Interested parties can share their views during an event held on Tuesday 29 July at Reading’s Town Hall, or alternatively submit them via the council’s website.  Ultimately, a new Cultural Strategy will be produced.

So, how can we make Reading a truly cultural city?

First of all, Reading is not a city.  It’s a town. 

Secondly, what is meant by ”cultural” and “truly cultural”?  Culture is a word that’s not easily definable.  It includes music and cinema, art and literature.   We also have “consumer culture” and “binge-drinking culture” (both highly evident in the town). 

There are also more obscure manifestations of culture, such as flash-mobbing and spraying on public walls (both rightly or wrongly).  As such, any expression or product of human work and thought could be seen as culture.

Following on from this, what does “truly cultural” actually mean?  What is it that we want to achieve?  How will we know when we get there (how can we measure this)?

It could be argued that with local “treasures” such as the world-famous Reading Festival, Reading Water Fest, Reading Fringe Festival, Reading Museum, Rising Sun Arts Centre, South Street Arts Centre, Hexagon and Progress Theatre, Reading is culturally rich already.   The town’s ”art scene” is commended in backpacker bibles The Lonely Planet and Rough Guide, with particular mention of Reading Festival and (curiously) WOMAD (indeed, very little else is said about the town).

Would truly cultural mean more events?  A greater diversity of cultural expressions?    

Keeping it simple, I believe that more could always be done to encourage the development of ”culture” in the town, with a particular emphasis on keeping it local (local themes, local artists etc.).

Here are some ideas:  

Put on another annual festival (or two).   Choose from the following:

• Music, arts and dance.  Yes, a WOMAD replacement.  WOMAD was a terrific event that Reading formerly hosted, now staged in Wiltshire.  Please let’s have an equally strong festival to take its place.  Evening Post readers appear to agree, with 59% of website poll respondents voting that they would go to WOMAD this year - but only if it was in Reading.
• Film. An annual film festival showing independent productions (especially locally made) and offering prizes would be brilliant.
• Digital.  Brighton has one (with workshops, discussions and networking opportunities) - let’s have one for Reading, too.  I can see it being very successful, as Reading is home to exciting technology startups as well as established players such as Microsoft and Oracle Corporation. 
• Food. Gastronomy has really taken off in Britain in recent years as a passion.  We have gastropubs, celebrity chefs and food markets all fuelling the nation’s appetite.  In Reading we have a farmers’ market and organic market (Global Cafe).  Let’s develop these into a food extravaganza showcasing food from the region (such as meat and dairy products, and beer).  We could also promote Reading food overseas (and help destroy the perception that all English food is awful!).
• Fashion.  I don’t know too much about this (as you can probably tell by looking at pics of me on this blog), but I’m aware that it has a huge and growing following, thanks to the likes of Gok Wan, Trinny and Susannah, and erm…
• Literature.  Put the reading back in Reading.
• Urban art.  Banksy is big.  Let’s have a graffiti competition in the town (using walls produced for this purpose) to determine who’s the top tagger.  

Create a cleaner, greener and nicer environment.  By this I mean:

• More pedestrianisation and green spaces.  Reclaim Reading’s streets for the people!  Much has been achieved in this area already, which is very encouraging. I’d expect this would draw more people out of their houses and develop new connections.   It should also attract more street artists.
• Commission pieces of art by local artists.   I’d love to see more features in Reading town centre.  At present, the retail aspect is too strong.

Deploy a town-wide WiMax network.  This, too, should attract more people to our public spaces and announce Reading as a ”digital” town.  It would be great for virtual workers and great also for fostering online creativity.

Organise more creative workshops. Let’s offer the town’s young people the opportunity to try something new, such as experimenting with digital media (blogs, podcasts) or musical instruments. 

Designate an annual Culture Day. One day of the year, to bring attention to the town’s cultural attractions. 

Support the independent retail sector.  A “clone town” (for that is what we have in the form of Broad Street and The Oracle) is not especially inspiring, in my opinion, but there is hope.  The Oxford Road (or at least part of it) is a bit of an indie hub, as demonstrated by the likes of Workhouse Coffee, Art Junction Cafe and Moondog Cafe (is it Moondog?), and that can only be a good thing.

As part of their nationwide corporate social responsibility initiative ‘Community Matters’, Waitrose will award £12k in funding to community projects in the town (a grand a month).

The initiative launched on Monday, with the first 3 causes to share the £1k monthly donation being:

• Labrador Retriever Rescue Southern England
• Reading & District Hospitals Charity, Dingley Children’s Ward
• Reading Alzheimer’s Society

Shoppers will decide how much of the £1k each cause will be getting by dropping a green token into one of three labelled boxes when they leave the store (the more votes received, the greater the share received).

The store sells furniture, homewares and collectables from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.  I personally like the look of their gadgets (the “De-luxe Fan” looks particularly cheerful). 

I’ve not actually visited the shop yet, but hope to do so when I have a free Saturday (I think I’ll combine it with Workhouse Coffee).  And find out more from a good old fashioned chat with owner Al Baynham, of course.

