Lib Dem Councillors vote to destroy part of Recreation ground

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)

Air pollution: the consequence of more building in Eastleigh

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?

Velmore Plans withdrawn!

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.

What Atlantic Housing don't want you to know

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.