I was very surprised to read your front page article last week which claimed there was a “secret plan” to close the Tan Hill pedestrian level crossing over the Reading to Waterloo railway line in Wokingham.
That claim was reinforced by two Liberal Democrat councillors you quoted including their leader, Cllr Lindsay Ferris, who said he was “totally unaware of this issue”.
I’m afraid the truth is rather different. Because of Network Rail’s concerns about the danger faced by pedestrians using the level crossing over a very fast live rail, the crossing was first closed on March 1 last year.
The Council then made a Temporary Closure Order which was advertised in the Bracknell and Wokingham News.
This Temporary Closure Order was then renewed in September 2016 and similarly advertised. Network Rail then applied for a Diversion Order to vary the route of footpath 23 which the original level crossing followed.
This was debated at the Planning Committee in February this year. Local members in Emmbrook ward as well as the Town Council and the then Executive Member for the Environment as well as the members of the cross-party Committee, which included a Liberal Democrat councillor, were consulted on the proposed Diversion Order.
The report clearly referred to the temporary closure of the level crossing.
Wokingham Borough Council has consulted widely on this closure which has been in force since May 2016. I am clear that the interested groups who should have been consulted have been consulted and that the closure of the level crossing is well understood by the public.
Cllr Imogen Shepherd-DuBey said: “I know the crossing well and … I have never been aware of any accident”.
While I appreciate that her view is honestly held, I prefer as executive member to take very seriously such concerns as these raised by Network Rail and as long as I hold my present position, I shall continue to regard public safety as my first priority.
Cllr Christopher Bowring,
Executive Member for Highways and Transport,
Wokingham Borough Council
Trouble on the roads
Apart the appalling condition of our roads in many places, residents anywhere near the Station have to suffer all-day parking by those who care not as long as they can park free.
A little while ago, Chris Singleton my then local Councillor, proposed restricting parking to four hours maximum in affected roads. That would at least have enabled residents to use the parking area outside their houses. I heard unofficially, that the idea was blocked by the “Conservative mafia” – the very “gang” from which Chris decided to flee! [Refer to a good dictionary if required!]
Continuing the comments on roads, Holt Lane should never have parking now it’s a major through road; Matthewsgreen Road should have received major widening/improvements before the new estates were started, and the two Speed Cameras that must have resulted from a request by a Councillor years ago, should be removed; I could go on, but the following issue of traffic control is also highly relevant.
Road traffic pollution is maximised by stop/start activity, viz as per Peach Street and Broad Street, and occurs at various times in Holt Lane and Oxford Road as further examples. Some ten years ago, I tried to stir council interest in sequencing of traffic lights, to no avail, despite Switzerland and Southampton using such over 50 years ago.
The Reading Road to Winnersh Crossroads etc., desperately needs intelligent management that constantly decides which road should take priority and by how much. That requires pre-warning by maybe a kilometre [Reading Road both directions] and timing indicators so that drivers have an option to switch off – in other words to use technology we have to reduce pollution and fuel consumption.
Traffic control is now needed at the Reading Road end of Holt Lane, plus at the Reading Road end of Oxford Road – traffic lights usage to be decided by an intelligent control system, coupled into the only local excellent traffic management in the new Station road, and revert to flashing yellow lights in light traffic that can “manage itself”.
Following a phone call to the traffic control section at the Council offices, I concluded that Control, Environment and Health and Safety needed to be combined – as the lad I spoke to knew nothing about at least two of the three!
This ramble has touched on some issues facing the Residents of what some years ago was a very nice town. Now people tell me they are thinking of moving out before things get worse.
Reg Clifton, via email
Promises, promises…
I found the letter from Mrs Twitchett (May 18) most interesting, but,not at all surprising, as the Lib Dems have always taken the “do as I say, not do as I do” approach to their politics. Remember Nick Clegg’s promises to remove all tuition fees, believing that they would never get into power!
When the Borough Council voted themselves a pay rise, there was great protestation from the Lib Dems, “how wasteful; of public money” etc, yet they all quietly accepted the increase AND the backdating of the increase, whilst still protesting how it should not happen.
The Lib Dem leader, Councillor Jones, recently reported a Conservative Councillor to the standards committee and before any response was received from the standards committee was suggesting that the particular member “should reconsider his position and resign as a Councillor”.
The person he had accused of wrongful conduct was found to be innocent of all charges made, yet when Cllr Jones was found guilty of inappropriate behaviour by the same standards committee, he completely failed to follow his own advice!