1. Avoid the Monday morning queue(s).  These can be very long indeed at Reading Station.  Buy your ticket the day before.  Or get a season ticket.
2. Location, location, location.  You need to be in the right place, at the right time, on the station platform, in order to board the train first and win that seat.  Don’t stick with the herd.  Keep your eye on the incoming train. Move slickly this way and that.  Timing is everything.  And practise.
3. When boarding the train, grab the first vacant seat that you see.  There may not be another one.
4. There may be vacant seats marked as reserved.  Check the reservation labels.  Take one of the seats anyway.  You will probably be ok.
5. MP3 players are very handy.  On occasion, you may have to sit next to an irritating loudmouth talking on their mobile for the entire journey.  Laptop users can be similarly irritating. 
6. At Paddington, loiter around the barrier and keep an eye on the departures display.  You will have less distance to cover once the platform number is announced.
7. Invest in a comfortable pair of shoes and improve your level of fitness.  At Paddington, walking briskly, or even running, helps if you want a seat.  Wheely cases are de rigeur these days, but they also slow you down. 
8. Common sense helps.  If the Paddington platform number for the next Reading-bound train is unnannounced but there is one train waiting, at Platform 1 for example, it’s probably going to be that one.  Stay close to the platform.
9. When boarding the evening train at Paddington, walk through First Class and help yourself to a crisp copy of the Evening Standard.  Because you’re worth it.
10. And finally, act selfishly.  It’s a terrible thing to write.  However, it’s something, regrettably, that you absolutely must do as a train passenger these days.  Make sure that you get on that train.  Make sure that you get that seat.  And then blame the system.

<fitness centre> want you back as a member, rejoin before the <date> & receive a ONE month contract & NO joining fee!

then

Re-join <fitness centre> by 8pm today & recieve [sic] NO joining fee, NO set up fee + a one month contract.  T&C’s apply Call NOW!

Er, no.

It was brave of Andrew Haines, Chief Operating Officer at First Great Western, to agree to face questions from Councillors and the public.  I thought he did rather well, even coming across as quite likeable. 

Having said that, there were dollops of unnecessary management speak here and there - especially in the PowerPoint presentation given at the beginning.  The words “A burning platform for change” were highlighted in an early slide, for example, along with a “vision” consisting of the following fairly generic objectives:

• A genuine passion for improvement
• Putting customers first [a chap in front of me shook his head as these words were read out]
• Real engagement
• Part of the solution, not part of the problem

In the same presentation, Andrew revealed that there are “some signs of improvement”, with FGW now off the bottom in the table of worst operators (instead ranked 16th), explained that FGW was investing in customer information systems and unveiled a timeline of important milestones such as the “long overdue” Reading Station project (scheduled for completion in 2015).  Even the Olympics were included (2012).  

The question and answer session followed.  Here are some of the highlights (and please step in if I made a mistake here):

• There were questions put to the panel about value for money.  It was explained to the audience that the cost per track mile (38p, according to a member of the audience) was relatively higher because the charge imposed by Network Rail to use the line to Paddington (the so-called Track Access Charge) was higher (and beyond FGW’s control, as are other infrastructural issues)
• Andrew was asked about his earnings and bonuses by a season ticket holder paying more than 3.5k per year on rail travel.  He declined to reveal these (somewhat fairly, I thought)
• An audience member asked Andrew, somewhat bluntly, “who should we take our immediate anger on?” Andrew suggested picking up the phone.  He proceeded to give out his email address, as requested (again bluntly) - but not his phone number
• A salesperson audience member, who travels all over the UK, raised the issue of passengers standing in the middle of the carriage, adding that customers are not treated with respect.  She added that some of her journeys into Paddington take an hour in the morning. Andrew responded by saying that he couldn’t fix capacity alone and that a hard look will be taken at engagement and reliability
• A question was asked about the toilets on board FGW trains
• Andrew agreed to return in 6 months time for a similar meeting, if invited

I left the meeting feeling grateful that it had taken place (definitely a step in the right direction) but at the same time doubtful that we will see tangible improvements any time soon.  For this is what we (customers) want, I believe. 

The situation is indeed complicated, as someone concluded at the end of the meeting, but I believe that some progress can be made by making quick, visible improvements such as drivers/train managers providing regular updates/alerts to passengers, fixing tannoys, even doing more in the area of online communications (a Twitter feed, for example, would be useful, in my opinion).  Low-hanging fruit is the management speak, I think, for it.

I should add that I was delighted to meet Councillor Daisy Benson and Mr muckspReading (both asked pertinent questions in the meeting).

The Special Scrutiny Meeting on First Great Western Performance will take place at 7pm at the Old Town Hall’s Victoria Hall.

You can submit your question in writing via the Council website, or simply contact Cllr Ricky Duveen.

• Video chat
• SMS messages to members
• Advanced search facilities
• Weekly events
• A Polish language option

Good luck to Faarhad and team (and to all those looking for a relationship, of course)

I agree that comfort can be an issue. This morning, for example, I stood inches from other standing passengers as my Reading to Paddington journey lasted 50 minutes (due to the usual signalling problems). 

Also uncomfortable is news that Network Rail bosses are to be awarded enormous bonuses (totally unacceptable, given what we have to put up with) and that weekend engineering works are expected to continue for several more years. 

All in all, still not looking good if you are a customer.