Road closures and lane priority
‘Anger over town centre road closure’ – The Wokingham Paper, May 31.
Well, did you ever? Just when you thought the inmates of Shute End Towers had reached the pinnacle of their incomprehensibility, they decided to barricade Wokingham town centre for a weekend period of 48 hours, causing even greater traffic mayhem and deterring would-be shoppers, thus further adversely impacting on already beleaguered local businesses.
And what for?
To allow contractors behind with their work schedule more time to attempt to put right and catch up on self-inflicted delays and to allow a one-off street concert to be staged.
While no one wished to vain (thankfully, the weather proved ideal) on the parade of those wanting to enjoy an evening of entertainment and relaxation, it does seem questionable then why town and borough councils found it necessary to cancel last year’s Remembrance parade on the ground of public inconvenience and safety – a case of double standards or misplaced priorities?
As frustrated motorists and residents set out on their six-mile detours, it must have been of great comfort to them to know that the very routes they were travelling had been carefully thought-through as part of an Executive master plan designed to keep disruption to a minimum.
J W Blaney, Wokingham
What’s happening about anti-social behaviour?
Last summer, residents in Ormonde Road and Latimer Road were frequently disturbed by large groups playing music and drinking on the park.
Since then, the St Paul’s and Woosehill areas have seen an increase in anti-social behaviour, and there have been incidents of theft and assault on and around Barkham Road.
As many of those involved appear to be teenagers, we are concerned about what will happen over the summer holidays.
The police have said that they will disperse groups who are a nuisance to residents, but local councils also have a statutory responsibility to prevent anti-social behaviour. Other councils have taken positive steps to prevent anti-social behaviour at an early stage, such as appointing Youth Outreach Workers and setting up Youth Centres.
Residents would like to understand what Wokingham Borough Council’s plans are to prevent trouble over the summer.
Rachel Bishop-Firth
St Paul’s Residents’ Association
When is a loo not a loo?
I would like to respond to M Jameson’s letter, regarding the proposed development in the grounds of St James the Great Church in Ruscombe, in which he or she states ‘it’s simply a toilet’.
Therein lies the problem, it is simply not simply a toilet.
Have a look at the plans … The planning application is for a disproportionately large hall, complete with mezzanine!
It is over a third the size of the church itself and will heavily impact on graves which are currently actively tended and which are visited by people far and wide so that time may be spent communing with departed loved ones. One such grave belongs to a gentleman who gave huge proportions of his time to the church for decades. That seems to have been forgotten.
Nobody begrudges you a loo. We’ve all been caught short at times but the scale of the proposed development is completely out of proportion. There are numerous places to meet locally and to say that a parish hall will not bring in more traffic is laughable I’m afraid.
Already the lane is impassable at times, a huge risk to residents who may need emergency medical care.
The other letter – from Glen Horrall – misses one point itself. The church may have consulted with various bodies concerned with development, but what it did not do is consult with residents, nor did it consult with those with loved ones buried in the church grounds.
That speaks volumes.
I note you do not say you have consulted with Ruscombe Parish Council. Why would that be?
Jane Holmes,
via email
Petrol prices in borough
I’m glad that your newspaper has finally got around to publicly showing the people of Wokingham just how they’re being ripped off by the petrol retailers in this area; they’ve been doing it for years and getting away with it!
I try my best not to buy any fuel in Wokingham, except at ASDA at Lower Earley, and perhaps you could consider publishing a regular petrol price comparison for around the Borough and other districts for a few months and shame them? This article should have been on the front page and not inside.
Terry Gale, Wokingham
Chains of office
I was dismayed to see the new mayor of Wokingham Town Council allowing his office to be cheapened by posing for photographs with the Conservative candidate in the Norreys East by-election and these photographs being used by the candidate in his campaign.
The Mayor is the first citizen of Wokingham Town and is supposed to be non-political and to represent all citizens.
He and his office are not there to act as a prop in a candidate’s election campaign.
I trust Cllr McGhee-Sumner will exercise better judgment for the rest of his term in office.
Cllr Rachel Burgess
Labour, Norreys Ward
Grassgate
With reference to the grass cutting feature in your paper: The grass in Woosehill parks was cut three times last year – once in the early spring and twice in the autumn.
