The campaign against addition of fluoride to Hampshires water supply continues. On Friday an open letter was delivered to the South Central Strategic Health Authority calling on them to reconsider their decision to flouridate Southampton’s water supply. I was very pleased to add my name to that letter. The decision was made despite overwhelming  local opposition and can no longer be justified given the ever increasing medical evidence against the use of fluoride in what is compulsory mass medication. For full details of the letter follow the link below.

Fluoride letter to SHA 

Would you like to work with young people?

Are you looking to gain experience in working with young people and receive training?

The Alamein Community Association in partnership with Fusion and the Turnaround Project are looking to start a new youth club. However we need volunteer youth workers; we can offer you a training package and a high level of support. If you are interested and want to find out more; please come along and see what a normal youth club night is like.

Come along to an open meeting at

King Arthurs Hall tonight from 7:00 - 9:00pm.

For more info contact Chris on 01264 335237 or email cmdavies76@yahoo.co.uk .

Yesterday’s TVBC cabinet meeting discussed proposals for the future of the lower Guildhall based on a report of a meeting of Andover councillors. The councillor code of conduct prohibits me from revealing details of that meeting or all the details of the report presented to cabinet. The cabinet approved plans to let the lower Guildhall to Zippers restaurant.

 My views on this are summed up in the following statement which I made to the cabinet before the meeting.

“You have before you a report which suggests broad support for the leader’s proposals to transfer the lease of the lower Guildhall to an alternative restaurant chain.

What it does not convey is the deep reservations held by members of the panel and the wider council about the original decision to let the lower Guildhall. The leadership of this council decided long ago that they wanted a pizza parlour in the Guildhall and nothing but a pizza parlour would do.

Three years ago the full council wrongly endorsed that decision. It was however a legitimate and democratic decsion. The result was a divided community, and a council leadership seen as arrogant, incompetent and out of touch with the people. They ripped the heart out of the town and left the patient on the operating table for nearly three years. The Guildhall has fallen further into decay; the community that used it has been weakened, and the tax payers have been left with a loss of over £200,000. And all this time we were told by members of the cabinet that a deal with Prezzo was imminent. We now know that wasn’t true. The leadership was in a hole and they kept digging. They are now so in deep they can’t get out. They promised Andover a top of the range high quality restaurant they couldn’t deliver and now we are offered a mid-range facsimile with a bonus of fish and chips as well as pizza.This was the situation the panel was faced with last Thursday.

The panel considered all the options and were fully advised by our officers. Before and since the panel meeting I have discussed with fellow councillors and council officers the various alternatives, I have sounded out community groups and local businesses about their views on the future of the Guildhall. I have taken independent advice. This is not the best option, but it is the only remaining option and it is too late now to change course.

Today’s decision will have nothing to do with what’s best for Andover. Today’s decision is about pulling the leadership of this council out of a crisis of its own creation. I did not and I will not support this decision but I will not oppose it because it is no longer in the public interest to do so.”

This is the sad reality of the quality of the current administration at Beech Hurst.

I note that in this week’s Andover Advertiser the debate on Twinings job losses continues with comments from Sir George Young, Cllr Peter Giddings and Stanley Oram UKIP parliamentary candidate.

 Mr Oram’s comments are welcome as was his attendance at the public meeting on Twinings last week. It is a great pity no-one from the local conservative party found time to attend the same meeting. Sir George at least sent his apologies and argues we should pull together to save jobs. What a pity his conservative colleagues couldn’t do the same and support calls for Twinings to reconsider their proposals. What a pity they can’t bring themselves to talk to the staff under threat or their representatives. Instead they choose to facilitate the Twinings proposals without question.

The economy of Andover and this country needs a strong manufacturing base to export goods. Exporting jobs does nothing for us or for future generations. I dread to think what will happen if the Tories ever get to run the country.

A regular complaint from residents is the lack of parking on local estates and the resultant difficulties this causes especially for disabled drivers. I am pleased to report that on 21 January the borough council implemented a road traffic order introducing a number new parking places for disabled drivers (blue badge holders) around Andover, many of these in Alamein ward.

The new Alamein spaces can be found in Camelot Close (6), Caesar Close (2), Florence Court (4), Galahad Close (5), Hammond Square (1), Hendren Square (1), Launcelot Close (2), Rhodes Square (1) and Turin Court (2).

Ful details of the traffic order and a map showing the exact locations can be seen at Andover library in the Chantry Centre or the council offices at Beech Hurst.

On Wednesday the Co-op issued the following statement regarding the future of their King Arthur’s Way store.

“We have been working hard to attract a new food retailer to occupy the Council’s property to provide an ongoing service for the community.  There has been considerable interest and we look forward to working with the Council to complete the process as quickly as possible.”

I welcome this news and congratulate the Co-op on their efforts to work with the council to protect jobs and services at a time when so many are indifferent to the effects that job losses and shop closures have on local communities.

Test Valley’s conservative councillors have rejected calls to back Twinings workers in their battle to save jobs in Andover. At Thursday’s council meeting they voted unanimously against a Lib Dem motion calling for them and the two local MPs to back the campaigners.

The motion (see previous story, January 7th) called on Test Valley’s MPs to support a parliamentary motion calling on Twinings to reverse their decision on redundancies and maintain full production at Andover

In a sometimes angry debate, successive conservatives claimed it was not their responsibility to intervene and refused to back the workers calls for a review of the proposals. Instead they committed themselves to the company’s proposals and pledged the council to help find alternative work for those employees discarded by Twinings

I am disappointed the conservative group, like their MP, have chosen to ignore these calls for help. It raises doubts about their commitment to protecting jobs and securing real economic growth in Andover.

The full text of my speech in support of the motion is given below.

Twinings are a highly successful business producing tea at their Andover and North Shields sites. Andover also houses the company’s head office. Their main markets are the UK, Western Europe and North America. One of the major selling points is the Englishness of their product as exemplified by the royal warrant displayed on their packs. The company is hugely profitable making in excess of £56 million last year. The company is part of Associated British Foods who, on the day the proposed redundancies were revealed, reported a 4% rise in annual profits as sales jumped 12% to £9.3 billion. The company’s proposals are to close the North Shields site, reduce the Andover workforce by 129 and transfer production to Poland and China.

I give this information to clarify to members this is not a case of a struggling company looking to survive. This is a case of a highly profitable and highly regarded company betraying its workforce. The success of Twinings and its profits were won through the dedication, loyalty and skills of that workforce. The company now proposes to discard at least 129 of them and replace them with low paid overseas workers. To export Andover’s jobs and pocket the difference.

They argue they need to remain competitive. They are highly competitive - thanks to their award winning workforce. They argue they need to be near their markets. What could be closer to the main markets in the UK and Western Europe than the Andover site? - Certainly not one in Poland. Since when has China been nearer to North America than Europe? How can they justify a royal warrant on goods sold in America when they’re produced in China? They say they are committed to a presence in Andover but the plans for Poland show a site big enough to swallow both their existing factories with space to spare. Their employees do not believe this is only 129 redundancies. No mention is made of possible job losses in local suppliers to Twinings and other knock-on effects. I was particularly concerned to hear from residents in Enham, in my own ward, that jobs there, packing tea for Twinings, may also be under threat.

This is not re-organisation. This is yet another example of the piecemeal dismantling of British industry to satisfy short term financial objectives. This is not in the interests of Andover, nor in the long term interests of the company. It betrays the ethos of Thomas Twining and makes a mockery of the company’s heritage.

We have seen over the past year major financial problems in this country. There are those who would blame these on the present government. This unfortunately is not the case. Successive governments have given in to the demands of a bloated and self indulgent financial sector, ever greedy for more profits and bigger profits whatever the social costs. We have seen the result of this and we now need to say enough is enough.

I note that this council has had meetings with Twinings and other agencies to facilitate alternative employment for those workers affected. This is very commendable but in doing so without comment on the company’s plans we are condoning their actions. We have a duty to those employees to comment. We have a duty to promote good quality jobs for local people. We have spent hours debating just that over the past few years. We have here an opportunity to show we can do this, to defend local jobs and encourage expansion to generate more jobs.

I urge all members to put aside party political loyalties as the signatories of the parliamentary motion have done and vote for the proposal before you.

Andover’s Lib Dem councillors are backing calls for Twinings to reconsider its plans to implement redundancies and transfer production to Poland.
In a motion to be submitted to January’s full council meeting we call for the council to back a parliamentary early day motion deploring the decision. The motion states that the proposals will be bad for Twinings and the local economy and calls on the borough’s two MPs to support the parliamentary motion.
Andover LibDems have had a number of meetings with Twinings union members and agree with them that there is a very strong case for the company to retain and expand production at the Andover site. The redundancies are unnecessary and not in the best interests of the town or the company. We urge the company to listen to the union and reconsider its plans.
These meetings were attended by parliamentary candidate Tom McCann who said “The proposals may not just mean redundancies at Twinings but could have a knock on effect with their suppliers and sub-contractors. I was particularly concerned to hear from Enham residents that they are worried that their jobs packing tea for Twinings may also be under threat. The local council and MPs must act to protect local jobs.
The council meeting takes place on 14 January in Romsey. The full text of the motion is as follows

“This council notes the following early day motion tabled in parliament

That this House expresses its concern that Twinings intends to close down its North Shields plant, resulting in the loss of 263 jobs, and to shed 129 jobs from its Andover plant and move the majority of its production to Poland and China; notes that Twinings and its parent company Associated British Foods (ABF) remain hugely profitable, making in excess of £56 million; further notes the adverse impact that this decision will have on the local economies and people of North Shields and Andover; therefore calls on Twinings and ABF to reverse their decision and to maintain their plant in North Shields and full production in Andover; and calls on the Government to intervene as a matter of urgency to prevent such unnecessary loss of jobs in the UK.

This council fully endorses the sentiments expressed in this motion and in particular regards any loss of jobs at the Andover plant as detrimental to the economy of Andover and Test Valley.

This council therefore resolves to write to both our local MPs calling on them to support the early day motion”.

My letter and story on the future use of the Guildhall have attracted two comments.

 The first was from Derek Kotz, partner of Labour ppc Sarah Evans. His comments have already appeared on a number of websites under his or Sarah’s name. I will not therefore publish them again here.

The second from “Ian Hindsight” queries the accuracy of my comments. These are made in my name and are verifiable. Unfortunately this doesn’t apply to some others. I am happy to discuss this further with “Ian Hindsight” if he reveals his identity rather using a pseudonym.

I am pleased to hear Cllr Ian Carr has finally admitted that Prezzo’s delays in moving into the Guildhall are unacceptable. It is, however, a pity he chose to do this through the media rather than at a council meeting so that Andover’s elected representatives could quiz him on it.

