A ‘dangerous’ concrete block placed on a cycle and pedestrian path to deter traveller encampments could be moved after concerns were raised by a cycle campaigner.
Reading Borough Council (RBC) installed the concrete block in November on Cow Lane to prevent vehicles illegally using the path after a traveller encampment got through to take over council land at Thames Promenade/Cow Lane last year.
But Reading resident and cycle campaigner Adrian Lawson has raised concerns about the concrete block.
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He said: “Back in November RBC placed a ton concrete block in the middle of Cow lane.
“One evening I almost rode my bike into it as it was dark and my light was pointing towards the ground just in front of me. I saw it at the last minute and avoided it.
“I reported this to RBC. Ordinarily they would put hazard signs or tape on concrete blocks left where people might injure themselves. But they have done nothing.
“I have made formal complaints and written to councillors but tonight I cycled up there and found the block still there and still as inconspicuous as before.
“I simply can’t imagine a highways authority placing a concrete block in the middle of a road and leaving it like it, let alone for so long, and let alone after having been told many times of the danger.
“The photo below was taken a while back in broad daylight. It is very hard to see at night and now the path is considerably more overgrown than it was then.”
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Mr Lawson, previously chairman of the Reading Cycle Campaign, is the director of Reading Bicycle Kitchen, a volunteer run, not-for-profit organisation founded to encourage cycling by making low cost bicycle maintenance available to all.
The council said it is aware of a request for reflectors and has recently placed tape and barriers around it ahead of the reflective signs being fixed on the concrete block.
A RBC spokesman added: “As both the landowner and highways authority, it can be challenging to balance the need to prevent illegal encampments on public land with the need to give pedestrians and cyclists access to it.
“We will review the positioning of this block as we accept it may cause some difficulties, particularly at certain times of the year.”
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