Across Eastleigh

Hampshire County Council short listed for prestigious MJ award

2008-04-20T22:31:00.003+01:00

Hampshire County Council has been short-listed for a prestigious award which recognises outstanding public services.
Competition to become a finalist for an MJ Local Government Achievement award was extremely tough, with local authorities fighting for a short listed place in one of the 16 categories.
The Council won a finalist position in the: Promoting Active Communities Achievement category. It was also commended in two other MJ awards categories: Transforming Public Services Achievement of the Year and Best Use of Resources Achievement of the Year.
The promoting active communities achievement entry tells how Hampshire County Council is encouraging people to be more active and take more responsibility for themselves as they put health and wellbeing at the heart of community life.
Staff are at the forefront of helping deliver this agenda to the public through promoting healthy eating in schools and encouraging more exercise among young and older people. Internally a workplace activities scheme for county council employees has attracted some 21,000 visits in two years to various exercise classes.
Executive Member for Recreation and Heritage, Councillor Margaret Snaith, said: “I was absolutely delighted to find out that the Recreation and Heritage team has been short listed for this accolade of Promoting Active Communities Achievement of the Year award by the MJ.
“Every department in the authority is putting our ‘maximising wellbeing’ policy into action. The feedback from staff has been particularly positive as they see the young, old and disadvantaged in Hampshire get more active with a renewed zest for life.
“Achieving a short listed position at the awards is not only a credit to our staff but also shows how Hampshire County Council is providing the highest possible standard of service to the people of Hampshire.”
Hampshire County Council was also commended in the Transforming Public Service Achievement Award for its innovation, imagination and ambition in transforming the public library service. Embarking on an ambitious programme to regenerate old libraries, deliver Discovery Centre’s, extend opening hours and re-branding the library service were all part of Hampshire’s determination to tackle the decline in library use.
Councillor Snaith added: “You only have to look at our brand new Winchester Discovery Centre to see Hampshire’s dedication to reversing the decline in library use. Since it opened in late November 2007 it has attracted over 175,500 visitors, 60% more than the same period in 2005.Not only is it a fabulous modern library, there is also two galleries, a café, learning spaces and numerous computers all under one roof – a real cultural destination in itself, so no wonder the crowds are flocking!”
The Council was also commended in the Best Use of Resources Achievement of the Year award for its savings through modernisation in Adult Services. Through a forward thinking programme of savings which combined spending reduction with modernisation to such effect that the Council has moved from two to three stars for Adult Social Care with excellent prospects for improvement.
Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Ken Thornber CBE said: “Congratulations to everyone who has helped put Hampshire County Council on the MJ map as one of the best performing local authorities.”
The winners will be announced at a gala awards night on June 26 in London, by Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow.
This is the fifth year the MJ has run the awards.
Other short listed authorities for the Promoting Active Communities Award are: Birmingham City Council, Caradon DC, East Ayshire Council, Lambeth LBC, North Tyneside MBC, North West Leicestershire DC, Walsall MBC.Hampshire County Council owns thousands of acres of beautiful countryside and parks and is using them to promote the benefits of increased levels of exercise and activity.

Where did the money go?

2008-04-03T19:44:00.002+01:00

KEITH House, Eastleigh's Lib. Dem Council leader, stated that income from land disposal in Eastleigh is only used for new facilities for residents (Daily Echo, Thursday March 27). Could he please inform readers of this paper what exactly the reputed £20 million was spent on which was obtained from the sale of South Street Allotments in Eastleigh? Please also tell us exactly how much was received for the sale of these six hectares. The public who live around South Street have a right to know what has happened to this money - so far they have seen no benefits, just noise, mess, pollution and growing traffic problems.

Dr Andrew C Ross, Eastleigh. (As published in Southampton Daily Echo 3/4/08)

The Scandal of Sid

2008-03-29T19:23:00.008Z

It has taken me several days to write this blog on Sid, such has been my sadness and anger at our Council for doing such a thing.

Sid’s History
Sid the Sycamore was planted 72 years ago to celebrate Eastleigh becoming a borough. Sycamores are not particularly special trees but because of it’s historical significance and location this one is!

Sadly Sid was cut down by Eastleigh Borough Council on Easter Monday 24th March 2008.

The Point
The Point is Eastleigh’s dance centre. Last year Eastleigh Borough Council put in over £300,000 into the Centre. This year, on February 6th Eastleigh Borough Council Cabinet agreed to pump in a further £2,674,700 over the period of 2008 to 2010 to develop phase 3 of the Point. This development comes at the expense of the taxpayer and the Recreation Ground.

Council connivance
At the Council Cabinet meeting on March 6th Councillor House announced to the Cabinet that there had been a request for a judicial review on the proposed felling of Sid by a member of the public.
According to Wikipedia a Judicial review is the power of a court to review the actions of public sector bodies in terms of their legality or constitutionality. In some jurisdictions it is also possible to review the constitutionality of the law itself. A person who feels that an exercise of such power by, say,… the local council …., is unlawful, perhaps because it has violated his or her rights, may apply to the Administrative Court (a division of the High Court) for judicial review of the decision. If the application for judicial review is successful, the Court may set aside (quash) the unlawful act. In certain limited circumstances, the Claimant may be able to obtain damages. A court may also make a mandatory or prohibitory order or an injunction to compel the authority to act lawfully or to stop it from acting unlawfully .It is thus amazing that the Local Councillors of Eastleigh have allowed the felling of this tree given that they could be in contempt of court and referred to the standards committee.
Lib Dems look on
Lib. Dem. Councillor Chris Thomas, chair of the Local Area Committee, claimed that he had no specific knowledge that the tree was going to be cut down on Easter Monday, but strangely, members of the public saw fellow Lib.Dem Councillors Davies-Dear and Wayne Irish sitting in a car in a side street watching the whole process. In the photograph Lib.Dem councillor Andy Moore(left) looks down with shame and embarrasment when challenged by Conservative Robert Quane on the night before Sid's death..

A great loss
What most disappoints me is that part of the pretty Recreational ground is to be lost for a phase 3 extension for a dance centre. Time after time these councilors are chipping away at our green spaces, be they allotments, parks or greens and selling off the land or just building on it. And all the time it costs the Council tax payers more money - £3000 in this case, just for the destruction of one precious and historic tree.

Just as a man betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver and so condemned him to his death I feel betrayed by our Councillors who have unjustly and unlawfully condemned this tree to its death.

Building a vote loser?

2008-03-29T13:43:00.004Z

I THOROUGHLY agree with Sam Snook's comments of Wednesday March 19 (Daily Echo Letters) about the tremendous amount of construction being permitted by the Liberal Democrat Council in Eastleigh.

Currently, I calculate that there are 1156 new dwellings in the process of construction or planning in the town of Eastleigh, not including smaller building projects of which there are scores. They are

432 new dwellings at South Street

27 flats on Old Service station, Southampton Road

161 flats at 68-96 Twyford Road

43 houses and flats on Magpie Lane

30 flats on Nightingale Avenue

63 flats and Offices in 8 storey building at Earth Night Club site

400 flats and houses on Prysmian site in Passfield Avenue.

Over the last 150 years the number of homes in Eastleigh has grown to around 10,500. In the next two years the numbers of homes are scheduled to grow by over 10 per cent more. However there will be no new main roads or sewers to cope with this demand.

Each dwelling will create an extra six traffic movements, that is another 7000 more traffic movements around Eastleigh a day. Travel will become a nightmare for commuters and the emergency services alike. Yet our Liberal Democrat council persist with this madness. Why? We have the chance to tell them "No more'', this May 1.

Referendum results and local views

2008-03-04T19:49:00.004Z

The views of three Eastleigh people and the BBC.

Maria Hutchings, Eastleigh Conservative Candidate writes:
"The 2nd March 2008 will be recorded in history books as the day people demanded democracy."