Prezzo have had over two years in which to finalise their plans. During this time Test Valley has spent more than £200,000 on alternative arrangements for previous users of the building.

Cllr Carr is quite right to ask Prezzo to sign up or go away. The delays and the subsequent costs to Andover taxpayers can no longer be tolerated. He is wrong, however, to argue that a return to community use is not an option. He is also exceeding his authority by insisting that only another restaurant can be considered. The borough council’s resolution was to let the Guildhall to Prezzo. If Prezzo pull out the council must reconvene its member panel to consider all alternative options. To do otherwise would be irresponsible.

Far more irresponsible are the calls that the Guildhall should now be handed over to STAG or the new Andover parish council. STAG’s plans were one of a number of options previously considered by councillors and they were not acceptable. Sarah Evans has no authority to speak for a yet-to-be elected council or other group on this matter and should not do so.

Council records indicate that the upkeep of the Guildhall could cost tax payers up to £70,000 per year. No parish council or community group can accept that level of expenditure without a proper business plan. I believe such a plan could be formulated if Prezzo pull out. I hope to see one. I don’t see it coming, unfortunately, from either Cllr Carr or Ms Evans.

It is time for Prezzo to sign up or walk away. If they walk away I will be asking for a full explanation for the wasted two years and £200,000. I will also insist on a full review of all options for the Guildhall including a properly costed community use.

I am indebted to Mr Vic Pain for his campaign to deal with fly-tipping behind the shops on Atholl Court. This issue has been reported several times recently in the Andover Advertiser.

This is a problem which Mr Pain and I have been dealing with for some time and every time we think it resolved it re-appears. I appreciate his frustration.We have many times spoken to Test Valley and Testway Housing and litter has been removed only for more to appear.

I can now report that following meetings between Test Valley and Testway, affirmative action is being taken to resolve the matter once and for all. Among plans being proposed are relocation of all bins to a secure area, closer monitoring of bin usage and fly-tipping and the introductrion of additional bins. I understand local residents will be notified of the plans and hope proper consultation will take place with them.

Despite promises to do so leading Tories have failed to find funding for a replacement bandstand for Andover.

Assurances given at successive Andover forums were forgotten as the council’s cabinet voted to allocate cabinet funds to other projects including last minute additions to the budget program for projects in Romsey.

I raised this at Thursday’s full council meeting when I was told that the bid would be reconsidered next year and that no attempt had been made to find private funding to help replace the demolished building.

.

Romsey’s successful bandstand was built with private funding topped up by a contribution from Test Valley. I and and your other Lib Dem councillors will be pushing to ensure the same happens in Andover.

Test Valley Borough Council have finally given in and approved plans which will lead to a town council for Andover

Andover’s Lib Dem councillors have been calling for this since 1988. The change of heart came after two successive yes votes in consultations carried out across the town. I welcome the decision which puts local decision-making back where it belongs - with local people.

I and my Lib Dem colleagues all voted yes for the proposals which were opposed by just two councillors.  We had two clear yes votes and must respect the voters views. Andover has a great future and the new parish (town) council will be an important part of that future helping to build a stronger and more inclusive community.

Elections for the new council will take place in 2010 and councilors will sit for five years rather than four.I have some reservations about a five year term but this seems the only option unless Andover has an expensive second election in 2011.

I am sure the new council will be a success and will work with Test Valley to improve the town. I hope all residents will support the new council including those who up till now have opposed its creation. Its your town and your council. Get involved and make it work. That’s what local democracy is about. Together we can all make Andover a better place for ourselves and for future generations.

If you are interested in becoming a town councillor contact me at len.gates@andover.co.uk.

Regular readers will know I have written many times about the damage and disruption along Smannell Road and to the Smannell Road open space caused by successive building and other contractors. We have seen the road closed, temporary traffic lights, floods and the open space ploughed up to lay cables, pipes and whatever.

At last we are coming to the end of the works and as promised Test Valley Borough Council are starting to landscape the area again. As part of this landscaping new trees will be planted to improve the area.

Many of the young trees planted here have failed and are in a poor state due to damage caused by mowers, strimmers, etc. Also, nine trees were removed when the pipeline and bicycle path was installed. The damaged trees will be replaced by fifteen dawn redwood trees. These will be planted at semi-mature size and will be designed around the existing trees. The damaged trees will be removed in the next few days and the planting will take place some time around mid December.

The dawn redwood is a native to China and was introduced to Britain first in 1948. It is a coniferous tree but is deciduous, meaning it loses its needles in autumn. The tree is fast growing a can attain heights of 30m. It is a tree of outstanding natural beauty and the new trees will blend in very well with native species, which will surround them.

Test Valley Borough Council have confirmed that Green Lane Smannell will be closed from 7 December for three months to allow works to lay improved telephone cabling between Little London and Smannell.

The closure was originally scheduled for 23rd November and caused widespread local anger because of the lack of notice given to residents. I agree with residents that the earlier closure was unacceptable and have concerns about the new proposals. I have spoken to the contractors who assured me it will be a rolling closure and disruption to residents will be kept to a minimum. They hope work will be completed in eight weeks rather than the three months proposed. I have also contacted Test Valley Highways department to confirm that the closure will not apply over Christmas and the road will be open to all traffic between 25th and 28th December inclusively. At other times residents will need to use the diversion via Enham.

Rumours this work is connected to the project to improve broadband provision in Little London are untrue. While the works will undoubtedly improve service to some households contractors are only laying copper cables which will not supply the broadband service called for by local residents. The Smannell Broadband group is still negotiating with Hampshire County Council on a project to bring adequate broadband coverage to the parish. I hope to report further on this in the New Year.

Local Liberal Democrats are calling for a rethink on the proposed job cuts at Twinings. Prospective parliamentary candidate Tom McCann and I met union members and officials on Saturday to discuss the proposals and believe the company should think again.

Tom McCann welcomed the offers of support and retraining for affected workers and urged staff to make full use of them. “But first” he said “the company should explore all other options. Twinings is an important part of Andover’s economy. A successful and expanding Twinings factory is essential for the future of the Walworth industrial park and of Andover. Equally Twinings needs Andover and its work force. The company must sit down with unions and other parties to find ways of protecting and expanding production on this site.”

I agree with him Twinings is a successful company with a reputation for quality. That quality comes not just from their products but from the skill and dedication of their work force. These skills cannot be automatically transferred to new factories abroad. The company’s main markets are the UK and Western Europe. It would be in the company’s best interest to continue to supply these markets from the Andover site.

Tom and I will continue to work with the unions and other agencies to protect jobs and promote investment in Andover.

On Thursday without warning the Co-operative issued the following press release.

The Co-operative Group has announced the closure of its convenience store and Post Office in Athol Court, Andover. The store will close on Saturday, 21 November, while the Post Office will remain open until 16 January, 2010.

The closure of the store will mean the loss of two full time and ten part time jobs, while one full time job will be lost with the closure of the Post Office, however, every effort will be made to relocate staff to other Co-operative stores in the area.

A Co-operative Group spokeswoman said the closure decision was taken with the greatest reluctance and much regret, and was due to the store’s poor trading performance and because the lease was due to expire.

The spokeswoman emphasised that The Co-operative Group is committed to community retailing in the region and this year has invested several million pounds in refitting and converting local stores to offer modern shopping facilities and comprehensive ranges.

I am shocked by the news. At a time when the Co-operative is proclaiming its commitment to local communities and investing in more convenience stores it seems strange that they are planning to close their biggest store in Andover, just a few miles from their proposed depot to service these new stores.

I am pleased to hear they are looking to find alternative employment for their staff but this is not just a matter of jobs. The Atholl Court Co-op and Post Office is a vital community facility. Its loss would leave 2,500 people with no community shop and a long trek to town for a post office. This is unacceptable.

I have raised local concerns with both the Co-op and Test Valley Borough Council officers and hope they will be meeting as soon as possible to discuss the reversal of this decision or at least a postponement until we can make alternative arrangements to keep the shop and post office open.

I have also spoken to many local residents and joined them collecting petition signatures to keep the shop open. I urge everyone to sign this petition and join the campaign to keep this vital local facility.

Figures obtained by Andover’s Lib Dem councillors indicate the decision to close the lower Guildhall and open a new community facility in Union Street has cost Test Valley over £200,000 and could cost even more.

I asked for a breakdown of costs at a recent council Scrutiny committee meeting. I also requested details of usage of both the Rendezvous and Guildhall and comparison of these figures with those previously seen before the closure of the lower Guildhall.

Running costs for the Rendezvous and Guildhall over the past year totalled £85,000 and a further £4,000 has been spent on maintenance of the Guildhall. Income from the two venues over the same period was less than £14,000. The council previously received just under £14,000 a year in rent from the two shops converted into the Rendezvous.

The total cost over the last year to council taxpayers is £89,000. A similar loss is expected next year. To this must be added the capital costs of £114,000 to set up the Rendezvous.

This does indicate the council were premature in closing the lower Guildhall before they had a lease signed by the new tenant. The only good news is that usage of the Rendezvous is increasing but, not by the previous users of the Guildhall. This has led to a substantial loss of income which we are unlikely to replace. We were told the lower Guildhall had to be let out as a restaurant because it was costing too much money to retain it as a community facility. And now we find even more money is being spent on the Rendezvous. In the current financial climate we must consider whether this is acceptable and review the situation again next year.

It has always concerned me how few local residents understand or participate in local government. I got involved because I first attended the Andover Forum and asked questions about what was happening in the town and why. I was then asked by existing councillors if I would consider standing and it all followed on from there. You don’t need to be an expert on politics or local government as you learn it as you go along. What really matters is a commitment to getting involved in and improving your local community.

A new website gives more details about how it all works. Visit the site below or contact me. Andover needs good councillors. You could be one of them.

http://www.beacouncillor.org.uk

A number of residents have commented about cars speeding along King Arthur’s Way particularly the straight stretch outside Knight’s Enham School. There is a 20’s plenty sign to the north of the main school entrance but it is in the wrong place, too close to the school gates and after the school crossing patrol at the northern entrance to the school grounds. It should be be moved further north, opposite the entrance to Meliot Rise, on the bend to remind drivers to slow down before they reach the crossing patrol.

I have raised this with the county schools department and our county councillor who has promised to follow up and get this sign moved to a better position.

Writing in today’s Observer Tory leader David Cameron seeks to highlight his party’s new found commitment to radicalism and devolution of power. I was interested to find out how he feels about implementing this in Andover by backing the campaign for a town council  and so have written to him asking his support for the campaign which has already won the approval of a number of local conservatives and the Tory controlled county council.

The full text of my email is as follows

Dear Mr Cameron

Cllr Len Gates
Andover Alamein ward
Test Valley Borough Council

The pair of wooden Jubilee benches currently installed outside Andover’s Guildhall will shortly be removed for refurbishment following persistent misuse.

