CityFibre set to face questioning over town’s traffic disruption
DIRECTORS from CityFibre will appear before members of Reading Borough Council this week to face questions about the company’s installation works.
After a number of complaints were lodged about the disruption caused by di works across Reading earlier this year, RBC held a series of meetings with the company.
Councillors raised concerns about poor working practises and the heavy impact on traffic around Reading which resulted, and in April asked representatives of CityFibre to prepare a presentation of its future plans.
The hearing will now take place on Thursday, with Roy Griffin, regional delivery director for CityFibre, and Stacey King, its regional partnership director, appearing before the Strategic Environment Planning and Transport committee.
The committee will also hear from GrainConnect’s Peter Murphy about the similar work planned by the new telecoms utility company.
Cllr Tony Page said: “Residents in Reading will understand that this is a significant investment by City
Fibre in superfast broadband in the town.
“Nevertheless, there have been phases of this project where roads have essentially been gridlocked, with an unacceptable knock-on effect on people’s lives and livelihoods.
“That was particularly the case both along the Oxford Road last year and more recently in Caversham when City Fibre’s works along Church Street saw huge tailbacks build up over our two bridges and along St Peter’s Hill.
Cllr Page said that this was in spite of assurances made to the council by City Fibre and its contractor, Instalcom.
Currently, the council has no powers to prevent CityFibre from carrying out its work, as the provider is legally contracted and has legislative powers to carry out the works.
However in April, members of the SEPT committee announced that it had considered “removing permissions” given to the contractors who were performing the works, Instalcom.
Cllr Page said: “City Fibre’s roll-out will continue across Reading for some months yet before completion, including at other traffic sensitive locations.
“I am certain that, like me, other councillors will want to seek assurances from the company and its contractor at Thursday’s Committee meeting that everything possible will be done to minimise disruption in the weeks and months ahead.
“We will also want to understand what improvements are being made to ensure this level of disruption is not repeated in Reading.”
The Leader of RBC’s Conservative Group, Cllr Clarence Mitchell said: “It’s absolutely right that City Fibre and Grain Connect executives are questioned publicly and made to justify their plans before Councillors this week.
“While we all accept the need for substantial work to be carried out to improve Reading’s connectivity, the sheer level of traffic disruption that was seen recently, particularly around Caversham, was entirely unacceptable.
“Much more detailed logistical planning, not least around more appropriate times of day for the work to be completed and the associated traffic phasing, needs to be done if such disruption is to be minimised in future.
“Councillors of all parties will be making their views crystal clear to the tech companies.”
And Cllr James Moore, the Liberal Democrat sitting on the committee, said: “Although improvements to super-fast broadband are welcome, especially in the age of working from home and hybrid working, residents have been adversely affected by traffic disruption caused by these works.
“I’m especially concerned about how this is likely to happen all over again when other competitor companies come along and dig up the roads again to do similar work.
“We’ll be pushing for disruption to be minimised, and having the chance to question the companies directly at the Strategic Environment, Planning and Transport Committee is welcome.”
Speaking on City Fibre’s behalf, Stacey King said:
“CityFibre is investing £58m into Reading to transform its digital infrastructure and bring next generation full fibre connectivity to almost every home and business in the city.
“This is a major undertaking, which is why we are working closely with our build partner, local authorities and the council’s highways team to ensure all works are delivered as effectively and efficiently as possible.
“We’d like to reassure residents that we are doing everything possible to manage disruption.
“In Reading, we recently carried out works during offpeak hours with a diversion route in place to minimise traffic.
“And we do everything we can to inform the community well ahead of work starting.
“We’d like to thank residents and commuters for their patience during any recent delays they may have encountered.
“We are extremely grateful for the support we’ve received from the wider community to date while we deliver this major investment programme.”
The works are being undertaken by Instalcom, City Fibre’s highways contractor.
Additional reporting: Phil Creighton and James Aldridge, Local democracy reporter.