Royal Mail Site - 1000 New Flats

[Mayfield]

Have you been stuck in a small flat with a small child for any length of time Bobby ?

Wouldn't be my preference either ( and I have been stuck in a flat with two small children, although in my case it was a large flat with live in staff, and it was still pretty horrid IMHO )

[lizwing]

I’ve lived in some pretty odd places Bobby, in a couple of rooms in a house in London Road where I was born, then above a shop when my parents moved to the other end of town, then over two pubs and a bedsit in College Road.The first time I lived in a real house and, incidentally, the first place with heating, was when I got married. I realise not everyone can live in a house but I’m pretty sure most people would rather, especially with children.

[OLDMAN]

Plenty of people who have kids live in flats and have no garden.

I agree

When we had our ‘enforced’ stay at Chatham Tower it was noticeable how many others in that place had kids – the one above us had 2, both young enough to run (banging on the floor) about – fortunately they went to bed about 8:30pm every evening

And we met quite a few of them in the lifts

Also, as we were so high we overlooked at lot of the other apartment blocks and some beyond – again many of them had families with kids in them

And of course – they all have decent car parking underneath

[Fed-up]

The council has just responded to a scoping application:

https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/traf ... fice-plan/

[ReadingT]

It will be weird that the Mothercare et al Vastern Court will remain right in front of this large development. Glad the council have queuried traffic expectations. Will the exit of the development be by the taxi rank at the station or onto Cav road opposite the fire station? Surely there will need to be a crossroads where the yellow hatched area is otherwise nobody from this development would really be able to leave and head north. Either way it will have a big impact on an already congested area.

[buseng]

Just the presence of the fire station should bring this plan into dispute, the fire service should totally object. Even just further up the road at GKS is the main ambulance exit when responding to calls. The whole lot should be chucked in the bin where it belongs.

[Voiceoftreason?]

Why is that Bus? On what grounds could the Fire Service object? Caversham Starion is only small - probably 3/4 appliances and also houses the river rescue team IIRC.

[buseng]

Why is that Bus? On what grounds could the Fire Service object? Caversham Starion is only small - probably 3/4 appliances and also houses the river rescue team IIRC.

OK, so what if your house catches fire or you & your family need the FB for another reason & they take a while to get to you due to access issues at the station & you suffer as a consequence, how would you feel then?

[dave m]

I understood that you lived in tilehurst?
Wouldn't dee road be coming to your aid?

What you imply is that no development can take place because there is some kind of emergency service provision in the area, so we preserve the town in aspic

[ReadingT]

The fire service has priority and doesn’t struggle to get out of the station when the lights are flashing. I’ve only seen it happen twice though.

[Voiceoftreason?]

Hang on Bus, it was a genuine question. I can’t see the problem and having worked for the Brigade for three years, I was interested in why you thought it would impact them? Typically they send more than one crew if there’s a big first e.g. Dee Road and Whitley will be out as well as the more local station.....?

Edit apologies I inferred there were more appliances than I thought at Caversham Road. In fact there is one plus the boat. https://www.rbfrs.co.uk/your-service/fi ... tryid1=179

[buseng]

I understood that you lived in tilehurst?
Wouldn't dee road be coming to your aid?

What you imply is that no development can take place because there is some kind of emergency service provision in the area, so we preserve the town in aspic

It doesn't always work like that, they often send appliances from more than one station or Dee Road might be tied up on another job.

[dave m]

I know but that then implies that any development anywhere may get in the way of any fire engine going anywhere!

[zag]

These are high rise flats, absolutely no parking is needed in reality. That means no additional traffic. Pretty simple compromise to live in the town center.

You have a mainline train station and crossrail literally next door...

[lizwing]

In some places they built high rise accommodation with parking underneath for residents. Even in city centres.

[Bob deBilda]

In some places they built high rise accommodation with parking underneath for residents. Even in city centres.

I wonder who thought of that idea, storing tanks full of petrol in the basement of a high rise.

Regards
Bob

[Mayfield]

These are high rise flats, absolutely no parking is needed in reality. That means no additional traffic. Pretty simple compromise to live in the town center.

You have a mainline train station and crossrail literally next door...

That doesn't mean you never want to go anywhere else....

[ReadingT]

These are high rise flats, absolutely no parking is needed in reality. That means no additional traffic. Pretty simple compromise to live in the town center.

You have a mainline train station and crossrail literally next door...

*absolutely no parking is needed in theory.

But in reality people often have cars even when they don’t need them.

[Bob deBilda]

In London, 46% of households don't have a car. OK, so you might expect more car ownership here, but even so...

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/technical-not ... london.pdf

Regards
Bob

[ash]

I suppose though, a difference might be that London has a much more extensive (albeit not perfect) underground system, suburban rail, and buses.

In Reading, it’s not easy to get around town, the option is only realistically a bus, which is fairly expensive and largely inefficient in terms of speed.

[ReadingT]

I suppose though, a difference might be that London has a much more extensive (albeit not perfect) underground system, suburban rail, and buses.