Councillor Marion Kerley arranged for the benches to be installed during her year as Mayor of Test Valley in 2000. She says “Sadly the benches are now so badly damaged that they have to be removed. In light of the vandalism over the years and the impending change to the use of the Lower Guildhall, it is now planned to refurbish and relocate them to other parts of the town where they can be fully appreciated and used as they should be.”

I have spoken to Mrs Kerley regarding this and expressed my concern that the seats were to be removed and today emailed the corporate director at Test Valley to re-enforce this point as follows.

“I was disappointed to hear these benches were to be moved from the Guildhall. While I accept they need renovation to take them away permanently from the Guildhall and High Street is to remove a frequently used public facility.

On almost every occasion I’ve been in town I have seen people using them despite the fact they are damaged. Furthermore to remove them prior to giving Prezzo permission to use the Guildhall forecourt implies the decision to allow Prezzo to occupy this area is already made. In fact this point has been made in a letter in today’s Andover Advertiser.

I would prefer to see them remain where they are in front of the Guildhall and facing down the High Street. If they have to be moved can they be relocated either at the sides or further forward of the cobbled area so local residents still have the opportunity to sit there, in the sun, and enjoy the view of the High Street.”

I look forward to the answer.

Little London residents have raised concerns about parking in Ridges View and in particular the poor signs advising that parking is for residents only. I have spoken to Testway Housing about this and they agreed the current signs are very small and often hidden by parked cars. They will be ordering larger replacement signs and will install them as soon as they arrive.

A program of works will start today to on maintenance and repair of footpaths around Anton Lakes. The work will take 4 - 6 weeks and may involve closure of some of the footpaths.

If you have any comments or queries please let me know and I will take them up with council officers.

It is now over a year since public access to and use of the lower Guildhall was ended and the alternative community facility was opened at the Rendezvous. Since then the lower Guildhall has lain empty and the Rendezvous underused and derided by many of the community groups relocated in there.

Previous attempts by me and Cllr Mike McGarry to find out how often the Rendezvous is used and how much this has all cost have been met with the answer that no figures will be available till the end of the financial year.

Test Valley must now have full figures for 2008/2009 so I have tabled the following questions through the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Can officers update me on the following?

• Current usage of the Rendezvous:

How many hours per week is it used compared to usage of the lower Guildhall?
How many hours per week is the upper Guildhall used?
How many previous users of the lower Guildhall now use the Rendezvous?
What proportion of the total usage of both is private hire as opposed to council use?

• Income from the Rendezvous and Guildhall:

What was the revenue from the Rendezvous and Guildhall over the past year? How does this compare to previous income from the Guildhall?
What was the rental income from the two shops which became the Rendezvous?
What was the business rate for the shops and what rates are now paid?

• Set up and running costs:

What were the set up costs for the Rendezvous?
What were the running costs for the Rendezvous and Guildhall over the past year?
How does this compare to previous costs for the Guildhall?
What maintenance if any has been carried out on the Guildhall over the past year and at what cost?

• For the future:

What is the projected income from the upper Guildhall and Rendezvous for the current year?
What are the expected running (admin) and maintenance costs for the two buildings over the next year?

I look forward to full and detailed answers at the next meeting in Romsey on 8th September.

A report to Test Valley Borough Council’s cabinet is recommending reversal of the previous decision to transfer monitoring of Andover’s CCTV network to Lyndhurst.

The original decision met widespread disapproval in Andover and was  heavily criticised in the Andover Advertiser. I would like to thank Dick Bellringer of the Advertiser for raising the matter and advising me and other councillors of the public concerns.

In response to these concerns I asked that the matter be reviewed by the council’s scrutiny committee and asked that the committee consider the following

• A report on the the decision making process with particular reference to consultations with the police, the Chantry centre, Andover Business Against Crime (ABAC) and other stakeholders.

• An assessment of the impact of the decision on the effectiveness of exisiting crime prevention measures with particular reference to the ABAC radio network, reported reduced levels of monitoring of existing cameras, reduced local knowledge of the operators and the failure to extend CCTV to Andover’s car parks.

• A response to public concerns that the decision will have a negative effect on the local economy.

That report was made to the committee and officers agreed to review the decision in the light of public concerns. I also requested that a future report on the topic be in the public domain as the previous  confidential report increased public fears that the decision was ill-considered and unsound.

I am pleased to see that the fresh report to cabinet has answered these concerns and is open to the public. The new proposal is to retain monitoring in Andover means a retention of the existing effective service and closer co-operation with local police and businesses. What a pity the proposals weren’t thought through in March.

Yesterday I attended a transition town meeting in Andover. For those who don’t know about the transition movement it’s aim is to improve the sustainability of communities by decreasing their dependence on oil and reducing their carbon footprint. Full details can be found at

http://www.transitiontowns.org

The Andover campaigners have been working for the last few months and already made great progress particularly the food group who aim to encourage greater use of locally produced and home produced foods.

Yesterday’s meeting was to inform local campaigners that Andover had been picked by the Energy Saving Trust for support as part of their Green Communities program. My congratulations to everyone at Transition Town Andover for this success and best wishes for future projects which I will be supporting whenever possible.

If you want to know more about Transition Town Andover email andovertransition@googlemail.com

Cllr Lynn’s letter in the Andover Advertiser (14 August) shows a regrettable lack of understanding of the arguments for a town council and of the nature of local government. He infers the town council will detract from, and add an extra layer of administration to compete with, him and other existing councillors. A town council is not an alternative to Test Valley and it’s a pity that both sides of the argument have portrayed it as such and introduced hypothetical arguments about what might happen if it were.

The purpose of a town (parish) council is increased participation and representation. It is agreed by all the main political parties that decision making should be as inclusive as possible and made at the lowest level practicable. How strange that some reject this locally while objecting to decisions being made by central or regional government. We live in a society where everyone has a right to a say in what happens in their community. It is not the preserve of a small faction. It is time the electorate of Andover were shown some respect and trusted to make decisions about the future of their town.

Yes the 15 borough councillors represent Andover but are they representative of Andover when 11 of the 15 come from one political group and almost always vote on party lines? In every other part of Test Valley representation is augmented by parish councillors. These, mainly non-political, unpaid volunteers add to democracy not detract from it. Why should Andover be any different? If parish councils are irrelevant and expensive why is there no clamour to abolish them in Charlton, Enham, the Clatfords, etc and incorporate these areas into the unparished area of Andover? Parish councils work by increasing public involvement. I would expect Cllr Lynn and others to be in favour of this.

The strength of parish councils lies in their influence on decision making at all levels and their administration of purely local matters more effectively than the borough council. It makes no sense for a town council to take on responsibilities done cheaper and more efficiently by the borough and vice versa. Claims of massive increases in costs and bureaucracy cannot be substantiated. Any costs incurred by the town council must be matched by savings in the borough’s budget.

The Andover Forum is not an alternative to a town council; Romsey has both and benefits from this. The Andover Forum is no real forum as debate is minimal. It is widely regarded as just a PR vehicle for Test Valley - no wonder increasingly few councillors and fewer residents bother to attend.

Whether the Saturday surgeries are non-political remains debatable. They are primarily MPs surgeries and the majority of councillors attending are from the parished areas outside of town. These surgeries are not relevant to the town council debate or to the need to increase public involvement in the future of Andover.

Cllr Lynn asks what can parish councillors do that he can’t. Perhaps he should be asking that of borough councillors with parish councils. In Alamein ward they increase involvement and add to my effectiveness as a councillor. We work together to represent local communities more efficiently than only borough councillors can.

Ask yourself why public satisfaction and involvement is greater in Romsey and why Andover looses out again and again. What has Cllr Lynn & Co got to fear and why are they raising irrelevant arguments against Andover having the same rights as Romsey? Then decide whether Andover needs a town council and return your consultation papers.

I recently carried out a residents’ survey in the Lillywhite Crescent area in response to calls from a number of local residents. Results highlighted their concerns about traffic, youth nuisance and litter.

Respondents expressed concerns about speeding along Icknield Way, the use of this road by East Anton contractor traffic and the ineffectiveness of new traffic calming measures installed. I have been passed these comments on to the police, Hampshire Highways and the contractors. Contractor traffic is monitored and action taken against drivers using this route. The current traffic calming measures are the first stage of a program which will eventually see the north of Icknield Way closed to through traffic except buses and emergency vehicles. The completion of the scheme depends on building progress at East Anton.

Residents reported they were satisfied with measures taken by the police and wardens to control motor bikes and nuisance along Dark Lane although some problems still exist. The police nuisance vehicle campaign will continue throughout the summer and I am talking to council officers about other measures to make the path safer for walkers and cyclists.

Fly-tipped rubbish and garden waste has been removed from Icknield Way and Dark Lane and the area will be monitored to prevent re-occurrence. Council officers are investigating the possibility of extra dog waste and litter bins here and along the path to Viking Way.

A number of other issues were also raised including damaged signs, improvements to footpaths, 20 mph speed limits and graffiti. I have referred all of these to council officers for further investigation and action.

At Friday’s full council meeting TVBC approved plans for the second stage of the consultation on a town council for Andover.

I had some serious reservations on the proposals, particularly regarding the number of councillors and the suggestion that we should re-ask the previous question because the first round consultation “did not give a clear answer.” There is a widely held view that Test Valley is not listening to the people and not following the agreed consultation process.

Some have questioned the validity of the first round consultation because of low turnout. This, unfortunately, is a fact of life and why we need a town council to re-engage with the public of Andover. Turnout is not a reason for dismissing the proposals if it were we should be considering Andover’s secession from Hampshire on the grounds that 2/3 of Andover didn’t vote in the recent county council elections.

I was also concerned that the number of members proposed for the town council was somewhat arbitrary. I raised this point on Thursday and Cllr Carr was happy to consider alternative proposals. As a result Cllr Rod Bailey and I proposed, and the leader accepted, an amendment to the original plans changing the number of councillors to 19, one for every 1500 voters across Andover.

What I was not prepared to accept was a recommendation which is seen as an attempt to negate results of the first part of the consultation - the proposal to ask residents to choose between a town council and the current system. It was argued that the “no town council” had not been given as a clear option first time round. It was, I believe, clear and understood by respondents that a “no” vote was a vote for no change. In fact many of the replies received actually said so, keep things as they are.

We consulted and there was a clear majority in favour of change. To imply people didn’t understand, or they made the wrong decision and must be asked again is patronising. Because of this, I called for a separate vote on this proposal. I, all of the Liberal Democrats and some other Andover councillors voted against re-asking the same question but the proposal was approved by the majority of councillors.

