Wednesday, 29 April 2009

We'll Cross That Bridge When We Come To It

The protracted discussions over the future of transport in and around Reading got a hearing as Hugh Fort discusses Oxfordshire County Council's 'admission' that it is considering the prospect of a third bridge across the Thames.

A bridge forms the centrepiece of a £300m bid to the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF), but Oxfordshire say they have concerns about traffic levels and would oppose private vehicles using the crossing.

By complete coincidence Caversham bridge was temporarily closed for exactly this purpose only a day earlier.

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous30 April 2009 at 00:37

    Sheep!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. lindamoodbell30 April 2009 at 10:49

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    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous30 April 2009 at 17:15

    lindamoodbell, what planet are yu from? this is the second time I have come across your twat. Sounds like yu are desperate coming on blogs like this one. Contact the local Council, they might help you..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oranjepan30 April 2009 at 21:03

    Anon, lindamoodbell is automated spam advertising - pay no attention if it gets up your nose.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous1 May 2009 at 09:36

    Orangepan, thanks for the explanation...as for getting up my nose, there are much bigger and serious issues which does thankfully, like a third bridge! I mean why is everyone attacking OCC? Does anybody know why their stance. There must be more to it than being just obstruction..I know for a fact that RBC and OCC have a long standing history not being bosom pals!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oranjepan1 May 2009 at 10:48

    The standard argument used by OCC is that the road infrastructure north of the river is insufficient to cope with increased levels of traffic which it is assumed a third bridge would bring.

    Generally this can be read as wealthy people wanting to protect their rural idyll in extreme proximity to the burgeoning metropolis.

    It's also possible to pick up an underlying note of competition between Oxford and Reading over the which is the 'capital' of the Thames sub-region.

    On both these subjects partisan differences come into play.

    However I don't think it is mutual suspicion between the local authorities that is most important here.

    Development pressures are created by planning processes within the structure of regional and central government, so the lack of space in Reading and the abundant space in SOxon are in natural conflict and therefore the bridge is percieved as the solution to our problems south of the river but for those north of the river it is seen as the instigator of new problems for them.

    Put it this way - if the railway and the motorway had been built north of the Thames the development pattern since the industrial revolution would have been different and the roles would be reversed: geography and history combine to cause a political dilemma for two neighbouring populations.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous1 May 2009 at 23:19

    I have heard from Oxon people its not a bridge they object to but more what RBC is after once bridge is built. Like housing development needed..calling maybe for a change of boudaries?? reasons why close Oxon villages suspicious..quite understandbly, who in their right mind would want to end up under a Labour run council like Reading...Of course next year might be a different matter!

    ReplyDelete

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