Viewpoint: Potholes, Maidenhead golf course, and larger local authorities

Temporary repair is a cost-effective option

Your correspondent (Viewpoint, March 28), highlights a concern over the quality of pothole repairs.

In defence of our often-beleaguered council, it is not always practical to carry out a permanent repair of a single pothole straight away, as the process of putting together a crew of roadworkers, plant, tools, materials, and the cost of hiring and maintaining all of the required traffic management (cones, signs and sometimes temporary traffic signals) for such a small area means that it is not at all cost-effective and value for money.

It is usual practice for many highway authorities in the UK to carry out a reactive, quick, temporary repair as soon as possible after a defect has been identified or reported, to make the area safe and conform to any performance targets that are required.

They will each then be put into a more cost-effective, planned programme of work that will involve the necessary permanent repairs later on, the timing of which will depend on available funding.

Sadly however, I suspect that even with all this additional funding, the condition of roads will worsen before it gets better, due to many years of neglect and underfunding from both central and local government.

Many roads in the UK have deteriorated to the extent that they are now beyond normal patching repair and require complete resurfacing or reconstruction.

Various ways in which the council could slow down deterioration of our highway surfaces would be to ensure that the roads are swept regularly, ensure that edge of road channels, road gullies, connecting pipes and roadside ditches are kept clear and free of detritus, weeds and other blockages, and remove areas of standing water from surfaces and road channels by smoothing out and restoring gradients and crossfalls.

DENIS CHAMBERLIN

Pinkneys Green

Maidenhead

Chicane makes it safer to pass under bridge

Actually, contrary to what Keith Chapman calls ‘the idiotic chicane by the railway bridge on the Maidenhead Road in Cookham’ (Viewpoint, April 4), this works really well.

I am a resident of Cookham and it is now easier and safer to navigate the bridge than before.

It also has the benefit of slowing drivers as they approach the bridge.

I agree with Mr Chapman about the decision to stop the Oakley Court Hotel improving their sports facilities – I think that is a totally bonkers decision – what possible harm could those plans do?

All these businesses are trying to make sensible investments to keep their businesses afloat and profitable.

I am saddened by the plans to build on the Maidenhead golf course but one can only assume that past poor financial management has got the council in a desperate situation.

I do wonder though, who is going to buy these houses? Or all the flats going up in Maidenhead? Can anyone tell me if they are occupied? It would be tragic if they just remained empty.

JANE BELTON

Westwood Green

Cookham

Funding cuts in time of increased demand

Many Maidonians would agree with Keith Chapman’s opinion (Viewpoint, April 4) that Maidenhead is a less attractive town than it was in the past.

Keith blames the councillors; it's important that he views the full picture.

The population of Maidenhead has grown by almost 30,000 since the late fifties, and that increase includes Keith himself, whom many of us oldies would consider a Johnny come lately.

In those days, over 60 years ago, there were definitely traffic lights, for example controlling traffic between the High Street and King Street.

Of course, with that tremendous
increase in population, town planning brought St Cloud Way and other expanded routes to cope with the increase in
traffic.

Back in the 60s, many families had just one car – now most adults in a family have a car each.

The previous government takes a lot of the blame for council financial difficulties as local government spending power reduced by 17.5 per cent due to cuts to councils from the Cameron to the Johnson eras.

This is during a time of sustained increased demands on the services of councils by social services and education needs.

Councillors give up a lot of time to do their best for the community, and to achieve their vision of what would be best for that community, but their hands are tied by requirements and income.

If Keith wants it done differently, he should run for council himself.

JAMES AIDAN

Sutton Road

Maidenhead

Larger local authority could bring benefits

Councillor Werner commented that he has concerns over Labour’s drive to have larger local authorities (Advertiser, April 4).

He warned that any merger with other councils will see big increases in council tax. This from a leader that wanted to increase it by 25 per cent.

I don’t see it that way but increases are inevitable unless Government solve the social care problem.

In 10 years the cost of adult social care and children’s services have increased from 63 per cent to 74 per cent of the total service expenditure.

This leaves only 26 per cent of £130million for all other services, including staff and councillor costs.

Being from a highway background I tend to concentrate on this service and, based on long experience, I have repeatedly commented that RBWM is not fit to be a highway authority.

When it took over this responsibility from Berkshire County Council in 1998 it had virtually no experience of highway responsibilities.

Councillor Werner makes it clear that he wouldn’t want to merge with Slough but, having worked for that authority, their staff were much more professional than I have experienced at RBWM.

