Residents have no doubt seen Friday’s Andover Advertiser. I am grateful to the paper for giving me the opportunity to talk about some of the plans your local Liberal Democrats have for improving Andover. I would welcome comments from residents on these or any other Lib Dem proposals for Andover

 I must, however, correct one small error in the reports. When discussing the need for improved community facilities I highlighted the fact that there is no community centre on Roman Way not River Way as reported. I am currently discussing this with a number of local residents and interested parties and would be pleased to hear from anyone interested in getting involved in this project.

River Way, of course has the Phoenix centre and I see no reason why a similar centre couldn’t work on Roman Way if there was sufficient local demand.

I have received the following from Hampshire Trading Standards.

Congratulations Mrs X, you are the guaranteed winner of a cheque for £10,000

Although not scams in the normal sense of the word, these mailings have caused problems for several people.  They are the type of promotions you will find enclosed with  mini catalogues, usually  unsolicited. They come in many formats with each envelope stating that ‘important documents’ are enclosed. This is a ‘Special Priority Letter’, ‘The super cheque you have already won’ and ‘your prompt reply is essential’ clearly written on the front.  All gimmicks to wet your appetite.

The whole purpose of the mailings is to encourage you to place and order with the company,  but all too often the way they are written leads you to believe  you have won thousands of pounds, and in order to get your ‘winnings’ have to place an order.  Most people don’t want the goods at all but feel that they can’t miss the opportunity of winning this ‘guaranteed’ reward

The small print – often called Rules of Game, Terms, etc, will tell you the truth.  You will know them when you find them -  either on the inside of the envelope you throw away, or in a single paragraph of pale grey block capitals on the back of an insignificant slip of paper, or tucked away under a fold of paper well away from the main marketing ‘puff’.    Quite off-putting, but puts the company in a legally safe position. 

Usually the title of the draw will be along the lines of  ‘Winner of a £10,000 cheque” so that every time they use it, they are not telling saying you are a winner, they are quoting the name of the game.   Yes, you will win a cheque, as will everyone else who sends back their form, but it will only be for £1 – £1.50 and can only be used on their products – and you don’t have to place an order, you can enter the draw separately

These sales gimmicks are used very successfully  by many companies, these are often foreign companies often using a British P.O. box

Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) receives hundreds of complaints about this type of advertising, and  are looking into taking action against several companies.

My advice - ignore the offers and report them to Trading Standards.

Cllr Alan Dowden has tabled a motion for the next council meeting opposing fluoridation of the borough ’s water supply. Alan wants the council to make its position absolutely clear before any attempt is made to introduce the chemical into local water supplies.  Hampshire Primary Care Trust is currently planning to add fluoride to the water in Southampton, Eastleigh and Portsmouth and says it has no plans at present to extend the scheme to Test Valley. However Alan believes it essential that Test Valley makes it position clear now. His motion highlights the possible side effects of such an action and concludes “that water supplies at this moment in time should not be fluoridated.”

I have seconded his motion and fully support his stance on unacceptable mass medication based on suspect science. I look forward to the debate and hope all councillors (Lib Dem and Tory) will back this motion. The meeting is on 10 September in Romsey.

In a further development the council’s overview and scrutiny committee decided this week to call the PCT to a future meeting to explain its policy.

The decision on the outline planning application for land at East Anton was issued today (Wednesday 13 August). The development includes 2,500 dwellings, an area for employment purposes, schools, local centres, playing fields, parkland, public open space, sports hall, community centre, community worker, structural landscaping and associated infrastructure.

Financial contributions from the developers towards off site infrastructure provision, including the highways improvements, exceed £13 million and forty percent of the dwellings will be affordable.

This is probably the largest application for development the Borough has ever dealt with. Discussions with local councillors, including me and county councillor Robin Hughes, and the developers/landowners started in the late 1990s and the process has involved officers from both the County and Borough Councils.

This is just the first stage of permission and development. A further reserved matters application will be submitted before the end of this week as the developers, Taylor Wimpey, hope to make a start on site in November this year.

Although the development is now to go ahead despite strong local opposition there is still opportunity to ensure local people have an input in how the development proceeds, what traffic controls are in place and what planning gain there is for exisiting communities.

I am currently working with officers to ensure the promised landscaping between the new development and Woodhouse is planted this year rather than waiting for a further year before any planting takes place.

Both Robin and I will continue to monitor progress and negotiate for the best possible deals for both new and exisiting residients.

Questions have been asked recently concerning Test Valley’s Housing Benefit payments. The matter was discussed at this evening’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee where I am the Economic Portfolio lead member. Debate centred around the report to OSCOM on the economic portfolio review.

Particular points of concern were the level of Housing Benefit overpayment (£773,000), the time taken to process claims (29 days), and a number of cases where large amounts of money had been paid to residents with substantial amounts of cash in the bank. The level of overpayment is worrying but is small compared to the total amount paid out (£17,500,000).

Every effort is being made to reclaim that money. Delays in action are a result of staff shortages. I was assured staffing problems have now been resolved and the problem is being addressed. Staff shortages also meant the time taken in dealing with cases, currently 29 days, is worse than the council’s target of less than 22 days. Again the performance is improving.

Every effort is being made to recover money and take action against fraudsters and money has been recovered in several high profile cases.

I am concerned that where claimants with large amounts of money in the bank defraud the council of thousands of pounds they appear to get away with paying a fine whereas those claimants with no resources face legal action for relatively small over-claims. I have been assured by officers that every case is considered in detail and action taken is the most appropriate and effective in each case.

I and my colleagues will continue to monitor the performance of the revenues service.

It is now just over a year since the borough council elections and Alamein Liberal Democrats have been surveying local residents to see whether they are satisfied with the pepformance of their local council.

The surveys have been distributed to households in Roman Way, Viking Way and Lilywhite Crescent and dozens of replies have already been received.

Residents have raised concerns about antisocial behaviour, poor maintenance of roads and footpaths, traffic problems and bus services. Thank you to all those who have replied. I will be personally replying to all correspondants over the next few weeks.

Anyone who has still to return their survey please do so. All responses will be answered and forwarded to the appropriate departments for action. Further surveys will be delivered to residents in other parts of Alamein ward over the next month.

If you didn’t receive a survey and would like one please email me on len.gates@andover.co.uk and we will deliver one to you.