"The results of the I Want A Referendum Poll in Eastleigh were announced: "

"20,361 people voted (more people than voted for Eastleigh's MP Chris Huhne, and than voted in the 2007 local elections and the European elections). 18,370 wanted a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. Over 90% were AGAINST agreeing the Lisbon Treaty which will give us less control over British affairs. "

"Only 10 constituencies in Great Britain were polled and Eastleigh came top in terms of wanting a referendum and not giving away more powers to Brussels. "

"I know that you care as passionately as I do about making sure we keep greater control over British policy. Anybody who says Eastleigh voters aren't that interested in the relationship between the EU and Britain couldn't be more wrong. "

"Chris Huhne promised you a referendum at the last general election but now he believes you should no longer have the right of a referendum. He has broken his promise. I am appalled by this and have urged him in the strongest terms do the honourable thing and vote for a referendum in Parliament."

"I am proud to British, proud of our traditions and of who we are and do NOT want to be controlled by Europe. I will continue the fight for the good of Britain, the people of Eastleigh and our children. "

Chris Rhodes, local Conservative writes:

"Mr Chris Huhne’s dismissal of the ‘I Want a referendum’ result in Eastleigh is breathtakingly arrogant and shows the contempt he has for his electorate. He also insults their intelligence by pretending that the Lisbon Treaty is not the same as the constitution, whilst other European leaders and the Foreign Affairs Committee, believe it to be virtually identical. "

"Mr Huhne quoted percentage of voter responses to justify his position but failed to mention the actual votes received. In the General election he polled 19, 316 votes yet on a pole, of about two thirds of the electorate, calling for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty (EU Constitution) 20, 361 voted and of these 18, 370 called for a referendum."

"Huhne should remember that he is a servant of the people – not the other way round. His, apparent, intention to ignore this vote is yet another reason why politicians are so often held in contempt by their electorate."

The BBC website says:

"MPs have overwhelmingly rejected a Liberal Democrat attempt to force a debate on Britain's EU membership. MPs voted by 471 to 68 not to allow the debate. "

"The government and the Lib Dems say the treaty does not have constitutional implications, so a referendum on it is not needed."

"But the Conservatives, some Labour and Lib Dem MPs and the UK Independence Party, all say that it is effectively the constitution under a different name - so there should be a referendum.
Wednesday's vote in the House of Commons - expected in the early evening - is seen as the key vote in the EU treaty's progress through the UK Parliament. "

Conservative leader David Cameron says he hopes they can win - but said "a lot depends" on support from rebel Lib Dem MPs.

Kate Ross says:

"Chris Huhne and the other Liberal Democrats promised the electorate a referendum on the European Constitution. Tomorrow the debate on the Lisbon treaty concludes with a vote. Lib Dems should take the opportunity afforded to them at the end of the debate to vote with the Conservatives and others for a referendum on the Lisbon treaty."

What do you think? Send us your blog - see below.

Referendum or no referendum?

2008-02-25T22:11:00.003Z

At the last general election in 2005 all three main parties promised a referendum on the planned European Constitution. Where is that referendum? Well it is being held in 10 constituencies across the UK but sadly without all party Parliamentary support.
Our Parliament is currently debating whether we should accept the Lisbon treaty or not. When will Parliament give us a referendum on that? If, at a referendum, the United Kingdom rejects the Lisbon treaty then we should have Mr Clegg's referendum on whether we should be in or out of Europe. Step by step our country can make decisions. The people: Parliament: The People. Simple!

Lib Dem Councillors vote to destroy part of Recreation ground

2008-02-24T16:33:00.007Z

At last week's meeting of the Local area committee (Monday 18th February) six Lib Dem councillors voted to extend the Point, Eastleigh's Community dance centre further into the Recreation Ground, Eastleigh’s Protected urban green space.
The proposals will allow for the creation of new dance studios, a link building and alterations to existing buildings. 150 square metres of land is to be lost including Sid the Sycamore tree which has been the subject of a major conservation effort by people from Eastleigh.(see http://www.everyoneweb.com/savesid/).

Sid is now a famous tree having featured on Meridian tonight and being available to view on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra-XYQY_Cag

Although Planning regulation 58 BE Urban Greenspace states "The Council will not permit development on a greenspace which is identified on the proposals map, unless as part of a comprehensive redevelopment it is replaced by a greenspace of equal and improved amount, quality and accessibility," the Councillors plan to completely disregard this regulation. The planning proposals also admit that this proposal is "technically not according with the requirements of PPG 17 to retain all public open space." Elsewhere the planning application states "Strictly speaking in accordance with PPG 17 this policy should be applied to all sports and recreational uses such as The Point," but the report goes on to state, "it is not considered that the open space being lost is significant." Currently there are no proposals to give back any land to the people of Eastleigh to replace these 150 square metres because they say that they are improving the area.

So not only have they broken their own planning rules under 58BE, they have twisted national planning policy PPG 17 to their own ends and, if this was not enough, they have broken major planning rules under PPS 9. This states that trees should not be removed if they “enhance biodiversity in green spaces and among developments so that they are used by wildlife and valued by people, recognising that healthy functional ecosystems can contribute to a better quality of life and add to people’s sense of well being.”
PPS 9 also states that “developments must take account of the role and value of biodiversity in supporting economic diversification and contributing to a high quality environment” and that “if significant harm cannot be prevented to such tree’s, then planning permission should be REFUSED.”

So our Liberal Democrat Councillors are continuing to break the planning laws of this town They did it on a much bigger scale when they allowed the Pavilion in the park to be built on the green fields of the Fleming Park Golf course and they got away with it then. This allowed the Council to sell off the site of the Nightingale Centre for another 30 odd flats and 10 houses. You would think that the miillions of pounds that the council make from selling land (it is reputed to be around £10m for the sale of South Street allotments) would allow them to reduce Council tax and local charges, not put them up further. These Lib. Dem councillors are slowly destroying our town and they must be stopped.

If you are concerned about these issues please contact me asap. See more about Sid on : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWaOXpRIDOIW.

Pictures of Matthew Myatt and his son in front of Sid and

the six Lib Dem councillors who voted for this plan. Their names are (from top to bottom)

Councillor Peter Wall (Lib Dem)

Councillor Glynn Davies-Dear (Lib Dem)

Councillor Andy Moore (Lib Dem)

Councillor Wayne Irish (Lib Dem)

Councillor Chris Thomas (Lib Dem)

Councillor Jenny Head (Lib Dem)

Maria moves to Eastleigh

2008-02-22T15:54:00.003Z

Maria Hutchings has moved to Eastleigh! After months of waiting for exchange of contracts at last the Hutchings family contract has been exchanged and she is moving in. She has been incredibly busy since her selection last autumn so now she will be able to do even more to help the people of Eastleigh.

The Referendum on Europe

2008-02-22T15:43:00.001Z

With Eastleigh in the middle of a referendum on Europe it is perhaps worthwhile thinking about those two questions on the ballot paper:

1. Should the United Kingdom hold a national referendum on the EU’s Lisbon Treaty: yes or no?
2. Should the United Kingdom adopt the EU’s Lisbon treaty: yes or no?

Parliament is currently debating the new European Union Treaty called the Lisbon treaty which would give significant powers to the EU. MPs are going to decide whether Britain should accept the Treaty and whether to give people a say in a national referendum.

Currently most Labour and Lib. Dem MPs are in favour of accepting the European Treaty while many Conservative MPs are opposed to accepting it.

Can we trust the M.P.s to do the right thing? Well first we need to know what people think. That is the reason for having a referendum in 10 constituencies nationally and we are fortunate to be one of those. Our vote is supposed to represent the South East of England.

Personally I am in favour of being in Europe but not ruled by it. As the Lisbon treaty seeks to extend its rule over 60 of our vetoes I am against accepting the Lisbon treaty. In fact I would rather be out of Europe than accept the treaty. Why?

