Entries by Adrian Hollister

A good 3 inches of snow here in Brightwalton this morning. It stopped snowing at about 1am and was followed by some showers until about 3am. Whilst we have lost a bit of the snow we had a 1am last night, there is still a good a crunchy layer. There is lots of ice out there, so please all take care.

The response to this campaign has been amazing, with even the most hardened pro-speeder agreeing that there is a problem on this stretch of road. I would also back a suggestion from the Newbury Today forum, which is to introduce variable speeds on the section of road with the variability based upon the conditions ahead. A common theme with all suggestions though is to ensure that they are actively monitored and managed; something the recent 'no overtaking' for lorries trial seems to have failed on. Average speed cameras along the section would meet these needs.

But, please remember, that whilst reducing the accidents on the A34 is a critical thing to do, we are also trying to stop reckless and thoughtless diversion driving through our Downland villages, and we are trying to protect the reputation that West Berkshire is an amazing place to live (and not an accident blackspot).

p.s. there are also plenty of statistics and real speed related detail from this document:

http://20splentyforus.org.uk/UsefulReports/TRLREports/trl421SpeedAccidents.pdf - Page 2 is a good start. Where you can find details such as "The percentage reduction in accident frequency achievable per 1mile/h reduction in average speed is between 2-7%"

Thames Water have announced a nearly 7% rise in prices in West Berkshire and both the people and press are complaining over the hike. I do wonder if these are the same people that spoke up against privatisation of our nation's assets? It's yet another reality check - private profit driven companies are out there to make money. Thames Water are looking to make money out of you. There are not operating for the betterment of society, to reduce prices, nor are they looking to invest heavily in their obligations without taking your money first. It's all about profit - and you are providing it.

The new road layout at the Parkway in Newbury has caught out many drivers. David Betts spoke to the Newbury Weekly news saying "some people just drive about with their eyes shut". He admitted that some people had been fined multiple times. Not really fair looking at this as a cash cow, it's greedy and arrogant. We should give the cash back and perhaps issue a 'smug tax' on councillors gloating like this to make up the difference. At the very least David Betts should issue an apology and consider moving to a more suitable role.

I call on West Berks to do the right thing: Give the cash back, issue warnings (always best to educate people before punishing them) and never look on fines as income - they are a penalty and not a tax.

Fines like this should be put into a community fund and distributed in a way that helps to fix the causes of the fines and protect our communities.

Adrian Hollister
West Berkshire Green Party

Dear Sir George,

I write in reference to the recent timing out of the Daylight Saving Bill. It seems a disappointing state of affairs when a significant minority can destroy democracy in action. 140 MPs turned up to vote in favour of the Daylight Saving Bill and only 16 voted against, but those against talked for so long that the bill ran out of it's allocated time. To use administrative process to block the bills progress seems petty and anti-democratic.

Clearly there is a substantial process and administrative problem with the way bills are handled in parliament; something I do hope that you are working to resolve. But, given the cross party support, support from a large number of organisation and support from the general public, I do hope that you can urgently find additional government time to look at the Daylight Savings Bill (there are strong precedents for giving Private Members Bills more government time when needed).

Yours sincerely,

Adrian Hollister

cc Richard Benyon MP


This message was sent in support of 10:10’s Lighter Later campaign and the Daylight Saving Bill. http://www.lighterlater.org

After Beechings massive railway cuts, several of the local downland branch lines have been closed. Newbury to Lambourn and Didcot to Newbury are two of the most well known. I've walked the Newbury to Lambourn route, something that was just amazing, following the original route in many places and touring the wonderful villages of the Downlands and Lambourn Valley. But in what I hope will form a nice series of blogs, I am going to walk the Didcot to Newbury railway in sections that I hope most people could complete and rate them for their dog walk potential.

So I am following An Historical Survey of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway - Layouts and Illustrations and starting at the Didcot end of the route. Partially because it's easy to get too, but also because it's the easiest part of the route to follow (well sign posted). The route is a very easy 5 mile walk from Didcot Parkway station to the original Upton and Blewbury station.

Start: Didcot Parkway Station
Waypoint: Upton and Blewbury Station
End: Didcot Parkway Station
Distance: 5.1 miles
Time taken: 2 hours
Elevation change: Level ground, less than 10m.
Dog walking: 2 miles on lead, 3 miles off lead. Some cattle. Lots of other dogs and people.
Track condition: Tarmac surface along entire route
Accessibility: Mostly flat, smooth ramps available. Cattle gate at Upton end restricts access. Quite a few seats available on the route.
Difficulty: Very easy walk.


