By Cllr Rob White
One of the best things about living in East Reading is the university.
It’s a real community asset, that brings a lot of energy to the local area. In Reading we have a thriving student community (many of whom are active in Green Party politics and helped us become the main opposition party on Reading Council) and a beautiful campus to take advantage of during the summer months. However, at the end of the year rubbish builds up. Reading University, the council and student landlords must do more to tackle these waste problems.
At the end of term, the rubbish piles up
It’s the time of year when our student friends and neighbours leave their rented accommodation and head off for the summer.
What is left behind is a cause for concern. It has now been cleared by the university-funded end-of-term collection but in recent weeks rubbish had been building up outside vacant homes.
Sometimes this is students optimistically putting things out.
Sometimes this is landlords knowingly fly-tipping.
It’s a situation that’s been going on for years and local residents are tired of it.
Greens have been lobbying the university for better student liaison
Unfortunately the university’s student liaison team has been overstretched because vacancies haven’t been filled.
It’s only recently (thanks to some relentless lobbying from Greens including Councillor Kathryn McCann) that Reading University’s community team is back to full strength.
We welcome the recent appointment of a new community relations officer and look forward to working closely with the new team as they launch their new ‘Hello Neighbour’ campaign in September to make students more aware of the impact of their behaviour on local residents.
Whose rubbish is this? We can all help out but the university, the council and landlords should be doing more
We feel it’s important not to demonise the student community for this and to encourage the university, the council, landlords and students to work together to deal with the issues of end-of-term waste management.
1. The university should be funding additional end-of-term bin/waste collections as well as the end of year one to make it easier for students to manage their waste.
2. The council should collect glass on the doorstep and licence all Houses in Multiple Occupation (shared houses). Licensing shared houses would drive up standards and make dealing with problem landlords easier.
3. Landlords should offer more support to students living in their properties.
The better organisations work together and the easier the system is for end of term and end of year waste the less problems there will be. Together we can make a difference.
If you see an overflowing bin or some fly-tipped waste in Reading, be sure to report it using the Love Clean Streets smart phone app (https://lovecleanstreets.com/reports/home). It’s a direct line to the council and you’ll be able to monitor the progress of issues in real-time.
Cllr Rob White is the leader of the opposition and Green Councillor for Park Ward
