Roman Way residents meeting

Another succesful meeting of Roman Way residents took place on Saturday 4 September at Smannell Road Church centre. I was able to report back on progress in dealing with a number of Highways issues and residents once again had the opportunity to quiz me, town councillors and local police on matters of concern. PC Pete Nelson of Andover police gaver a detailed report on policing in the area and repesentatives of Raglan Housing were also present to speak to residents. The full notes on the meeting can be found by following the link below.

Further meetings are planned for November and January and detailed will be circulated nearer the dates.

residents-meeting-notes-4-september.pdf

Lib Dem action on wheel clampers

Whell calmping to be controlled

The Lib Dems will be delivering on another manifesto commitment when car clamping on private land is banned.

Liberal Democrat ministers Lynne Featherstone and Norman Baker have announced that car clamping on private land is to be banned as part of the Freedom Bill this autumn.

Home Office minister Lynne Featherstone MP when making the announcement said “The Government is committed to ending the menace of rogue private sector wheel clampers once and for all.”

“For too long motorists have fallen victim to unscrupulous tactics by many clamping firms. Reports of motorists being marched to cash points or left stranded after their car has been towed are simply unacceptable. A ban on clamping and towing on private land will end this abuse and companies who decide to flout new laws will face severe penalties.”

For more details visit this BBC website article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10993473

Several residents have contact me about wheel clamping and I have raised the matter with the police who are currently, unfortunately, powerless to act on this. It is good news that the Liberal Democrats in government are going to ban this practice and that Andover and Test Valley’s drivers will no longer be threatened by unscrupulous clampers.

Cllr Rod Bailey and I will be raising the matter at next month’s council meeting and calling for the borough council and our two local MPs to fully support the proposals. the full text of our proposal can be read at the following link

http://lengates.mycouncillor.org.uk/motions-to-council/

Police action on underage drinking

Regular readers will remember I raised the problem of underage drinking at Smannell Road open space and the resultant nuisance to local residents and litter it caused. See the previous items at
http://lengates.mycouncillor.org.uk/2010/06/28/litter-at-smannell-road-open-space/  http://lengates.mycouncillor.org.uk/2010/06/21/call-time-on-24-hour-drinking/

I am pleased to report the police have been dealing with this and as a result have served a closure notice on Tesco Stores Limited in relation to the Tesco Express at Compton Square. This is because the shop has failed two under age alcohol test purchasing operations within the last three months. The police have the power, and have decided, that the shop will not sell alcohol between 1200 hours Friday 27 August to 1200 hours Sunday 29 August, i.e. the Bank Holiday weekend. Tesco have accepted the closure notice and will not be contesting the decision.

While this will inconvenience some shoppers I am sure they will all agree that the time has come to take firm action to control the indiscriminant sale of alcohol. Ever since the Labour government relaxed the licensing laws supermarkets and pub chains have cynically boosted sales with no care for the effects on public health or law and order.

The coalition govenmment is already looking at changes to the licensing act  but the existing legislation does already provide significant powers to deal with problem premises, I am pleased to see the police are using these powers.

Turnaround show at King Arthur’s Hall

This evening I attended the performance of “Letters” a music and theatre show organised by the Turnaround project and performed by local children and young people from Alamein ward. King Arthurs Hall was full to capacity to see and excellent performance. This was all conceived and perfected in four days of workshops which showed our young people don’t just hang around on street corners but can and do produce something thy can be really proud of.

Congatulations to Mags, Chris, Mo and everyone from Turnaround and Fusion for the work done and special congratulations to to all those who took part in the show.

Buses update #1

bus.jpg

The long running saga of local bus routes has finally moved forward. Test Valley’s scrutiny panel has reported back on its consultations on changes to exisitng bus routes. This investigation was prompted by a motion I and Cllr Mike McGarry submitted to council in January. The panel’s findings, endorsed by the full scrutiny committee, were as follows

  1. Hampshire County Council funding for local buses did increase, but not by enough to maintain the existing services. Consultation did take place on this but in this particular case it had shortcomings.
  2. Changes to services were made, some acceptable to residents and some not. Hampshire County Council and
    Test Valley Borough Council officers to be requested to monitor these changes and modify or augment services where possible. This could include an extension of the taxi share service.
  3. There may be some scope for introducing evening and Sunday services on some routes and officers were requested to investigate further.
  4. Council Officers to be requested to provide a written report back to the Committee in January 2011 on the long term effect of the current changes and other matters raised by the Panel.