1. A secret European Parliament report has uncovered “extensive, widespread and criminal abuse” by MEPs of staff allowances worth almost £100 m a year. Many are illegally claiming £125 000 a year for staff and then disbursing it as they wish.
2. For 13 years in a row the European Court of Auditors has refused to endorse the European budget. However the MEPs have voted through the money anyway.
3. If MEPs cannot run their own accounts honestly are they the right people to be in charge of our taxes, our foreign policy, our laws and our borders?
4. The Lisbon Treaty will give them 60 new areas where they can make laws that affect us. Britain, by enlarge, obeys these European rulings, the rest of Europe, by enlarge, ignores them. So we as a nation are constantly shooting ourselves in the foot.

May I encourage all my readers to think carefully through these issues, vote in the referendum and make your views known to our MP and ex MEP who is one of the most pro- European people around.

We want a referendum!

2008-02-17T20:46:00.006Z

A report of a meeting held on Saturday 16th Feb. 2008 at the Railway Institute.

Yesterday afternoon I attended a meeting at the Railway Institute in Eastleigh organised by the I want a referendum.com campaign. I had heard various bits about this referendum in the media which has been organised in 10 constituencies in Britain but wasn’t very sure what was going to happen at the meeting. It proved to be a very interesting time!

The meeting was hosted by a Michael Taylor of the “I want a Referendum” campaign who was at pains to say that he was politically neutral and had voted for all 3 parties in recent years. On the platform was Daniel Hannan, Hampshire’s MEP, Richard Robinson, prospective MEP, and Maria Hutchings, Eastleigh’s prospective Parliamentary candidate. There was a place set for Chris Huhne, but he didn’t turn up. The audience seemed fairly evenly divided between UKIP, Conservative and Lib. Dems. I didn’t discern that there were any Labour supporters present, perhaps they are not interested in Europe?

There were some good speeches from Michael Taylor, Maria and Daniel followed by a lengthy question and answer time.

The most interesting points for me were:

The Lisbon treaty is very similar to the Constitution which was rejected by two nations recently. It would effectively make the EU into a country with a head of state, a foreign policy, the power of coercive force and allow it to be recognised by other nations.

Many people spoke of the loss of Britain’s national sovereignty and the increasing control over Britain by Europe and felt this was a step too far. The general feeling seemed to be a preference “to be in Europe, but not controlled by it.”

When Daniel Hannan was challenged (by a UKIP guy I think) why the Conservatives had voted for the Maarstricht treaty he asked how many people who were old enough had voted for it. About 2/3 of the people in the room put up their hands while 1/3 of the audience had voted against it. Daniel explained that this was roughly in lines with the national vote. People thought they were voting for a common market, not national unification. They had been hoodwinked by the politicians (particularly the European ones). He then asked how many would vote for the Lisbon Treaty now. One person was in favour with almost everyone else against. He explained that this was like the Conservative party, they had made a mistake supporting the Maarstricht treaty and should not make the same mistake supporting this one.

One questioner suggested that it was as if the European train was hurtling along towards full unification and that we needed a referendum to give us as a nation an opportunity to stop the train briefly so that we could consider whether we wanted to stay on the train or get off.

A member of the audience explained that Chris Huhne was opposed to a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, but wanted a referendum on the whole issue of whether to be in Europe or not. Evidently he is starting his own campaign for a “real referendum”. This seems rather bizarre as Huhne was a European MEP and has really profited financially from Europe as well as being one of the most pro- European Lib. Dems. Before the last election Huhne promised the Eastleigh electorate that he would support a referendum on the European Union’s Constitutional Treaty. He has gone back on that promise, refusing to support a referendum on the treaty in his own constituency and yet wants his own idea of a referendum on whether to be in or out of Europe.

There were some interesting discussions between UKIP and Conservative supporters, with UKIP members expressing their surprise that Conservatives were so Eurosceptic and Conservatives urging UKIP voters to vote Conservative to install a more like minded MP and kick out a strongly pro-European MP.

The meeting ended after about 75 minutes with the platform speakers urging all present to use this opportunity to vote on a referendum. Some Eastleigh people will not have received a voting form because they ticked a box on the Electoral list form saying that they did not want to be contacted by 3rd parties. If they wish to receive a ballot paper they must call 0208 365 8909 within a few days. Voting closes on 25th February.

Eastleigh's rat and people problems

2008-01-30T22:26:00.000Z

I've just been wandering round Eastleigh's town centre with Matthew Myatt, freelance photographer, Sam Snook, local expert on the sewers of Eastleigh and Robert Quane, Conservative Candidate for Eastleigh Central. Matthew showed us heaps of rotting rubbish, bags of discarded food, piles of cardboard boxes and as we watched some large rats scuttled about. Matthew explained that at 2 or 3 am the place was live with large rats. Sam added that with such abundant food and hiding places the rats hardly need to live in the sewers any longer because they can rest up in the piles of rubbish.

What is to be done about this? Well these firms pay their taxes to the Borough for their refuse to be disposed of. But the bins are full and overflowing. Clearly some people are neglecting to do their duty. Council workers, Environmental health Officers and Shopkeepers may all share some of the responsibility.

These areas are reminiscent of the squalour of London's streets in early Victorian times (not that I was around then, you

understand). They clearly pose an enormous health risk. We feel that they ought to be brought to the attention of the Eastleigh public.

Photograph 1 Rear of Kwik Save

Photograph 2 Rear of The Works

Photograph 3 Rear of Dominos Pizzas

All photographs Copyright of Matthew Myatt

Borough Council attempting to cut down trees in Recreation ground

2008-01-29T21:40:00.000Z

Check out this website for details of a murderous plot by our Council.

http://www.everyoneweb.com/savesid/

Brown bottles it!

2007-10-06T22:47:00.000+01:00

Andrew Sheridan drove the England front row forward to victory today.
Gordon Brown led the Labour retreat from calling an election today.

What an incredible day it has been! Unfancied England beat Australia 12 -10. The front row of their pack was immense, driving Australia back time after time. France beat New Zealand, favourites to win the 2007 World Cup, by two points. And Gordon Brown rules out an election!

For a guy who was 10 points up in some polls one week ago to call off the election after polls in the marginals suggest a 6 point swing to Conservatives is some humiliation! It shows Brown in his real colour. He has been trying to become leader of the labour party for years, prepared to stab Tony Blair in the back whenever he could. Now we see that the colour of his liver really is yellow. Is he fit to run the country? When will he bottle it next? Can he cope with a real crisis? He can talk tough, but his real colour is yellow.

And Ming's party is now down to 11% in the polls. Looks like Chris Huhne is heading for a drubbing in Eastleigh. Will he try to find a safe seat somewhere else? Is there a safe Lib. Dem seat anywhere in the country?

Disabled Rights campaigner selected for Eastleigh

2007-09-29T16:19:00.000+01:00

Eastleigh Conservative Association has voted unanimously to elect Maria Hutchings as their candidate to fight the next general election.

Mrs Hutchings, 46, and mother of four, said "it is a huge honour and privilege that I should be selected to represent Eastleigh. We will start right now to build upon the hard work of local Conservatives to ensure a victory in the next general election. The Blair/Brown project has brought this country to its knees with stifling stealth taxes and now Brown is poised to submit even more power to the E.U. The people of Eastleigh and Great Britain deserve better and this lady is ready to deliver."

Maria Hutchings first came to our attention in February 2005 when she lambasted Tony Blair on national television for the closure of special schools and the lack of provision for disabled children.

Maria is a communications consultant and married to Stuart, 49, who is a marketing manager to a group of electronics companies.

We are absolutely thrilled to have Maria as our candidate. She is a passionate politician, full of conviction and a bundle of energy.

Eastleigh's Conservative Parliamentary Candidate

2007-09-25T22:14:00.000+01:00

Eastleigh's Conservative Parliamentary Candidate will be announced this Saturday 29th September. Be one of the first to know his or her name. Find out here on the blog on Saturday evening.

