It's time for a change!

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?

Keith House refuses to listen to the people of Eastleigh

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.

Bungalows: the people have spoken

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.

Government gives Southampton a green light to take over Eastleigh Borough

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

Eastleigh Lib Dems call for massive house building in the borough

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

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.