Councillor's Frustration Over Delayed Road Resurfacing

A councillor has voiced frustration after waiting years for his street to be resurfaced.

Cllr Josh Williams lives on Cumberland Road in Newtown, East Reading - near the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Cumberland Road Masjid and Kaushal Jewellers.

He raised the issue at Reading Borough Council policy committee on Monday, July 13.

Cllr Williams said: "In the lead-up to the local elections in 2020, then lead councillor for transport, Tony Page, announced that there would be ‘Reading’s biggest ever investment in new road surfaces for residential streets’, which included, in phase one, Cumberland Road.

"Six years later, nothing has happened yet to Cumberland Road, and it still needs resurfacing.

"Can the lead councillor for transport explain the delay to residents, and assure them that it will be resurfaced this year?

"Can he also tell us what other roads that were announced for resurfacing have faced such delays, and why?"

John Ennis, the council's lead councillor for transport, said the council has invested over £17 million since 2020 and resurfaced more than 700 residential roads and 200 sections of principal roads.

He said Cumberland Road was originally identified for a micro-asphalt treatment, but a contractor's assessment found it needs full reconstruction - a far costlier job that must be prioritised alongside other schemes. As a result, Cumberland Road hasn't been included in a resurfacing programme yet; it remains under consideration but can't be guaranteed this year and will continue to be inspected and repaired as needed.

Cllr Williams asked for a polite apology to residents. Cllr Ennis declined, praising the council's large-scale resurfacing work and saying it would be inappropriate to apologise when hundreds of roads were completed.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter