We have now collected 272 signatures on our petition against the mast so well done to our helpers and many thanks to all of you in Tilehurst that have signed. That represents the vast bulk of homes that are close to the proposed site in Lower Elmstone Drive. I will hand the petition in to the council tomorrow (Monday) and it will leave the planning officers in no doubt as to what residents of Tilehurst think of this monstrous 15 metre high mast.
Vodafone Mast – the Campaign Continues
This afternoon was spent (with several other volunteers) knocking on doors collecting signatures on a petition against the proposed Vodafone mast in Lower Elmstone Drive. Over 200 residents from the area around the site have signed already. My thanks to all the signatories and to the volunteers.
I have just sent in my comments on Vodafone’s propsal to the Planning Dept at Reading BC. They are set out below.
Reference 10/01787/TEL Vodafone Mast in Lower Elmstone Drive
Having read through Vodafone’s submission and supporting statement I am dismayed by their lack of attention to detail and their contradictory statements. It shows a very amateurish approach to a very serious planning application that could blight this part of Tilehurst for many years to come. I sincerely hope that this planning application is refused. My objections are set out below.
The Supplementary Information Sheet clearly shows that the mast height will be 15 metres as per the site diagrams which also show the tree line to be 10.5 metres. The Supporting Statement says that the trees behind the site ‘would act as a screening for the proposal.’ Well yes, from one side this may be true but from the other three sides the mast will stick out like a sore thumb as indeed it will from further up the hill behind the trees where houses in Prince William Drive will have a fine view of a 15 metre high mast protruding over the tree line. Not even Vodafone can hide a 15 metre mast in Tilehurst.
Apparently Vodafone think that a 15 metre high mast will blend into the context of the street scene more than other sites in the area. There are very few places where a 15 metre tall mast will ’blend into the street scene’ anywhere in Tilehurst.
On Page 5 of the Supporting Statement I really object to Vodafone’s deceit and contempt for the Council when they state that ‘the proposed installation would be similar in design and close in height (13.8 metres) to existing street furniture (street lamps are 8 metres high).’ Their own diagrams show the mast at 15 metres high and the existing street light at 6 metres high. Do Vodafone expect that we will simply accept this fiddling of the figures to minimise the impact of the mast? This is deceitful and Vodafone should be told in no uncertain terms that such wilful inaccuracies in their statements are not what we expect from a large well-known company with the resources that it has at its disposal. The spin they have used to justify their belief that the installation would not stick out as an eyesore for miles around is simply not acceptable.
On Page 7 we learn that ‘the proposal installation would be 13.8 metres in height to the base of the antennas. The top 2.1 metres would extend above the base of the structure.’ Even by my poor standard of mathematics that indicates a mast height of 15.9 meters, nearly a meter more than their plans show. In other words the structure will be nearly 16 metres tall and well above the existing tree line which is 10.5 metres and nearly 10 metres taller than the street light with which it is supposed to ‘blend’.
It is my belief that the Current application from Vodafone contains too many inaccuracies for it to be considered and they would do well in future to decide whether the mast is 13.8 metres, 15 metres or 15.9 metres tall before sending in their application.
I also object to the use of the public footpath which will be blocked by the proposed cabinet (1.898 x 0.798 x 1.648 metres) for no good reason other than a very large company such as Vodafone apparently cannot afford to pay to have their mast erected on the private land adjoining the footpath.
More importantly I believe that a 15 or even 16 metre high mast is inappropriate for the site in Lower Elmstone Drive. It cannot ‘blend’ into the existing street scene and Vodafone are simply lying through their teeth by suggesting otherwise. This is a monstrosity that nobody wants outside their window (and for the houses in Fern Glen in particular it will be very close to their windows). It is the key to deciding this application once Vodafone have settled on the exact height of the mast. This area of Tilehurst is wholly residential and having talked with a large number of local residents, the vast majority agree that it will be an unwelcome eyesore.