Referendum on the EU Constitutional Treaty

2007-09-22T17:27:00.000+01:00

Last week residents of East Stoke, a Dorset village voted in a referendum about whether the nation should be surveyed on the new legislation for the European treaty

The vote was called when a local resident, John Barnes, used an obscure provision of the 1972 Local Government Act which states that if 10 members of a parish call for a vote on any subject then the council is obliged to carry out the request.

Mr Barnes said he hoped the result would lead to further polls being held across the country to put pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to call a referendum on whether to accept the treaty.

Imre Niedermayer, Hungarian-born landlord of the village pub, The Stokeford Inn, said he was happy to take the time to cast his vote as he believed the poll represented "democracy in action".

"What this is about is democracy. I was brought up under communism and unless we have a vote about this treaty and unless we are all allowed to make our contribution to politics then it is not healthy and we will end up with a police state."

If you would like to vote on this issue please select yes or no on the right. You may also post your comments below.

Britain's broken society

2007-09-16T19:46:00.000+01:00

What are the causes of Britain's broken society? Are they

High crime rates
Drug abuse
Alcoholism
Gambling addiction
Divorce
Cohabitation
One parent families
Debt
Television
A lack of religious beliefs and teaching
Poor education
The yob culture
Overcrowding
Multiculturalism

What do you think? Please let me know.

A couple of statistics I came across recently are

"Half of unmarried couples separate by their child's fifth birthday. One in 12
married couples separate by their child's fifth birthday." David Cameron

Britian's broken society costs the country £102 b a year:
Family breakdown £24 b
Educational underachievement £18 b
Crime £60 b

Personal debt is now at a total of £1.38 trillion in the UK. The average debt of each family is £54, 452. 7 - 9 million people say that they have a serious problem with debt.

At least the Conservative party is trying to address these issues. Gordon Brown, like is predecessor Tony Blair, seems happy to send us further into debt.

Air pollution: the consequence of more building in Eastleigh

2007-06-30T09:25:00.000+01:00

One effect of all the rain we have experienced recently is the tremendous growth of plants, particularly weeds. Kate and I spent a peaceful couple of hours yesterday weeding part of our allotment. We had planned to continue this morning (Saturday) but it is raining again. While we were quietly working away I was listening to all the noise around- the roar of two motorways, each about a kilometer away, the traffic on Passfield Avenue and Derby Road and the occasional take off of a plane from Southampton airport, a kilometer in the other direction.

Most of the town of Eastleigh is hemmed in between the M3 to the west, the M27 to the south and the airport to the East. The motorways are heavily congested and occasionally gridlocked. Traffic flow around the town is poor; it can sometimes take an hour to travel a couple of kilometers. Air pollution is bad. Monitoring sites in various places around the town frequently exceed UK National Air quality standards and mean annual levels are above safety limits.

Eastleigh Borough Council will soon be examining plans to build 452 houses on South Street Allotment site and an unknown number of houses on the Woodside Road Allotment site. For each new dwelling there will be an estimated additional 6 traffic movements. What will happen to the Nitrogen Dioxide levels? They will rise further. Do the people of Eastleigh want to live in an increasingly unhealthy environment?

In the 1970's I conducted a piece of research on the park lakes of Liverpool for my M. Phil. degree. The 7 Liverpool parks were constructed because "the researches of sanitary science show incontrovertibly that the general health decreases and the rate of mortality increases in proportion to the density of population in a given area......it was suggested to construct a series of parks in such a relation to each other as will secure a central line of open space, to act as a kind of lung which will in a few years be the heart of Liverpool." (Anon 1868 - quoted in my thesis).

It appears to me that those 19th century Liverpool planners were more enlightened than 21st century Lib. Dem Councillors who are intent in pushing through plans to destroy places which have been public open spaces for over 80 years. By building more houses and roads they will further damage the health of Eastleigh people.

Mean annual Nitrogen Dioxide levels at a few sites around Eastleigh

Notes
Figures are in microgrammes per cubic metre, μgm-3
The National Air quality standard for Nitrogen dioxide is a maximum annual mean of 40 μgm-3 with 200 μgm-3 as a maximum which must not be exceeded more than 18 times in a year.
References
1. http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/site_search.php
2. http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/laqm/tools.php?tool=background04
3. http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/laqm/tools/95_2004.csv
4. http://www.airquality.co.uk/archive/data_and_statistics.php?

Flooding and the Eastleigh Allotments High Court Decision.

2007-06-26T22:17:00.000+01:00

In a week where much of England has experienced exceptional rainfall and floods the people of Eastleigh have mercifully escaped. However the High Court decision this week to allow building on Eastleigh's allotments will only bring that risk of flooding closer. Just today I heard a professor from Liverpool's John Moores University stating on the radio that building houses, roads and paving gardens all increases the risk of flash floods. He urged people to keep woodlands and green spaces within towns as these absorbed up to 50% of the water falling on them.

If, as the Lib Dem run council in Eastleigh desire, these two prime sites are sold off for hundreds more houses the risk of flooding to low lying parts of Eastleigh will incrase dramatically.

We have been warned by this week's weather!

It is a sad week for Eastleigh people. A couple of years ago 14 000 people signed a petition to keep Eastleigh's South Street and Woodside allotments. Hundreds of people are on waiting lists for allotments near their homes. We are being encouraged to go green, grow our own, reduce the food miles, eat more fruit and vegetables, get fit by undertaking more exercise, plant more trees - all things which are promoted by having an allotment. Yet because of overpopulation in the South of England and poor planning of housing needs we are forced to relinquish one of our most precious assets.

Eastleigh Allotment Holders Judicial Review Appeal denied

2007-06-25T20:25:00.000+01:00

I am publishing the Allotment Holders statement directly as released. Please let me have your views!

HIGH COURT CHALLENGE OVER ALLOTMENT SALE
JUDICIAL REVIEW PERMISSION HEARING – Monday 25th June 2007

On 12th July 2006, the Secretary of State granted permission for the disposal of South Street and Monks Way allotments in Eastleigh, Hampshire. It is our firm belief that the Secretary of State’s decision was flawed. It is an anomalous decision that is inconsistent with the requirements and application of allotments legislation and has relied upon conclusions that are factually incorrect.

Whilst the Secretary of State’s decision was of considerable disappointment to plot holders on the affected sites in Eastleigh, its potential impact upon the future of other allotments around the country is more worrying.

Today, the High Court has refused permission for Ruth Kelly’s controversial decision to be subject to a Judicial Review. This is a huge disappointment for the plot holders and supporters who have fought tirelessly for over 4½ years in a campaign not only to save the threatened sites in Eastleigh, but also to prevent the basis of protection for all statutory allotments from being undermined. By not proceeding to Judicial Review, this decision increases the uncertainty surrounding the protection that can be expected for statutory allotments across the Country. Should it result in, or even encourage, the erosion of the Country’s allotment resource, it will have helped to achieve precisely the opposite of the Government’s stated intention in 2002 to provide better protection for allotments and ensure that future demand for allotments can be met.

On behalf of the Eastleigh and Bishopstoke Allotments Association, I would like to thank everyone who has committed so much in support of this campaign and enabled us to bring it this far. Such commitment comes from a deep passion for allotment gardening and a determination to adhere to the principles of democracy.

Tim Holzer
Association Chairman

Local Conservatives

2007-06-14T23:03:00.000+01:00

do not attempt to deceive the electorate, do not lie and do not indulge in personal attacks.

Conservatives believe in:
honest debate
the role of the family in promoting discipline and a stable society.
safe, clean, streets properly policed at all times
discipline and respect for our teachers in our schools
only more housing development where the infrastructure (water, sewers parking and roads) can cope, and where the plans are supported by local people
an independent Great Britain, the primacy of our own Parliament
strict control of immigration.

