I couldn’t resist a wry smile at the hypocrisy of our local Tories over the issue of alternate weekly bin collections when I read last week that Conservative controlled West Berkshire Council were planning to move to fortnightly collections of domestic waste in an attempt to increase their lamentable recycling rates which are the lowest in the county.   Despite the inevitable problems with introducing any new system I strongly supported the move to alternate collections of domestic and recyclable waste in Reading as a way of reducing the amount of rubbish that is sent to landfill, keeping council tax levels down by avoiding unnecessary landfill levies and increasing recycling in order to protect the environment.   How strange then that only last year Conservative councillors from West Berkshire were seen delivering leaflets in my constituency attacking the very policy that they now plan to introduce themselves! 

The system in West Berkshire could prove problematic for people in terraced houses or with small front gardens as the Conservatives are planning five separate collection “bins” - one for cardboard and paper, one for glass, a sack for cans and plastic bottles and a green bin for garden waste as well as their ordinary grey wheelie bin.  I would be interested to hear from West Berkshire residents in my Reading West constituency as to whether they share my concerns that the proposed five “bin” system could lead to pavement chaos in many neighbourhoods.  Over the past few months I have had a number of residents say that they would like to see Reading’s three wheelie bin system introduced in West Berkshire.  Personally, I am not a great fan of these plastic crates and I can foresee much confusion with the potential to have rubbish blowing all over the place on windy days.  At least wheelie bins have lids!

Last week a powerful coalition of major Thames Valley companies and some of the area’s MPs  came together in the House of Commons to lobby for significant extra investment in the local transport infrastructure. We updated a plan prepared by the Thames Valley Economic Partnership (TVEP) for Transport Minister Rosie Winterton which warns of the consequences for our local economy if our transport systems don’t improve.  The partnership includes major corporate companies such as ORACLE, CISCO, VODAFONE, MICROSOFT, 3, DELL and SIEMENS. 

The six point plan “Thames Valley: Sustain Our Success” calls for investment totalling between £1.5-2 billion in a number of schemes including

• a direct rail link to Heathrow Airport from the West via the Great Western main line.
• upgrading north-south linkages in the Thames Valley particularly the M3 to M4 to M40 road connections and a third Thames bridge for Reading.  
• widening the M4, on a phased basis, beginning with the Langley to Maidenhead section.  

I was amazed to hear that the major companies in the region now spend no less than £15 million a year on taxis to run customers and clients to Heathrow from places such as Vodafone’s premises in Newbury, and Microsoft and Oracle’s premises in Reading, all because we do not have proper rail access to the airport. Those cabs pour out carbon emissions, clog up the roads and represent an unnecessary cost to business which is inevitably passed on to customers.  

An improved road system coupled with efficient public transport is necessary if we are to remain successful. With the Thames Valley being the location of choice for many business headquarters I have always argued that travellers need to be able to make fast, seamless connections to Heathrow Airport, which we can’t at present.