Vodafone Submits Planning Application
Well, they did not hang around too long waiting for their consultation process to complete. Having received their original letter in the post on 4 September, it appears that Vodafone sent in their Planning Application to RBC on 25 September so I suspect that their consultation was prcisely what we expected, a sham all along which was done to improve their public relations.
Vodafone’s application is being handled as a Prior Approval case where planning permission is assumed to have been granted unless RBC raise objections and follow a strict timetable. The council have precisely 56 days from the date they received the application to the point where their decision is received by Vodafone. Planning Officers have already said that they wish to make a decision on the proposed mast by 10 November in order to make sure that this timetable is adhered to but comments will need to be in well before this.
So, off we go again, the gloves are off. Together with local residents I will be organising a petition objecting to this monstrous 15 metre high mast that will have such an overbearing visual impact on the whole area arouind the proposed site. Please do contact me if you can help organise the petition and any other actions that also publicise the campaign.
Details of Vodafone’s application are now on Reading BC’s website at:
The case reference number is 10/01787/TELE and as well as signing our petition you are free to send in your own comments to RBC (remember to quote the ref number). In order to make sure that RBC comply with the statutary timetable officers have asked for comments to be sent in by Tuesday 19 October.
Return of the Jedi – Vodafone is back in Lwr Elmstone Drive
Well, having been forced to withdraw their previous planning application for a telephone mast in Lower Elmstone Drive in April 2009, Vodafone are back with a new proposal. This time they want to site the mast over the road on the opposite side of Lower Elmstone Drive where ther are no traffic issues as there were on the previous site on the corner of Elmstone Drive. The new mast is 15 metres high, even taller than the original proposal, and slightly further away from houses. It will still represent a huge eyesore that is most definitely not wanted in Tilehurst.
I will keep you updated on the campaign as it unfolds. A plan of the site is shown here 
You can send any comments you have on the plan to Vodafone’s agent: robert.baker@monoconsultants.com
Pincents Hill – Blue Living Appeal
Well the inevitable has happened and Blue Living, the developers, have launched an appeal against the decision by West Berkshire’s Planning Committee to refuse them permission to build a whole new suburb with 750 homes plus shops and other facilities on land at Pincents Hill (see my posts last year on Pincents Hill)
Interested parties have until 21 September to send in comments which can be done online at www.planningportal.gov.uk/pcs . Or at least you will be able to very soon, it is not there yet. The case reference is APP/W0340/A/10/2133957/NWF.
This planning application by Blue Living is opposed by the vast majority of residents who live nearby and also by the majority of residents of Tilehurst who stand to suffer from a huge increase in traffic using City Road and Chapel Hill which will be used to access the new suburb and also provide the quickest root through to Reading’s town centre. It was on these grounds that I based my own objections when the planning application was first discussed.
There is something wrong with the planning process if this appeal is allowed as it will make a mockery of both the local planning process and also screw up Readings plans to reduce congestion on its already crowded road system. Needless to say there is no prvision in the plans for improving any transport links into town.
Please please please send in your own comments on this unwanted scheme.
Tilehurst Bus Shelter Update
The bus shelter lots of peoploe in Tilehurst are waiting for is the one by the Plough opposite the Triangle in Tilehurst. It should appear in two weeks time after they complete the one outside Park Lane School. Pierce’s Hill, the other bus shelter that a number of people have asked me about is not due till October, as is the one at the top of City Road.
By November all the nearly 200 original bus shelters will have been replaced but it is thanks to the previous Labour Administration that we had such a long gap between losing all our bus shelters and new ones being installed. There are a lot of folk, especially the elderly ones, who are quite angry at how this transition has been managed. This is no way to support public transport in Reading and, frankly, Labour have let the town down.
Stop nicking our bus stops !
I am sure that there are lots of elderly folk who do not understand why all the bus stops all over Reading have been removed over the last month or why the bus stop on Pierce’s Hill in particular has never been replaced at all since an accident damaged it last year.
