Category: Wokingham and West Berkshire Issues

Today I visited Bohunt at their request. It was good to see the large and stylish new building, with plenty of growing room for the school as it expands its numbers one year group at a time.

The school walls are enlivened by some great quotes chosen by the pupils. We are told genius is 1% Inspiration and 99% perspiration. We are advised that Logic can get you from A to B but imagination can get you anywhere. The general drift of the aphorisms is to encourage creative thinking. self reliance, and a love of learning. The School’s catchphrase is Enjoy, Respect, Achieve.

I spent some time with the pupils on the School Council answering their questions about Parliament. I also asked them a few of my own. They told me they thought modern learning was made easier by the use of the ipad. They thought their electronic library met more of their demands than the traditional book library. They had no suggestions for me or their Head on how to improve their school, seeming content with their great surroundings and the ambience created by the teachers.

I renewed my request for better settlements for local schools in my meeting yesterday with the Education Secretary. I have regularly lobbied for a better overall settlement for Education, and for a better share of the total for Wokingham and West Berkshire. We have a strong case as the per pupil amounts for our schools are  low by national standards. The government has accepted the need both to increase the total, and to improve the relative position of areas like ours that are at the bottom of the table for cash. We are discussing the magnitude and speed of improvement.

I also made the point about the problems for schools adjusting to sudden declines in pupil numbers. In order to operate a system allowing parent and student choice, and  to cope with rising pupil numbers overall, it is  necessary for more places to be available than there are pupils to fill them. If one or two schools suffer a sharp fall owing to say the opening of a new school nearby, this can cause problems for them in handling the budget consequences.

The Secretary of State promised to get back to me with a considered written reply to these points.

I am meeting the Education Secretary this afternoon to go through the case for better levels of school funding in Wokingham and West Berkshire. The final budgets for 2018-19 for Wokingham schools total £98.742 million, compared to £94.45m last year, an increase of 4.5% This increase does have to take care of the rise in pupil numbers as well as providing for rising costs. The largest rise for an individual school is for Bohunt as it expands, taking on more pupils. In contrast the Forest and Emmbrook experienced a  reduction in  pupil numbers  with adverse consequences for funding, as the per pupil element is an important part of the total.

I would like to thank our  hosts for the Evendons Ward Conservative BBQ on Sunday. The rain stayed away and we had an enjoyable meal with good company in the garden. Borough Councillors were  present so those who wanted an  update  on local matters could get one.

I recently attended a meeting with local Councillors, the Deputy Head of a local secondary school and the police to discuss drug dealing by pupils.

I was pleased to see the efforts being made to discover and tackle this problem. In this case with the help of the local Council, CCTV was revealing who was involved, with a good chance of taking follow up action to punish and deter .Often the drug dealing takes place outside the school grounds in public places  when pupils are going to or from school.

I am aware that this is an issue for several local schools. Senior teachers responsible for behaviour and discipline and local police are rightly concerned and engaged. Anyone with evidence or intelligence about this should send it in to the school or police, who have powers to deal with it. Seeing it and exposing it is the best way to tackle it. The authorities can best deal with it where there is reliable evidence from witnesses. Drugs can ruin young lives.

Local authorities and school budgets can stretch to CCTV and other ways of exposing danger.

Wokingham has suffered a long run of road works, closures and partial closures. The work on the town centre has removed main road capacity around the town hall and blocked neighbouring roads. Meanwhile utility works, road works and new building works have led to many blocked lanes and temporary lights.

I have stressed to the senior officials at the Borough Council the need to avoid parallel closures where the alternative route is blocked at the same time. I have urged more new or replacement utility cables and pipes to be put in away from roads. I have requested speeding up road works by those  disrupting the highway. Councillors, like me, are keen on changes that cut congestion.

I am also working with the Council on an improved strategic local network with more capacity and safer junctions, as we need more capacity to cope with expanding numbers. I have proposed a junction review to optimise layouts and ensure good traffic sensing tehnology to help move traffic through light sets more quickly.

I attended the Council consultation about this road today, held at Cantley House Hotel.For all interested there is an on line version on Wokingham Borough’s website (Search NWDR) and printed versions available from the Borough offices.

I stressed the need for more road capacity soon to deal with the chronic congestion problems, as well as the need to look after safety and control noise close to homes.

I pointed out that the Council is in discussion with the government about a strategic local road network with my encouragement. They have identified the A329 as well as the A329 M and the A 3290 as potential strategic highways eligible to apply for more government money for expansion and improvement.

I suggested they should decide if they wish to make the new Winnersh bypass and the Northern Distributor Road the new principal through road or if the A329 is to retain this status, as this will impact on the nature and design of the road. It seems likely cyclists for example will often prefer the A329 as it is the shorter through route with slower vehicle traffic than the new road.

There needs to be careful consideration given to keeping  pedestrians and cyclists apart from vehicles to reduce accidents, and to a maximum road width to allow for large vehicles. Junctions should be roundabouts, not light sets. The flood defences need to be good as the route chosen goes through areas prone to flooding. The engineering needs to ensure there are no adverse knock on effects of flooding to nearby properties.

