Kidmore Road Today - Two Birds with One Stone

RBC's tree gang with me, Oxfordshire countryside behind

Much of my time is spent in front of a computer or in meetings, so it was great to get out this morning to help plant a Sweet Chestnut where last season's evergreen Holm Oak hadn't taken.

Three Kidmore Road residents were pleased when we told them what we were doing, however another complained the Council should not waste its time over trees but instead sort out things like potholes. 

I asked him if he knew of any potholes nearby - he took me over to one.  Had he reported it, I asked.  He said there was no point as the Council never fixes them.  So I reported the pothole.

It is unrealistic to expect the Council to fix a pothole it is unaware of existing.  If you see one, please either get in touch with your local councillor or alternatively go to www.fixmystreet.com and log it to the Council yourself.

This Sweet Chestnut is the third tree I've helped plant in Kidmore Road.  As many residents know from joining the Tree Warden scheme set up by our administration last year, being involved in tree planting, caring for the town's trees and watching them grow, is thoroughly rewarding.

You can learn more about the Tree Warden scheme here

Police Launch New Number

Today the Police launched the new non-emergency number "101" to replace the old, longer number 0845 8 505 505.

I had cause to use it at lunchtime to report a vehicle jump a red light that forced another pedestrian and me to run out of the way.

As I was ringing from my mobile, the automatic router put me through to a Police operator to ask my location.  My call was transferred to the local area Thames Valley Police.  My call was answered quickly and I passed on the incident's details.  A couple of minutes later a reference number was texted to me.

The Policewoman was optimistic the driver might be caught as I'd notified the Police within 2 minutes and there's a camera monitoring traffic at Caversham Bridge.  I was only able to give a partial number plate, but that still can be used.

Do dial "101" to report non-emergencies like mine.  It is worth it as the Police use reported incidents to plan how to target their time & resources.

Temporary Traffic Lights

The Council has just been informed that Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) are preparing to conduct some urgent works to restore electricity supplies to a number of properties off Church Road, Caversham.

The fault has been located in the carriageway very close to the junction with St Anne's Road and will require 3-way portable traffic signals to be erected.

 

SSE will be working to restore the services and the running carriageway as quickly as they can, and RBC has stated that the signals must be manually controlled between the beginning of the morning, and the end of the evening peak periods to avoid conflict with the permanent signals at the Church Street junction.

The timing of this extra set of temporary traffic lights is unfortunate as there is another 3-way set at the bottom of Priest Hill at the Hemdean Road junction.  Last night motorists suffered chaos when the Priest Hill lights stuck on red.  I and others reported this to RBC security, who in turn got the contractors out promptly to fix the problem.

Update - Thursday 10th November

Scottish & Southern Energy located and repaired 2 faults with their electricity cable from yesterday afternoon, restoring supplies to those affected.  They have managed the site with manually-controlled 2-way portable traffic signals, and are reinstating their excavations presently.

It is anticipated that the site should be cleared before this afternoon's peak traffic period.

Changes to Bus Route 22 - Update

Further to Reading Buses' temporary change to Number 22's route last month, tomorrow outbound (from town) buses will revert to turning left from Oakley into Kidmore Road, along to The Mount and Albert Road.  More details are here

James Freeman, CEO of Reading Buses, has pledged to keep the Number 22 under close review.  He has agreed in principle to a public meeting early next year.

To help ensure buses run on time a further tweaking will happen from 12 December.  Early morning outbound journeys (before 10 am) will turn up Priest Hill to help ensure smooth running to schedule inbound journeys for commuters, workers and school children.  This will shave off approximately 4 minutes without impacting travellers as the vast majority of early morning bus users are inbound only.

Dog Walkers Be Warned! Assault near Chazey Heath Golf Course

According to GetReading, a 15 year old girl was sexually assaulted in woods near to Chazey Heath golf course yesterday lunchtime. 

She was walking her dog in the woodland near the A4074 when reportedly two men grabbed her.  At 12.30 Police were called.

If you go walking in the local area please consider going with a friend for the moment.  Spread the word.

If you were in the area and saw any parked vehicles or two men please phone the 24 hour Thames Valley Police enquiry line on 0845 8 505 505.