The explanation is that one company was awarded the contract to provide bus stops several years ago by the Labour Administration in charge of the Council. Just before the contract ran out, they tendered for a new contract and awarded it to a new company. Sadly the contract allowed them to pick up their bus stops for all over the town without any reference to the new company that apparently cannot start operating until all the old bust stops have been removed. Only when can they start installing new bus stops. It makes you weep when contractual arrangements like this end up as a right pig’s ear with the poor public losing out. Lucky for the people of Reading, we have had good weather over the last couple of weeks – otherwise a lot of people waiting for busses would have got soaked as well as having no place to sit down.
I sincerely hope that the new contract does not have the same pig’s ear of a mess when it eventually runs out.
Oh, and the one on Pierce’s Hill will eventually be replaced, we just do not know when.
Park Lane School Update
Tilehurst residents have endured a long saga on the project to rebuild Park Lane School on the site of the current Laurels Infants School, Tilehurst Library and the Health Clinic. Essentially the plan involves building a new school on a single site (replacing the four different sites currently used by the school) with outdoor play areas and selling off the existing playing field in Downing Road, the curent main school building and the annexe in Downing Road. The plan was put together in repsonse to the last two OFSTED reports on Park Lane School which pointed to the limitations of using the current four sites and the unsuitability of the old buildings for modern teaching methods. The sale of the land would finance a large part of the new build. The plan has already been out to consultation in 2008 and last year a further consultation was held prior to seeking agrement to sell off the playing field (legislation requires that permission is granted by the Minister for Children, Schools and Families before any playing fields are disposed of).
The minister has now given consent for the playing field to be sold in order to finance the building of the new school. This is excellent news for Park Lane School and the children of Tilehurst.
However, in the current climate the value of land is considerably down on estimates from two years ago and government is far less likely to fund any rebuilding as it deals with the current economic crisis. The upshot is that the school now has permission to sell off the playing field but will have to wait some time (probably several years) before finance can be found for the rebuilding. This is not good news for Tilehurst as the saga will continue for some time to come and the council also has to decide whether to finance some serious repairs to the school buildings that are becoming more urgent by the day.
The Tilehurst Doorstep
Well, it is that time of year and yes, we are busy canvassing in Tilehurst and a number of local issues have cropped up on the doorstep.
The first issue is speeding. This is a real issue with many residents in Tilehurst and they feel powerless to stop cars bombing down their residential roads at speeds well over 30mph. They do not see the council taking action.
Well actually I have, along with my Tilehurst councillor colleagues, done quite a lot. The local Neighbourhood Police Team now have mobile speed guns with which speed limits can be enforced. Drivers in Tilehurst should be aware that the mobile guns are in use and that the Police Neighbourhood Action Group has speeding as its top priority in Tilehurst (refer back to my previous posts on the subject).
Secondly, there are countless grass verges in Tilehurst (and many more across Reading) that are being chewed up by thoughtless motorists who insist on parking off the road. The result is a host of unsightly, rutted mud patches where green grass used to grow. The council cannot afford to put bollards in to protect every grass verge in Reading but I have suggested that at least they can write letters to offenders who do park their cars on verges explaining that the place for cars is on the road, that footpaths are for pedestrians and that where we have grass verges it is because we want a greener Reading not just mud, concrete and tarmac. Actually I am quite sure that many motorists park on grass verges as they believe their cars to be ‘safer’ on or partly on the greass verge or footpath. I think it just needs someone to point out that this not necessarily the case nor always legal and it creates a mess.
Victory on Tilehurst Car Park Charges
The Labour Administration in Reading has today backed down on its decision to charge users of Tilehurst car parks from the moment they park their car. Lead Councillor for Transport Tony Page was forced, in the face of furious Lib Dem councillors from Tilehurst and elswhere, to reduce the plans for car park charges to only charge after the first hour which will remain free, and to put the whole proposal out to proper consultation.
This is a huge relief for residents and shop owners of Tilehurst and allows residents to do there shopping with free parking in Recreation Road and Dunstall Close car parks. It is a massive victory against an arrogant, out-of-touch Labour council. It also shows the value of electing Lib Dem councillors to represent Tilehurst !