The first phase of the Winnersh Relief Road, connecting the B3270 Lower Earley Way to the B3030 King Street Lane has opened today. It will provide access to the new housing on the former Hatch Farm Dairies site.

Wokingham Borough Council has submitted a full planning application for the Winnersh Relief Road phase two, which subject to planning consent, would connect the B3030 King Street Lane to the A329 Reading Road.

I knew my Mum best when I was small boy. I spent most of my waking hours in her company or close by her in the home we shared. I enjoyed that privileged access to many of the details of her daily life which comes from being little.

I was living in a world of giants. The chairs were too high, the table was well out of reach. Many of the things I wanted to touch or explore were wisely put beyond me. I remember my mother teaching me to walk, holding my hand to reassure that I would not fall over. When I tried on my own I had to pilot a course from chair cushion to chair cushion to have something to hold on to. I remember loving the time in the afternoon when she would read to me. It was a chance to be close to her as I sat with her in the armchair she used. I would try to puzzle out the meaningless symbols as she read fluently to bring my chosen story to life.

My Mum was in those days a hard working and accomplished housewife. She ruled the home, cleaned and tidied, cooked and shopped, washed and ironed. She put herself through the contemporary tortures of the home perm, as I watched her trying to control the unruly rollers. I was fascinated by her dressing table, where she would sit on a low stool applying powder and lipstick. As I got a bit bigger she wanted me to get the tiny hook at the top of a dress into the wayward eye, and get slightly impatient if I fumbled it for too long. I would go with her when she went to choose a pattern for her next sewing challenge. I was ready with three year old’s advice on which dress styles I liked, but she would understandably take her own counsel.

She was a talented seamstress and adroit with knitting needles. She acquired a knitting machine which extended her range and speeded progress on garments. I tried to assist her in the kitchen, gradually moving from high risk nuisance through play cook to providing some proper help. If she made mince pies she made the mince meat first. If she wanted to use minced beef she would create it herself in a hand mincer. She made jams and preserved the autumn fruit in Kilner jars, always worrying whether they would seal properly. Her Christmas cakes were good. She wrestled with the icing but always managed to pull off difficult tasks including writing messages and creating elaborate icing baskets.

When I was a teenager away from home long hours as my school stood on the opposite side of the city she had less to do. She announced she was going to get a job, and did so despite my father’s early reservations. I enjoyed talking to her about her work, and saw her rise rapidly from sales assistant to First Sales to Manager of the local Lotus shop. It was my introduction to the world of a national chain, with a tricky political balance between what Head Office did and what the local store could do for itself. She became a valued Manager. Asked to keep an eye on a neighbouring wayward store when the manager was quite often on holiday, she unearthed the problems. They wanted to promote her to be a regional Manager, but she felt that would absorb too much time and involve too much travel.

In later life she became one of the Pensions Visitors for Debenhams who had taken over the shoe chain. She edited a Pensioner Magazine and went on visits to Pensioners who might be lonely or needed extra help. With her husband as chauffeur she did this for many years well into her 80s when she was normally visiting people much younger than herself.

I am grateful to her for providing a stable and well run home all the time I was a child. She wanted me to be clean, well dressed and eat sensible meals, and did everything to ensure that when I was small I met those standards. I have tried to be those things ever since! I have seen more of her in recent years as she came to live nearby. She told me many times she was very old and in her unsentimental way said she was did not want to live on disabled. I tried to help her find things to do and enjoy after my father had died. My head tells me her matter of fact approach to death in old age is right, but my heart tells me I have lost my Mum and it hurts.

The government’s announcement that in principle it backs the idea of a new runway at Heathrow is likely to lead to a Parliamentary debate and vote soon.

I would be interested to hear constituents’ views on this topic.

I have always accepted the general need for more airport capacity in the greater London region, but have not concluded on how this could be best achieved. Some think Gatwick could be expanded rather than Heathrow, some have argued for an entirely new airport to the east of London, some for incremental increases in capacity at a range of south eastern airports.

The government has concluded in favour of Heathrow expansion as the current hub airport with plenty of additional demand for slots and routes. The statement was brief and left many details to be sorted out a later date. Those seeking to expand the airport will need to demonstrate how they will hit demanding environmental targets. They will need full planning permission which will doubtless be a long and complex task to secure, with scope for people affected to seek changes or improvements to any individual proposal. The government and proposers of Heathrow expansion will need to strengthen and improve transport links into the airport, as these are already under pressure from present levels of air traffic.

I have lobbied extensively about the present level of aircraft noise, which increased following changes to routes made without consultation by NATs in 2014. The Statement did say that they wish to reduce aircraft noise, and propose to ban night flights for six and a half hours every night. The work I am doing on reducing aircraft noise does not require airport expansion to go ahead, as it relates to noise of aircraft, flying styles, rates of climb and descent and other matters. I will continue to press for less noise whatever the outcome of the vote about whether to build a new runway in several years time.