Local Conservatives will:
continue to work for the preservation of our greens and open spaces.
oppose plans to build 6000 dwellings on the ‘green belt’
seek to introduce a waste collection policy that collects rubbish, green and food waste weekly and recyclable paper and glass, fortnightly. All for free! No new charges!

News of Eastleigh Conservatives

2007-06-14T23:01:00.000+01:00

Membership of the Conservative Party in Eastleigh Borough has increased by hundreds over the last couple of years. We are currently in the early stages of selecting our Parliamentary Candidate to lead us forward.
A new Conservative branch began in Eastleigh town last Autumn and we meet monthly to discuss local issues.
We’ve already enjoyed a party and a dinner together since the May 3rd election.

Issues facing Eastleigh

2007-06-14T23:00:00.000+01:00

Are you concerned about these issues facing Eastleigh?

A. Litter
B. Refuse problems e.g. flies, rats and smells

Are you prepared to help do something about the problems?

Gerald Sewell is launching a clean-up campaign. Please contact him, telling of your experiences and what you think should be done about it.
Phone Gerald Sewell 023 8061 6324
Or write to him at 6 Starling Square, Eastleigh

A message to UKIP voters

2007-06-14T22:58:00.000+01:00

We ask you to seriously consider the result of voting UKIP in the Eastleigh area.
By voting UKIP at the last General Election, you have allowed Chris Huhne, a pro- European Lib Dem to gain a slim majority and get into Parliament.
By voting for UKIP in local elections you may be keeping out anti - European Conservatives and helping pro-European Lib Dems to be elected.
Is this really what you want? Please vote Conservative next time.

Conservatives want trade with Europe, not control from corrupt Brussels Bureaucrats.

Council Offices in Winchester: the truth

2007-06-14T22:51:00.000+01:00

Do you re-call the Lib Dems made a great fuss about the cost of the refurbishment of the Council offices in Winchester? On checking it was found this was the most economical solution to a building in a bad state of decay.

Guess what
The Lib Dems attended committee meetings on this, and at County Council gave support for the work to be carried out! How can they then go to the electorate and repeatedly slate the Conservatives for something that they had supported?

Velmore Plans withdrawn!

2007-06-03T16:08:00.000+01:00

I've been on holiday for the past week, walking in the Austrian Tyrol and just returned today. My wife Kate and I are celebrating 25 years of wonderfully happy marriage! Our actual Silver anniversary is in the summer but we expect to be leading a comp of English and Austrian young people at the time, which won't enable us to have a romantic time together!

I am delighted to hear the news from Godfrey Olson and others. The full text of the original email reads.

Dear Member
I have this morning received a letter from the First
Wessex Housing Group withdrawing all 7 of their planning applications for the redevelopment of Velmore estate. This is to enable them "to embark opon new consultation and full engagement with the local community." They say that "once we have concluded this process incorporating their needs, we will be resubmitting a revised scheme for the estate".

Colin Peters.
Head of Development Control

Let us hope that next time those of us who care about the community can have a full imput into the planning process.

Southampton/Eastleigh merger still possible

2007-05-24T20:02:00.000+01:00

Even after the overwhelming response to the Conservatives campaign to preserve the independence of Eastleigh Borough a merger is still possible.

Eastleigh’s Conservative leader Godfrey Olson put before the council a motion seeking to maintain Eastleigh’s independence. This motion was overwhelmingly defeated by the Liberal Democrats.

At a recent Council meeting Lib Dems stated that they wanted the borough to be part of an enlarged Southampton City region and were prepared to build a further 6000 houses in Eastleigh for Southampton workers..

Velmore Bungalows: Age Concern Report slates Atlantic Housing Association

2007-05-24T19:56:00.000+01:00

The Age concern report on Atlantic Housing’s treatment of Velmore Residents states that ‘the whole process of consultation has been handled without compassion’ in a ‘total, matter of fact, faceless and uncaring way.’
In a meeting of the Local Area Committee on May 15th attended by about 80 angry local residents speaker after speaker called for Atlantic Housing to withdraw the plans or the Lib Dem and Labour councillors to throw them out. Sadly all the Councillors did was to postpone further consideration until June. Elderly residents must go on waiting anxiously.

A Simple Quiz by Chris Rhodes

2007-05-22T21:55:00.000+01:00

Q. Who determines housing policy? A. The Government.
Q. Who determines where the houses have to be built? A. The Unelected Regional Assembles.
Q. Who are told by the Regional Assemblies where to build? A. County Councils and Unitary authorities.
Q. Who runs Hampshire County Council? A. Conservatives
Q. Who blames the County Council for building quotas? A. Liberal Democrats
Q. Who loves Regional Assemblies? A. Liberal Democrats
Q. Who would abolish Regional Assemblies? A. Conservatives.
Q. Who sanctions planning applications in Eastleigh? A. Liberal Democrats
Q. Who blames the County Council for overdevelopment? A. Liberal Democrats
Q. Who is lying? A. Who do you think!

Eastleigh's Spitfire roundabout. A marvellous picture by Matthew S Myatt

2007-05-19T20:57:00.000+01:00

I met Matthew earlier this week and he kindly offered me this marvellous picture of the spitfire. Matthew is a very gifted local photographer who can be contacted on www.adhdsupport.info

News of the election

2007-05-12T21:03:00.000+01:00

A big thank you to all 525 of you who voted Conservative in Eastleigh South last Thursday. We managed to increase the number of votes cast for Conservatives by an amazing 76% (from 298 to 525). The events of the count were very exciting, with first Liberal Democrats thinking they had won by 15 votes, only for 20 votes for Labour to be found in the recount. Another spoilt Lib Dem ballot paper meant that eventually Labour won the seat by 6 votes. The actual figures were UKIP 180, Lib Dem 766, Lab 772, Con 525. Despite the tremendous successes nationally for Conservatives, it was a bad night for Conservatives, Labour, and the people of Eastleigh. The Lib Dems gained both Conservative seats and one of the two Labour seats. Only you, the Conservatives of South Eastleigh (many of whom had previously voted Lib Dem) stopped them making a clean sweep and sending a man from Hiltingbury to the Council as our representative.

The electorate has been conned
The Lib Dem newsletters were full of misinformation and spin and seem to have conned thousands of people into voting for them. Senior members of the party say they have never experienced such a filthy campaign by one party and a legal team is examining a number of their publications and certain voting irregularities.
One of the Lib Dem newsletters published in Eastleigh South has already been denounced by the Velmore Residents Association as "a complete lie."
The Lib Dems have been forced to apologise to the Eastleigh News Extra for producing a publication of the same name.

Lib Dem lies
One of the lies told by Lib Dems is that "an Eastleigh Conservative has launched a website campaigning AGAINST Eastleigh's planned cinema and leisure complex - SPOILTSPORT". We believe that they are referring to this site. The site was launched last November. The only mention of the cinema on this blog, before today, was the entry on April 11 which included a map of the town and an arrow showing
“New Cinema Complex – more traffic movements & parking problems”.
Hardly a website campaigning against the cinema! Incidentally, in an autumn 2006 newsletter the Lib Dems stated that work is not starting on the site until "after Christmas so there is no disruption in the town centre over the busy shopping period." Some of us have been waiting for this cinema for 8 years. Which Christmas are they referring to?

The Conservative Party
Tonight the Conservative team from Eastleigh South is having a party. We believe in celebrating success and rewarding our hard working activists. Next Wednesday evening (9th May) we begin to plan for the next 12 months. If you appreciate what we are trying to do for Eastleigh and want to help us move forward, please do get in touch. We would be delighted to send you membership details.

Allotments for all

2007-04-27T22:56:00.000+01:00

Allotments for all. There are over 200 people onthe Eastleigh waiting list forallotments. We are losing prime sites like South Streetand Woodside and beingoffered motorway embankments in their place.
Allotment gardening is booming. People are turning green by cutting down food miles and growing their own. As an allotment holder in Burns Close, I am in favour of creating more allotment sites in our town.