The veracity of this party must be taken into mind when they are knocking on your door, they repeatedly claim to be doing and fixing all the problems in your area, but in reality they only piggy back on the work of others!
David Anderson, via email
Give your vote away
Re: the lady that wrote the letter in this paper May 18 regarding Clive Jones and Lib Dems that let her down and wasted her vote.
Please stand back and give your vote to someone else and I do not mean John Redwood – he will never change.
Victor Rones, Bracknell
Action needed on FGM
In the run up to the General Election political campaigners are pounding the pavements pushing their party’s pamphlets through voters’ doors.
Promises about tax, the NHS and improvements to the education system are likely to get a mention on the leaflets, but it’s highly unlikely you’ll see anything about female genital mutilation (FGM), or other harmful practices, such as breast ironing.
These issues rarely grab the headlines, so it’s not surprising politicians do not prioritise them when trying to win their place in Parliament. But when they take their seats on the green benches MPs must not ignore this serious form of child sexual abuse.
Organisations across the world have pledged to end FGM within a generation and we want the future Government to make this a reality.
FGM is child abuse and no girl should ever have to live with the harmful physical and emotional consequences of this terrible practice.
We believe the best way of preventing the practice is by working with girls and their families, raising awareness in schools and communities and training professionals like teachers and social workers to spot girls at risk of FGM and know how to report it.
We want the next Government to commit to helping us achieve our goal of ending FGM within 15 years. We also need them to end other hidden forms of child abuse, including those linked to faith or belief.
They must pledge to protect children from concealed crimes such as these, so they can have the opportunity and right to live happy and healthy lives.
Javed Khan
Chief Executive, Barnardo’s
Wake up Wokingham
The impending General Election makes my thoughts turn to 1992, when I stood as the parliamentary candidate for the ‘Wake Up Wokingham Campaign’.
My platform could briefly be summarised as being pro-local businesses, shops, street markets and pubs, and against big business, especially the major supermarkets.
During the past quarter century I’ve watched with interest the development of the district (my parents still live locally) and it seems that Wokingham is, once again, at a crossroads. The power of the supermarkets has grown immeasurably since 1992.
However, Wokingham’s regeneration project offers a major opportunity to allow local retail businesses back into the town. Will bakers and butchers be tempted back, or is the power of the supermarkets over the town already too great?
I hope the new shops opening in the town centre will give Wokingham a distinctive character that will attract shoppers and food tourists from far and near. I also hope that the town’s market is given help to thrive – it could provide an excellent starting point for young entrepreneurs aiming to open food and fashion businesses.
If the same old chains are allowed in, dull uniformity will prevail; Wokingham will become a town like any other and its population might as well do their shopping at home online.
I dearly hope the candidates at the coming Election will do more than pay lip service to supporting local businesses – but I have my doubts.
Phil Harriss,
Brill, Buckinghamshire
Thank you for your help
I would like to thank the people who picked me up after a nasty fall outside Zizzi in Wokingham on Saturday morning.
They were so kind and let me lie till I recovered and helped me into an Estate Agent to rest. So a big thank you to them all.
This happened because of an uneven paving slab and I would like to ask those responsible at the Council why they are spending so much on the regeneration but have no money to make the pavements safe.
I would like to know also how many people fall because of the dreadful state of the pavements. I have a friend who fell a couple of months ago and she had to go to A&E and had stitches on her face. This state of affairs in Wokingham should have priority over the regeneration. Will the Council please acknowledge?
Moira MacDougall, via email
Editor’s note: We understand that paving slabs will be replaced during the ongoing regeneration works in Market Place. Work is due to start soon.
The new team
‘New Council leader unveils plans for her Executive team’ The Wokingham Paper, May 18.
It would appear that the first act on the part of the new leader of Wokingham Borough Council has been, rather than appoint a fresh-faced new team around her, to line up a shuffled version of the usual suspects, comprising a collection of tired old pals whose track records have, in the past, certainly been nothing to shout about.
Why, apart from the new leader herself, are there no women representatives on the Executive? And just how much is she, and the colleagues she is looking forward to be workig with, going to cost council taxpayers in pay, allowances, perks and expenses? Answers on a (large) postcard please!
The whole thing smacks of deja vu, which does not auger well for the future of the borough and its residents – watch this space!
J W Blaney, Wokingham
