Leader and Lead Councillor for Strategic Environment, Planning and Transport:  Tony Page
• Lead  for Adult Social Care:  Rachel Eden
• Lead  for Children’s Services and Families:  Jan Gavin
• Lead  for Culture Sport and Consumer Services:  Paul Gittings
• Lead  for Education:  John Ennis
• Lead  for Health:  Graeme Hoskin
• Lead  for Housing:  Richard Davies
• Lead  for Neighbourhoods:  Liz Terry

The new Specialist Committees will be chaired as follows:

• Adult Social Care, Children’s Services and Education: Chair:  Tony Jones, Vice-Chair:  Debs Edwards
• Housing, Neighbourhoods and Leisure: Chair:  Sarah Hacker, Vice-Chair:  Kelly Edwards
• Strategic Environment, Planning and Transport: Chair:  Chris Maskell, Vice-Chair:  Mohammed Ayub

Peter Jones will remain as Chair of Licensing Committee and Pete Ruhemann will remain as Chair of Planning Applications Committee.

Continue reading »]]> 25/04/2013
Reading Borough Council Press Release

A campaign has been launched in Reading to encourage victims of hate crime to come forward and report incidents.

The under reporting of hate crimes is a universal problem, which leads to victims feeling isolated, bullied and helpless.

A hate crime or incident is any behaviour that someone thinks was caused by hatred of disability, gender identity, race, ethnicity or nationality, religion, faith or belief, sexual orientation or any other aspect of an individual’s identity. It could involve things such as name calling, verbal abuse, bullying and harassment, spitting and physical attack, damage to property, graffiti and emails or abusive texts.

Fear, isolation, confidence, access and mistrust, are just a few of the reasons why people choose not to report hate crime.

Reading Borough Council and Thames Valley Police have joined forces with national charity Stop Hate UK to encourage people in Reading to report incidents through a 24-hour confidential helpline. The charity’s patron is Doreen Lawrence OBE, mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence. April 2013 saw the 20th anniversary since Stephen’s death.

When someone calls Stop Hate UK , trained helpline operators can then, with the victim’s consent, refer reports to other agencies including the police and Council. Information received allows the police and Council to track any ongoing trends of hate crime in particular areas or identify individuals or groups of people who may be continually causing a problem and committing hate crime. Where the victim has given consent to share their details, incidents that are reported to either the police or the Council via Stop Hate UK will be investigated and action will be taken against any perpetrators.

Victims and witnesses can contact Stop Hate UK by phone, text, post or online to report hate crimes, access support and get information.

Jan Gavin, lead councillor for community involvement and service improvement, said: “Unfortunately a lot of people may be experiencing some form of hate crime but don’t know there is help available. One of the recommendations from the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry was that people should have the ability to report at locations other than police stations and the ability to report 24 hours a day. Even 20 years on from the murder of Stephen Lawrence, we know we can still do more to stop people suffering. The work being done by Stop Hate UK is so important to achieve this. I hope the campaign means people in Reading are more encouraged to report any hate crime they may be experiencing and get the support and advice they need.”