All of this is academic because I’m sure the people of Andover will vote overwhelmingly in favour of the proposals. We must now move on, accepting the council’s second stage consultation and making sure it is a success. I urge everyone who cares about Andover to read the consultation, listen to the arguments and reply so that there will be no disagreement about the results second time around and we can get the best representation for Andover.

Earlier this week I was fortunate to spend some time with Manuela Wahnon discussing her attitude of gratitude campaign to clean up Andover.

Manuela starts from the simple premises that we should be grateful for what we have and look after it. We live in one of the most beautiful parts of the country and it’s up to us to make sure it stays that way. If we see litter in our town it is our responsibility to pick it up no-one else’s. By doing so we make Andover a better place and we feel better for that. Not rocket science just common sense.

Some people would argue that we should stop everyone dropping litter in the first place and this is what Test Valley Borough Council does try to do. But if litter is there someone has to deal with it. Why not you?

To date Manuela has won support from dozens of local businesses, the borough council and our MP. She also speaks regularly to local schools. I fully support her campaign and urge everyone else to do the same.

To find more about what the campaign has done visit

www.attitudeofgratitude.co.uk

Andover’s Vigo Road bandstand has now been demolished. At this stage it is appropriate that we look at how this came to pass and what lessons we learn from it.

The bandstand hasn’t been used as a bandstand since the 1960s. Most recently it was used as an aviary and many locals fondly remember the budgies in there. They were re-housed two years ago when changes in animal welfare legislation made it impossible to keep them there any more. Their removal in no way affected the integrity of, or future uses for, the building. Neither does the fact that once someone let a cat into the aviary.

Since then the building has been left empty, boarded up and frequently vandalised. The costs of repairing damage have run into thousands of pounds but at no time has anyone from Test Valley thought what should we do with this important local landmark. In May of this year TVBC Leisure department arranged a survey of the building and found it to be beyond repair. They submitted a recommendation to Cllr Mrs Noakes, cabinet member for Leisure that it be removed. Mrs Noakes, together with Cllr Ian Carr, leader of the Council authorised its immediate demolition. It was not unsafe and was in no danger of falling down. This has since been confirmed by council officers and by the fact that it withstood fairly heavy treatment in its demolition.

The decision was discussed informally by cabinet members, but at no time were other councillors informed or consulted. To date neither Cllrs Noakes nor Carr have felt the need to contact any of the three councillors in whose ward the bandstand stood and discuss the matter. The first they knew of the demolition was when they heard from the local press at least a month after the decision was made.

Since then both I and Cllr Bailey have had detailed conversations with council officers about the bandstand. Unfortunately, the bandstand was beyond repair, refurbishment or relocation elsewhere. The only reason for its removal was to get it out of the way in time for the BigFest on August 15^th. This is despite the fact that the plans for the BigFest show all activities taking place at the other end of the park. Any attempt by us to postpone demolition would be referred to the next cabinet meeting in September. In other words it was coming down within the next week whatever local members said or did.

We did manage to agree with officers that we and a representative of the local history society could attend the demolition to ensure as much as possible of the building and its history could be saved. To that end I, Cllr McGarry and David Borrett checked the building before work started and monitored the works. As a result the weathervane and an engraved beam (previously unknown to council officers) were saved. Nothing else could be saved, a sad end to a much loved building.

Talking since to residents it is apparent there is a need and demand for a replacement. I and my colleagues will be pushing for this as soon as possible. We also need to ask why and how it came to this stage that there was no option but demolition. And we need some explanations and apologies from Cllrs Carr and Noakes who have lost touch with Andover, its people and their views.

Andover Liberal Democrat councillors have reacted angrily to council leader Ian Carr’s decision to demolish Vigo Road’s bandstand.

Speaking on Andover Sound Cllr Carr claimed it was within the remit of council officers to demolish the bandstand whenever they wanted. Officers consulted Cllr Carr and other cabinet members but significantly no-one bothered to advise or consult local councillors. When asked whether an Andover town council could have saved the bandstand he retorted the bandstand belongs to Test Valley and so they can do what they like with it.

Discussions have taken place about moving the bandstand and Cllr Carr also admitted he had no resources for a new bandstand and appealed for members of the public to come forward and pay for a replacement. When quizzed on the adverse publicity the decision had received he angrily blamed people for giving false information to the press. He also accused fellow conservative members of forgetting they had been advised of the decision which was made by the council’s cabinet only one of whom is an Andover member. Significantly only Tory councillors were advised of the decision.

St Mary’s councillor Rod Bailey said “The bandstand is an important local landmark and residents are furious that the decision has been made without consultation. The first I knew about it was when the story appeared in the local paper. This is unacceptable.”

Fellow ward councillor Mike McGarry said “I am appalled at the way this whole fiasco has been handled by the Leader and his Cabinet, firstly they make this decision without consulting the local people or the ward councillors, undemocratically giving us no chance to comment, secondly when residents are up in arms they try to rush it through so there is no going back and thirdly Cllr Carr makes promises about a replacement that he knows can’t happen in the current economic climate. How can he justify spending money on knocking it down, let alone building a new one when TVBC are making people redundant? ”.

My own view is that once again Cllr Carr and his colleagues have shown complete disregard for the people of Andover and behaved like feudal landlords in their attitude to the town. As with the Guildhall, the bandstand has been allowed to fall into disrepair and then this disrepair used as an excuse to destroy another part of Andover’s heritage. The latest claim is that the bandstand is so unsafe that it must be demolished immediately. If this is the case, surely it has been unsafe for sometime and has not therefore been maintained adequately. Andover residents deserve some straight answers from Cllr Carr.”

Liberal Democrats on Test Valley Borough Council are currently seeking a review of the decision making process, access to the surveyors reports and assurances that the bandstand will be retained and restored either at its current location or elsewhere in the park.

In a written answer to last night’s Andover Councillors Forum it is finally admitted that the council has lost money as a result of leaving the lower Guildhall empty.

While full figures have not been given, council officers have confirmed that lettings income for the Upper Guildhall and Rendezvous is £5,500 down on income from the Upper and Lower Guildhalls over the previous year. In addition the council has spent £114,000 on set up costs for the Rendezvous. No figure has been given for the running costs (maintenance and staffing) of the two facilities.

This adds up to £119,500 of council taxpayers money spent on closing the lower Guildhall and setting up an alternative facility that no-one wanted and very few people use. Most of the previous users of the lower Guildhall have since found alternatives to the Rendezvous because it is inadequate and in the wrong place. They also dispute council claims that facilities at the Rendezvous are superior to those at the Guildhall.

In addition the council has still to see any rental income from Prezzo as no contracts have been signed. The value of this rental is described as confidential commercial information. However it has previously been claimed to be more than enough to cover running costs of both the Guildhall and the Rendezvous.

I believe the answers given are totally inadequate. The costs and future of the Rendezvous and Guildhall are due to be reviewed by the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee later this year. I will insist on a more detailed response then.

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.

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.

At yesterdays meeting of Test Valley’s Northern Area Planning meeting approval was given for advertising signs on the Guildhall. The application was from Prezzo for signs on the windows and plaques on each door announcing their presence in the building. I am pleased to report that a further application for illuminated lecterns with menus outside the building was withdrawn.

Many residents have objrcted to the signs and I agree with them. The proposal is that every window (24 in all) will have Prezzo emblazoned across it in addition to three further plaques mounted on the walls. This I believe is completely over the top and will spoil the building the centre of our town and an important tourist attraction. There can be no-one in North West Hampshire that doen’t know Prezzo are moving into the Guildhall. We do not need 24 reminders across every available window.

I was disappointed to hear some members of the committee arguing that the approval must be given so as to speed up the conversion of the building into a restaurant and that any one opposing the application was trying to block the changeover. Council officers made it quite clear that the change of use and the alterations to the building were separate matters and that one does not automatically follow the other.

My ammendment, backed by St Mary’s ward councillor Mike McGarry, to restrict signs to the doors only was defeated by eighteen votes to two. A sad day for the Guildhall and for Andover.

I am pleased to report that trees overhanging and blocking the footpath on Smannell Road near the junction of Newbury Road have now been cut back. The trees were so overgrown that residents were forced to step in the road to get past.

 Many residents have spoken to me about this and I requested action. TVBC council contractors immediately cut back the trees including some which were not their responsibility. The path is now once again clear.

 If there are any other similar obstructions on footpaths in the area please let me know.

The final meeting of the current council year was held in Romsey yesterday. Councillors unanimously applauded the excellent job done over the past year by the current mayor Brian Page. He has set a standard which future mayors will struggle to meet. Also present was a previous, and highly regarded, mayor Cllr Rod Bailey, now recovering from his recent illness. We all wish him a speedy recovery, we need councillors of his experience and knowledge.

 Council approved several items relevant to Alamein and Andover.

Proposals to transfer monitoring of Andover CCTV to an office in the New Forest were passed. Given the expected cost savings we had to do so but I am still concerned about who is monitoring what and whom. I intend to raise this matter at the next Overview and Scrutiny Committee so that we can debate in public the principles and effectiveness of these cameras.

Also approved were the Andover town access plan intended to improve public access to facilities in and around the town and the Test Valley Cycle Strategy intended to establish a cycle network around Andover and south the the rest of the borough. Both plans will mean improvements to footpaths, cycle ways and roads around Andover. But some are dependant on future funding or have no funding at present. I intend to ensure the programs are completed as soon as possible. I was especially pleased to see officers have taken note of Smannell parish councillor Nigel Gooding’s call of a cycle route between Enham and Smannell to allow a safe route for chidren to cycle to Smannell School.

I am pleased to report that I gained an important concession on the matter of a lorry park for Andover (see earlier story at http://lengates.mycouncillor.org.uk/2008/12/28/lorry-park-for-andover/). The cabinet proposal that no further action be taken has been modifed to one which says the council will monitor the need for and then facilitate the establishment of a commercial lorry park. In the meantime council officers will patrol and enforce existing lorry parking regulations. 

Finally council also approved the consultation on a town council for Andover (see previous story http://lengates.mycouncillor.org.uk/2009/04/26/consultation-on-andover-town-council/). Consultation documents will be delivered over the next month. I urge everyone to return them with a resounding yes for a town council and the parishing of Andover.

Residents in King Arthur’s Way are being urged to contact the Council if they see anyone fly-tipping in the local area.

The plea comes after Environmental Services Officers carried out an inspection of the area and found a large amount of waste left on streets and in open spaces.

Councillor Peter Boulton, Portfolio Holder for Environment said. “It is a shame that a small number of people are spoiling the local environment for everyone. Illegally dumped waste is not only unsightly but it also poses a health risk. Our Cleansing Team works hard to ensure that areas are monitored and that any litter and fly-tipping is cleaned up but we would encourage residents to get in contact with the Council if they do witness anyone flytipping in their area. It is an offence and anyone caught will face prosecution and can be fined up to £50,000 if convicted.”

