who will you trust on crime?

November’s important Police and Crime Commissioner election will decide the future of policing in our area.

Here in Andover it’s a straight choice between the Conservatives, who have let down Hampshire residents on crime and failed to protect front-line police from cuts, or the Lib Dems who have stood up against County waste and cuts and campaigned to keep front-line police on our streets!

The Conservatives running Hampshire have the wrong priorities. They voted to make further cuts to the police budget just days after a resident was shot in both legs by armed raiders, ignoring warnings from the Chief Constable that this could remove 100 police officers from our streets. Across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Labour and UKIP are always out of the race and can’t win. It’s a choice between experienced campaigner David Goodall or the Conservative candidate with links to a jailed £29million fraudster.

Experienced police campaigner David Goodall will work hard to protect your home and family as Hampshire’s first elected Police Commissioner. David is son to a retired Hampshire police inspector and brother to a serving officer, and is promising a fresh and effective approach to making our homes and streets safer. Hampshire Councillor David wants action to bring local people and police closer together to deal with problems of crime and anti-social behaviour. David will make sure we get maximum resources to frontline policing, working with communities to make sure that those resources are used where they are needed most.

November’s election is a straight choice – sorting out the future of policing in our area or even more broken promises, funding cuts and YOUR money wasted!

Don’t rubbish our recycling

Local campaigners in Andover are backing European Member of Parliament Catherine Bearder’s campaign to ensure waste is managed responsibly and not exported to third world countries. Many local councils have already signed up to the campaign I hope Hampshire and Test Valley will do the same.

Visit http://resourceassociation.com/support-end-destinationrecycling-charter for more this campaign!

Back our campaign to protect our childrens futures

Local campaigners across Andover have backed the Lib Dem campaign to force the County Council chiefs to sort out the school places shortfall and protect our children’s centres from cuts. Test Valley Lib Dem campaigner Alan Dowden has supported parents’ calls for answers as to why the County failed to listen to warnings that there would be a massive shortfall in school places.

Alan said, “It was obvious that there would be a shortfall in places for our children but the County failed to act. Temporary classrooms are not the answer, it’s a backwards step.” Romsey campaigner Sandra Gidley added, “With this school places crisis, cuts in the youth service, and children’s centres under threat, it’s clear that Hampshire’s next generation are being let down by the County Council.”

Join the campaign to protect our children’s future by emailing your support to me at [email protected] and deliver a message to County chiefs: our children are being let down by County mismanagement and waste.

Thornber still wastes our money

Many people will remember Hampshire County Council’s unnecessary and expensive “refurbishment” of their offices, complete with gold plated taps in their washrooms, at our expense. I am sorry to report that Tory county council leader Ken Thornber hasn’t learned.

Despite the public outcry and the need to cut their own spending rather than cutting our services they are at it again. I am indebted to colleagues across Hampshire who have highlighted the spending of £223,000 on a vanity TV channel watched by just 57 people.

The full story was published recently in the Daily Mail. I don’t think I need to add any more. You can read all about whats been dubbed Ken TV here.
Daily Mail and Andover Advertiser

Major Tory donor forced to repay £2million after investing in tax-dodge scheme favoured by footballers and city banks

One of the Tory party’s biggest donors has been ordered to pay back millions of pounds in tax after a judge ruled against an offshore scheme he had used to slash his bills.

The judge said a Guernsey-based trust set up by hedge fund boss George Robinson, one of the City’s highest-paid financiers, was ‘cosmetic’ and told him and three colleagues to pay the taxman £13million.

Mr Robinson, who is facing a personal bill of more than £2million, used an arrangement favoured by top footballers and City banks such as Goldman Sachs after being advised it could help him avoid tax.

But Revenue & Customs challenged the offshore arrangements, and now a tax tribunal has ruled in its favour. This will embarrass David Cameron, who has called aggressive tax-dodging ‘morally wrong’.

Labour Shadow Cabinet member Michael Dugher said: ‘This revelation about yet another tax-dodging Tory shows once again David Cameron’s talent for getting close to the wrong people.’

Mr Robinson has given large sums to the Tories, including £50,000 last October and £10,000 in January, and is also a trustee of Mr Cameron’s favourite think-tank, Policy Exchange.

He is entitled to be a member of the Prime Minister’s ‘Leaders Club’ for those who give more than £50,000 each year. Members can attend lunches to discuss issues with Mr Cameron and other senior Tories.