In short the changes to services were badly handled and some residents have lost out. However there is a commitment to looking at reviewing the changes to resolve this. Also promising is the news that there may be scope to introduce evening or Sunday services on some routes. I look forward to this being pursued.

Schools graduation ceremonies

Yesterday I attended the gradaution ceremonies for Knights Enham and Roman Way schools at the Lights in Andover. This is the third year these cermonies have taken place and every year they attract more schools and more local school children and their parents.

 As in previous years the children were well presented and well behaved and a credit to their schools and parents. The speeches, from the mayor, a represntative of Winchester Univesity and the head of Harroway school were thankfully short but to the point. The future of Andover depends on its children and the education we give them. Yesterday’s graduates showed how good that is and what a great future they, and Andover, have.

Traffic calming on Icknield Way

Traffic survey on Icknield Way

I have written to Test Valley’s Planning and Highways departments asking them to review traffic calming measures on Icknield Way. A series of build outs have been installed between Viking Way and Lilywhite Crescent to slow down traffic. Eventually the road will be closed to all but bus and emergency traffic.

Local residents, however, believe the existing traffic calming is ineffective and that the delay in implementing long term plans means the road will become increasingly dangerous as it is used by more traffic to and from Augusta Park

I and town councillor Barbara Carpenter last week carried out a survey of traffic in the area. The result of this survey together with local residents’ comments has been passed on to council officers for follow up.

I believe there is an increasing problem in the area and residents concerns are justified. As occupancy of Augusta Park increases, traffic and problems on this road will also increase. Existing traffic calming measures do not appear to be effective and may in fact be having the opposite effect. I would like to see all options reviewed and some action as soon as possible to improve traffic management and road safety in the area.

Litter at Smannell Road Open Space

The clean and tidy environment at Augusta Park (story below) is a complete contrast to the mess I saw when walking back to town past Smannell Road open space.

Litter at Smannell Road

This weekend the open space hosted one of the regular visits by funfairs which obviously will generate some litter. I was appalled however at the amount of litter around the site and in particular by the number of empty broken beer and wine bottles strewn around the play areas. The area has now been tidied thanks to prompt work by both the fair operators and, following my email to them, Test Valley Environmental Services.

I wonder how much this cleaning costs local taxpayers and will be speaking to both environmental services and the police and wardens about how illegal drinking in and the subsequent littering of this area can be controlled.

Of texts and toyboys

So Caroline Nokes MP feels “betrayed by friend” who revealed details of her extra marital liasons to a Sunday newspaper.

I have no interest in Mrs Nokes private life or her morals. I am surprised, however, that  she has not had a decency to comment on behaviour many would find hypocritical given her previous support for Christian values and the family. But more to the point she has not apologised to her constituents for her betrayal of their trust.

Having been given a highly paid and responsible job she has proved herself unfit for it in less than five weeks. Instead of taking part in a debate in parliament she sat there sending text messages saying she was “bored” and arranging secret meetings with her toyboy instead of doing her job. How many other people would act in such and arrogant and irresponsible manner.

I believe the electors of Romsey are entitled to an explanation and apology.

Call time on 24 hour drinking

I am pleased to see the coalition government is to tackle the problems caused by the Labour party’s introduction of uncontrolled 24 hour sale of alcohol. Plans include proposals to make licensed premises pay for the cost of anti-social behaviour and violence their premises cause. Local councils will also be given much more power to control the numbers and extent of licenses issued.

As an ex-member of Test Valley’s licensing committee I can say with some experience this is long overdue. The 24 hour licensing laws, claimed to allow a continental style cafe culture in the UK, were in fact no more than a sell out to Labour’s supporters in the drinks industry allowing them to boost sales with no thought of the consequences. Local licensing authorities are almost powerless to prevent anyone anywhere from selling drink with no thought of the consequences to local communities. The rules are so heavily weighted in favour of licencees the committee merely rubberstamps applications.

I have been on patrol with police in Andover on Friday nights and seen the results – drunkeness, violence and vandalism extending into the early hours of the morning. And the bill is met by local residents who pay for the police overtime and for the council workers who clear up the mess afterwards. No only is the town centre blighted so too are every route out of town used by late night drinkers on their noisy and often destructive trek home. Meanwhile the drinks companies rake in the profits.

Enough is enough. I have no objection to late night drinking as such but uncontrolled sales of alcohol and the resultant crime and disorder it promotes must be stopped. I fully support the Association of Cheif Police Officers and the Police Federation in their calls of a review of the licensing laws and look forward to it being and an early review.