If residents do have any large or bulky waste to dispose of then there are a number of options including:

• Taking waste free of charge to a Household Waste Recycling Centre.
• Arranging for the Council to collect the waste as part of the Bulky Waste Collection Service (one item costs £13.00 to collect and multiple items cost £26.00). If you are claiming benefits, you may qualify for a free collection.
• Arranging a collection through a company who are privately registered to carry waste.
• Donating items to charity shops or organisations for example, Testway’s ‘Twice as Nice.’

For information on all of these options please contact the Council’s Customers Services Team on 01264 368000 or visit www.testvalley.gov.uk.

I welcome this initiative. It is re-assuring to know that Environmental Services officers are monitoring flytipping and taking action to prosecute flytippers. However the problem does not just occur on King Arthur’s Way but across Alamein ward and the rest of Andover particularly in public open spaces. I urge residents to report flytipped rubbish and flytippers wherever it occurs. When there are services available to remove rubbish and there is a public waste disposal site in Andover there is no excuse for dumping rubbish on the streets.

Test Valley Liberal Democrats plan to consult local residents on proposals to implement additional recycling facilities across the borough.Test Valley Borough Council currently operates an alterative bin collection system (ABC) where household waste is collected one week and recyclables (paper, card and some plastics) are collected on the next week.

 Unlike some councils, TVBC does not collect glass. The council has considered and rejected a door step collection of glass because of costs but Lib Dem councillors have asked for officers to look again at the possibility of a small scale trial or collections in urban areas only.

Lib Dem councillors also plan to undertake a borough wide survey of residents’ views on additional recycling facilities. Launching the campaign Cupernham councillor Dorothy Baverstock said “It is essential that we boost our recycling rates. Glass recycling has proved popular with the public and we want to expand the facility. Most areas need more collection points or door step collections.”

We aim to make our recycling provision as effective and consumer friendly as possible. This is why we are consulting the public. We plan to customise recycling facilities to meet local needs.  A survey will be distributed to residents over the next few months. In the meantime copies are available from Lib Dem councillors across the borough or by following this link

glass-recycling-north.pdf

Today I attended the opening of Enham Alamein’s new butchers by Test Valley mayor Brian Page. The butchers counter in Enham Village Stores offers a full range of British meat poultry and game much of it sourced from local farmers. I can recommend the hand made sausages which were excellent.

The addition of a butcher’s counter adds to the services offered by a thriving village shop. Congratulations to Leslie and Tim on making a success of the shop and proving that village shops can prosper. And good luck to Gary and Debbie in the butchers which is open 8:30 - 4:00 Tuesday to Saturday.

I am pleased to report that Testway Housing has made important concessions in their plans to reclassify The Oval from sheltered to general purpose housing.

The building needs extensive improvements to bring it up to standard and county officials had declared it unsuitable as sheltered accommodation. Testway wrote to residents explaining the proposed changes and residents called in me as, their councillor, to express their concerns

I contacted Testway requesting a review of the proposals and Testway in conjunction with Test Valley Housing department reviewed the plans. As a result residents will be consulted about refurbishment of their kitchens and heating systems, a local letting policy has been implemented to reflect residents’ concerns and the residents’ lounge will remain open for at least a year and no changes will take place with out consultation with residents.

Following complaints from residents about uninsured and unlicensed motorbikes using Dark Lane between Andover and Enham I contacted police and neighbourhood wardens for action

Patrols were increased in the area and as a result two offenders were issued with warning notices. Police are confident they have solved the problem in the short term and that the offenders will move on to more suitable locations. In the meantime they will continue to monitor the area.

If you see a repeat of motorcycles using the lane or any other footpath please advise the police on 08450 454545 or dial 101 to report the offence. All calls are treated in confidence and all reported offences will be logged and investigated.

Alamein Liberal Democrats have been surveying residents’ opinions on traffic calming in Viking Way. All homes in Edgar, Danegeld, Moot and Olaf Closes were contacted to seek their views on a 20 mph speed limit and additional signage to control traffic in the area.

Residents overwhelming backed Lib Dem calls for speed restrictions in the area. The results of the survey have been reported to Testway Housing and council highway officers for further consideration.

Similar surveys will be carried out in other parts of Alamein over the next few months. If you know of an area where 20 mph limits are needed or you would like one of our free “20 is plenty” stickers for your dustbin please let me know.

Many residents have contacted me regarding the proposed closure of Smannell Road between Icknield Way and Smannell. Concerns have been expressed about increased traffic through Smannell and Little London, traffic using unsuitable local roads as alternatives, possible accidents outside the school, damage to the roads during the diversion and delays for emergency vehicles reaching Smannell.

The road will be closed  for up to three months from 23 March while road works are carried out at East Anton. This involves widening the road and installing new roundabouts.

The decision to do so is made by the developers in consultation with the highway authorities. There is no statutory requirement for local consultation. I, Phil Duke on behalf of the parish council and Robin Hughes as county councillor have all made very strong representations to Hampshire Highways on this but the have advised us there is no alternative to the closure.

In way of mitigation the highways department have said

HCC and the police have agreed the necessary work of widening Smannell Road can only be carried out safely with the road closed
The developer has spoken to local farmers to ensure they maximise the lorry traffic they generate before the closure takes place, so they can minimise it during the closure.
The Contractor is required to provide large notices at each end of the closure a minimum of one week before the closure. Further signs will also be placed en route to discourage drivers from taking “shortcuts” along unsuitable roads.
The route will be surveyed before and after the closure and any damage to roads will be re-instated.
The emergency services and the school will be notified so that they can take appropriate actions.
Smannell and Enham Alamein parish councils will be formally notified but this is for information only.

Finally they emphasise this is a matter for the highways authority alone and there is no alternative route. I and your other councillors will, of course, monitor the closure and diversion closely and take immediate action should any problems occur.

I am indebted to a colleague in Chandlers Ford who notifed me that a senior Andover Tory has written to the Southampton Echo commenting on our Focus newsletters. The letter complains about our “negative campaigning and attacks on local Tories”.

We were both confused as to why the letter was sent to a newspaper not widely available in Andover rather than to the Andover press or better the editor of our Focus.

The  Focus mentions, amongst other things, that a Tory candidate doesn’t live in the area in which she is campaigning.  If they really thinks such a remark constitutes a ‘virulent personal  attack’, what would they say about a Tory leaflet circulated in Chandler’s Ford a couple of years ago which printed a recognisable cartoon of a local Lib Dem councillor wearing a dunce’s cap?  People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. We have stated facts and left residents to draw their own conclusions from these facts.

The letter goes on to complain that the Lib Dems in Andover attack the Tories but never Labour. This is, of course, because there is no longer a local Labour Party in Andover worthy of comment. The Tories run the both borough and county councils. The Andover Labour Party has been silent on every important local issue from the Guildhall closure, to the MDAs, the Andover Airfield development and the council budget deficit.

On present performance the Labour Party has no relevance to Andover and the only alternative to the Conservatives in Andover is the Liberal Democrats. We will continue to run our campaigns on that basis.

Test Valley’’s Liberal Democrat group are proposing amendments to the Borough Council’s 2009-2010 budget designed to reduce costs and soften the impact of the credit crunch on local taxpayers. A number of measures are being considered and these will be tabled at the council’s budget meeting on 23 February. Among the proposals are:-

The deferral of increases in council fees and charges for one year.
A reduction in the number of Council Cabinet members.
Savings in the cost of council meetings in line with savings elsewhere in the council.
A review of the number and cost of Councillors in the Borough.
A review of the cost and need for a Borough Mayor.

Many of the proposals are long term objectives which could result in savings of several hundred thousand pounds per year. The council is currently facing budget deficits of between £1,300,000 and £2,000,000 over the next two to three years.

It is becoming increasingly clear that we face a long and deep recession and the Council must take the necessary steps to prepare for this. For many years we have relied on investment income to balance the books. This will no longer be possible. We need to rebalance our income sources while looking at cost savings across the Council. This must include the costs of Councillors as well.

The Leader of the Liberal Democrats in local government, Cllr Richard Kemp has welcomed the direction of the Tory proposals for local government, but has cited four major concerns. “This is a wholesale repudiation of the Thatcher and Major governments which stripped councils of their power and finance and made them into puppets of central government, but the plans lack substance in four areas

1.    They do nothing to correct the imbalance between central and local funding. Whilst central government supplies up to 80% of the money spent by local government they will continue to call the tune asserting national priorities over local ones. They have similarly chickened out of tackling the way we raise money locally by keeping in place the grossly unfair Council Tax whilst we would propose a fair local income tax

2.    They have learned nothing about local mayors. Some Mayors have been successful. And where people decide that they want a mayor they already have the right to elect one. But of the 12 elected mayoral systems in England two are in deep trouble with Stoke already voting to end their mayoral system. If the same proportion of councils generally were in trouble there would be aid teams outside 38 Town Halls today.

3.    They have learned nothing about regionalism. They are, of course, right to rail against the bureaucracies of unelected regional government. But to suggest that employment, housing, transport and planning matters stop at the boundary of each council is ludicrous. Councils must and do work together and should be empowered themselves to develop sub regional and regional frameworks.

4.    Proposals for elected commissioners for the Police are deeply scary. Most people believe that the head of the Police should be a serving and experienced police officer. Although the green paper does not define what an elected commissioner would do there would be no point in having such a position if that person were unable to radically change policing policy and operational policing activity.

Cllr Kemp added: In these proposals the Tory MPs are clearly not listening to their own councillors who would support many of these points especially the one about police commissioners. In particular they have shown that they know little about urban government with many major urban councils like Liverpool. Sheffield and Newcastle being entirely Tory Free Zones.”

I wonder whether the challenge of decentralisation and passing power back to the people will be taken up by Test Valley Conservatives who, up until now, have vehemently opposed the introduction of a town council for Andover.

Local residents have contacted me regarding the state of Smannell Road play area, left ploughed up and unusable by contractors working for Southern Water. I raised this matter at a council meeting several months ago and was advised that, because of the poor quality of re-instatement work carried out by the contractors, Test Valley Borough Council would carry out the repair and re-instatement work and invoice Southern Water.

Council officers are currently costing the work and other losses incurred and hope to be in a position to resolve this by the end of the month.

I have received an email from campaigners against the fluoridation of Hampshire’s drinking water. The text is as follows

On Thursday 26th February, non-elected members of South Central Strategic Health Authority will meet in Southampton to finally decide whether to go ahead with controversial plans to add fluoride to the water of Southampton, Eastleigh & Totton. This meeting is open to the public. This decision will affect us all.