It was not cut at all during the school summer break meaning the kids could not use the parks to play in, it was also impossible to walk the dogs as the grass was so long.
I raised this matter with the council but was fobbed off with a story about letting the grass longer to help wildlife.
Maybe if the grass cutting teams spent a little more time cutting the grass and a bit less time sleeping under the shaded trees they could get on top of this problem.
These problems do not seem to occur in Reading or Bracknell whose areas all seem well kept.
The grass has been cut once so far this year about four weeks ago so is very long at the moment
Richard French, via email
Signs are a waste of cash
It is outrageous that WBC is wasting taxpayers money on pointless road signs that are a distraction to motorists. These signs apparently have cost £450 each not including planning and erection costs.
It is bad enough that Winnersh permanently has long scruffy grass everywhere without having
large ugly signs adding to the street clutter.
Bridget and Allan Hobbs,
via email
Seeing red over white gives me blues
Well, at last we are beginning to see what the town centre will look like.
But why choose white paving slabs?
The sun glare from them is very uncomfortable, and how are they to be kept clean?
There are already coffee stains on some stones, and it’s not even finished yet. If they are to be kept pristine the cleaning cost will be enormous.
This is certainly not what is expected in a country market-town.
Gillian Gatehouse
Winnersh
The state of the High Street
Over the past three to four years the growth in internet shopping has been massive and is currently running at just below 20% growth per annum.
The last figures I have seen indicated that nearly one in five of all transactions are now via the Internet in the UK.
In addition many people have experienced no or low wage rises over the past seven-eight years which has resulted in people having far less spare cash than they used to do. While there has been some increases of late many of us are still not confident in increasing our spending.
The combination of these two factors has hit High Streets across the Country hard.
Only this month we have heard that New Look, House of Fraser, Mothercare and Carpetright are all having financial problems and are considering closing stores or other rationalisations. This follows on top of Toys R Us, Maplin and now Poundworld who have all entered administration with the subsequent closure of shops and loss of jobs as a result.
Here in Wokingham we have a Council that is ploughing on regardless of the consequences.
It is spending money like no tomorrow and they have treated existing businesses in a cavalier manner, especially those close to the Town Centre and Town Hall.
Several of these businesses have already closed, others have indicated they may follow suit whilst others are struggling on with little or no support from Tory-led Wokingham Borough Council.
We have also lost our M&S store.
Whenever I and members of my team have raised concerns we have either been largely ignored, or told that the Council has taken account of the issue raised. (Which we doubt).
My concern is that the Town Centre Regeneration has arrived at the wrong time and may be too late. The current proposals are based on ideas dating back to 2008, prior to the increase in internet shopping and has not changed enough to take into account these changes.
The only firm proposals are for a hotel and a supermarket, all other areas are purely speculative. The hotel and supermarket could have been built anywhere in the area, although they do provide some attraction for the town, but strictly limited.
We now have Peach Place nearing completion over the coming months and Elms Field now started. I have to ask where is the projected income going to come from?
Only quite recently New Look came to town, some of my colleagues were pleased about this, but wait New Look are now in a serious financial position having lost £70M Nationally last year. Who do WBC now have in mind?
I am sure there are still companies who will want to come to Wokingham.
It is a prosperous Market Town.
However we now have what I call a buyers’ market. Anyone who has a good business brain will look at what Wokingham has to offer and would say “something along the lines” – Yes I like that shop, can you do this or that for me? Yes I like that. Now how much is it you want? Oh sorry I cannot afford that, but I can offer you half!
How is the Council going to react? Take up the offer, or decline?
In either case the projected revenue would be down from what was originally required. So where is the projected profit going to come from? I sincerely do not see it, certainly not in the current climate.
What you need to remember is that if there is no projected profit, or we have reduced revenue streams, it will be you the Council Tax payer who will pick up the shortfall, not the Council, or the Councillors involved.
We are worried that Wokingham could be saddled with a significant debt and one that you will be paying for years to come.
There needs to be a re-think by the Council, before it is too late.
For example how can Wokingham make itself attractive for people to come? What facilities, shops, etc do we now need to make the Town a success?
