The village of Enham Alamein will be commemorating Alamein Day on Sunday 19th of October. Full details are given on the attached poster. For further details please contact the Enham Trust or the parish council.
Speed restriction on Newbury Road
Test Valley Borough Council is to introduce a temporary 30 mph speed limit on the northbound carriageway of Newbury Road to allow for works in connection with access to Knights Enham School.
The limit will apply to the northbound carriageway only from a point 20 metres north of its junction with King Arthur’s Way to a point 350 metres further north. A 30mph limit will apply from Monday 20th October 2008 for a period of 6 months or until completion of the works whichever is sooner. It is expected that the limit will only be required for 4 months.
Prezzo gets approval
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.
East Anton MDA update
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.
Litter on Greenwich Way
Working locally I am able to keep an eye on flytipping and litter in and around Alamein ward. The above picture shows some of the problems I regularly encounter. In this case the end of Greenwich Way is being used as an unofficial lorry park and takeway litter, discarded meals ands drink cans are left here afterwards.
I have contacted council officers to request the area be cleaned up as soon as possible. I am also supporting my fellow councillor Mike McGarry’s campaign to get a proper lorry pasrk in Andover with adequate facilities for drivers. Once such a park is established three is no need for drivers to park up on other roads and leave the sort of litter I found here when they leave.
Askalot celebrates first birthday
Askalot Community Shop on King Arthurs Way will be celebrating its first birthday on 18th October. To celebrate the success of its first year, Askalot will be hosting an afternoon of activities which includes face painting, balloon sculpting, book stall and more. A number of agency staff will also be on hand to provide advice on a wide range of topics Activities will be held at the shop from 12:00-3:00pm.
It will also be an opportunity for members of the public to meet Petra, the new Askalot Project Co-ordinator, who is based in the shop Monday to Thursday 9.30 -2:00pm.
For more information, please contact Petra on 01264 358443.
Amazing Alamein Swap Shop
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
Thoughts on the financial crisis
It strikes me that the current financial crisis is a direct result of lax controls over financial institutions over a number of years. The orgy of asset stripping of public and mutually owned businesses in the 1990s, sold to us all as privatisation for the common good turned out to be nothing of the sort. It has now left this country’s economy in a weaker situation than otherwise it would have been.
Successive governments have encouraged and sometimes forced through deregulation for the sake of it to satisfy the demands of bankers and others who have proved unfit to be trusted. The leader of the Scottish Nationalists has rightly called them a band of spivs and speculators.
While the US government seems to have grasped the seriousness of the situation and is taking appropriate action in the UK there appears to be an air of indifference to the whole thing. Strange until you realise the two major political parties are responsible for and still committed to the system which is on the brink of collapse.
More worrying is the close links between some of them and the hedge fund managers responsible for the current run on our banks. As reported in today’s Observer a small group of city financiers who have made fortunes from falling stock market prices are paying at least £50,000 a year to the Conservative party. These donations entitle them to buy privileged access to Tory leader David Cameron
Commenting on the donations Lord Oakeshott, Lib Dem Treasury spokesman said “We see the same hedge fund wolf packs that brought HBOS to its knees are bankrolling the Tory party. No wonder David Cameron and George Osborne wouldn’t condemn short selling or the hedge funds’ disgraceful behaviour.”
Full details of the Tory party’s link to the hedge funds are to be revealed a Dispatches program to be broadcast by Channel 4 tomorrow.
Fluoridation update
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.
New Andover Web site
Andover Liberal Democrats have this weelk launched a new website for the town. This will contain news items of interest to residents across Andover and updates on the work carried out by our county councillors and candidates for county council elections next year.
The link to the new website is http://andoverlibdems.blogspot.com/
The three candidates selected to represent Andover are
Andover North: County Councillor Robin Hughes
Andover South: Vince McGarry
Andover West: Josie Msonthi