OPINION: Letters to the editor of the Newbury Weekly News
People’s views ignored over pedestrianisation
Mr Gourlay states in his video message on the WBC Facebook page that he is “excited” about the extension of pedestrianisation in Newbury until 11pm.
Excited is not a word that most people would use. “Barmy” or “ridiculous” are two of the kinder words I have heard from people!
He also states that the consultation regarding this was not a referendum, but simply to see how people felt about it.
Either way, the clear majority of people who said no to this were completely ignored. This doesn’t bode well for the future in Newbury.
I also don’t believe for a second that this is a six-month trial. It will be made permanent even if 80 per cent of people said it wasn’t working.
To implement this while we have the closure of the A4 is also totally ridiculous and shows a lack of common sense or understanding towards motorists in Newbury.
It just shows that the Lib Dems appear to have some sort of hate campaign against the motorist.
The traffic is horrendous in Newbury most of the time. What happens if there is major incident on the ring road after 5pm and drivers can’t use Northbrook Street?
There will be no way of getting through the town at all. I doubt Mr Gourlay has even thought of that.
Ed Davey said that the Lib Dems were a party who will listen to people’s concerns and act accordingly. Obviously this message hasn’t gotten through to the ones in Newbury.
Think again Mr Gourlay and have the decency to admit this is the wrong thing to do. People would be far more respectful if you did.
Dave Shields
Wash Common
I felt uneasy walking through empty streets
Concerning the current pedestrianisation trial of Newbury town centre in the evenings, I would like to point out my recent experience.
I attended on my own a 7.15pm showing of a film in the cinema at the Corn Exchange on Thursday, May 22.
Afterwards, shortly before 10pm, I needed to walk through the town to my car, which I had parked some distance away due to the difficulty in parking anywhere without a smartphone.
Northbrook Street was deserted apart from a homeless person erecting a tent, two delivery bicycles whizzing along at more than 20mph and a man buying a takeaway.
I am unlikely to go again to support an evening event in the town as I felt very uneasy walking through the empty streets.
It is sad that the council have taken so little notice of the pre-trial consultation.
Frances Pritchard
Boxford
I am pleased by longer pedestrianised hours
Absolutely delighted to see that the town centre is being pedestrianised for longer, which is fantastic news for the environment, both socially and ecologically.
I never understood why cars were suddenly allowed to race through Northbrook Street at 5pm when shops were still open and the road full of pedestrians.
This way the already quite bustling night life can really grow and thrive.
It makes me proud to be part of an area that listens to but carefully weighs up the constant rumbling of the squeaky wheel motorists who can’t imagine any other way of living, and encourages more people on to public transport, bicycles, and their own legs.
Those of us car owners who recognise our vehicles are privilege and not a right are very grateful.
Julie Carlisle
Station Road, Kintbury
Lib Dems promised this trial in their manifesto
In response to Richard Howell (Newbury Weekly News, May 22), the affairs of this country are regulated by parliament – not a dictionary.
The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 regulates national, regional and local referendums in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.
They involve things like electoral rolls, timetables, polling stations, ballot papers, public declarations etc etc which were noticeable by their absence from the ‘consultation’ he refers to.
In passing, I would also point out that the Liberal Democrats won a large majority of the West Berkshire Council seats in the 2023 district-wide election, which involved all those pesky electoral rules and paraphernalia like ballot papers.
The Liberal Democrats ran on a manifesto which promised “promoting environment-friendly travel” by (amongst other things) “trialing an extension to pedestrianisation hours in Newbury town centre”.
Therefore, if they didn’t do the trial, they would be breaking a manifesto promise.
Paul Walter
Stanley Road, Newbury
Why we need better policing in this town
It will come as no surprise to the readers of the Newbury Weekly News and in particular the residents of Hungerford that we completely endorse the letter in the May 15 paper from Geordie Taylor, decrying the decisions from ‘on high’ about the reduction in police presence in Hungerford.
When we moved here from Newbury 27 years ago we had a manned police station close to the centre of town.
This building has now been converted to apartments and a small ‘sub-station’ is now situated conveniently next to the fire station.
It is a ‘red letter day’ when we see a police car in Hungerford that is not shooting through with the siren blazing.
It is equally a day worth celebrating when either the sub-station is manned or we see police presence on the street – usually it feels like a token gesture.
We are very lucky to live in the community of Hungerford – it is a community in the true sense of the word – but let us not kid ourselves that we don’t need regular police presence to both keep crime figures down and act as a deterrent and to give the residents of Hungerford a sense of security which we are, after all, paying for.
To suggest that our police representation should be based in Thatcham or any other remote location, is completely overlooking the distance and time needed for a response to be of any value.
My family have witnessed in recent years ‘county lines’ violence at the station and are aware, of course, of the many break-ins that have become routine and usually go without a successful conviction.
Shoplifting is not uncommon on the High Street, as in all other towns.
We are a growing town with a growing population – in theory, based on the population of 6,000, this should, as Mr Taylor states, require a police presence of a dozen police.
We are not looking for this number, far from it, but we do believe that for the sake of keeping the low crime rate in Hungerford, giving security to the residents of all ages, we should not be overlooked but given the support that is ‘our due’.
Hilary Stockwell
Hungerford
Appalling planning around the A4 closure
When I caught the 10am No 4 bus from Great Shefford into Newbury on Monday, May 19, the A4 road closure at Speen meant that from the Speen interchange we went all the way up the A34 to Chieveley, then down the old road to Donnington, into Grove Road and then through the Sutton Road estate – an awful waste of time and fuel.
I asked the driver why the buses weren’t routed to continue down the Newbury road from Boxford to Speen.
He said that they had tried that and four vehicles had been hit.