I am sure those of you reading this letter have ideas, please send them in and see if changes can be made before it is too late and we are left with empty spaces, or a significant revenue gap for years to come.
Cllr Lindsay Ferris
Leader of the Liberal Democrats on Wokingham Borough Council and Member for Twyford
A third runway is not wanted on our green spaces
The Labour Group in Wokingham Borough Council is opposed to any third runway at Heathrow.
Aside from the environment impact of increasing air travel by expanding Heathrow’s capacity as a hub airport, a third runway will increase the economic dominance of the south east.
For the last 40 years, economic prosperity and growth in Wokingham has been driven by two factors – our proximity to London and ease of access to Heathrow along the M4 – the latter being the major driver behind the decision of multinational after multinational to locate close to the M4, bringing in thousands and thousands of well paid jobs.
It has been clear for sometime that economic growth has outstripped the capacity of Wokingham to absorb the many people who, rightly, have chosen to move here to benefit from the employment opportunities available.
We see the evidence every day, with communities changed beyond recognition by more housing, roads virtually at a standstill and ever-shrinking green spaces.
The only way to protect what remains of the character of our communities and our quality of life is to spread economic growth more evenly throughout the country and, if capacity must increase, to increase the capacity and routes at our regional airports.
Such a redistribution of economic growth would not damage the Borough, a Tory hard Brexit is the threat here, as there would be considerable inertia from our current economic base to keep this area prosperous.
I was glad to see Theresa May opposed the third runway in her election campaign last year.
Let’s hope she and all our local MPs follow through on the Parliamentary vote and vote against the proposal.
Cllr Andy Croy,
Leader of the Labour group on Wokingham Borough Council and member for Bulmershe and Whitegates
Independents’ way
Reg Clifton’s letter (May 31) made interesting reading. It is my intention if I can get the grass roots support to create an Independent Wokingham Residents Association with an aim to fight all 18 Conservative Seats up for election next May.
I recognise the difficulties involved but an independent approach that abolishes the Conservative three-line whip approach to local politics – a dictatorship run by a tiny core of zealots operating in secret with very little time for the people they pro port to represent.
I see it operating under broad based policies along the lines of residents’ needs first, second and third.
All meetings must be in public except when the law or commercial pressures dictate otherwise and absolutely no three-line whips. Independent Groups do not have the media outlets for their manifestos the big parties have so they rely on word of mouth, the press and social media.
Unlike the big boys independent Councillors are answerable to their residents only and they are not tied to party lines as is the case with the major political parties. He/She understands their communities, local issues and so can therefore champion local causes.
Besides real local responsibilities Independent Councillors can have broad based policies such as the one I had for the last election.
Simply put one does not necessarily have to win as the Norreys result showed but a well-fought independent campaign can be a winner in its own right.
With 18 Conservative seats up on May 2 it is a one-off unique opportunity for Labour,
the Lib Dems and Independents to put an end to this dictatorial Conservative administration
who has run Wokingham
Borough Council for over two decades and has completely lost its way.
Don’t waste this opportunity as it will never come again.
Cllr Gary Cowan, Independent Borough Councillor for Arborfield
Appalled by abortion
When I make comments on a subject I know nothing about, it is invariably to provoke learned response from others!
Presently I am concerned about abortion – an operation I find revolting.
So many views on abortion appear to exist, and while a believer in the 10 Commandments, I do wish it never had to happen.
Women are forcibly mistreated to a degree I am sure we are not aware of, not only by those whose religion allows it.
Is there no way that society can ensure any child, girl or woman who has been forced – or stupidly agreed – to have unprotected coitus, can be persuaded to take a ‘day after Pill’? Also called the ‘morning after Pill’ it is probably best taken asap – available at Pharmacies.
Turning to the most boring subject of the past two years – the Brexit farce – it fascinates me to see several EU countries’ populations are clearly getting fed up with Brussels. If Germany and France were to behave like democracies, their leaders would surely have reviewed how such a monstrous and growing EU dictatorship was allowed to be established.
If I were PM, I would be talking to Italy, Greece, Spain and eastern European leaders, on the matter of taking control of Brussels and getting rid of Juncker and his College as it is called, so that the UK can logically reconsider staying in Europe.
