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.

Hot off the press - Into Battle!

You lucky lot are the first to see our latest edition of Into Battle, Battle Labour Party's newsletter.  In this edition:

Beresford Road park & Battle 106
Tesco
Heritage
Government cuts to the Council budget
Oxford Road Policing
Reading West Station
Residents parking and a few bits about what I've been up to.

These are just a few of the issues we are tackling for our residents.  The Battle councillor team work hard for you all year round.

Click the image to read our articles:

Battle 106 consultation: the results are in!

Earlier this year Battle councillors made sure residents were consulted on how £1.5 million from the Battle Hospital redevelopment should be spent.

The results from this consultation are now being presented to the Policy Committee next Monday.  You can view the report and results here:

Battle 106 Policy Committee Report

Battle 106 Consultation Results

It is clear health and wellbeing are still high priorities which makes it more the shame the PCT decided not to go ahead with the Medical Centre on the site.  The council will be sharing these results with the Care Commisioning Group (CCG) for the area and working in partnership to find solutions to local residents' concerns.

Education is also a high priority and we are pleased to say that since the consultation approval has been given for a new primary school in the Oxford Road area which should go some way to relieving school places pressure.  Labour led Reading Borough Council have reacted proactivily to the school places challenge.

Transport was also popular.  You will see in the report that many of the concerns raised will be dealt with as part of the Oxford Road Corridor Study.  This will swing into action later in the year and will look at transforming the Oxford Road ahead of the new Cow Lane Bridges opening.  This will be funded in addition to this £1.5 million which is great for Battle ward. Keep your eyes peeled for more information.

I am pleased to be part of the steering group that will be looking, with officers, at ways to spend this money to best benefit local residents.

Quick update! May 2013

Gosh - been so busy I've had little time for blogging.  Here's a quick update:

I am pleased to see a bid being put in by Reading Borough Council for more school places.  In the Battle/Central West area this includes:

• EP Collier Primary School expansion 

• Southcote Primary School expansion 

• A new Academy serving the Oxford Road 

• Churchend Primary Academy expansion 

• St Michael’s Primary School expansion 

Two of Battle's roads are to be resurfaced in the summer:

• Prince of Wales Avenue

• Prospect Street

 

Lot's of the potholes I have reported have been filled, with more marked out for filling.  Today I noticed a very deep hole in Chester Street has been filled.  If you spot any, let me know.

The trial of communal bins for the residents above the shops on Oxford Road appears to be going well with no more bin bag mountains!  

We had an excellent launch event for the Battle 106 funding consultation.  It's live for a few more days and you can go to the website by clicking the picture top right.

The Community First in Battle panel met on Wednesday to discuss the 2013-2014 round of funding.  Our blog will be updated soon: http://communityfirstbattle.blogspot.co.uk/

We have a councillors drop-in tomorrow at Battle Library 10.30-12 so come along with your questions, concerns and comments.

I have also been out and about with Victoria Groulef, our parliamentary candidate in Reading West.  I have created links to some of our recent appearances in the local press which also give you some idea of what we've been up to.  You can see them here : http://www.cllrsarahhacker.com/p/in-press.html

Finally I am pleased to have been re-elected chair of Labour Group and chair of the new Housing, Neighbourhoods & Leisure committee.  

All this plus starting to get things growing the the garden (more of this to follow), training for the Race For Life (button top left) and being a bridesmaid. Phew!

 

Battle Consultation on £1.5 Million Begins!

The consultation on how to allocate the £1.5 million received as a Section 106 contribution from the Battle Hospital re-development starts next week!  Battle councillors started pushing for this consultation in December 2011 when the Primary Care Trust withdrew from the planned medical centre.

Residents in the consultation area will receive a questionnaire by post but you can also complete the survey online (see button on the right).  There is a launch event at Battle Library on 16 April where Battle councillors and council officer will be available to discuss how the money can be spent and any ideas you may have.  I have to admit I am really looking forward to seeing what you, the residents, think is important and the ideas you have.

What will happen to the scrapped Medical Centre land?

We know the Medical Centre is not going ahead and Battle councillors have secured a consultation for the £1.5 million Section 106 money, but what's happening to the land left behind?

This land belongs to the soon to be defunct Primary Care Trust (PCT).  Leader of the Council Jo Lovelock has asked Alok Sharma MP to ensure the proceeds from the sale of this land are re-invested in the local community but we have yet to have a reply.

Will the money vanish into the Government coffers or will it be passed to the new Core Commissioning Groups (CCG's) to improve local health provision?

Battle 106 Consultation Launches 16 April - £1.5 Million For Battle Community

I am so pleased to be able to announce the timetable of the Battle 106 consultation.  Battle councillors have been working hard with Reading Borough Council for the past year paving the way for a meaningful consultation with residents about how this money should be spent.  Because of Labour Battle councillors Chris Maskell, Gul Khan and me the community will have a say in how £1.5 million is spent in the local area!