In Reading, it’s not easy to get around town, the option is only realistically a bus, which is fairly expensive and largely inefficient in terms of speed.

Exactly. It isn’t a given that people won’t want a car.

[dave m]

I suspect, in general that reading comes out with a better score from London if measuring the amounts that people walk before and after public transport
Obviously reading has no tube and fewer buses but the distances between stops and destinations are better

[Mayfield]

Do we all think that people in flats with family will never want them to get out in the countryside then ? Explore the Chiltern Hills, the Cotswolds ....
Very short sighted policy IMHO...they should at least have a car share scheme based there...

[Voiceoftreason?]

London is a pretty compact area, well served by public transport for working, and you have to go quite a way out before there is any countryside like we’ve got. If you want to get out and about here, you’d need a car for weekends and the family shop maybe school run etc and what about visiting friends Andy relatives/holidays? Saying that no one in a TC flat needs a car is like saying everyone in a suburban semi has to have one. I have to agree with Mayfield.

[Bob deBilda]

Saying that no one in a TC flat needs a car...

Who said that, was it Aunt Sally or the Strawman??

Regards
Bob

[Voiceoftreason?]

What?

[Melchett]

These are high rise flats, absolutely no parking is needed in reality. That means no additional traffic. Pretty simple compromise to live in the town center.

You have a mainline train station and crossrail literally next door...

A very simplistic look at it.
What you will find is, it will cause additional traffic. Some people will have cars but park in different locations without parking restrictions (so has a knock on affect in other areas). They have friends who can give them lifts. People use taxi's....

[zag]

These are high rise flats, absolutely no parking is needed in reality. That means no additional traffic. Pretty simple compromise to live in the town center.

You have a mainline train station and crossrail literally next door...

A very simplistic look at it.
What you will find is, it will cause additional traffic. Some people will have cars but park in different locations without parking restrictions (so has a knock on affect in other areas). They have friends who can give them lifts. People use taxi's....

This is actually quite a good point, but I still find it strange when people say these kind of developments NEED parking. Train and Bus services in Reading are excellent, this development is about 1min walk away from the central hub of public transport. We even have a cycle hire scheme that works (Ok I will give you that one, it was a bit botched by the council)

If you don't want more traffic in the town center, simply don't supply parking in high rise residential developments. Alternative transport is improving at pace in Reading with the new MRT, Crossrail, Uber, Car sharing schemes etc.

I've traveled round most of cities in Europe and to have a car in a town center is unheard of in most places. Maybe I just think we have an obsession with personal car transport here. Some of the comments above about not being able to get to the national parks without a car seem to confirm that. I have cycled and got the train to those places in the past with no issues at all. In fact it is much more enjoyable and beautiful to do it that way.

[Mayfield]

Maybe we are a bit more outward looking than some European cities. It's entirely possible that one half of a couple for instance, would need a car for work...and the other commute, and people sometimes by things that are reasonably heavy that they don't want or can't get delivered....

[Voiceoftreason?]

We have two cars as we go in different directions at different time in the day, including one working away for several days at a time. Couldn’t run the house without a car and can’t work without one either. Not everyone can ride a bike and with kids in tow, that’s not practical either. Don’t know what the solution is really, but guess if you want to live in that area, taking transport into account would be part of your assessment as to whether or not living their suits your current lifestyle.

[cnb]

I've traveled round most of cities in Europe and to have a car in a town center is unheard of in most places.

That's true in big cities, but I don't think it is in places of similar size to Reading. Although it's certainly possible to live without a car in Reading - about a third of households in the centre do - it's pretty limiting in terms of work and leisure opportunities in the longer term.

There's a point where a city becomes big enough that few people who live in it have any reason to take up employment outside, and from my experience, I'd say that comes at a population of about one million.

[buseng]

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if you didn't need shares in the Royal Mint to pay the current train fares, for a totally unreliable service with never ending signal & points problems. Bus fares aren't that much better either.

[OLDMAN]

The other problem along with size of town is the type of industry / jobs available

I know when trying to find a job (after redundancy twice) that there was very little in my work field / expertise / level within the Reading local confines

In fact, all the jobs I’ve had over the last 45yrs have meant traveling and have varied between 12miles to 60miles each way

[cnb]

The other problem along with size of town is the type of industry / jobs available

I know when trying to find a job (after redundancy twice) that there was very little in my work field / expertise / level within the Reading local confines

In fact, all the jobs I’ve had over the last 45yrs have meant traveling and have varied between 12miles to 60miles each way

I think that's saying much the same thing. My feeling is that once you get to a million or so, it's pretty much inevitable that there will be multiple businesses in almost every field, and therefore little need for anyone to commute outside the city.

[OLDMAN]

True but the problem with Reading is that it’s not a huge ‘area’ within the boundaries so to increase population means more housing, but that could be at the cost of less industry as not enough room for both

It would then mean jobs etc would be reliant on outlying areas run by other councils who may not want to develop them – this has been with many wanting to build more housing around ‘our’ outskirts

Apart from WBC who are happy we get the ugly warehouses / factories etc on our borders and away from their town!