Bell Tower Community Association

Reading Borough Council has launched an informal consultation on closure of Milford and Meadow Roads to through traffic near the junction of the two roads.

The closure would stop through traffic between the area and the industrial estate. The Bell Tower Community Association has been working with the council for some years on this and supports the closure, which would stop rat-running through the area. Drivers are more likely to use the area as a short cut when the Cow Lane bridges are fully open in early 2019 so we are hoping to prevent this.

Residents have been sent consultation letters with response forms that can be returned to the councillors via free post. Alternatively, if you have any comments or questions you can email our councillors directly. The deadline for responses is Friday 1 June:

Tony Page: tony.page@reading.gov.uk

Mohammed Ayub: mohammed.ayub@reading.gov.uk

Karen Rowland: karen.rowland@reading.gov.uk

Improvements to the road under under the railway line at Cow Lane have been delayed by six months.

Cow Lane bridge was demolished last year – as part of the £850m Reading station development scheme scheme – to make way for a two-lane traffic system. However, Network Rail said that due to “unforeseen issues” completion will be delayed until early 2019.

The scheme was due to be completed before Reading Festival in August.

The delay means that the road will remain the same for a further six months. The council has announced that the current northbound-only one-way system will end in July and that the previous two-way traffic light system will be put back in place, presumably until the works are completed.

In the meantime, the junction of Cow Lane and Cardiff Road is closed for six weeks until the end of June – the bollards in Cardiff Road have temporarily been removed and the alternative route via Milford Road, meaning a lot more traffic for some Cardiff Road residents.

The council is proposing to convert the short stay parking areas in Northfield Road to pay & display bays, with charges of 70 pence for 20 minutes and a 3 hour maximum stay.

We understand that this will have been discussed at the council’s traffic management sub-committee on 8 March 2018 and are currently waiting to hear the outcome.

Did you know that our area has more than 20 old cast iron lighting columns? Most of these are the original fluted pattern that dates from Victorian times and carried gas lamps, and these columns were all manufactured in Reading, many of them by two foundries close to our area – Samuel Griffith in Vastern Road and H C Goodman by Caversham Bridge where the Peter Brett Associates building is today.

With the advent of LED street lighting the council is considering scrapping all these columns, and Bell Tower residents are taking part in a town-wide campaign to save them, as they can be converted to take LED lanterns. The good news is that the council have agreed to undertake a structural survey of all the remaining cast iron columns to determine which ones can be saved and we should hear more in January – but so far there are still no guarantees that any of these will be kept.

Look out for decorations on these old columns during the festive season that have been put up as part of the ‘Love your Lamp post’ campaign. To find out more about this town-wide campaign and how you can show your support please visit bell-tower.org.uk/lampposts. Don’t forget to leave a message of support!

Reading Borough Council is proposing a transit caravan site for travellers on the junction of Cow Lane and Richfield Avenue, next to the Rivermead. The site would be the first of its kind in Reading, and up to 17 pitches are proposed there.

The Bell Tower Community Association has serious concerns about the proposed location, which is within the Thames floodplain and will be right next to a busy main road after Cow Lane bridges are fully opened in 2018. The site is also on the fringe of Reading’s Air Quality Management Area and would affect the visual amenity for local walkers and visitors to the Rivermead. The site could also significantly affect the Reading Festival.

People living in Reading are asked to share their views on the scheme through a public consultation process after the first stage of the plan was passed by councillors on Monday 25 September.

A consultation process has now been started, and residents and businesses have until 24 October to submit their comments. If you have views on the proposal, please take the oportunity to make them known to the council.

To comment on the proposal please email planningpolicy@reading.gov.uk or write to Planning Policy Team, Civic Offices, Bridge Street, Reading RG1 2LU.