Preserving our green spaces

2007-04-26T21:49:00.000+01:00

Rather than building on our greens we believe Eastleigh Borough should offer financial rewards for any local community who comes up with a design to enhance their green space. Children and young people should be involved and begin to take pride in and ownership of their local area. Local groups might work together to design a garden, create an allotment, build an adventure playground, install a sculpture or a stone table tennis table or a wall for hitting tennis balls and kicking footballs against. They may prefer to restore an old boat for children to clamber over and play games in. It could be a tank or a plane or an old truck or a gipsy caravan ( not scrap rubbish but something attractive). Teenagers may grow attached to the feature as a place to chill, and if there were a number of these features around our estates it might help to keep young people in their local areas rather than roaming around in gangs. Of course it may not work, but "nothing ventured, nothing gained" as my Father used to say..

I came across a great idea tonight. We should make more of our roundabouts! Many French ones are really nicely presented, often with pieces of sculpture or a boat and fishing nets or something characteristically local on it. Why don't Eastleigh do the same? We could rent out the space to firms prepared to put some interesting feature on the island with some discrete advertising. Currently we have just one really good island -the Spitfire roundabout with Eastleigh's own Spitfire aircraft on it. Why don't we have more of these sorts of pride generating symbols around the town?

P.S. Has anyone got a decent picture of the Spitfire roundabout for this blog?

Council Tax: the burden on pensioners

2007-04-26T21:39:00.000+01:00

In a full Council meeting this year the Conservatives proposed a 4% reduction on Council tax for pensioners. This would have cost the Borough £20,000. Guess what! The other parties voted it out.

What Atlantic Housing don't want you to know

2007-04-26T21:27:00.000+01:00

In January the Conservatives prepared the newsletter shown in the photo for you. We had applied for permission from Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC) to publish the two drawings on 24th December 2006. From December until early March we were passed back and forward between Atlantic Housing (AHA) and EBC until eventually AHA refused us permission to print because they said our prints did not do their designs justice. We wanted everyone to know what the plans look like. Atlantic Housing don’t.

What is wrong with the plan?
• It fails to take into account the needs and desires of local residents.
• It does not offer existing bungalow dwellers a chance to continue living on the estate in a bungalow.
• It seeks to move people (such as 94 year old Dorothy Bell) from their homes.
• Overdevelopment. In Kent Road 6 bungalows will be demolished and 32 two bedroom flats will be constructed.
• Lack of car parking facilities. In Westfield Crescent there are plans for 24 new dwellings but only 18 car parking places, including 8 for registered disabled. Where will the remainder of cars be parked and where will visitors park?
• More parking problems. The bungalows on Belmont road will be demolished and be replaced by houses. Car parking places will be behind the houses on the service roads. These will not be used much as homeowners and visitors park on the road. So there is likely to be double parking on Belmont road, which is already heavily used at rush hours.
• Worsening traffic flow around the borough.
• Overloading of Eastleigh’s Sewers.

What the Conservatives propose
• Preparation of an overall plan for the estate in phases over 7-10 years.
• No-one over 75 should be expected to move unless they wish.
• Start with an area where most properties are vacant building 2 bedroom bungalows. These would be offered exclusively to existing bungalow dwellers who are prepared to move.
• Slowly replace all the bungalows with new 2 bedroom bungalows.
• Build some bungalows with small private back gardens and some with communal gardens. Build bungalows around courtyards with central parking to maintain a sense of community.
• Build at least as many bungalows as are currently on the estate. Only then consider building houses or flats.
• If demand is proven, build sheltered housing similar to Surrey Court.
• Provide abundant off road parking in front of the houses, not behind.
• All social facilities to be provided by AHA as development takes place.
• Improve the sewage system and the road system before these or any more house are built in Chandlers Ford and Eastleigh.

Velmore bungalows – what happens next?
Liberal democrats know that passing the 7 Atlantic housing applications just before an election is a vote looser. So they have postponed the April meeting for a report from Age Concern until after the elections on Tuesday May 15th when a determination will be.
What is the Local Area Committee? It is the group of elected councillors from the town of Eastleigh. At present there are the 10 elected councillors for the town of Eastleigh; 7 Liberal democrats, 2 Labour and 1 Independent. But the constitution of that committee could be changed by your vote in the elections on May 3rd.
Is there any way to stop these crazy plans? Yes!
1. Get rid of Liberal Democrat Councillors and replace them with councillors like Robert Quane (Con, Eastleigh Central) and Andrew Ross who will say “NO.” Your vote is important. Please stop these dreadful things happening to our town. Vote Conservative.
2. Attend the meeting in the Committee room, Borough Offices, Leigh Road at 7 pm on Tuesday May 15th.

It's time for a change!

2007-04-11T20:12:00.000+01:00

We have now had 12 years of incompetent government by the Liberal Democrats in Eastleigh.

They are building everywhere they can. This raises income from developers contributions to the council (e.g. £250.000 for the Pirelli’s site) and by bigger receipts in Council tax.

But little has been done to improve the state of the roads, to provide more parking and to improve the sewers. Look at the current plans for South Eastleigh!

What will be the consequences of all this development for the people of Eastleigh?

A message for the Liberal Democrats Give us our money back!

2007-03-30T19:22:00.000+01:00

Eastleigh Borough Council received £250,000 from developers of the Pirelli estate which has been earmarked for improving Grantham Green.

Where has it gone ?
£2,039 spent on internal staff time
£1,135 for Topographical survey
(Wait for it - it becomes worse) A whopping £17,030 for the Planning Policy Engineers time.
Now it becomes serious;
The cost of a small trampolinewas a staggering £12,847.

An email from the Council states, “Officer’s time is being spent working on a new scheme and further consultation is underway.”

“The nature of the scheme is still to be decided and it is hoped to take an initial report to Cabinet in April 2007. Costs incurred will be charged against the developers and it is estimated that to complete the design and consultation process will cost approximately £30,000”

We already pay our council staff out of the Council Tax, now we are being charged a second time for the same service!!

The conservatives want the money back.

“Give the people the power to decide what to do and let them manage the money to implement their plans.”

Elderly asked to move out

2007-03-30T19:13:00.000+01:00

“Atlantic Housing Limited are pestering us to move out of our bungalows“ according to Dorothy Bell of Kent Road.

Dorothy is a sprightly 94 years young and has lived on the Velmore Estate for 42 years, twelve of them in Kent Road. But, both she and her neighbour have had several phone calls from the ominously named Resettlement Officer for Velmore.

Dorothy told us that the Resettlement Officer “phones now and again and keeps on about getting us out of the bungalows. She tries to get people to go to meetings. My neighbour is being pestered too. People who live in other parts of Eastleigh are worried sick that they will be the next.”

We understand that around 25 of the 123 bungalows have become vacant and will not receive new tenants as Atlantic Housing Limited awaits a determination on May 12th on whether they can demolish 123 bungalows and build 120 flats, 78 houses and just 37 two bedroomed bungalows.

Andrew Ross is the Conservative candidate for Eastleigh South. With your help on May 3rd he will begin a long tenure as your councillor and, amongst many important issues to be addressed, will work hard to effect a sensible housing policy within a coherent local plan.

Keith House refuses to listen to the people of Eastleigh

2007-03-05T22:39:00.000Z

A couple of years ago 13 000 people in Eastleigh signed a petition opposing the taking away of allotments in Woodside and South Street from the people for more housing development. Since then we have been fighting the council and at times the Government over the land.

I have two allotments in Burns Close and I fear that they will soon be under attack from Councillors eager to sell off council land for further development. So I am supporting the fight to retain South Street and Woodside Allotments.

The following is an extract from Cllr. House’s budget speech to Full Council on Monday evening, 26 February 2007. Keith House is leader of the Liberal Democrats in Eastleigh Borough.
The full speech is available via a link on EBC’s home page: http://www.eastleigh.gov.uk/

Cllr. House said:

It has been a year of success for our communities.
But to be candid it has been a frustrating year too.
At the Swan Centre, a stack of legal and tender delays have held up our new cinema and bowling leisure scheme, such that work has still not yet started though the signs are still that it will before the spring is out.

