Improving roadsafety and parking in Park Ward

We continue to work hard on tackling roadsafety and parking problems across Park Ward. Below is the latest update. We are in the process of organising street meetings for roads which haven't met recently. Let us know if you have time to help us organise one for your road – email me at: rob@readinggreenparty.org.uk

Dear resident,

The East Reading transport working group – made up of councillors and transport planners – met in October. Sadly, little progress has been made on a roadsafety/parking scheme for South Park Ward, despite all the work that has been done by residents and Green councillors. But we will keep up the pressure.

There still aren’t any detailed drawings of a South Park Ward areawide roadsafety/parking scheme – from Cemetery Junction up to the Three Tuns pub, including Bulmershe Road. However, the November Traffic Committee as agreed to consult on a high level areawide scheme and generally on permit parking. Unfortunately this moves the date that a scheme could be introduced further into the future – autumn 2018 at best.

We believe this lack of progress is because, despite our lobbying, the council has not prioritised this roadsafety and permit parking scheme. Also distractions like the Labour proposal to put double yellow lines down one side of Hamilton Road in isolation, which fortunately have been defeated, haven’t helped. The way to accelerate progress is to get Labour Councillor Tony Page to give this scheme a higher priority and more transport planner time – and we will continue to work with you to keep up the pressure.

We know that Crescent Road is a nightmare for all road users especially pedestrians. We know that having to live day-to-day with blocked pavements, the struggle to find a parking place and concerns about being blocked in is a massive stress and inconvenience. We also know that this process is frustrating – and we are frustrated as well.

However we will keep standing up for residents and working with you to progress a roadsafety and parking scheme because we care about the area and want to improve it.

Yours faithfully

Rob White, Josh Williams and Brenda McGonigle

PS if you’d like to get email updates on this subject then let Rob know: rob@readinggreenparty.org.uk

Green Party councillors, Reading