Yesterday I went out talking to residents and campaigning in Pilgrims Way and River Way. It was good to hear positive views from them about how they are working together to improve their local environment. It’s also encouraging to see the hard work put in by their borough councillors Nigel Long and Katherine Bird is having a real impact on these estates.

What was disappointing was to hear that residents are not always getting the support and help needed from their councils and housing associations to sort real and immediate problems. More work is needed to deal with the state of the roads and paths, with overgrown trees and poor lighting. If elected county councillor I will work with Nigel and Katherine to get problems on these estates and across Andover dealt with quickly and efficiently.

Conservative-run Hampshire County Council have admitted they plan to sell off our museums, art centres and cultural services.

Hampshire County Council plan to handover control of these vital services to a ‘Trust’, the Hampshire Solent Cultural Trust. Local people will no longer have a say on how our museums and art centres are run. Many fear that this move will put them at risk of more funding cuts, and even closure.

As a community we’ve fought hard to stop Conservative cuts to our local services. This news is yet another bitter blow to Andover. The Conservative County Council have ignored what local people have said and carried on regardless, cutting services while throwing taxpayers’ money down the drain funding their own vanity projects. The museum sell-off proposal follows news that the county council is set to shed another 60 jobs from libraries, museums and community services on top of the plan to axe another 165 posts in adult social care.

Everyone knows times are hard and councils need to tighten their belts, but while making these cuts Hampshire Conservatives have stashed a staggering £300 million in the county bank! That money is just sitting in their reserves while they cut services that hit the most vulnerable people in our society.

I want to see less waste and more resources going to the frontline services we all rely on.

The Hampshire farmers market will be in Andover High Street on the third Sunday of each month from February to December.

There were fears that the market would not continue after a fall in numbers of visitors during 2011. A “New Look” market started in January 2012 and wil continue this year.

Working as I do in the local farming industry I know how improtant the market is for showcasing local produce. The quality matches anything on offer in supermarkets. And it is produced locally. To keep the market and support local farmers we all need to use it. So why not take a look and see what it has to offer.

At last week’s Andover Town Council meeting I queried the costs of running the town’s allotments because the fiugres recently published don’t add up.

In a letter to allotment holders the chairman of the town council’s allotment committee outlined the costs of running the allotments at almost £22,000 and to balance the books they have raised rents accordingly.

Until the town council took control of allotments they were run and maintained by Test Valley Borough Council the costs being charged to all residents through the Andover levy. Therefore I must assume TVBC were spending about £22,000 a year of the levy on running the town’s allotments.

When Andover Town Council took control of the allotments there was a reduction in the Andover levy of just £15,661. So what happened to the rest of our money?

If Andover residents have been paying £22,000 per year to TVBC for them to run the allotments then now they are being run by ATC then the Andover levy should be reduced by this amount. For a council that prides itself on prudence and value for money I am surprised that no-one on Andover TC has asked this. or is it that someone can’t add up?

I was also disappointed to hear the chair of the council (who as a non-resident of Andover doesn’t pay the levy) dismissing this as just a small amount of money. I also wonder with so many Test Valley Borough councillors sitting on the town council (many of whom were opposed to the formation of a town council) whether there may be conflicts of interest here. Have these figures been given due attention before the agreement to transfer the allotments was completed?

I have submitted a list of written questions on this and look forward to the council’s response.