And north of Lakeside, the Council’s proposal for new housing and a wide range of highway and leisure improvements cleared its final approvals from government, only to be immersed in a legal challenge to the Secretary of State’s decision that has still to finally be resolved. Justice moves slowly, not helped by the small number of people who are delaying the provision of major benefits for the town.

As I said last year:
“With consent for 432 new homes, of which 149 will be affordable rented, shared ownership and keyworker homes, we can make real progress in meeting housing need. Secondly, we will create, through high quality design, a clear and definable urban edge to the south of the town. And thirdly we will achieve investment in new walkways through housing areas to the Country Park, improvements to the Country Park itself, new play areas and cycle routes in the south of town, and a fund to stimulate urban regeneration in the town centre.”

There is a lot at stake.

It is everyone’s right to use the courts to further their own cause. And I acknowledge that this package has been controversial with some. But I really do wonder how a small number of people can sleep easily in their beds, knowing they are denying beds to those in greater need than themselves.

So yes, it has been a successful if a frustrating year.”

Tony Murrills, Secretary of Eastleigh Allotments Association says

Contrary to the impression given by Cllr. House, the principles being fought for by the allotments community are of great importance and the outcome of this case could seriously affect hundreds of thousands of allotment holders throughout the Country. It is a fundamental matter of upholding the law, not, as suggested, just a few difficult plot-holders holding up the Council's plans.

What do you think? Should our council be allowed to flout the law and build wherever they like? Or should existing residents have any say about what happens in their town? Post your comments below.

Come to picturesque Eastleigh

2007-02-11T15:02:00.000Z

When I first came to Eastleigh about seven years ago I was impressed with the tidiness of the environment and the cleanliness of the streets. However, things have gone sadly and badly downhill over the last seven years. Our Liberal Democrat council appointed 37 new car parking attendants a couple of years ago, but they seem to have cut back on all the street cleaning and repair services.

I wonder what visitors from overseas countries such as Austria, which is incredibly clean, think of our town. I would be too embarrassed to invite anyone to walk around these streets in south Eastleigh.

Councillor Airey is Liberal Democrat Cabinet Member for Transport and Streetscene. While the streets around the town centre have been given a facelift, nothing seems to have been done in Eastleigh South.

Councillor Bloom is Liberal Democrat Cabinet Member for the Environment. She boasted recently that Refuse collection was down 25 tons a week. We know where it all goes! Little seems to be done to stop littering our streets. Imagine what it will be like if the Council start charging for refuse collection? There will be even more fly tipping.

Bungalows: the people have spoken

2007-01-26T19:00:00.000Z

In a packed meeting of over 100 people at Velmore Chapel, organised by the Residents Association, the people of Velmore gave a resounding “NO” to the plans of Atlantic Housing Association.

AHA wish to demolish all 123 bungalows on the estate and build 120 flats, 78 houses and just 37 two bedroom bungalows. Where do they expect bungalow dwellers to go? Into flats like the ones shown on this page? We support the Residents Association in their endeavours to stop these plans and say “Think again, AHA.”

Bungalows give more domestic contentment than any other type of home, more than penthouse flats and even country mansions in the nation’s affections, according to a survey by Halifax.
Atlantic Housing is a “not for profit” company who should be seeking the wellbeing of residents and the whole community, not making money out of cramming as many homes into the area as possible.

What is our council doing to Eastleigh?

Local Liberal democrat councillors may say it is a disgrace to rip the heart out of Velmore in newsletters. Yet some of these councillors will sit on the very local area committee that will consider and eventually determine these applications.

Eastleigh Borough Council’s Liberal Democrats hold 34 out of 44 seats on the council. They are committed to granting planning permission for between 615 and 720 houses on brownfield sites in the Borough this year, next year and right up to 2011 and then building similar numbers of dwellings on greenfield sites.

What is wrong with the plan?

It fails to take into account the needs and desires of local residents.

It does not offer existing bungalow dwellers a chance to continue living on the estate in a bungalow.

It seeks to move people (such as a blind 94 year old) from their homes.

Overdevelopment. In Kent Road 6 bungalows will be demolished and 32 two bedroom flats will be constructed.

Lack of car parking facilities. In Westfield Crescent there are plans for 24 new dwellings but only 18 car parking places, including 8 for registered disabled. Where will the remainder of cars be parked and where will visitors park?

More parking problems. The bungalows on Belmont Road will be demolished and be replaced by houses. Car parking places will be behind thehouses on the service roads. Experience elsewhere in the Borough suggeststhat they are often not used as home owners and visitors park on the road. So there is likely to be double parking on Belmont road, which is already heavily used at rush hours.

Worsening traffic flow around the borough at rush hour. Firms are moving out of Eastleigh because it can take an hour to travel a couple of miles.

Overloading of Eastleigh’s Sewers. In the Autumn of 2006 the Eastleigh sewers overflowed 3 times in certain roads discharging untreated sewage into the road. With another 120 dwellings coming on stream the situation is likely to get worse.

What the Conservatives propose

Preparation of an overall plan for the estate.

A phased development over 7-10 years.

No-one over 75 should be expected to move unless they wish.

Start with an area where most properties are vacant building 2 bedroom bungalows. Tese would be offered exclusively to existing bungalow dwellers who are prepared to move.

Slowly replace all the bungalows with new bungalows. Make most two bedroom.

Build some bungalows with small private back gardens and some with communal gardens. Build bungalows around courtyards with central parking to maintain a sense of community.

Build at least as many bungalows as are currently on the estate. Only then consider building houses or flats.

If demand is proven, sheltered housing similar to Surrey Court should be built.

Provide abundant off road parking in front of the houses, not behind.

All social facilities to be provided by AHA as the redevelopment takes place.

Improve the sewage system and the road system before these or any more house are built in Chandlers Ford and Eastleigh.

Is Politics dead?

2007-01-04T22:21:00.000Z

By Mark Greene Christianity p 56-58, December 2005

For far too long programmes like Question time and Any Questions have been treated by politicians as opportunities to take pot shots at the opposition: ”When you were in power”, “When we were in power”, “Not our fault, it was you.” All this sounds like a pair of ten year olds squabbling round the dinner table over who was to blame for spilling the milk. I’m all for snap crackle and pop in debate, but what we have is nit, pick and squabble. And “squabbletics” is simply wearisome.

Similarly, the political interview, a genre whose tone is increasingly infected by Paxman’s reductive gladiatorial style has, as I have written before in Christianity, been reduced to a verbal fight

In which the politician’s chief aim seems to be to avoid getting bludgeoned by the interviewer. Paxo is all onion and no sage and has poisoned all political conversation with the sulphur of suspicion.

………………………………………………………………..

How on earth, for example, can a Labour party apparently concerned for the poor countenance the further development of a gambling culture which has already been shown, like the lottery, to aggravate the plight of the poor in every country that has a lottery?

How can the party that cries “Education, education, education” possibly pursue its policy of closing grammar schools in Northern Ireland when their results at GCSE and A level continue to outperform the rest of the country and when the comprehensive system has signally failed to produce the social mobility that it was designed to deliver?

Kind Words won’t fix a terminally ill NHS

2007-01-04T22:16:00.000Z

By Liz Hunt, Daily Telegraph 30 Dec 2006

Ten years after Tony Blair claimed there were only 24 hours to save it, and following billions of extra investment (from £34 billion in 1997 to £81 billion this year), the system that we see lurching from crisis to crisis is surely teetering on the brink.

