We need a ring road Options

[dannyboy]

AND people and lorries getting from the A339 Basingstoke Road to the A34 / M4.

Well if they won't follow the road signs...

Wbhilst the Eastern route would have been better on paper the logistics of actually building it pervented such as scheme ever seriously being considered.

[Biker1]

Well if they won't follow the road signs...

That's right - they don't - they take the shortest route.

[dannyboy]

That's right - they don't - they take the shortest route.

So a ring road would be a waste of time then.....

[Jayjay]

I notice that in this consultation "offering more choice" regarding transport options is mentioned repeatedly. If this was genuinely the case, why are we subsidising the bus company by around £2m a year and allowing them to cut services, such as the 11 service which provides late evening services and is the only service to serve the northern streets of Thatcham? What we need is a full review of bus services and who provides them. Does all of the money given to Reading Buses go on services within West Berkshire?

The number 11 bus only provides late night services Friday and Saturday, the rest of the week it finishes at 6.30 from the bus station and 6.10 from Thatcham. So much for Ian Duncan Smith's catch a bus to find work. The excuse for stopping it is it is not profitable. It is well used, but a big proportion of passengers are children (half fare) and older people with bus passes.

[Bloggo]

Well if they won't follow the road signs...

They ignore the road signs and follow the sat-nav regardless.

[Richard Garvie]

The number 11 bus only provides late night services Friday and Saturday, the rest of the week it finishes at 6.30 from the bus station and 6.10 from Thatcham. So much for Ian Duncan Smith's catch a bus to find work. The excuse for stopping it is it is not profitable. It is well used, but a big proportion of passengers are children (half fare) and older people with bus passes.

I thought the purpose of subsidising bus routes and bus companies was that they would then provide services for the elderly and students etc.

[HJD]

AND people and lorries getting from the A339 Basingstoke Road to the A34 / M4.

Impose a weight restriction, that would solve the lorry problem instantly.

[Jayjay]

I thought the purpose of subsidising bus routes and bus companies was that they would then provide services for the elderly and students etc.

You would have thought so wouldn't you. Shaw Road area has a high proportion of elderly people owing to the purpose build housing there. These people will now have to drive to get to the hospital, into town or supermarkets. The children, who currently catch the bus to school will now walk.

Where is the logic of proposing a park and ride scheme when we cannot maintain the service we have at the moment. Strangely, buses servicing Reading have increased their routes and regularity and fares have decreased since they took over Newbury buses.

[On the edge]

What would you imagine the cost of a bridge to be? I think that it would be good to have a bridge, but the main question regarding all infrastructure projects here in West Berks is where is the money coming from? We didn't demand money from developers for the significant infrastructure that we require, and now we have to provide these roads, bridges and buildings after the horse has already bolted as someone else put it. This is another reason why I believe we need a planning review. Why have we allowed all of this development without improving our infrastructure as part of it???

Several million. However, Newbury is no longer a little market town - a fact un noticed by most of our politricians locally over the past twenty odd years. They seem to think protecting West Berkshire is keeping a few sleepy village pubs going, so the wolly jumper set can down their half pints and watch the sunset over the downs. Look around - this is now a dormitory suburb - Swindon without the facilities. Where does the money come from? Our community charges that's where. These should be spent matching infrastructure to population - rather than pished away in Scotland (Central Govt. Support Grants) or repairing hardly used rural tracks - so hay waggons don't get punctures. Lets face facts; old Newbury is dead and nothing is going to revive it. Lets make it better for everyone - particularly those who pay the bills.

[HeatherW]

I share peoples concerns. Newbury is ever-growing and we need to sort out our road system to accommodate our growth.

[blackdog]

Impose a weight restriction, that would solve the lorry problem instantly.

Might upset the many Newbury businesses that rely on HGVs to keep going.

[Iommi]

Another way to look at it: would it be true to say that some of the road infrastructure issues we have now, is because of inaction in the past; when it could have been easier and cheaper? If so, should we not be implementing improvements now so that we can cope with a growth in the size of town now?