Join campaigners at 1.00 pm at the main entrance to the football stadium to support the final protest to keep this chemical out of our drinking water. Details as follows

Thursday 26th February at 1:00pm
St. Mary’s Football Stadium
Britannia Road
Southampton SO14 5FP

For more information about this or the campaign against fluoridation, contact Hampshire Against Fluoridation on 02380 493776 or 02392 463761 or visit www.hampshireagainstfluoridation.org.

The Contractors for the developer of the East Anton Major Development Area will soon start highway improvement works on Smannell Road. This work includes the construction of roundabouts at the junctions of Smannell Road with Cricketers Way and Roman Way. In addition a new cycleway will be provided in the area.

Following the roundabout completion the contractor will then start work to widen Smannell Road through the development site and on to Smannell. To carry these works out safely, the road will need to be closed to through traffic. Discussions are to take place shortly on a suitable diversion route. More details on dates of closure and the diversion route will follow.

If you have any queries or comments on these works please contact me.

At last night’s Andover Forum we were told about the new initiative to introduce No Cold Calling Zones into Andover. The first trial was in Hepworth Close and has proved successful.

The aim of the scheme is to deter bogus callers (distraction burglars and rogue traders) from approaching people living in the zones and give residents the confidence to say “No” to cold callers who seek business at their doorstep.

Potential zones are pinpointed by police and trading standards  and then set up once residents have been consulted and are known to be in support. Other zones will also be considered if set criteria can be satisfied. Residents living in proposed zones are visited and given a special No Cold Calling Zone pack containing general consumer and safety advice. Also included is a Buy With Confidence directory of approved traders and a door sticker telling cold callers they are not welcome. Signs are then erected to identify the zones and residents are advised to report any future suspicious cold calling activity.

If you would like your street to become a no cold calling zone please let me know on 01264 356759 or len.gates@andover.co.uk. I will collate requests and pass them on to the trading standards department.

Andover Lib Dem councillors are calling for a purpose built lorry park for Andover. I and St Mary’s councillor Mike McGarry have tabled the following motion to next month’s borough council meeting

“Council notes the increase in the overnight parking of heavy commercial vehicles in Andover’s town car parks and on residential roads in and around Andover.
Council believes the parking of commercial vehicles in public car parks and on residential streets is unsatisfactory for the drivers of these vehicles and unacceptable to local residents.
Council therefore resolves to investigate the establishment of a purpose built lorry park in the Andover area.”

Andover is an important centre for the distribution industry and needs adequate facilities for lorry parking. It is unacceptable that lorries are parked in residential areas and public car parks because there is nowhere else for them to go.

Mike McGarry added “This is an issue I have raised on a number of occasions at planning meetings. There are plenty of possible sites that could be used. The council must take action to deal with this problem and find a suitable site.”

Tell us what you think - does Andover need a lorry park?

Local residents will be aware of the public concern over two adjacent showman’s sites at Picket Piece. Work has already started on the first site which has planning permission. An application for the second site was turned down by the Northern Area Planning Committee last month. The applicants for the second site were John Wall and Son who run the regular fairs at Smannell Road Open Space.

 Today I received an email from Mrs Bernice Wall, one of the applicants, details are as follows

“We have decided not to pursue the planning applcation for the Showmen’s Quarters we applied for , I believe that,in looking at the overall response, it would not be welcomed by the local community and therefore it would be unfair to carry on with an appeal on the decision.  We have declined the advice given to us on moral grounds , and hope by letting you know this side of Christmas it will lay the local residents concerns to rest. We truly had no idea that the feeling against  the application from the local residents was so strong. Our apologies if we caused anyone undue concern.  May we take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy Christmas and a Healthy 2009.”

While it is important that we find sites for show people it is equally important that these sites are acceptable to local residents. I applaud Mrs Wall’s public spirited decision not to pursue her application and thank her for the consideration she has shown to the local community.

The long awaited Enham Alamein village design statement was approved at yesterday’s Test Valley Borough Council cabinet meeting.

It doesn’t seem like four years since we first asked for approval for residents to carry out work to establish a village design statement. At the time there were no parish council or residents association but local residents spoke to me and my fellow councillor Josie Msonthi saying they were keen to carry out the work and to have the same influence over their environment as residents of other parishes. We got approval to start and organised meetings in the village and set the ball rolling.

The amount of public interest was incredible. I attended the early meetings to establish the groups working on the VDS (as I did with a similar one in Smannell). The excitement was infectious. For the first time residents of the village were being given the opportunity to have a say in what was happening around them and they responded positively and emphatically that they wanted to have that say. The residents took up the ball and ran with it. From that grew the residents association and eventually the parish council.

The results of that four years work on the VDS have now been approved. They show what can be achieved when local residents are given control over their affairs and the success of what they have achieved should be an object lesson for other communities. It should also be a lesson for us as borough councillors for our role should not be to administer the borough for, or despite of, the residents but to enable them to do it for themselves as we have done in Enham.

This is a well researched and universally approved document. I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate all those who worked on it, in the village, from the parish council, from the planning department and from planning aid south who gave so much help in the beginning. They have done a brilliant job and I am pleased the cabinet endorsed the work and accepted the finished document in full.

The recommendations for adoption of the document as planning guidance go to full council in January.

Andover’s Lib Dem councillors are continuing to question the running costs of the Guildhall and Rendezvous.

The borough’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee were told on 6 November that the net cost of running the Guildhall was £74,000 and that income had dropped from over £44,000 in 2006/2007 to just £25,000 in 2007/2008. Future revenues from letting the Upper Guildhall are expected to be only £16,000 but officers admitted this was difficult to predict. Income from the Rendezvous so far is a mere £4,500.

St. Mary’s councillor Mike McGarry raised this at the full council meeting quizzing cabinet members about the figures. He was told running costs were over £100,000 for the past year and that income to-date was just £12,600. No figures are available for the costs of splitting services in the building to isolate the soon to be let lower Guildhall. A small profit of about £5,000 could be expected once the lower Guildhall is let. It was denied that a further loss of income to the council is expected when market traders are moved from the cobbles in front of the Guildhall

I find it hard to believe the council cannot give us more accurate figures. When the letting of the lower Guildhall was first proposed we were told running costs were around £75,000 per year and that most of that was administration charges connected with letting the building. We were also told there would be a profit to subsidise the Rendezvous. Now we appear to be spending even more money on a building that has effectively been closed for a year and financing an under-used and unsuitable alternative facility in the Rendezvous. I will be seeking a full review of the costs of both buildings at the end of the financial year.

At Thursday’s meeting of Test Valley’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee Hampshire’s Cabinet member for Children’s Services, Cllr David Kirk, reported back on Education in Test Valley.The report was specifically requested because of borough councillor’s concerns about low standards in Andover’s schools.

 Cllr Kirk was able to report that exam results in Hampshire and in Test Valley were better than the national average. He also reported very improved results for Winton School. Winton was one of six schools in Hampshire designated national challenge schools by the secretary of state in June 2008. National challenge schools are those where less than 30% of pupils achieved five or more GCSE A to C grades (including both English and maths). In 2007 Winton achieved only 17%. In 2008 this increased to 31%,

 I joined Cllr Kirk in applauding the improvement and in congratulating the staff especially the head of Winton on the improved results. However we must take the results in context. Winton’s 2008 results are the same as 2003 and the average over the six years (2003 – 2008) is just under 30%. Averages for Harroway over the same period are just 27% and for John Hanson 45%. Meanwhile across the county the average was 53% and has been 50% - 60% for the past five years. GCSE results for Andover’s schools have not improved over the past five years.

I would expect some effort to be made to bring them up towards the county average. When quizzed neither Cllr Kirk nor his education officer could give any assurances that targets had been set for local schools to raise their results. This I believe is essential. While a great deal of good work is being done to improve attainment in Andover it is wasted unless realistic targets are set.

 The ensuing debate centred on standards and aspirations in Andover with claims that low unemployment levels in Andover contributed to low academic expectations and Cllr Kirk stating that parents who send their children out of town to school were not making a “well informed choice.” He also implied part of the problem in Andover’s secondary schools is the poor standards in our primary schools.

It is time we stopped looking for excuses for Andover’s poor academic records and looking for culprits for the low results. Local schools are working to raise standards. I hope to see the county education department investing time and money into working with them and setting targets and deadlines to achieve higher standards.

I received today the following letter from the office of Sharon Bowles MEP. Sharon has joined local Lib Dems and other campaigners in calling for Test Valley Borough Council to reconsider their short sighted decision to let the lower Guildhall to a pizza restaurant.

“It is often a problem to balance commercial interests, and associated jobs, with cultural and other community concerns. As a member of the European Parliament’s Economic Committee I often have to adopt a ‘hard headed’ approach. However, as a member of that committee wrestling with the current financial crisis, it does seem that local communities and community resources will be a high priority to see us through the threatened recession.”

“Andover’s Guildhall is an important community resource. For years charities, community groups and local traders have utilised the facilities of this impressive building.”

“It may be true that some jobs will be created if the Guildhall becomes a Pizza restaurant, but at what cost to local trade and support? At a time like this community resources are needed more than ever. The council should put effort into preserving existing jobs and small businesses and make use of the many empty shop units. This outweighs the creation of a few new jobs which may themselves become questionable as budgets tighten.”

“It also seems that by accepting the plan, the Council are breaking their own policy. Policy ESN 19 of the Test Valley Local Plan provides for the retention of local community facilities and the rejection of development proposals which result in their loss. Is this not the case here, even without the current economic argument?”

“I hope that Test Valley Council listen to their local community, think again and retain Andover Guildhall as a community resource.”

Sharon Bowles MEP          

After the Tory controlled council’s vote to let out the lower Guildhall to a pizza restaurant it was agreed that the council would supply suitable alternative premises for the local groups who used the lower Guildhall. This alternative is the Rendezvous in Union Street.

Up till now the Rendezvous has been plagued with problems. Considerably more money was spent on converting the premises for use than had been planned. Usage is poor with only two of the organisations previously using the Guiildhall now using the Rendezvous. Attendance at events held there is much less than in the Guildhall with both PHAB and Mencap reporting considerably reduced takings since being forced to move there.

 All these points were raised at the recent planning meeting when the application  to convert the Guildhall was discussed and no clear response given. I have therefore asked that the council’s Scrutiny Committee look, as a matter of urgency,  at all aspects of the funding and usage of the Rendezvous.

The committee will at its next November meeting be getting a report on usage over the past year, costs incurred, revenue received and plans to improve the usage and facilities at the Rendezvous. We will then be in a position to decide whether a more detailed investigation is appropriate. My own view is that this will be necessary because the venue as it stands is totally inadequate and a drain on council resources.