We all know that the Brussels dictators would say that is not allowed – it just takes the guts we do not have, to say “don’t you dare tell our country what we can and cannot do”! Note how some East European Leaders DO disobey Brussels. Why not us?
If only we could have an immediate Referendum before the embarrassment of this month’s meeting in Brussels; a new PM or Nigel Farage; a withdrawal of all the stupid promises to keep pouring money into Brussels after next March; a clear statement to Brussels that a Trade Agreement is the immediate aim – all other matters to follow in detail – by the end of August. I am of course being nasty as August is when the overpaid bureaucrats take a month’s break!
Too hot you see – I say not hot enough.
A final bit of ‘pot-stirring’ – give Independence to Scotland, and revert Ireland to the one country it was before we poked our nose in!
Note I am English, my favourite singer is Enya – an Irish beauty – and I got to know and like the Scots when stationed in Scotland. So it is nothing personal.
Reg Clifton, Wokingham
Mental health treatments
I think that schizophrenia is the most neglected area in the whole, neglected, field of mental health.
This struck me, forcibly, the other morning – when three chronic schizophrenia sufferers – all happened to be in our drop-in centre, together.
One has used our services for 31 years, the second for 25, and the third – for 23 years. During those decades, numerous people have passed through our hands, have recovered from mental breakdown, returned to work, and so have gone back to completely normal lives.
By contrast, the chronic schizophrenics, remain – just as ill – as on the day we first encountered them.
They should be in sheltered work, and I have campaigned for this, but Government policy is to work with employers – to get people with mental health problems back into ordinary employment.
This is a realistic ambition for those recovering from nervous breakdown, but is totally unrealistic for chronic schizophrenia.
Our Association has the most marvellous volunteers.
Recently, one moved in to stay with a very ill, paranoid schizophrenic, lady – in order to look after her – day and night – until our befriender could persuade the authorities to Section this lady into Prospect Park Mental Hospital; literally, care in the community, by the community!
But it remains a shame that our own crisis house beds had to close – because their funding was axed. We only got £2,000 a year, from the local Mental Health Budget, [Joint Local Authority, and NHS Funding], but we scraped by, for years, and there is all the difference in the world between getting a small amount of money, and getting no money at all!
How unutterably useful those beds were – not just for the mentally ill people, but for those who encountered them – the Council, the Police, the Samaritans, the Mental Hospital.
Here was a place to which you could come – just like that, and virtually no questions asked! No one had to pay anything, and there was no lengthy assessment process. A bed was here, waiting for you, and everything for your immediate needs was here – in a chest of drawers. Here you could stay – for days, weeks, months, up to two years – sorting everything out in a place devoid of pressure, and of critical emotion – in fact, an asylum!
Asylum – by far the most ancient, and the best-proven idea, in the entire history of mental health services. How foolish we are – to have abandoned it!
Pam Jenkinson, The Wokingham Crisis House
Microchip your cat
This Microchipping Month, Cats Protection would like people to get their cats microchipped.
We also want to help people understand what to do if they find a stray cat, as findings from a recent survey showed that 52% would approach a cat they suspect to be stray but would fail to find out if the cat has an owner.
Key things to help decide whether a cat needs help, include checking for a collar if the cat is approachable. If there are no visible signs of ownership, we strongly urge people to take the cat to a local vet to be scanned for a microchip. People can also ask neighbours if they recognise the cat and check local papers and social media in case the cat is listed as missing.
Microchipping cats increases the chances of a reunion because it is a permanent and safe form of identification. Once microchipped, it is important to keep the chip details up-to-date.
Microchipping could mean the difference between a happy reunion or a sad separation. Cats Protection reunited 3,000 cats and kittens in 2017 through our national network of over 250 volunteer-run branches and 34 adoption centres. This is a number we hope to increase by encouraging people to microchip their cats.
A video created by Cats Protection, showing that cats can’t do the things people can do to find their way home, as well as further advice on how to help a stray cat, can be found at: www.cats.org.uk/microchipping
Mark Beazley
Cats Protection’s
Director of Operations
