Category: Wokingham and West Berkshire Issues

I was out with Councillors in Earley today listening to  views on the doorsteps.

The main local issue remains traffic and congestion. I am pursuing this with the Council who remain determined to improve the local road system, increase capacity on main roads, put in by passes and provide alternatives to cars where these are feasible. The current high level of disruption of Wokingham town is related to the big programme of works to improve the town centre which does have knock on effects to the rest of the Borough. We all look forward to the successful early completion of those works to ease things a bit. The general idea of expanding the shopping space and modernising the town centre environment is popular, but there are adverse  effects from doing the work.

I met Wokingham Keep Mobile today and was taken to see their office and bus depot.

I would like to thank all the volunteers and donors for the work they do. They ensure elderly and others in need of help can get to surgery appointments, to the hospital, to Day Centres and to the shops through this dial a ride scheme. They also offer trips out to enrich lives and to tackle loneliness.

They  now have 11 mini buses and provide a service to hundreds of people each week.

On Saturday I met the Conservative group of West Berkshire Councillors. We discussed planning, housing, Council tax, Council funding, schools and school budgets, social care and other relevant issues.

I explained that I am continuing to press for a better deal for West Berkshire and Wokingham on schools funding, the overall levels of Council funding, and social care money. I also advised them of my view on  Grazeley. I do not think the Councils should actively support a substantial settlement at Grazeley without promises about government money for the infrastructure that would be required, and without some reassurances about resisting other major sites on appeal.

I would like to say a big thank you to the organisers of the very enjoyable  Conservative dinner last Friday. 200 people came. The Prime Minister joined us for the reception and spoke to us before dinner. I gave a short  talk after dinner. There was a successful auction conducted in an entertaining way by Councillor David Lee. The staff at St Anne’s Manor looked after us well.

At the request of a couple of constituents I attended the Equitable Life event in Parliament yesterday. The Group is still pressing for additional compensation. I have taken this up on many occasions with the government. The government’s  view is that they have given compensation to reflect the regulatory failures,  but the major cause of the losses lay with the company. I do not think the government has any plans to revisit the amount of compensation given. The government provided £1500 million of compensation in total. 38,200 annuitants received 100% compensation. 895,000 other policy holders received lesser amounts, which EMAG puts at 22%.

I am very willing to take up individual  cases if there are still outstanding matters about payment of compensation or new points relating to individual contracts that need attention.

I met Thames Water at Conference to review progress with handling surface water, waste water and future drinking water supply.

Thames said they were making good progress with reducing leaks and  installing meters which cut demand. They expected to need a new large reservoir at Abingdon in due course, as a  rising population will need more water despite measures to cut waste and to manage demand.

I am all in favour of making good provision for water, and do not want water to  be rationed by high prices  and restricted supply as it is a necessity for us all.

I asked them to work with Wokingham Borough and West Berkshire on ensuring surface water can be handled when there is persistent and heavy rain. Above all we need to avoid more cases where surface water swells the levels in waste water systems to the point where they overflow.

At Party Conference in Manchester I had a meeting with the Chief Executive of Heathrow to get up to date on tackling noise nuisance from the airport.

They have now launched their Fly quieter, Fly cleaner programme and publish how different airlines are doing. This is a way to spread better practice and to get airlines with noisy planes to see how they can improve. Actions include avoiding abrupt turns or changes of level, not deploying the undercarriage too early, and staying higher for longer.

They are encouraging faster climb for the noisy Airbus A 380 planes, to reduce noise contours in our area.

They are seeking fewer night flights.

They will soon announce a consultation on the Compton Gate route arrangements. It was changes to this without proper consultation which triggered additional noise for residents of the Wokingham constituency. I will keep people posted, as we need to respond to this document when it issues.

Heathrow is accepting more responsibility in a system where blame can be shunted between airport, airlines, regulators and government.

I will continue to press for more work to cut noise by better flying, limited hours, sensible routes, and getting planes higher sooner and keeping them higher for longer on descent.

Last week I received from Ministers the government figures for Wokingham schools money once the fairer funding scheme is fully brought in.

According to these central figures the Holt will gain 4.8%, Bohunt 6.7%, St Crispins 5.8%, Emmbrook 6% and Forest 5.8%. That is more than £200,000 a year extra  in each case.

I am still in discussion with Ministers about the timing of the introduction of these sums, as I appreciate the schools need more money now. The government has not yet set out it plans for transition to these higher figures.

I went to see the CAB today after their AGM in Wokingham Town Hall. I thanked the volunteers there for the work they do to provide advice and support for people with problems in our local area.

They bring dedication and skill to their tasks and make a very important voluntary contribution to our community.

Over the last year cases of debt difficulty have gone down. Benefits have remained the lead issue. I discussed with advisers the transition later this year to Universal Credit.

Employment and personal relationships are the two largest categories of advice needed after benefits and debt.

The CAB is mainly paid for by local Councils, with fundraising and donations providing a little over £5000 out of a £212000 total income. I would like to thank those who have given money, as the budget is quite tight.

I went to see the  works that have been carried out by the Loddon adjacent to the A 327 on the edge of Arborfield to the west.

I was told that the idea of the scheme is to assist fish and wildlife and to reduce the risk of flooding to the A 327.

I welcome any scheme that does reduce flood risk, and look forward to seeing the results.