I have spent time over the weekend going through the results of the latest batch of Residents’ Survey Forms from Tilehurst. There were a number of gripes but several issues were prominent among the responses (80 recieved so far and still counting):

1. some residents wanted to return to a weekly bin collection for the grey (landfill) bins;
2. quite a few residents thought that bus fares were too expensive;
3. the traffic lights recently installed along The Meadway caused more problems than they solved;
4. dog fouling was mentioned as a problem several times;
5. speeding is clearly an issue on some of our roads in Tilehurst;
6. morning and afternoon parking problems outside local schools;

And what have we councillors been doing about these issues ?

1. the introduction of fortnightly collections has nearly doubled (from 20 to nearly 40% in round figures) the amount of rubbish that we now recycle as opposed to throwing into landfill . In general residents are content with fortnightly collections though there is always a danger of problems with maggots etc if the weather turns partiularly warm and we will ask council officers to plan for such a contingency.
2. bus fares in Reading are not cheap but they become a lot cheaper if you purchase bus-about tickets or weekly tickets and even cheaper if, like me, you buy an annual season ticket. Single journeys are still expensive but the TIF bid includes money to subsidise fares in Reading in order to encourage the use of public transport. If the TIF bid is successful then we should see cheaper fares in 2011.
3. The Meadway lights are an ongoing headache. We have tried telling officers that they serve no purpose but actually slow the flow of traffic for no good reason. They have responded by offering to rephase the lights and reduce the time allowed for traffic turning into The Meadway apart from Church End Lane which can be quite busy. I understand they are still working on the phasing. Like most of our residents, we remain sceptical about the usefulness of these lights.
4. Dog fouling is the result of anti-social beahviour by some dog owners who think it is fine to leave dog pooh on public roads, footpaths and parksand who clearly do not care about children playing in the area or walking to school. Please let me know (ring 961 4027) if there is any mess on your streets that needs clearing up. If there is a problem with particular dog owners then call the Dog Wardens on 0800 626 540.
5. Local action on speeding has taken a new turn with the introduction of mobile speed guns in November. This is a Lib Dem initiative and we shall see what effect they have on motorists in Tilehurst.
6. We had an issue outside Park Lane School soon after I was elected and I got the Traffic Wardens to patrol outside the school at the relevant times. A few tickets later and the parents got the message. Moorlands is different in that parents do not park illegally but for half an hour morning and afternoon Church End Lane does become clogged. We do not have a solution other than to ask parents to drop off children at the entrance to the playing fields if posible.

My thanks to all of the residents that too the time and effort to fill out our survey forms.