Across England and Wales, hospitals are struggling to balance budgets by shedding jobs and shutting wards. At the same time, morale among staff, the health service's most precious resource, is rock bottom. Restructuring of training – Modernising of Medical Careers – was initially welcomed, but has been badly implemented. It could result in as many as 11,500 junior doctors being out of work or in dead-end jobs. Despite a national shortage of physiotherapists, 90 per cent of graduates couldn't get a post this year. Half of the newly qualified nurses, four out of 10 radiographers, eight out of 10 new speech and language therapists and two thirds of midwifery graduates are in the same boat. And all this after the Government invested heavily in training and increased recruitment.

Then again, the hallmark of New Labour is incompetence, waste and short-termism, and nowhere is that more evident at the end of 2006 than in the NHS.

Breakdown Britain

2006-12-10T16:14:00.000Z

The break-up of co-habiting couples leads to severe social problems, a Conservative report has warned. Half of co-habiting parents split by their child's fifth birthday, while only one in 12 married couples did, the social justice group report says.

It puts the cost of this family breakdown - in poverty, drug abuse and debt - at £20bn a year.

This is manifested in appalling rates of family breakdown, educational failure, welfare dependency, drug and alcohol addiction and indebtedness.

Perhaps, unsurprisingly, these five "pathways to poverty" reinforce and entrench each other.

"Breakdown Britain", the interim report of the Conservative Party's Social Justice Policy Group, shows that in spite of all the government's spending, relative poverty is getting worse, not better. Iain Duncan Smith's group, which is shaping Tory policy on poverty, publishes its interim report next week.

Labour trumpets its supposed success of taking 2 million children out of poverty, even though the government's own statistics show the true figure is a more modest 700,000.

It is true that vast sums have been spent through tax credits in moving people who are just below the poverty line (60% of median income), to just above it. Many of the families receiving tax credits that take them over the poverty line are still in desperate circumstances. Over 1 million children live in homes where someone is an alcoholic. What chance do the 350,000 or more children whose parents are addicted to hard drugs have to fulfil their potential? Children who have suffered family breakdown are 75% more likely to suffer educational failure.

Conservative leader David Cameron has said families are the "ultimate source of our society's strength or weakness".

He said his party must "look at ways of supporting families and also supporting marriage so that couples are encouraged to get together and stay together". The UK would be better off with more marriages and fewer divorces, he added.

Mr Cameron added: "Families matter because almost every social problem that we face comes down to family stability. If marriage rates went up, if divorce rates came down - if more couples stayed together for longer, would our society be better off? My answer is yes."

References

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6165833.stm 10th Dec 06

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6161155.stm%20%208th%20Dec%2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/politics_show/6211432.stm 10th Dec 06

Government gives Southampton a green light to take over Eastleigh Borough

2006-11-28T18:50:00.000Z

The Government has given the go ahead to unitary authorities such as Southampton to submit plans to expand their boundaries in a new blueprint for the reorganisation of Local Government.
Eastleigh Conservatives are totally opposed to plans to submerge Eastleigh Borough into a greater Southampton.

We believe that the Borough should continue as an autonomous self governing body.
It should continue to set its own Council taxes and its own priorities for service delivery.

Background:

In “An Invitation to Councils in England” the Government says:
“Any proposal [for expansion of a Unitary Council] must relate to the area of the
Council, or each of the Councils, submitting it. The area covered by a proposal may, in addition to the area of the Council or Councils submitting the proposals, also include adjoining areas which are currently outside that of the submitting Council or Councils.”
Government White Paper “Strong and Prosperous Communities” 26th October 2006

I do not want our Borough to lose its identity and watch as our town and villages become joined up suburbs of Southampton.

I lived on the Wirral when Liverpool took over the area and bled the people of their taxes in order to pursue their own agenda in the city.

While our own Councillors are not angels, it is much better if we can hold Eastleigh Councillors directly accountable for what they do here.

Eastleigh Borough Council are currently supposed to be considering the matter. But have your views been taken into account?

Do we want Southampton to take over the running of

Our Social Services which are currently rated as Excellent by the Auditors

Our Health Service Primary Care Trust which has just merged with the rest of Hampshire

Our Schools and Colleges which are achieving some of the best results in the Country

Our Highways Services also rated Excellent

Do we want to join a failing debt ridden authority which is already cutting vital services to balance its books?
We all know what will happen to much of our council tax – it will go to Southampton.

We have two months. Act now!

Speak up now and say NO to any merger of Eastleigh with Southampton

Victory in the Battle of Grantham Green!

2006-11-28T18:44:00.000Z

Local residents are celebrating the defeat of Lib Dem plans to build flats on Grantham Green which they denied existed in the May 2006 election. A packed meeting of the Local Area committee on 19th September saw the Lib Dems cave in to public pressure.

A public consultation will now follow to decide how the green can be improved with the need for housing development. Robert Quane, Eastleigh Central Conservative spokesman led the campaign which was supported by hundreds of local people.

Sadly, already £20,000 of developers contributions towards the green have been frittered away by the Borough Council in “consultations” and £13,000 on upgrading the children’s play area.

When Velmore’s Cox Road playing field was allocated over £50,000 for “redevelopment” many people were consulted, but in the end a few children’s playground rides, a teenage shelter and one set of football post were all the council managed to come up with for the money.

Eastleigh Lib Dems call for massive house building in the borough

2006-11-28T18:41:00.000Z

The Partnership of Urban South Hampshire (PUSH) has recently published its recommendations for the number of houses to be built in the Solent Area over the next 20 years.

Keith House, leader of Eastleigh Lib Dems, is a member of PUSH which is recommending that 4,000 houses are to be built every year in the Solent area with between 615 and 720 new houses in Eastleigh borough every year. The current building rate in Eastleigh Borough is under 500 per year. These options are higher than for Winchester (390-580).

Conservatives are opposed to a Strategic Development Area in the Borough that leads to the high number of houses allocated to Eastleigh. The Conservative advice is to reject the proposed ‘new town’ and identify just sufficient land for housing to satisfy our own local needs.

We say that our roads are already full of cars during the rush hour. Every time we experience heavy rain certain roads in South Eastleigh are flooded with sewage from a system which is unable to cope with the runoff and effluent from all the houses in the Eastleigh and Chandlers Ford area. We feel that these issues urgently need to be addressed before any more houses are added to an already creaking infrastructure.

Allotments Association still fighting the Borough Council and Government

2006-11-28T18:35:00.000Z

Eastleigh Allotment Association is now in their 4th year of a campaign to save three allotment sites threatened by housing development. In December 2002, Lib Dems in Eastleigh Borough Council announced plans to allocate the allotments in South Street, Monks Way and Woodside Avenue as sites for new homes. These proposals appeared in the Local Plan Review, which went to Public Inquiry in 2004. Supported by hundreds of allotment holders and 14,000 local residents, the Association presented evidence to the inquiry in opposition to these controversial housing proposals.

In July 2006 The Government Offices for the South East (GOSE) announced that the Secretary of State’s decision was to grant consent for the disposal of South Street and Monks Way allotments for the building of 435 new homes. An affected plot holder has recently applied for a Judicial review of the decision.

Despite a large waiting list of people wishing to cultivate an allotment, the Council refuses to let vacant plots at South Street, Monks Way and Woodside Avenue allotments.

Eastleigh’s streets are getting dirtier

2006-11-28T18:20:00.000Z

Rubbish is slowly building up in Eastleigh’s back lanes! With refuse collectors refusing to take any bin with a lid which is not closed, people are forced either to take it to the tip themselves or leave it lying in the street.

Liberal Democrat Louise Bloom, Council Cabinet Member for the Environment boasted recently that this policy had reduced their collection by 25 tons a week. But what happens to that rubbish?

When the grey bins are collected the refuse is burned to produce electricity, so saving on energy costs and landfill. If refuse has to be taken to the tip or is collected by a special council tidy up team then it goes to landfill at a cost of £40 a ton. So 25 tons not collected by the binmen could be costing Council Tax payers another £1,000 a week for land-fill fees. A weekly grey bin collection would reduce our rubbish, rat and maggot problems.