Tonight (Thursday 6th 7.30pm) I am holding a public meeting at Highdown School Hall about the Third Thames bridge – members of the public are welcome from both sides of the border. Nearly 4,000 have signed a petition set up by local Caversham resident Adele Harbor, including signatories from south Oxon. The petition was launched following the traffic congestion and huge inconvenience brought about by the recent closure of Sonning Bridge due to the bad weather and flooding. This week it closed again causing further disruption.
Whilst Theresa May, John Redwood and myself, supported by Wokingham and Reading, favour a new bridge, to date Oxfordshire County Council, South Oxfordshire District Council (SOCD) and John Howell MP have opposed it. The power to advance the progress of the bridge technically lies in the hands of the three local authorities coming to an agreement.
I have long stood up for my constituents on this issue, urging both government and the three neighbouring local authorities to work together and clear the way to build a new crossing. In 2007 I urged then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, to help by knocking the heads together of the squabbling local authorities, sadly he and the then Labour Government did nothing to help. I remember joining my first Third Thames Bridge campaign 20 years ago as a local councillor, working alongside Martin Salter – but the opposition to any progress has always been fierce.
I called the public meeting because it is important to hear the views of those affected by these transport issues on both sides of the Berkshire Oxfordshire border and to try to find a degree of accommodation if that is possible. Oxon CC and John Howell MP have both engaged with this latest campaign, believing it is important to talk about the issues, even if they do not necessarily agree. John and I have called a summit meeting at Westminster for 3rd March getting all the key players in the same room at the same time to see if progress can be made. The views of the public meeting will inform that meeting.
I do understand the concerns of those in south Oxon about the green belt and traffic. But they equally must understand the difficulties caused by south oxon traffic coming through Caversham and Reading, harming the local environment for my constituents. The intention is for a local bridge and bypass –like the one Oxon provided to Wallingford over a decade or so ago. It is important any solution relieves the local traffic nightmare inflicted on my constituents and ensures Reading East continues to power the Thames Valley economy forward.
I want to find agreement and will give it every chance. But if we cannot, we still need action and must find a way of kicking the decision into independent hands and in those circumstances I would favour Wokingham Borough Council putting in a planning application for a third bridge. Yes it would take time and cost money, but sitting in traffic jams is taking time, costing money and squashing my constituents’ quality of life and holding back the economy. We cannot allow neither the logjam caused by our local authorities nor the traffic on the bridges to continue unresolved.