[Biker1]

So we just go on and on building more and more roads?

There must be a better solution in the wider picture?

[Iommi]

So we just go on and on building more and more roads? There must be a better solution in the wider picture?

If we will eventually need relief roads, then it would be cheaper and easier to do it now than later.

[Bofem]

Might upset the many Newbury businesses that rely on HGVs to keep going.

For some reason, the NWN didn't get around to reporting the 'juicy bit' in WBC's new transport plan, which is to re-route all HGVs coming up from Basingstoke onto the Newtown Straight and then from Tothill up the A34.

This is in response to the dangerous pollution levels by Burger King.

Fingers crossed the Newtown mob don't kick off again.

See WBC website consultation finder Local Transport Plan Oct 2010

[Bloggo]

For some reason, the NWN didn't get around to reporting the 'juicy bit' in WBC's new transport plan, which is to re-route all HGVs coming up from Basingstoke onto the Newtown Straight and then from Tothill up the A34.

This is in response to the dangerous pollution levels by Burger King.

Fingers crossed the Newtown mob don't kick off again.

See WBC website consultation finder Local Transport Plan Oct 2010

This sounds like a sensible plan in that the Newtown straight, if that is the link road between the Swan roundsbout and Tothill A34 access roundabout, is a wide and suitable road and it will keep the HGVs out of the town.
I am not sure how they would enforce this though and what about those vehicles that are delivery to town stores?

[HJD]

Might upset the many Newbury businesses that rely on HGVs to keep going.

There most probably would be a way round it to ensure local deliveries were allowed. I'm suprised that a member of W.B.C. Highways department has'nt come up with a sensible solution yet.

[Richard Garvie]

The lack of infrastructure is down to years and years of inaction. Where other local authorities have planned to grow and have planned infrastructure to accomdate this growth, West Berks have simply buried their heads for years hoping the "growth" issue would go away. When the spatial plan was released by the last Government, the council had to plan for 10,500 new homes. But because there is very little money and the council have not forced the developers to pay for key infrastructure projects, we now face a massive new retail facility and 10,500 houses with very little improvements to infrastructure. I'm not against growth, I'm just calling for responsibility to be taken to ensure that this mess is never allowed to repeat itself. This is another reason why we need a full review of planning matters since power was delegated to the officers.

As for bus services, we pay around £2m a year on Reading buses (depending on what financial reports you read, as they are conflicting). What a Labour administration would do here is draw up a network that if fit for purpose then put it out to tender. By promising to do this, we hope to shame the other parties into doing the same thing should they win. We are paying more and more to Reading buses and getting less and less. Let's have a proper tender for once (I know that's not done for anything by West Berks, but there is a first time for everything!!!).

[dannyboy]

The lack of infrastructure is down to years and years of inaction. Where other local authorities have planned to grow and have planned infrastructure to accomdate this growth, West Berks have simply buried their heads for years hoping the "growth" issue would go away. When the spatial plan was released by the last Government, the council had to plan for 10,500 new homes. But because there is very little money and the council have not forced the developers to pay for key infrastructure projects, we now face a massive new retail facility and 10,500 houses with very little improvements to infrastructure. I'm not against growth, I'm just calling for responsibility to be taken to ensure that this mess is never allowed to repeat itself. This is another reason why we need a full review of planning matters since power was delegated to the officers.

As for bus services, we pay around £2m a year on Reading buses (depending on what financial reports you read, as they are conflicting). What a Labour administration would do here is draw up a network that if fit for purpose then put it out to tender. By promising to do this, we hope to shame the other parties into doing the same thing should they win. We are paying more and more to Reading buses and getting less and less. Let's have a proper tender for once (I know that's not done for anything by West Berks, but there is a first time for everything!!!).

who is paying for a bus service no-one uses? how much subsidy?

[Richard Garvie]

WBC pay Reading busses around £2m a year. The reason nobody uses it is because it's not fit for service.