Len Gates

Liberal Democrat Councillor for Alamein Ward

Archive for February, 2008

Trebles all round at County Hall and Beech Hurst

February 29th, 2008 by lengates

If rising electricity, gas and oil prices to heat our homes, increased rail and petrol prices, higher interest rates Tory led Test Valley and Hampshire County Councils are going to inflict more pain on the residents of the Parish for the same level of shoddy service.

Conservative Councillors have agreed a whopping Council Tax increase of nearly 4.5%. That’s more than twice the rate of inflation, adding nearly £50 to every Council Tax bill in our Parish, but what for more of the same poor service? As if a £50 Council Tax increase was not enough County Councillors added insult to injury by attending a lavish drinks reception for top Tory councillors and their friends just three hours before they voted for a record high Council Tax. The drinks party cost several thousand pounds…paid by YOU, the Council Taxpayer! Add in the £141000 Hampshire County Council spent on bottle water last year as highlighted by the BBC its “trebles all round” at County Hall.

Report from Smannell Lib Dems

No funding for rat control

February 28th, 2008 by lengates
Test Valley borough council has withdrawn its free rat clearance service on the ground that there are too many rats. Due to the unusually warm winter there has been a dramatic increase in the number of rodents to the level where the council’s three Pest Control Officers can no longer respond to all public requests for rat clearance. “But if the rat numbers are going up then the Council should resource and fund the pest Control service adequately” said Romsey councillor Mark Cooper. “I was given firm assurances by the Leader of TVBC that rat clearance would continue to be a free service for all Test Valley residents“, yet the very next day The Head of Environment and Health announced to councillors a reduction in the rat clearance service for a period of three months, telling them that people who called in would be advised to refer to Yellow Pages, for details of private pest control companies” he said. TVBC will continue to treat for rodents where the householder has a disability, has pre-school children or is over 60 and in receipt of benefit. The Council will also answer a call out where the source of the rats is open land such as a railway or river. 

The borough council voted on Wednesday not to allocate more resources to rat clearance…the vote was on party lines. However, Conservative Portfolio holder Peter Boulton did concede that “he wanted to deal with the rat problem.” The issue will be discussed at the council’s next Executive meeting.

New Safety Railings for Cricketers Way

February 18th, 2008 by lengates

At the underpass

Hampshire Highways have recently installed safety railings in the underpass under the railway line between Cricketers Way and River Way. The north (Cricketers Way) side of the underpass has a steep slope and right angle bend meaning pedestrians cannot see bicycles approaching them. The new railings were installed on the Cricketers Way side at my request after local residents raised concerns about safety in the tunnel. I am pleased to report that Hampshire Highways dealt with this problem quickly and efficiently making the underpass safer particularly for the elderly and those with young children. The drains in the underpass have also been unblocked and grafitti removed from the tunnel walls.

Smannell Lib Dems launch Weblog

February 11th, 2008 by lengates

Liberal Democrats in the parish of Smannell have launched their own web blog to record and debate matters of local interest. Smannell is a Parish in Hampshire, North of Andover and encompasses the communities of Little London, Smannell, Woodhouse and Finkley. This site updates residents of the work of the Liberal Democrat Focus Team which includes Councillors Robin Hughes, Len Gates and Nigel Gooding. Residents, businesses are welcome to pose questions, and raise issues online which councillors can act or comment upon. The address of the blog is http://smannelllibdems.blogspot.com.