AN EYESORE that rivals Mount Everest will soon be conquered if Reading Borough Council’s plans succeed.
The waste mountain of Wokingham Road will soon be no more if the avalanche of measures work.
As we reported earlier this year, waste from shops, businesses and homes on the busy shopping parade have been overflowing.
Park ward councillors Rob White and Sarah Magon have been calling for action, saying the waste is not being collected often enough.
There are industrial-sized bins for general waste and recycling, serving several food stores on the street selling fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and world foods, as well as a range of takeaways and restaurants. This means that a lot of rubbish and recycling is generated every day.
And it has been piling up and up, causing a situation where, the Green party councillors say, school children attending Alfred Sutton Primary School cannot safely cross the road because they cannot see over the full bins.
Reading Borough Council has been sending out enforcement teams to work with stores in a bid to end the problem. Seven business owners were fined in March, and officers have been carrying out twice-weekly inspections.
Now, further measures are to be undertaken, including relocating bike stands outside the Subway takeaway store, moving bins away from the pedestrian crossing opposite Alfred Sutton School, and redistributing the bins to ensure they make use of new, extended bin areas.
It is hoped that each shop will have its own bin space as a result of the changes.
No parking spaces will be removed, and the pavement is wide enough to accommodate these changes.
Green party councillor Rob White welcomed the news, but said they would keep watching to ensure the changes were successful.
“Green councillors are continuing to keep up the pressure to improve road safety on the Wokingham Road shopping parade by moving bins anyway from the crossing and getting the area tidied up. There is still some way to go, but we will keep working on this,” he said.
And a spokesperson for Reading Borough Council said they took improving the busy retail areas throughout the town seriously.
“In line with the larger body of work that has been undertaken in looking at waste management and refuse in our busiest retail streets and areas, Reading Borough Council is making improvements along the Wokingham Road to improve waste management and bin storage,” they continued.
“Phase one of that action on Wokingham Road is including the relocation of bike stands to allow for an extension of bin storage provision, without adversely impacting on-street parking.
“The second phase of the project will see the engagement with local business owners, that has already been undertaken, continue in the allocation of specific and designated bin storage and presentation areas, ensuring improved management of business related waste.”