Also they had an agency agreement with Berkshire for highway and traffic work and therefore had the experience to take over the full responsibility in 1998.

Both authorities are in debt and that is mainly because they moved away from just providing basic services and got involved too much in investments.

Slough with poor investments and RBWM in the massive redevelopment of Maidenhead, that few, if any, like.

Also, having used 2015/16 council tax figures, it was during Simon Dudley’s reign.

Remember him? When I believe all this started to go wrong.

With a larger authority you would only need one staff structure covering all departments with a lot less management.

If you look at the staff structures for the six unitary authorities in Berkshire they are all top heavy and expensive.

Councillor Werner is quoted as not being a fan of new mayoral strategic authorities ‘putting power into one person’s hand’.

This is not a realistic assessment as each mayor sets up a team to run things, and I would love to see the equivalent of a ‘Transport for London’ type set-up in our area.

Certainly a massive room for improvement.

I would also like to point out to councillor Werner that the current ‘cabinet’ system is far from perfect when inexperienced councillors rely too much on officers and, contrary to the constitution rules, just reply with ‘I’ll pass it to officers’.

Leaving us to an authority mainly run by officers and lead members little more than a post box.

BARRY GIGGINS

Greenacre

Windsor

Golf course goes ahead despite multiple flaws

Why on earth is the golf course development in Maidenhead still going ahead, when the arguments against it are so compelling?

We all know the road infrastructure around it will not take the additional traffic, as it can hardly cope now. With all the new roundabouts, Harvest Hill Road will become impossible to drive down, and if you are able to get to the Braywick Road, at the bottom, you will probably be met with chaos.

Possibly a gyratory system, or as it stands, a left turn towards Maidenhead.

Then if you want to go to Windsor, you have to cut across the carriageway by the leisure centre to make a U-turn, and head back up the A308.

It has been suggested by planners, and adopted by Cala Homes, that to cope with queues and tailbacks, traffic will be held within the leisure centre car park, until the way is clear enough to proceed, which is laughable, but is a serious suggestion. Pure madness!

We know the water supply is restricted and clearing foul water is nigh on impossible without contaminating rivers and streams.

The air quality is substandard already, without building hundreds more houses to exacerbate the problem.

Furthermore, all these proposed new houses will do nothing to solve the housing crisis, as even the paltry few, so-called affordable homes, will not be truly affordable.

These new developments will more likely simply draw people in from West London, where prices are so much higher.

The only real way to solve the housing crisis is to build a council estate with low rents.

Perhaps, when all the migrants who are now housed in the Holiday Inn move on, that could be demolished and low cost housing built there.

We are told by RBWM representatives that to break the contract with Cala Homes would be too costly, as it was so tied up by the previous administration they are committed to it.

However, even when it does go ahead, RBWM will probably not receive any money from Cala Homes for some time, and even worse, I believe they are liable to pay for certain ground work to be done and pay for alterations to Harvest Hill Road.

RBWM has already paid Maidenhead Golf Club the agreed amount of over £15m, a year earlier than expected, and had to borrow to do that.

And of course more recently, borrowed over £100m from central government.

All they seem to have done so far, is to pay money out, and received very little in, as far as I can see.

Maybe some radical thinking is required to help solve the financial crisis.

It would be sacrilege to allow a heritage site like the golf course to be built over and Maidenhead would lose its green lung.

Those responsible for allowing it to happen, will have much to answer for in the future.

BOB TAVINOR

Hearne Drive

Holyport

Hypocrisy of former MP’s abortion views

Councillor John Harrison (Bracknell Forest) belatedly wrote a paean of praise about the visit to his local Conservative association by the former but certainly not missed MP, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg (Viewpoint, April 4).

One wonders if his ‘well considered account’ made any reference to his views on abortion as being ‘a cult of death’?

At least Rees-Mogg is ‘consistent’ in this antediluvian view, which is certainly not even in line with his own party’s policy concerning women’s health.

He even opposes abortion for victims of rape and incest.

Or is he ‘consistent’?

After all, he has admitted that ‘in a roundabout way’ he profited from investments of Somerset Capital Management in the Indonesian company Kalbe Farma.

Guess what? They produce and market medication designed to treat stomach ulcers but are widely used in illegal abortions in Indonesia.

And yes, Councillor Harrison you may be surprised that I find such hypocrisy ‘unremarkable’ for the failed politician who opposes ‘net zero’ and continues to support the felon across the Atlantic.

RICHARD WORRALL

Godayn Grove

Maidenhead