At last night’s Northern Area Planning Committee the application to convert Andover’s lower Guildhall into a Pizza restaurant was approved. The plans now have to be referred to the Secretary of State before the changeover can go ahead.

I am disappointed with this decision. The objectors from STAG raised real questions about the validity of the application. The council’s response was muddled and unconvincing. It failed to prove it had followed its own guidelines by seeking to maintain the Guildhall for community use. It could not explain the so-called financial losses cited to justify the decision and it relied on the provision of a substandard alternative as a reason for a clear breach in policy.

I was particularly annoyed to hear some councillors calling for a vote without even waiting to listen to the end of the debate. Andover deserves better than this.

Also of some concern was the claim by some members of the committee that another restaurant in Andover would bring in more business and enliven the town’s economy. My own discussions with local restauranteurs suggest that in the current economic climate there is insufficient business for exisiting restraurants. Any new one would only take clients away from them and could lead to one or more of them folding. I hope this is not the case the council should be protecting local businesses not undermining them.

The measure of a civilised society is how well it cares for its heritage, its local businesses and its minorities. The ruling group on Test Valley borough council have ignored this in the pursuit of short term financial gain. Andover Lib Dems will continue to oppose this short sightedness and work for a fair deal for Andover.

Local residents have been asking for an update on works at East Anton. Today a letter from me and county councillor Robin Hughes will be delivered to all homes in the area. The text of the letter is as follows

“As part of our commitment to keep you informed we will be issuing regular newsletters on the progress of the development and how it affects you. At present the developers have outline planning permission only which means they cannot yet start building houses but can start on the infrastructure of the area. House building on the southern end of the site will start when Test Valley approves the detailed plans later this year.

Southern Water contractors have now finished water main work to serve the MDA at the Smannell Road open space. We have contacted council officers about the poor quality of the re-instatement of the field and this will be repaired by council staff.

 Contractors are currently working on the roads within the site and work on the first roundabout access opposite Venice Court will start on 13th October. All local residents will be notified and signs will be erected along Icknield Way advising of the works. Once building does start landscaping and tree planting to screen the site will also start.

If you have any queries regarding these works please contact us.

Following on from the success of the Amazing Alamein litter pick your local environmental group has now arranged a swap shop. This is an ideal opportunity to bring along things you no longer want and swap them for something you do want. Recycle and reuse rather than dumping things.

 Also on offer is face painting, cookery demonstrations and a treasure hunt. The event takes place on Saturday 11th October from 12:00 noon at the Smannell Road church centre.

Full details are given on the attached poster swap-shop-poster.pdf

Readers will be aware that Cllr Alan Dowden and I proposed a motion to council on fluridation of Test Valley’s tap water (see http://lengates.mycouncillor.org.uk/2008/08/14/council-to-debate-fluoridation/). The motion was referred without debate to the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The date and agenda for that meeting has now been set.

The meeting will take place on Wednsday 8th October at 6:00pm at the council’s Duttons Road, Romsey council chamber. The decision to hold the meeting in Romsey was taken because residents in the southern part of the borough, particularly the outskirts of Southampton are most affected by the current proposals.

I have discussed the matter with the chair of the committee and he has decided the whole meeting should be devoted to this issue. There will be presentations from the South Central Strategic Health Authority, a representative of Hampshire Against Fluoridation and a local dentist. Councillors will then be free to quiz all the speakers on the issues.

The meeting like all council meetings is open to the public.  If anyone would like further information please let me know.

Residents will by now know that the funfair planned for this weekend has been cancelled again. The main reason for the cancellation was the weather making the site too water logged for the fair to open. However, only a small fair could have moved on to the site because of ongoing works by Southern Water. This work also contributed to the condition of the grounds. It is hoped that the fair can be re-scheduled for October.

I raised local concerns about Southern Water’s access to the Smannell Road open space at Wednesday’s council meeting. They have the power under government legislation to go on to the land and lay pipes but should advise Test Valley before doing so. On this occasion they did not do so. The current work is to rectify problems with the previous work carried out in April.

Once completed all work must be checked by Test Valley to ensure the land has been re-instated to the previous standard. The previous work was not completed to an acceptable standard and this has been communicated to Southern Water. Council officers will now check the site weekly to ensure the work is done properly. The council will also be seeking compensation for officer time related to the work, costs to rectify substandard work and any potential loss of income for the funfair.

I have also been given assurances that the East Anton developers and their sub-contractors will not access the Smannell Road open space without full consultation with the council and your local councillors to ensure disruption and inconvenience to local residents is minimised.

In July I reported a damaged street name sign in Swallowfields to discover that the lead time for repairs is six weeks and that because of staff shortages work was often taking even longer. I raised this with the Cabinet member responsible at yesterday’s council meeting and got the following response.

 A six week lead time is typical because signs are ordered in bulk on a six week cycle. Approximately 35 signs are repaired and 80 replaced every year at a cost of £3000 pa (£85 per sign) for repairs and £10,000 pa (£125 per sign) for replacement.

Council officers are required to survey damaged signs before further damage is done and pro-actively repair signs where possible. Doing so saves the council £40 a time and prevents the area looking run down. Because of staff shortages this service has not been provided for several months. Now that extra staff have been recruited it is hoped the service will return to normal once the backlog of work is cleared.

For the future I would advise residents to report all damaged signs as soon as possible so that repairs can be undertaken before the signs  are damaged beyond repair.

Damage should be reported to Test Valley Borough Council on 01264 368000 or direct to me.

The Daily Mail has recently identified Hampshire as one of the most wasteful local authorities. Among some of the more wasteful items are £12,000 on new taps and £1.25 million on new furniture. The following article recently appeared in the Daily Mail (July 4th 2008); highlighting some of the ways that Hampshire County Council are spending your money.

Council in hot water over £12,000 taps:

 A council criticised for spending thousands of pounds on bottled water has brought six designer taps costing £2,000 each. Hampshire County Council bought the Zip Hydrotaps as part of a £40million taxpayer-funded renovation of its HQ in Winchester. Some £1.25million was spent on furniture alone, including designer desks and chairs. Earlier this year residents were furious after it was revealed that the council was spending £141,000 every year on bottled water for staff. Hampshire County Council claimed it got a discount when ordering the taps, which are said to ‘dispense freshly filtered, chilled and boiling water with an impressive flow rate’. But Lib Dem opposition leader Adrian Collett yesterday described the purchase as ‘extraordinarily extravagant’. Meanwhile the Tory run council continues to cut bus services, close care homes and schools, and reduce investment in libraries, roads and other facilities.

I was recently contacted by a local resident who reported that on 26th August the King Arthur’s area was invaded by a high pressure sales team from a deaf charity.  Their reflective jackets had ASDC on them and basically their patter was very similar to Time Share, Double Glazing and the early days of the Power companies.  It consisted of trying to get access to each person’s home, pulling out out a form and getting them to commit to a direct debit.

This, of course, is no way for a reputable charity to behave and I referred the matter to the council’s licensing manager. The reply was less than encouraging.

Unfortunately collection of money for charitable purposes by direct debit falls completely outside of current charity collection law and there is nothing that we can do to prevent this type of activity. It is quite common and used by many of the established charities. Persons undertaking this type of work have earned the rather unkind nickname of chugger, meaning charity mugger. However I think this does indicate the level of unease over this type of activity and it is to be hoped that the new Charities Act will address this and make direct debit collections licensable. Unfortunately at the present time we do not know when the new Act will come into force.

Until the new act does come into force I would recommend all residents to ignore these high pressure techniques, never allow people into your homes if you are suspicious of them and if in doubt - contact the police.

If you really want to support a charity, do it through their website, not a chugger.

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.

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.

This evening I attended, as an observer, the bimonthly meeting of Smannell Parish Council. The agenda and program of activities shows what can be achieved by a local community when given control of their own affairs. Among items discussed were the Little London Playing Fields and the council’s palns to refurbish and upgrade them with developer (section 106) funding, actions to improve local roads and an ambitious Smannell Healthy Living Plan.

All of this can be undertaken by any parish or town council and I look forward to the day when residents of Andover (through their town council) can have the same freedom to control their neighbourhoods as do the residents of the parishes around the town.

Also on the agenda was the co-option of Stephen West of Little London on to the council.  My congratulations to him  on his appointment and to the council for proceding with his co-option despite unecessary objections and calls for a postponement of the decision  from a sole member of the public.

Local residents complained angrily this evening at the Andover Forum about charges for green waste collection in the borough. The current bag system was introduced after Test Valley decided the previously used wheely bins were not suitable for green waste.

When the bags were introduced the new system was intended to be self funding and assurances were given to the public that no costs would fall on non-participating residents. However the new system proved to be more expensive than expected and the annual cost for 2006/2007 was £3.99 for every household in the borough. The issue has been debated at the council’s scrutiny committee when I argued strongly that those residents using the green waste scheme should pay the full cost of the scheme. The majority group disagreed but did agree to increase charges by £1 per bag for the following year. It is expected that the scheme will cost £2.75 per household over the coming (2008/2009) year.

Defenders of the scheme argue that it makes a significant contribution of 5% to our overall recycling rate. While I accept that our recycling has improved I would prefer the council to spend money on real recycling and reducing the amount of waste sent to land fill rather than paying residents to collect grass cuttings to artificially massage recycling rates.

I and my Lib Dem colleagues will be raising the matter again next year when budgets are set and pushing strongly for a self financing scheme and a real increase of recycling of household waste.

Yesterday saw the draft publication of the long awaited village design statement (VDS) for Enham Alamein. This has been the result of over two years work by the dedicated team working on the project.

The idea was first mooted when neighbouring Smannell parish started their VDS. At the time Enham had neither a parish council or residents association but residents expressed an interest in developing their own VDS. I and fellow Lib Dem councillor Josie Msonthi petitioned the Test Valley’s executive for funding and support for the village to work on a VDS arguing that it would help develop community spirit and awareness. After several consultative meetings the VDS team was born and the project carried forward by the newly formed Enham Residents Association.

I remember the initial discussions and the debates as to whether the project would work. I attended early meetings and was impressed by the enthusiasm for the project within the village. The fact that the project has worked and has produced a document the whole parish can be proud of is a tribute to the hard work of the VDS team.

The draft has been published for public consultation. Full details can be found on the building and planning pages of the council’s website on http://www.testvalley.gov.uk/. Comments should be returned by 4:30 on Friday 11 July 2008.

Hampshire Conservatives over-charged council tax payers this year so they could bribe the voters with a lower increase next year - County election year. They denied it at the time, but now the truth is out. They have also announced some modest improvements to services to try to distract people from the major service cuts they are making. After increasing the council tax by 4.5% this year, when it was not  necessary to do so, they have now announced that the increase in election year will be 3.0%.

