Summer in our parks

This is a fantastic sight. Kensington Park is so busy with cricket, football, basketball, runners and cyclists as well as families having picnics or just playing on the equipment. Part of the Section 106 developer contribution from the Battle Hospital site was used to upgrade this park and it's been a huge success.

Reading and District Labour Party councillors fought hard to ensure the money was spent locally. The Battle Library extension is also being funded from this £1.6 million fund and will open in mid-September.

Small Business Saturday: Oxford Road Street Surgery Special #smallbizsatuk

This Saturday is Small Business Saturday.  Labour councillors in Battle value the small businesses that line the Oxford Road.  In fact I use quite a few of them!

I know there was concern that the new Tesco would take business away from traders but recent press articles by traders have shown this not to have been the case.  The Oxford Road is a thriving area with very few empty shops. I am pleased to see that a couple of units that have been empty for a while are being refurbished.

Because of all this I decided it would be a nice to hold a street surgery with a difference and speak to the small business owners on the Oxford Road and see what we can do to help them.  We will be dropping our leaflets in to them and if they would like us to call by, they just need to pop our leaflet in their window.

If you are a small business owner in Oxford Road and we don't get the chance to speak to you, please feel free to drop us a line at any time.

Heading to the West Village: street surgery special!

This Saturday (19 October) Battle councillors will be holding a special advice surgery in the West Village. We'll be setting up our red gazebo at 10.30 and we'll be there until 12.  We'd love to hear residents views so please come and see us. 

West Village

Saturday 19 October

10.30-12

Red gazebo in the park

 

Campaigning in West Village on the £1.5 million developers contribution for Battle ward earlier this year

NAG public meeting 15 October: what are residents priorities?

The Oxford Road Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) has a public meeting tomorrow:

7.30-8.30

Tuesday 15 October

Salvation Army Oxford Road

The NAG priorities residents voted for will be annouced and the public will get the chance to ask questions to the panel consiting of the NAG chair, Police, Council and Councillor (me in fact).  I hope to see as many of you there as possible.

Battle Street Surgeries: we come to you!

Tomorrow (17 August) we are holding a street surgery in Battle Ward.  Rather than come to us in Battle Library, you didsplay a card in your window and we come to you. 

The cards have gone through letter boxes in Sherwood Street, Alma Street and Dorset Street today.  If you would like one of your Battle councillors to call by, please pop the card in your window by 9.30 am tomorrow.  We will then call by between 10 am and 1 pm.

To save trees please keep hold of your card for future street surgeries.  I will let you know where we will be next, soon.  We will still be holding our monthly surgeries in Battle Library on the first Saturday of the month.  Dates are on the left.

Bin bag mountains - a thing of the past....

People passing down the Oxford Road last year may remember large piles of bin bags piled up at the edge of the road.  It was wholly unacceptable and Battle ciuncillors took action asking for a solution to be found. See here: http://www.cllrsarahhacker.com/2012/04/from-cllr-and-candidate-gul-khan-oxford.html

A trial started last year where residents in the flats above the shops on the Oxford Road were given access to large communal bins to place their rubbish.  The council even installed marked off areas for the bins to be stored to help stop them cluttering the pavement.

The difference this has made has been remarkable and 'bin-bag mountains' are a thing of the past.  Battle councillors are always keen to find solutions to the problems faced by our residents.  If you have a 'mountain' to tackle, let us know and we'll do what we can to help.

Communal bin trial successful

31/07/2013
Reading Borough Council Press Release

31 July 2013

Bin trial hailed a hit

The trial of communal bins on streets in the Oxford Road area has been such a success it’s being extended further afield.

The council installed five bins in the section of Oxford Road between Beresford Road and Valencia Road at the start of this year. A letter was sent to people living in the area encouraging them to put their household waste in the bins which are emptied each Saturday evening.

They have been successful in cutting the amount of illegally tipped domestic and trade waste in the area.

Now the council is looking to install more of the 1,100 litre communal bins in other parts of the Oxford Road area.

Liz Terry, Reading’s Lead Councillor for Neighbourhoods, said: “This is a great example of the council listening to local residents and businesses to find solutions to modern living in narrow and densely populated Victorian streets. I am pleased this initiative is going to be rolled out to other parts of the town. The people of Reading want to take pride in their neighbourhoods and the town as a whole and this is helping to do just that.”