County Councillor Robin Hughes said, “After several years of waiting, a bigger and better Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) for Andover will open in early December. I congratulate the contractors and the county officers for completing this new facility ahead of schedule. Local residents will no longer have to put up with cars parked nose to tail back from the site and on to New Street and beyond.”

 The new  £1.2million Household Waste Recycling Centre incorporates a split-level layout, providing an upper area dedicated entirely to customers. Twelve containers for recycling and disposal, plus increased space for other recycling amenities such as a sales area and bottle bank. There is a separate access for lorries to the lower area to carry out bin servicing. This removes the need to temporarily close the site to the public during bin changeovers, so queuing times will be significantly reduced.   Extra parking spaces have been provided to improve customer access and has been designed to prevent cars queuing on the road outside the entrance in busier periods.

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.

On Saturday I was contacted by a resident of The Oval, Cricketers Way who was very concerned about the heavy deposit of fallen leaves outside the flats. On investigating I found that there were leaves 1 - 2 inches deep. These were not only unsightly but also dangerous because they were wet and slippery. Several residents and visitors to the block commented on the need to clear the leaves as soon as possible.

 I contacted Test Valley’s Environmental Services and they arranged to inspect the problem and resolve it. The leaves were cleared and the whole area swept on Monday morning. My congratultions to all the staff in Environmental Services who responded promptly and effectively to sort this problem.

Tory cabinet member for housing, Sandra Hawke sees no need to consult local councillors or residents about the new housing developments in Andover.

At Thursday’s council meeting I asked whether local councillors would have an input into implementing the new developments. “This been discussed on a number of occasions with particular reference to integrating the new communities with existing communities and also ensuring the impact of the MDAs on existing communities is minimised”  I said. To this end it was agreed that local members would be consulted and involved in this management of the implementation of the MDAs. Work has started in but to date there has been no consultation with councillors in the wards affected (Alamein and St Mary’s). Why not? and when can I expect this consultation to start?” 

Mrs Hawke replied she saw no need to consult and asked what there was to consult about. I repeated the question emphasising the need to ensure the impact on existing communities is minimised. Mrs Hawke again refused to answer the question.

Work has started at East Anton and local residents are already seeing the disruption caused. In the current economic climate it may be many years before the MDAs are completed. I and my fellow Lib Dem councillors will continue to work to ensure that any works are carried out in such a way as to minimise the effect on local communities.

Regular readers will note that I and County Councillor Robin Hughes have been chasing Hampshire Highways to repair potholes throughout Alamein ward. We can report that the stretch of Cricketers Way leading to Tesco and the health centre has finally been repaired. New road signs have also been installed on Cricketers Way, Smannell Road and Swallowfields.

 We will continue to chase for repairs to be carried out and to get a fair deal for Andover. Local council tax payers pay for this work and too often have to wait far too long for it to be done. If you know of any other areas needing repairs let us know.

A recent council report has identified the area around George Yard, Union Street and Black Swan Yard which would meet the requirements for development which is close to the town centre and which also has space for adequate car parking. The council has appointed consultants to advise on the feasibility of the scheme. 

Residents can see an exhibition of the ideas on display in the Upper Guildhall on Saturday 22, Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 November. The exhibition will take place alongside the Borough’s presentation of the revised Core Strategy which described the latest proposals for development across Test Valley over the next 20 years.

This is a very exciting and long overdue proposal. The public have been telling us for some time that Andover town centre needs upgrading and that we must bring more shops into the town preferably a major retailer and a department store. Councillors have looked at the options and we believe this development will meet the town’s needs. We have not yet, however, made any decision and I urge all residents to look at the plans and tell us what you think. This is your town and it must be developed the way you want.

 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.

Over the past month the committee has considered submissions from the strategic health authority, local dentists, supporters and opponents of the proposals. This included a special meeting devoted to receiving evidence from both sides of the argument

The committee’s recommendation is as follows

“Having weighed up the evidence presented, this Committee remains unconvinced of the health benefits of fluoridation of public drinking water and therefore recommends to full council that it does not endorse additional fluoridation of the borough’s water supply until such time as evidence of the positive health benefits is produced. The Committee is in favour of using the resources in a more targeted way to improve the dental health of those who would benefit most.”

The recommendation will be considered by the full council at its meeting on November 13th.

As a member of the committee I support of the recommendation. The committee has considered the proposals in detail and found the arguments on both sides to be inconclusive. Low levels of fluoride may have been shown to improve dental health, but there is no clear evidence that addition of fluoride to drinking water is effective or necessary. It is, therefore, inappropriate for us to support addition of fluoride to local water supplies. The resources should be diverted to more cost effective health care initiatives.

“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.