By Stephen Goss
Earlier this month, I attended the Special General Meeting of the Caversham Park Village Association.
It’s clear the Association has had its Pandemic difficulties, but as I listened, I was struck by the strength of feeling of the members and their support for getting the Association – whose Milestone Centre is a nucleus for the community – back on its feet.
This strength of community feeling can be seen across Reading, yet sadly it is all too often ignored by our Labour-ruled Council.
Despite its unpopularity with drivers and cyclists alike, the cycle lane on Sidmouth Street has been made permanent.
It received nearly 650 objections – which were ignored.
I am a cyclist, and I have not used Sidmouth Street once. I want to see a safe, integrated and coherent cycle network across Reading.
What we have at present is a collection of unconnected lanes frustratingly scattered across the town.
Reading Golf Course is another example of Labour letting the local community down.
An unprecedented and record-breaking number of objections (over 4,000) were submitted, yet Labour councillors pushed through the scheme to redevelop and build more than 200 houses on the former golf course.
Our Conservative councillors have opposed the scheme from the beginning, and, with them, I have met the developers and local residents whose concerns about this extensive development are justified.
They rightly draw attention to the strain on infrastructure all these houses will produce and the impact of dangerous construction traffic – to say nothing of the congestion once the houses are occupied – on narrow Kidmore End Road.
What about Reading Gaol? As a historian, I am acutely aware of the historical significance of the Abbey Quarter and the Gaol in particular.
I am strongly in favour of it becoming an arts and heritage centre. Reading Conservatives support it. The whole town supports it.
Our Reading MPs East and West support it.
Even Kenneth Branagh and Banksy support it.
Granted the Council has bid to buy the site, but where is the local leadership on the issue? It has fallen to volunteers in the group Save Reading Gaol to raise awareness and campaign for the preservation of this historic local landmark.
Given that Labour flip-flopped on the Golf Course development, can we trust them to do the right thing with the Gaol?
Labour have repeatedly let down communities across Reading. In contrast, the Government has been investing in our town: last year it provided £26 million to improve bus services in Reading; the Levelling-up fund is spending £19 million on overhauling the Hexagon and rebuilding the Central Library; the Government’s New Station Fund contributed to building Reading Green Park station; and the Pothole Fund has and will continue to pay for improving our roads.
Therefore, if you want representatives who will resist insensitive and inappropriate planning applications, who will stand up to developers and protect our green spaces, who will actively defend our historic landmarks, ensure Reading receives its share of national funding and who will deliver on problems raised by residents – then vote for your Conservative candidate on 4th May.
Stephen Goss is the Conservative Party Candidate for Emmer Green ward on Reading Borough Council