Starting at the Train station in Didcot (called Didcot Parkway), it's possible to follow the new link road east past Riches Sidings to a roundabout that marks the first remnants of the original embankment through Didcot. From here there are good sign posts showing routes to Upton. This largely follows the original rail line. Once out of Didcot the embankment climbs above the surrounding countryside and it's possible to see quite a distance.

On the route back, I diverted through Didcot itself and through some of the estates and past schools. You can follow the return journey here .


Reference material:
-Wikipedia
-An Historical Survey of the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway - Layouts and Illustrations

It's only eight days to go to have your say on the Incinerator plans at Chieveley. The Green Party and I are in complete objection to such plans. So I urge all those with an opinion on the subject to get onto the West Berkshire web site and register their opinion now!

You can find the online planning site in West Berkshire here. You will need to register, but you can see other public comments and you will get a letter in the post to confirm your opinion.

There is also a web site http://www.wbagi.org that can give you a little more detail from local residents and some details from Grundon here.

If you've a Landrover Discovery 1, doesn't seem to matter which engine (200TDI, 300TDI, V8) and your headlight keeps falling out, there is a simple repair and a cheap part number to sort it out.

Get yourself some of these... its part number STC3368.



You need three of these for each light, or just check the broken ones and replace them. They are cheap, so I've replaced all three for a nice snug fit. Pull out your headlight and you will see three plastic clips in three corners of the headlight. It's a simple bit of screw driver action to take the old ones out and put the new ones in. Don't over tighten them as they could crack your plastic headlight unit - and you don't want to have to replace that.



When your done, just push it back in place. Remembering that it may be a little tight now. Shame this sort of thing isn't included in my Land Rover Discovery Petrol and Diesel Service and Repair Manual: 1989-1998 (Haynes Service and Repair Manuals).

It's interesting to think that the UK could be subsidising nuclear power unlawfully. This stance raises awareness of the problem of nuclear power - there are a lot of hidden costs. It's not just the building of a plant (with all it's concrete etc), the running, or the decommissioning; its a combination of all three. We will leave a radioactive legacy for generations. Not just a few years, not even in your life time or that of your kids and grandchildren.

For all that time, we will have to actively manage the power stations and radioactive waste:
-We have to keep it secure and protected from terrorism or threats from other states. It's interesting that in London Under Attack: The Report of the Greater London Area War Risk Study, the nuclear power stations and stock piles are targeted because of the devastation they would cause to most of the country.
-We have to keep in cool and contained.
-We have to protect it from our environment. Storms, rain, earthquakes, land slips, etc. Anything can damage our storage systems and nothing is as immune as you think (re: Fukushima).
-We have to protect our environment from it. I'm not too keen on drinking contaminated water or eating foods contaminated by radioactive particles.

All of this costs money - a lot of money - and we have to pay for that and so do our future generations.

If we included these additional costs, would Nuclear power ever be seen as viable?

Another big one today at East Ilsley. Nightmare for us around here. There are essentially three key roads feeding the down lands - the A34, the A338 and the B4494. When the A34 is mashed, traffic diverts to the other two - neither of which are designed for this level of traffic and all of which get bottled up towards Wantage or through the narrow Downland roads.

It seems that because its on the border of Berks and Oxfordshire, no one takes responsibility - or only takes it on 'their side'. I can't find any evidence that west berks and oxfordshire have sat down independently or together to fix the problem or raise the issue with the Highways Agency. Can't help thinking that the Tories in West Berks won't do anything about it because they rely upon voters in the 'bmw' classes who I see regularly breaking speed limits for fun and often causing these very problems.

Not helped I'm sure by two different fire and rescue services, two different ambulance services etc - and now that their budgets are squeezed they are not even prioritising proactive or pre-emptive activities.

The effect on the Downlands is mostly traffic - speeding traffic and the pollution they cause racing through our narrow lanes, disrespecting our local communities with anti-social panic driving as they try to get back on their original route. My year living in West Ilsley was hell - traffic hell. You've no idea if you going to be able to get out of the drive way, to school, works or the shops, and certainly no way of knowing if your kids are safe cycling in the village. This must be a nightmare in East Ilsley. Great Shefford is often hit too with cars racing down the A338 diverting around the A34 accidents.

Personally I think there should be a 50mph zone from the M4 to the Oxfordshire border, and it must be monitored by average speed cameras (the only thing drivers seem to respect). By doing so, I recon 99% of all the accidents on that road will go away, the traffic will flow more timely and the Downlands will be spared the anti-social driving of the panicked drivers searching for a diversion.