Blog Posts - Oranjepan Asks

A 66-year-old former helicopter commander who served in Borneo and the Falklands War has been elected as the first Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley Police, describing it as an 'honour' and a 'privilege'. The Public Interface: TVP Ch...

Things have changed a lot in local government in the 70 years since the 1940's when the British Council made this wonderfully evocative information film. Oranjepan asks: can you spot the differences? Are they for the better or the worse?

#rdgnews - Tesco's remarkable recent growth in the local area has lead to suspicion of backroom favours and secret deals are propping up political interests at the expense of local businesses. The decision to award a £27m contract for a new 84...

According to the Openly Local UK Councils Open Data Scorecard, only 3 of Berkshire's six councils have open data - compared to 85 out of 428 across the rest of the country. So far Bracknell Forest, Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and West Be...

#rdgnews - Thames Water have returned with a new application to redevelop the former Bath Rd reservoir site. Changes include another reduction of the number of residential properties from 96 to max. 80 homes and a restriction on the overall height o...

#rdgpol - As part of coordinated efforts to encourage greater engagement with residents Reading Borough Council recently announced a new initiative to create a direct feedback channel to Council officials and councillors under the strident headline:...

#BS - Prime Minister David Cameron's has undertaken a major relaunch of his Big Society scheme following the withdrawl of Liverpool City Council as one of the four pilot areas. Now local commentators have pitched in. Former Reading Mayor, Labour's...

The battle over cuts is getting personal. Police are investigating a 'public order incident' which occurred in Redland ward's Kendrick Road last Saturday afternoon. Former Labour councillor for Battle ward and Unison honcho Tony Jones airily descri...

Not all votes are equal, as the power of your vote varies across the country, constituency by constituency.Datablog examines the relative power of an individual vote in each seat and calculates where turnout could have a stronger effect in Thursday's...

Thames Water's plan to develop the Bath Road Reservoir for housing were rejected last year, but the company has indicated it will make a resubmission as the site remains in Reading's masterplan for redevelopment.Local campaigners have written over 20...

Here is an overview of the general election battlegrounds in Berkshire for the General Election.Thanks to Votegeek for compiling a comprehensive list of candidate contact points (click constituency headlines).BracknellMark Burke (British National Par...

It has been announced that the Bishop of Reading, Rt Rev Stephen Cotterell, will be leaving his post to become the 10th Bishop of Chelmsford.He explained that the feeling is one of 'coming home' for him.Bishop of Oxford, Rt Rev John Pritchard, summe...

The usually tranquil village of Cookham hit the headlines this weekend as a couple were turned away from a guesthouse in the village on account of their sexual orientation.Owner of the Swiss B&B, Suzanne Wilkinson, said she refused to accept Mich...

The latest revised Acolaid statistics have been released - revealing how hard your local councillor works for you.Details here covering the period July 2009 to February 2010.The subject of reporting councillor statistics has been a regular source of...

#rdgpol - Hustings are part of the time-honoured tradition of election campaigning and a mere 50 years after they were first adopted televised leadership debates have been one of the enlivening themes of 2010.That's not to say Charlie Brooker has gon...

Following on from previous posts, the continuing irritation of potholes on our roads remain in the mind across the county and beyond.In Wokingham Cllr Prue Bray managed to report 29 potholes in one week, while Paul Walter reported 8 in West Berkshire...

#rdgnews - The plan to build 750 new homes on Pincents Hill has been rejected at a meeting of West Berkshire council's planning committee at Little Heath School.The Pincent's Hill site from the airThe issue became a highly controversial feature of t...

The proposed Council budgets for Berkshires 6 unitary authorities have all been released, so it is worth bringing the headline facts together to offer a chance to compare and contrast them.Here are the changes to Band D rates by authority (and those...

The annual tax deadline passed recently (31st January) and all eyes were turned to the economy.Derek Smeeton urges everyone to get your accounts up to date now because of the fragile state of the economy.He says this is especially important to avoid...

According to a recent survey undertaken by Reading Borough Council over 150 languages from some of the furthest flung corners of the globe are spoken in local schools.These include many of the world's more exotic languages, as well as those from Brit...

Trending Topics