Test Valley Borough Council has released the results of the recent public consultation on a town council for Andover. And the result was an emphatic yes for change.

Response was however disappointingly low with only 15.7% of the electorate returning their questionnaires. This is of course a worrying factor but we must acknowledge that those who did return their forms were very much in favour of a town council. This together with the petition of over 5,000 signatures for a town council shows the status quo is not an option. Low turnout and public disinterest was also very apparent during the recent county council elections. It is up to the borough council to re-engage with the public and make local politics relevant to them again. This is what this consultation process is about. I look forward to hearing council officers proposals for the next stage of this process.

The results of the survey, the biggest ever test of local opinion on this matter, showed that 2,721 people (61.2 per cent) are in favour of a town council with 1,723 people (38.8 per cent) opposed. There were 54 rejected ballot papers.

Figures showed even stronger support for a town council in Alamein and St Mary’s wards where voters were more than 2 to 1 in favour of the proposals. All alternatives including multiple parishes and an enhanced role for the Andover Forum were emphatically rejected.

Results were as follows

Do you support the setting up of a town council for Andover?

Yes: 2721 (Alamein – 337, Harroway – 571, Millway – 591, St. Mary’s – 593 and Winton – 629)

No: 1723 (Alamein – 166, Harroway – 358, Millway – 469, St. Mary’s – 234 and Winton – 496).

The second meeting of the Older People’s Forum took place yesterday in the Guildhall. Membership is open to anyone over the age of 50 in Andover or the surrounding parishes and it follows the pattern of similar successful forums in Romsey and Eastleigh.

The forum is intended to give residents an opportunity to give their views on local issues and also be consulted on matters affecting them. Among items on the agenda was a presentation on mental health services in Andover which lead to an in depth debate on the future of the Alan Gardiner unit at Andover hospital.

The next meeting is on 29th September. I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants a say in the future of Andover and the services provided for the town.

Yesterday’s meeting was a fairly short one. It was too hot in the Guildhall to stay for too long. I wonder how much hotter it will be when we have a pizza restaurant downstairs.

Among items on the agenda were the regular updates of the council’s finances.

The treasury management report showed how well council officers had managed the portfolio getting a 5.6% return on investments. However this is unlikely for the future where returns are liekly to be only about 1% leading to inevitable pressure on future budgets and council services. The capital expenditire report showed worrying slippages in projects meaning important projects such as refurbishments on Walworth Indusatrial Estate and improvements to the lifts and toilets in the Chantry centre are behind schedule. I was told that this work will be completed in the summer and I will monitor progress to ensure it is.

I joined Cllr Rod Bailey in questioning why the council had suddenly found a £1 million surplus. This was due to underspends and additional government funding which surely should have been known about before the very severe cuts implemented early this year. I was unable to get assurances that this money would be used to protect or improve essential services rather than just be squirreled away in the council’s savings accounts.

In May TVBC’s Cabinet agreed a recommendation start an important project to rejuvenate the Walworth Business Park. Having reviewed all the options, they gave the go-ahead to appoint a private sector investment partner to kick-start the process of making long-term improvements to the Business Park. A number of short-term improvements have already been made to the communal and public areas including the installation of new signs, verge cutting and the completion of the first phase of landscaping.

Andover Liberal Democrats welcome the news that at last some action will be taken to improve the Walworth Industrial Estate. I and St Mary’s ward councillor Rod Bailey attended the cabinet meeting when the options were discussed. Cllr Bailey was a member of the panel which investigated options for improving the estate and addressed the cabinet on the issue. We both support the proposals agreed by the cabinet.

I am pleased we can now move forward with some action to improve this estate which is vital for the economic future of Andover. The improvements so far have been mainly cosmetic and incomplete. At lot more must be done to make the area attractive to potential users. It is essential for the local economy we start the real work of bring this estate into the 21^st century and attracting new businesses to the town.

The annual general meeting of Alamein Community Association takes place at King Arthur’s Hall, King Arthur’s Way at 6:30 on Tuesday 30 June.