Liberal Democrat Group Leader on the County Council, Cllr Adrian Collett, said: “People are currently feeling the pain of the massive £43.38 Hampshire council tax hike this year - the last thing they needed when fuel prices are shooting up and the economy is struggling. This is having a particularly harsh impact on people on fixed  incomes, such as pensioners, who can do little about it but pay up and cut back on other things such as heating and food. Yet the Tories  think they can con people by having a lower increase during election year. People are not stupid and will see through this Con-trick.”

 ”The truth is that council tax didn’t need to go up so much this year, but the Tories wanted to get the money into the bank. In fact Hampshire has over £120 million of council tax payers money stashed away, much of which is only there due to over-charging now so that  future increases can be lower. How very cynical! The modest improvements to services are dressed up to sound good but while of course they are welcome, they don’t make up for the major cuts.”

“£1 million extra for pot holes sounds good, but until this year the County Council had been putting £3 million extra per year into highway  maintenance, so this really means that the cut is only £2 million  instead of £3 million. £400,000 for carpets and double glazing in residential homes is also  welcome as far as it goes, but Hampshire should be properly refurbishing all its care homes to bring them up to proper modern  standards. Instead of that seven homes have been closed down due to  lack of money to refurbish them, while the Conservatives allocate 100  times this £400,000 (over £40 million) on modernising their Winchester ivory tower. Comfortable offices in Winchester are more important to them than modernising our care homes.”

“Is there any proposal here to reopen any of the closed care homes? No! Or to reinstate the £1 million cut in the Casualty Reduction Programme? No! Or to prevent this summer’s major round of bus service cuts (the fourth major round of bus cuts)? No. Any improvements to much-needed services are to be welcomed, but this is just a pre-election Con-trick!” he concluded.

Story supplied by Cllr Adrian Collett - Liberal Democrat Group Leader on Hampshire County Council

Romsey MP Sandra Gidley has condemned Test Valley’s recent increase in parking charges as “cynical and counter productive.”

“With petrol prices hitting 117p a litre across Hampshire” she says “visitors will be harder to attract to towns like Romsey and Andover. The Conservative controlled council’s move to introduce large increase in car parking charges in a post election year is both cynical and ill timed.”

 The higher charges are an extra tax on those who make essential journeys into town and could well drive shoppers away to larger towns.

Mrs Gidley added “We are at the start of a make-or-break opportunity for many businesses struggling to stay afloat. It seems perverse that the council is undermining their own efforts to help businesses at this crucial time by slapping large increases on parking charges.”

The increased charges were introduced to fill the large hole in council revenues left by the poor returns from rents on the borough’s run down industrial estates.

Local Labour party spokesmen have yet to comment on the increase in parking charges or on the government’s failure to manage fuel prices.

Today saw the opening of Sainsbury’s new supermarket on the Enham arch roundabout. The new shop is a vast improvement on the derelict Do-It-All site we have seen for the last few months. I was particularly impressed with the amount of time spent by contractors landscaping the surrounding area.

I welcome the vastly increased choice we now have for food shopping in Andover. With Sainsbury following ASDA in expanding in the town, Tesco, who have dominated the town’s food market for too long, will see some serious competion and local shoppers have some real choice.

The expansion in food retail however does raise other issues.

• While we now have a range of food shops to choose from we are still desparately short of other shops. In particular we need a major department store. I have raised this at council meetings and will continue to push for a full range of retail facilities in the town.
• The new supermarkets bring welcome new jobs to the town. But, too many local jobs are in retail and distribution. For the town to flourish we must widen the range of employment opportunities. Andover Lib Dems intend to make this a top priority over the next few years.
• Despite being raised on a number of occasions by both me and Cllr Rod Bailey we are no nearer a solution to the traffic congestion on Enham Arch roundabout. This is bound to get worse now Sainsbury’s is open. Tory council leader, Ian Carr, told us over a year ago  thast he was personally dealing with the problem. Come on Ian - tell us when you intend to resolve it.

A new environment group has recently established it self in the Alamein Ward and what a difference it has made already!! Set up by local residents, the group will be tackling various environmental projects throughout the ward, ranging from planting flowerbeds, assisting with conservation at Anton Lakes, encouraging recycling, a source of information for the community and much more more.

One project has been completed to date; using plants donated to the group by Blakes Nursery on Saturday 19 April at Atholl Court, King Arthurs Way. Local residents were asked to choose a plant, which was then planted by member of the environment group. A once dull and neglected bed flowerbed has now been transformed bringing much colour to the area. Chris Lawton, Church Army Family Worker, commented “it really does brighten up the area and I’ve received many positive comments about it.” Chris provides outreach sessions at the Askalot Community Shop.

If you would like to get involved, the next meeting is being held on May18 at 6pm at King Arthur’s Hall, or for more information please call John Cockaday on 01264 334562.

 Story supplied by Marianne Piggin, Community Support Officer, Test Valley Borough Council

At last Wednesday’s council meeting final approval was given to Cllr Carr’s proposals to establish a single party executive in Test Valley (see blog of March 16th). The Liberal Democrat posirtion was that we would accept the changes provided there was adequate scrutiny of this change and future executive decisions. To this end Cllr Rod Bailey and I tabled an ammendment to the Tory proposals - “In amending the constitution this council acknowledges that the close scrutiny of the Council’s decision making processes is in the public interest and is essential in a healthy democracy. Council therefore instructs the Overview and Scrutiny committee, at its next meeting, to consider the impact of these proposals on the scrutiny and other committees of the council and report back, with recommendations, as appropriate.”

In an hour long debate successive LibDem councillors argued ther case for a more open, democratic and cross party approach to decsion making. The Tories missed the point and stuck to the party line that they could change the executive so they would and that consultation with the opposition and the public was unecessary.

In summarising the ammendment I argued ” the proposals have been ill-researched and are inappropriate unless we undertake extra research and consider the knock on effects for other committees. This is why I believe it essential that we add this amendment so that scrutiny can consider the effects and come back urgently with it’s response to them. The next Scrutiny meeting is the ideal time as the agenda at present is light and the major item is consideration of a report from the audit panel that a separate audit committee be established. It would seem appropriate therefore if scrutiny considered this matter at the same time as both proposals impinge directly on the current working of scrutiny and on its future effectiveness. Finally I would remind members that these proposals approved or otherwise are the ideas of the leader only and not of the council or the public as a whole and as a member of scrutiny and leader of the opposition group I intend to ensure democratic accountability is maintained. As for the future I will happily consider members of the conservative group in my executive in 2011. That is, of course assuming there are any conservatives still on the council at that time.”

As expected the government has devolved the final decision on whether an area can have a town or parish council to borough councils. Quoted in the Andover Advertiser, Stephen Lugg, Director of the Hampshire Associaiton of Local Councils condemned the move as “disastrous”. Mr Lugg argued that the county council should make the decision because the borough council is using evidence from ten years ago, based on a small selection of people that they selected, to say that Andover does not want a town council.

 Borough council leader Ian Carr continues to argue that borough councillors are in a better position to know about the “real feeling” of the town and also makes the unsubstatiated claim that a town council would cost more.

My own experience is that the voters of Andover are quite capable of making up their own minds as to whether they want a town council and do not need borough councillors from outside the town to make that decision for them. The case that town and parish councils are more expensive is not proven. In fact parishes adjacent to Andover have a lower council tax precept that the Andover levy which Cllr Carr charges Andoverians for the services he thinks a town council would supply.

I share Mr Lugg’s concern that the case for a town council may not get a fair hearing from the borough but would like to re-assure him that Test Valley’s Liberal Democrats are fimly commited to establishing a town council for Andover and look forward to the completion of the town council petition which will prove beyond doubt that the people of Andover want the same democratic rights as every other ciitzen of Test Valley.

Many local residents have contacted me regarding the appearance of a wire fence across Smannell Road play area and trenches dug in the field. The single wire fence was thought to be dangerous and no notification had been given to residents about the works.

The work is being carried out by Southern Water laying new sewers for the East Anton housing development. Test Valley were not advised or consulted about the works.

I visited the site this morning and have arranged for reflective tapes to be strung along the wires so they can be seen after dark. I will also be requesting neighbourhood warden patrols to monitor the site.

Because of this work the proposed funfair on the site this coming weekend has been cancelled. I am liaising with Test Valley and will be consulting with residents about alternative dates.

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.

The debate over the future of Andover’s Guildhall took a fresh turn this weekend when Andover Lib Dem councillors announced they would pay for using the Guildhall for councillors’ surgeries. Councillors’ surgeries, once held monthly, are now held fortnightly in the Upper Guildhall. The additional meetings were introduced at the request of Sir George Young MP who attends all the surgeries.

The Lib Dems have long argued that the surgeries promoted and organised by Sir George’s office and North West Hants Tories are political and as such councillors should pay for the use of the room. Local Tories have refused to pay and even threatened to open a school as an alternative if forced to do so.

Recognising the need for residents to have somewhere to meet their councillors and MP, Lib Dem councillors have agreed to attend the surgeries but will make a donation to charity in lieu of payment for the room. I have written to the organisers of the surgeries advising of this. I am also requesting co-operation from the organisers to ensure a local councillor is available to meet residents whenever possible.

MPs and councillors, both borough and county, receive a communications allowance to cover costs of meeting constituents. It is unreasonable for us to also expect free use of council buildings. The surgeries are organised by North West Hants Tories primarily for the benefit of the local MP and county councillors. We can all afford to pay and should do so. Test Valley council taxpayers should not be expected to foot the bill.

Test Valley Borough Council have agreed to just two funfairs at Smannell Road open space this year. This follows some residents concerns about anti-social behaviour at last year’s fairs

Funfairs will be held from Thursday 3rd to Sunday 6th April and from Thursday 11th to Saturday 13th September. At my request the organisers have agreed to extra conditions this year. This will include provision of public toilets and closer co-operation with police and neighbourhood wardens to prevent disorder.

Smannell Road is the best location for a funfair but the rights of local residents must also be protected. I am pleased the organisers have agreed to the extra conditions and am sure that the events will go off smoothly. I will be monitoring the situation and liaising with the police to ensure no problems occur.

Test Valley Tories have refused to back the campaign for and Andover Town Council. Andover Lib Dems sought council approval for a petition on favour of the council arguing the decision should be made by the people of Andover not the borough council. (See news of 17 December for the full motion). “The petition and campaign should be non-political and if demand were proven the borough should fully support the campaign” we argued.

Lead by council leader Ian Carr successive Tories rubbished the campaign and denigrated its organisers. They claimed to have no opinion either way themselves but refused to accept that Andoverians could and should make the decision.

We offered the Tories the opportunity to take the debate out of the political arena and recognise the democratic rights of the people to make the decision. Sadly they were too arrogant to accept the offer.