Waiting Restrictions : Editor
Members will remember that at the last couple of the Association’s AGMs it had been agreed to press the Council to consider some form of parking controls near the post box on Evesham Road next to St Barnabas church. This is a particular problem at school drop off and collection times, which has been made more dangerous with the ‘new’ crossing refuge in the middle of the road. We were notified in July that, as part of a review of 50 waiting restriction schemes being considered around the town, three were proposed in Emmer Green, namely at:

Parking/driving on grass verges : Editor
A number of grass verges are continually being destroyed by parked cars, which occurs in many cases where there is room in the drive of each property alongside the verge where these cars are parked. The Association has asked the Council if they would send a letter to all residents along roads with grass verges asking householders not to park on them and to look into reseeding the verges where vehicles have killed off the grass.

Cutting of the grass verges : Editor
The Council’s target for the cutting of the grass verges is that they will complete 10 cuts in the growing season. This year they only made 5 cuts to the verges. The Association’s chairman met with one of the Council’s Environment Managers, Kevin Wigginton, in September to discuss the Council’s difficulties in regularly cutting the verges.
It was explained that when the previous sub-contractor (Brophy Limited) did not renew the grass-cutting contract, the Council entered into a three-year contract hire of four grass-cutting machines and employed two cutting teams each of 4 workers. However, the machines have turned out to require a large amount of maintenance, resulting in a lot of ‘down-time’, and are also not very efficient if the grass is wet. One year of the contract remains and it is understood that the Council will then look at more useful cutting machines. In addition to these problems, the Council’s budget constraints have reduced the work force to 6 members. The Council’s Environment Department, which is responsible for verge cutting, is also responsible for grass-cutting for schools, open spaces, OAP lawns, the trimming of some hedges, tree maintenance and the general street environment. Separately the Council’s Parks Department is responsible for grass cutting of parks and playing fields, some other open spaces and any surrounding hedges. Recent staff changes within the Council have resulted in these split responsibilities being reviewed and, to make better use of both equipment and manpower, the merger of these two departments is being considered.

Woodlands Day : Paul Gallagher
The Woodlands Day on Saturday 4 June was very successful and blessed with good weather. There was a big turn out of visitors and the Friends of Clayfield Copse are to be congratulated on their smooth organisation of the event. Members may have wondered what happened to the chainsaw sculpting of animal shapes that our Association had agreed to fund. Unfortunately, the sculptor had suffered a foot injury whilst in Cornwall during the previous week and was unable to travel back to Reading in time for the Saturday event. Two logs had already been put in place and we had intended that a further log be added to the group, however, the local vandals have recently set fire to the logs and we are reconsidering whether to proceed with the project.

Primary School Places : Editor
Many readers will have heard about the situation that developed in the summer when Emmer Green primary school could not take in14 children in its catchment area and 7 children with siblings already at the school. The Association supported the parents (many also members) by making representation to both the LEA and the DfES, but without success and with no offer to review the situation now or in the future. The unfortunate outcome has resulted in some parents having to take current pupils away from the school and to send them and their siblings to schools in South Oxfordshire. In consequence, Reading LEA will have lost funding from the DfES for these children. 

Safer Routes to School : Editor
Under the Safer Routes to School initiative, the Council has published proposals to impose a 20mph speed limit in the vicinity of Highdown School plus the installation of 75mm speed cushions in Grove Road and Surley Row. The Association has supported the proposals in principle, but considers the cushion design [if similar to that in Grove Road and Evesham Road as part of a similar scheme for Emmer Green primary school] will be inadequate in slowing down speeding drivers.

Graffiti, littering, fly-tipping and fly-posting : Editor
These topics were recently covered at one of the Joint Environment Committee meetings of RFTRA.
Currently in Emmer Green the problems we encounter are mainly graffiti, although there are some problems of litter at places like Highdown School and around the north side of the village pond. Fly-tipping occasionally takes place near Marshland Square and at the northerly end of Kiln Road near Clayfield Copse. The Association has cleaning kits supplied by Reading Borough Council to remove graffiti and this is currently proving quite successful in keeping down the amount of graffiti in the village area. The Council will remove some graffiti free of charge depending upon its size and nature. Young offenders are often recruited to help, and although they are not paid they can have their sentences reduced. With regard to littering, the Council have an on-going education programme with schools, businesses and the public, but in serious cases they have powers under the S.87 Environmental Protection Act (1990) to issue formal warnings and £50 fixed penalty notices. For fly-tipping the Council operate surveillance equipment in conjunction with the Police and with the Environment Agency and have powers to impose even larger fines. Any member who notices such anti-social activity is encouraged to notify the Council (via the Association if preferred) who will inform the relevant bodies.

Pub licensing hours : Editor
The Association and local residents were notified of applications from The White Horse, The Black Horse and the Gardeners Arms to extend their licensing hours. Objections were submitted, including those from the Association, on the grounds that the longer licensing times and live music requested were excessive and inappropriate for a suburban residential environment. The local authority’s licensing panel agreed with the objections against the longer hours but allowed smaller extensions, particularly to allow hours on different days to be consistent. Many thanks are due to Cllr Hendry for her support and advice with these applications and during the hearings.

Safer Caversham Community Forum : Bob Cruickshank
The Forum does have a modest budget for capital expenditure on safety improvements, which would otherwise be low down the Council’s list of priorities (e.g. additional lighting in dangerous spots, bus shelters, kerb and pavement improvements etc). We have nothing in the pipeline just now but if any of our members have suggestions for making Emmer Green a safer place please let any of the committee members know. The most noticeable impact the Forum has made in the area recently is to see the removal of the vast amount of graffiti from the Milestone Centre and its surrounds. The Police say that it has resulted in a reduction in anti-social behaviour in the area and they are to keep an eye on it. This builds on the initiative we took last year, and are continuing to take, in keeping graffiti off our road signs and other street furniture. We still have to persuade NTL and the Electricity Suppliers and other Utilities to co-operate with us in cleaning up their installations.

North Area Youth Project : Bob Cruickshank & Tara Taylor
A new Youth Services officer, Tina Heaford seems to be breathing new life into our local youth clubs. They meet at Emmer Green on Mondays catering for 13-19 year olds and at Milestone on Wednesdays also for 13-19 year olds but with a different programme. They meet again in Emmer Green on Fridays this time for 11-14 year olds. While she was doing a similar job in Southgate last year she was Moderator for the Youth Achievement Awards of the Summer 2005 Community Project. 151 young people in the Reading area took part and 3 Silver and 6 Bronze Portfolios were awarded to participants. The silvers were the first to be awarded to people in the area, two of which live in Emmer Green (Jason Charles and Idris Kamara), and we extend our congratulations to them. Well done.
The skate board area at Clayfield Copse is working out well with the local youths who are using it. At the last meeting it was reported that the dispersal order at the shopping precinct had run out and it was thought that the youths hanging around were probably unaware. The Youth workers have reported that the youths were only there to meet and chat with their friends and that they had nowhere else to go and they certainly weren't intending to be intimidating to the older generation. When the young people’s meeting facility at Clayfield has been installed then this should take some of the pressure away from the precinct.

Subscriptions : Jill Verran
Some of you will find a subscription reminder attached to your newsletter. It would be very helpful if you would send us your subscription now while it is fresh in your mind! Thank you. About a third of members subscribe to our email group and if you wish to receive updates of activities by this means please contact Jill on egra.memb@ntlworld.com. You may also prefer to receive this newsletter electronically in future; if so just send an email to Jill.