The money became available because the Primary Care Trust withdrew from the plans to build a medical centre on the former Battle Hospital site, now West Village.  You can read more about the history here:

February 2013 - Battle 106 - Sharma has missed the point entirely  
Jan 2013 - Medical Centre and 106 Funding Update
December 2011 - Battle medical centre victim of NHS cutbacks 

We have had several meetings over the last few weeks to design the consultation, agree the area being consulted and the questions being asked.  The consultation plan will go to Cabinet for approval on 18 March (see report here) and, if it's approved, will launch on 16 April.

Launch Event

Tuesday 16 April - Battle Library

11am to 1pm & 3pm to 8pm - to discuss options and a further opportunity to complete the questionnaire.

Residents within the consultation area will receive a paper questionnaire which will also be able to be completed online.  The results of the consultation will determine how the £1.5 million is spent locally.

Improving Local Facilities in the Oxford Road area of West Reading – Consultation 

Press Release 

11/03/2013 RESIDENTS in Battle and the neighbouring area are set to be given an opportunity to have their say on how £1.5 million could be used to improve local facilities.

The money is due to be paid to Reading Borough Council by developers David Wilson Homes as part of the 2006 planning permission to build 434 homes on the site of the former Battle Hospital.

Following consultation with the local community by local councillors in 2006, the proposals included a new health centre building for the Primary Care Trust (PCT) on land that the Trust owns. However, the PCT subsequently decided not to go forward with a new Health Centre in this location. This is due to a number of factors, including the provision of a drop-in surgery in the Broad Street Mall.

The 2006 planning agreement says that in the event of the Health Centre not being built, the developer, now David Wilson Homes, would pay the Council £1.5m as a ‘contribution towards community-related benefits’.

That money is now due to be paid to the local authority and Reading Borough Council is proposing to give residents in the area an opportunity to help inform the decision on how it can be spent to ensure it meets the needs of local people and the community.

Jo Lovelock, Reading Borough Council Leader, said: “It was a big disappointment when the Primary Care Trust decided not to go ahead with the Health Centre. The money must be used on community related benefits so we feel it is very important to talk to the local community about how they think that the money should be spent, especially as it is now seven years since the last consultation. I hope as many people as possible will take part so that the decision about the use of the money can be based on the current views of local residents.”

The 2012 Residents’ Survey and the 2011 'Let’s Talk' consultation show that local residents have identified education, green spaces, transport and health services as their main priorities for improvement. These are also in line with the priorities in the Council’s planning policy for infrastructure provision.

A report proposing the launch of the local consultation will now go before a meeting of Reading Borough Council’s Cabinet on March 18 for endorsement.

A questionnaire will then be distributed in the local area, asking people to identify their priorities for which local facilities need improving. Residents will be asked to take a few minutes to tell the Council their preferences and return the questionnaire to: Improving Local Facilities in Battle and the neighbouring area, Reading Borough Council, Civic Centre, Reading, RG1 7AE.

Alternatively, people will also be able to complete the short questionnaire online at http://www.reading.gov.uk/battlesurvey .

There will also be a drop-in event held at Battle Library (420 Oxford Road) on Tuesday April 16, from 11am to 1pm and from 3pm to 8pm, to discuss options and a further opportunity to complete the questionnaire.

Battle 106 - Sharma has missed the point entirely

Just got a leaflet through my door from Alok Sharma asking Labour councillors to honour their pledge to spend the Battle 106 money on healthcare. 

He does understand that the money was never going to be spent on healthcare doesn't he?  It was going to provide a building to house healthcare services that were to be provided by the Primary Care Trust (PCT).  Not a single penny was going to pay a nurses wage or buy so much as  plaster.  The PCT took that healthcare away because of cuts to the NHS.

When the PCT pulled the healthcare rug from under Battle residents feet at the end of 2011 he didn't care (see here).  Shouldn't he then have expressed his outrage that Battle residents were having a service they wanted taken away from them then?  Shouldn't he have lobbied the PCT to restore this funding?  He did nothing.

He has not contacted us about this money, just used it as a cheap political football.  He has seen who we have selected as our parliamentary candidate and realised he needs to actually do something for residents if he wants any chance of keeping his parliamentary seat.  But rather than engage in a useful way, he has decided to do his own thing. 

Why should he and his petition decide what this money should be used for (it won't - the consultation will)? He hasn't given residents any options.  He is telling them.  People from outside the borough, let alone outside the immediate Battle are can sign his petition.  Why should they tell Battle residents what they want?

Battle councillors and Reading Borough Council are going to consult local residents and ASK them what they feel is important to them and how they want the money spent.  Nothing has been decided and nothing's been ruled out.  We have already started work on the consultation. We ask, not tell!