The community association was set up to represent  residents across Alamein ward and has been very succesful over the past year. Come along to find out what they’ve done and how you can get involved.

The evening will include a showing of “Inside Out” the film made by, and featuring local residents. Refreshments will also be supplied.

See you all there - Your community association needs you.

Today I visited Andover Guildhall to see the return of PHAB.

As one of the long term users of the Lower Guildhall PHAB they were very much a part of the town centre scene and it’s good to see them back in the Guildhall in the High Street. Their forced removal to the Rendezvous proved to be a disaster with next to no-one attending their coffee mornings and complaints about the alternative facility especially about the poor quality of the toilets.

Attendance in the Upper Guildhall today was similar to previously attained in the Lower Guildhall and many locals welcomed them back.  I wish them well for the future and hope those councillors who foolishly voted to relocate charities from the Guildhall to an unsuitable side street shop will now admit their mistake.

PHAB will be in the Upper Guildhall on Thursday’s for the next month at least. A lift is available for those unable to climb the stairs.

Local MPs Sandra Gidley, Chris Huhne and Parliamentary Candidates Dave Callaghan and Dave Goodall have joined local campaigners fighting plans to add fluoride to Hampshire’s tap water, and delivered their views to the Prime Minister last week. Members of Hampshire Against Fluoridation took a petition containing 15,300 names calling for the controversial scheme to be scrapped to Downing Street.

Commenting, Lib Dem Shadow Public Health Minister, Sandra Gidley MP said: “The health authority were very selective with the evidence they took account of, ignoring much good evidence which proves that fluoride is good for teeth but doesn’t have to be put into the water. They also seemed to have ignored the fact that even the British Dental Association advise against giving fluoridated water to babies. The cost of fluoridation would also be huge. It would be far cheaper and more effective to provide toothpaste and brushes to those who can’t afford it rather than introducing a mass medication programme.”

Eastleigh MP Chris Huhne added: “The whole idea of a public consultation is that the public’s views are taken into account. Unfortunately the consultation undertaken by South Central SHA was nothing other than a PR exercise, as they chose to ride roughshod over the overwhelming opinion of the public. I hope that the Prime Minister will realise just how angry people in Hampshire are about these plans, and put a stop to them before a bad taste is left in the mouths of local people.”

I am pleased to report that work on the upgrade of Smannell Road is going to schedule and contractors plan to re-open the road on 19 June. The closure has caused great inconvenience to local residents (see previous stories on this website) and I hope the contractors keep to this time table.

The road has been closed to allow contractors to build roundabouts for the new East Anton development in safety. The diversion via Upper Enham and Little London has delayed and inconvenienced drivers and led to damage on the alternative routes. I will be working with Smannell parish council and the highways department to ensure that these roads are made good.

Local residents are questioning why so much work is being carried out along Smannell Road. A number of different contractors are involved laying fibre optic cables, building additional roundabouts and eventually traffic signals at Tescos.

In addition work is being carried out to improve drainage along the road and on the adjacent open space which has been prone to flooding in the past. As a result a number of the existing trees have been removed to facilitate this work. Council officers have worked with the contractor to avoid loss of as many trees as possible and have recorded the number, size and species of all trees removed. Several of the trees removed have been damaged in the past by vandals/mower damage, this would have reduce their lifespan.

Once the drainage work is completed a comprehensive re-planting scheme will be organised at this site to replace those trees removed. If you have any queries about the works please contact me.

I have had a number of complaints from residents about East Anton construction traffic using Icknield Way north to Newbury Road.

The council’s planning legal agreement (section 106) is quite clear that all construction traffic must access the site via Smannell Road not Icknield Way nor Viking Way.

I have reported a number of lorries who have ignored this agreement to both the highways department and the site manager. Any lorry driver ignoring the agreed route will be ordered off site and not allowed to return.

If you see construction traffic using the wrong route please note their registration number and let me know via the Report a Problem link on this page. I will then take it up with the relevant authorities.