I’m not surprised; there are an awful lot of maniac drivers using the valley road at present, so great care must be taken.
When I first forgot about the diversion I drove back into Stockcross and down Snake Lane.
Twice I had to back up for oncoming drivers and halfway down the road was closed, without any advance notification at the top.
Appalling planning.
Roy Bailey
Great Shefford
Please do wear a helmet when cycling
At 8am on Tuesday, March 12 last year, I was t-boned off my bike as I was going round a Thatcham roundabout.
The car driver apparently did not see me as he tried to join the roundabout.
I bounced away from the car, first on my helmet and then my backside, fracturing a vertebrae and tearing a groin muscle.
But I was lucky; it could have been so much worse.
Firstly I would like to thank all the kind passers-by who could not have done more to look after me (with one chap capping it off by dropping what was left of my bike home).
I hope I said thank you to everyone but I’m not sure.
Also the police, paramedics, ambulance and teams at Royal Berkshire were all brilliant: thank you all so much.
There are more brilliant people in the world than it sometimes appears.
Secondly, I ask anyone who has non-helmet-wearing cyclist friends or family to urge them always to wear helmets.
I turned 60 this month and have enjoyed cycling all my life (and fortunately am back doing so).
I believe I am sensible, and I always wear bright clothes and err on having lights on.
But there was nothing I could have done that morning, and it seems clear that I would not be writing this had I not been wearing a helmet.
Plus a driver would be feeling a whole lot worse, which wouldn’t be fair either; we all make mistakes.
I guess some think that they’re too good at cycling to be hit, and other cyclists don’t think.
Please try to persuade such cyclists to learn.
Chris Mills
Midgham
Eagle Quarter would ‘do serious harm’
The overbearing eight-storey plans to redevelop the Kennet Centre in Newbury (‘Eagle Quarter II’) will be the subject of a planning hearing which starts on Tuesday, June 3.
West Berkshire Council will be defending its decision to refuse this application, taken in January, and the developers Lochailort will be attempting to overturn the decision.
The Newbury Society will be taking part, arguing that this high-rise development would be damaging to the character of Newbury.
The application (23/02094/FULMAJ) was refused by West Berkshire Council on six grounds, but two of these have been dropped before the hearing; those about insufficient parking and lack of affordable housing.
The development (with 427 flats) offers no affordable housing at all, in spite of this being required by council policy.
The developers have submitted a report which states that they cannot afford to provide affordable housing, and – according to the national planning rules – this ‘Viability Report’ apparently removes any obligation to make this provision.
As for parking, this development includes only 83 new spaces for its 427 flats, with the rest of the parking provided by the existing (but smaller) Kennet Centre multi-storey car park, with the railway station multi-storey picking up the overflow at busy times.
However, WBC, as the highways authority, now considers that the parking arrangements are satisfactory, and has withdrawn its objection on these grounds.
The Newbury Society is a voluntary organisation, and does not have the specialist legal advice which is available to the developers and to the council.
Following the decisions by West Berkshire Council, we have had little choice but to withdraw our objections on the grounds of insufficient parking; and on affordable housing, except as an issue in considering the planning balance for this application.
We are still continuing with our main objections, which are about the scale, height and mass of the proposed development, as it affects the town centre conservation area and listed buildings.
We strongly believe that the development, with its cluster of five-, six-, seven-, and eight-storey buildings would do serious harm to the character of Newbury.
Many documents about the plans are on the WBC website under the application number 23/02094/FULMAJ.
Anyone who has strong feelings about this development is welcome to attend the hearing, which is due to start at 10 am on June 3, at the West Berkshire Council offices in Market Street, Newbury.
David Peacock
(on behalf of) The Newbury Society
Car park owners who cash in on confusion
Some 43,000 private parking tickets are issued every day according to a Parliamentary debate (6.5.25).
In the year to the end of March 2024, 1.7 million parking charge notices were issued.
Many were falsely issued when machines didn’t work, signs unclear, genuine consumer mistakes (particularly when using unfamiliar machines), timing and situation issues etc, combined with skewed appeals processes.
My mistake was to attempt to use the car park owned by Euro Parks, in West Street, with access to Weavers Walk.
Neither of their two machines would accept coins on April 1 this year, so I moved my car to a second car park which was successful.
I walk slowly (due to chronic illness) and as a result of the long distance between the machines, plus my efforts at the machines to try to make them work and then the walk back to my car, I apparently spent 12 minutes, which triggered a charge £100 discounted to £60 if paid within 28 days.
I appealed, but was rejected.
The assumption that the charge is just for parking is untrue, because it includes your journey to find a space, any waiting or manoeuvring around other vehicles, queuing to pay and navigate the systems on the machine, whether or not the machine works.
No one is actually allowed one or more hours parking for the fee charged.
On the notices I received, the owner also states it is a pay-and-display car park, which it is not.
I think that the directors of the private car park companies are getting concerned by the increasing Government scrutiny, so if you receive an unjust parking ticket, do not expect an appeal to be successful.
They are trying to steal as much money as they can before their wings are clipped.
If the DVLA were only allowed to reveal personal details to the police, I expect there would be a welcome and significant reduction in the use of our courts.
If car park companies were not pursuing innocent customers through legal processes, the savings in time and money could help society bring criminals to justice instead.
B Stephenson
Speen
Newbury 10k was a simply brilliant event
Wow, what an amazing event for the community of Newbury – 1,000 runners, 100 marshals and helpers, 100s lining the streets and another thousand cheering in Market Square.
The Newbury 10k on Monday was brilliant.
Laura Buchanan, who organised the volunteers, and Jeff Bird, 10k race director, deserve the keys to the city and our thanks.
Mark Landreth-Smith
Larch Close, Speen