Mr Robinson, whose Sloane Robinson hedge fund is one of the most successful in the City, is said to be worth £220million.

The fund set up a Guernsey trust in 2004 after being advised it could avoid paying £3.3million in National Insurance contributions due on performance-related bonuses worth £24million for him and three other senior partners.

Story from the Daily Mail at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2177062/George-Robinson-Major-Tory-donor-forced-repay-2million-investing-tax-dodge-scheme

RESIDENTS’ PLANNING SUCCESS

Roman Way residents are celebrating after Test Valley’s Northern Area Planning committee rejected proposals to build 50 homes at Shepherds Spring School.

The committee listened to representations from Cllr Barbara Long, of Andover town council, and from me, acting as spokesman for local residents. We both condemned the proposals as unsafe and unacceptable. The plan would have seen a new access road for fifty homes pushed through between the Andover Education centre and the Spring Meadow children’s centre onto the already busy Smannell Road.

We argued this access road would be unsafe for residents and users of the children’s centre and that it would cause traffic chaos in the area. These arguments were taken up by a number of committee members who questioned why a more suitable access hadn’t been considered. They were unanimous in expressing their concerns about the impact of extra traffic on residents and users of the two educational centres.

The proposal was badly researched, badly presented and not in the local interest. I am pleased to see it has been emphatically rejected. It sends a clear message to the developers that their plans are not good enough. The site, the residents and Andover deserve better and should get it.

Last night’s decision wasn’t however final as planners recommended it be referred to the borough’s planning control committee for ratification. Town councillor Barbara Carpenter who co-ordinated opposition to the plans said “Our campaign will continue. We have persuaded one committee that the proposals are unacceptable. We hope to do the same again.”

Council leader fills his office with luxury armchairs

At the last Test Valley Council meeting, Leader, Ian Carr was asked whether he thought being Leader of the Council for 13 years was about 10 years too long. The question was posed by his Liberal Democrat opposite number, Mark Cooper.

“Cllr Carr is exhibiting behaviour which suggests he is increasingly detached from his Council colleagues,” says Cllr Cooper. “A recent excellent piece of work done by a Councillor Panel on improving Test Valley’s recycling rates was summarily dismissed by Cllr Carr at a recent Cabinet meeting; he has recently granted himself significant extra powers without reference to either Cabinet or Councillor colleagues and now he’s equipped his office in Test Valley’s Andover Headquarters with luxury armchairs.” (see below)

“The furniture, I’m told, is ‘not bog-standard furniture procurement’ but is second-hand, and re-conditioned by a local supplier. It cost £1,400 which came from the Council’s Estates Services budget.”

“I can’t see why Cllr Carr would want to fill is office with a number of Chesterfield leather settees and armchairs, unless he’s going to entertain his political cronies,” he says. “If that is the case, he should buy the chairs out of his Leader’s allowance rather than use Council taxpayers money to buy them.”

Andover Question Time

Andover Older People’s Forum has a Question Time on Thursday 24th May. The meeting wil be chaired by Haydn Watkins of Andover and District Older People’s Forum and include speakers from Hampshire County Council, Hampshire NHS, Test Valley Borough Council and Age Concern.

Full details are given on the attached poster poster

The organisers would like questions submitted in advance using the attached form which should be sent to Test Valley Community Services.

Car parking charges to rise

Test Valley’s Tories have broken their election promise to freeze parking charges. The picture below is taken from an election address delivered across Alamein ward only a year ago by Cllrs North, Brook and Whiteley.

Barely a year later they have quietly dropped this promise and allowed the leadership of the council to raise parking charges to help balance the books. Meanwhile they hold over £76 million in reserves and spend a staggering £1.3 million on councillors and their meetings.

The only murmur of dissent came from Cllr North who was quickly told to shut up. The other two have failed to comment on this disgraceful deceipt. I have tried to follow the decision process and found the original recommendation by the council’s cabinet was not taken to full council as originally planned. Nor was it discussed by the council’s scrutiny committee (where Cllr North as vice chairman cancelled the meeting when it could have been raised). It was postponed a number of times until finally sneaked through without the usual fanfare of press releases we have come to expect from the council leader and his cronies.

Notices have appeared in all the council car parks less than a month before the increases are due to come in to force and details are hidden away on the council’s website where it takes time and effort to find them. Full details of the charges are available here New Parking charges