2015 council cuts in Reading

The next round of cuts are on the agenda for the council's upcoming policy committee. Greens are opposed to austerity. Join us and make a difference. https://my.greenparty.org.uk/civicrm/membership/joining 
 
The link below takes you to the report. Appendix 1 contains the cuts (page C25):
http://beta.reading.gov.uk/media/3560/Item-9/pdf/item09.pdf

Since 2010 the government has reduced its funding for local government in England by about 40%. Between now and 2018 a further £45 million will be cut (35% reduction in the money we currently have available). At the general election all of the main parties were signed up to austerity, which ever one was elected, Conservative or Labour, these  devastating cuts were  tragically coming.

Services have been cut to the bone over recent years, Labour are now crunching through the bone and we are starting to lose whole chunks of public service. Here are a few of the cuts:

South Street
So far the proposed cut which has received most attention is the one proposed for South Street. The council is seriously looking into selling this building even though the cost to the tax player is relatively small at around £30,000. Save South Street Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1039760576048947/?fref=ts

Adult social care
Care for older people and people with disabilities continues to be hit hard – the NHS may have been ring fenced but adult social care definitely has not. Many of the savings in this area revolve around cutting care packages (help getting up, help at mealtime and other support).

Sustainability manager
Despite massive carbon savings and reductions to the council's energy bills more cuts this year to the sustainability team. I'm waiting for more information on this, so I'm not sure how many people will be left and if it will qualify as a team any more...

Council Tax support scheme
In line with the Conservative governments crackdown on Social Security and the safety net that is there for all of us who fall on bad times the council tax support scheme will be less supportive. This will mean 7493 people who qualify for this benefit will get less and end up having to pay more – not easy if you are on a low, fixed income.

The Green Party is the only party on the council opposed to the government's austerity agenda. At the recent general election all of the other parties proposed slightly different versions of the massive cuts we are now being hit by. Greens are principled, we will continue to argue for an end to wasteful spending, such as over £100 billion on replacing Trident. Greens are courageous, we will continue to lobby for a fairer tax system where large corporations and the very rich pay their fair share. Greens are caring, we will continue to work for investment in public services, people and ultimately the future.

We want to see policies for the common good, not just the few at the top. Join us and make a difference: https://my.greenparty.org.uk/civicrm/membership/joining

Application to sell alcohol from a shop up to 4 AM

UPDATE: this application has been withdrawn.

We thought residents might be interested in this application to sell alcohol up to 4 AM by an east Reading shop. Details below:

Dear resident

Re: application to sell alcohol until 4 AM by Ravi Stores, 55 Wokingham Road

The above-mentioned business has applied to the council to be able to sell alcohol until 4 AM in the morning each day. We are concerned about the impact that this will have on residents in the area.

If you wish to object, then you need contact licensing@reading.gov.uk on or before 24th July 2015. All representations should be related to one or more of the licensing objectives – prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, protection of children from harm and prevention of public nuisance.

Best wishes
Rob White, Josh Williams and Jamie Whitham

Green councillors, Reading

Drawings for Riverside Day Nursery moving to Palmer Park

UPDATE: Council planning exhibition on plans to move Riverside to an expanded ERAPA on Wednesday, July 22 from 3 PM to 7 PM at ERAPA in Palmer Park.

Some of you may have seen the information at East Reading Festival about Riverside Day Nursery moving from New Town school to Palmer Park (plan to the left: yellow existing building, pink proposed building, blue prosed play area).
New Town school is expanding, meaning Riverside Day Nursery needs a new home. The council is planning on putting them in Palmer Park in an expanded ERAPA site – London Road, St Bartholomew's Road corner of the park where Barty Bears playgroup used to be.
This will involve putting one of the modern temporary classroom type buildings into Palmer Park – because there isn't the money for anything more expensive. The new building is shown in grey below.

We think it is important to make sure that we have enough nursery places, but we also need to protect our open spaces. Let us know what you think.
The timescales are given below:
Now: Pre-application was submitted 11 Jun ‘15
w/c 20 July: Planning Exhibition (date not confirmed)
w/c 27 July: Formal planning application submitted following exhibition
11 Nov ‘15: Planning Committee (expecting to be at November’s planning committee)
Jan ’16: Start on site
Jun ’16: Completion date. Riverside then move out of New Town at agreed date (tbc) and work can begin there.

Maiden Erlegh in Reading construction site contact details

Any problems with the Maiden Erlegh in Reading building site can be raised using the information below. Let me know if you don't get anywhere.

"In terms of a contact number, until such time as a permanent site set-up is established, and landlines are connected (early September 2015), the best way for any local residents to contact the site would be via Neil Thomson (Project Manager Kier Construction) on his work mobile 07827 928041 or the Newbury Office on 01635 36000.

There is an out of hours emergency phone number displayed on site which is : 01604 498849 and Reference No. NY1181 should be quoted.  Any calls to this number would be escalated down and ultimately to Neil Thomson.

Alternatively the following email addresses could be – neil.thomson@kier.co.uk or construction.newbury@kier.co.uk . If anybody were to contact the Newbury office then it is advised to use a reference in the subject line of the email “Maiden Erlegh Free School, Crescent Road”.

The Approved Construction Method Statement sets out that access to the site should be from the existing access at Hamilton Road/ Bulmershe Road junction."