Town Council honours long serving members

 May’s elections to Hedge End Town Council resulted in a clean sweep for the Lib Dems who took all 18 seats available.

There did not seem to be much business for the council at its first meeting after the elections which was combined with the AGM.

Cllr Jane Welsh celebrated 40 years as a parish and town councillor. And there were long service awards for ex-councillors Sheila Baynes and Shankerlal Sthanakiya who had reached the milestone of 12 years’ service.

The Town Clerk announced that ex-councillor Ray Worley had recently passed away, but he had received his long service award via his daughter before he died.

The AGM agreed membership of the main committees – Recreation and Amenities, Highways and Planning, and Policy and Resources. The Lib Dems limited membership of these committees to nine members which means only three need to turn up for meetings to go ahead. We elected 18 councillors, but as few as three could be making decisions on our behalf as committee decisions are normally just rubber-stamped by full council.

Only 15 of the newly elected councillors were there at the beginning of the meeting. Two arrived during the very last agenda item, having been at a more important meeting. One did not turn up at all.

I took the opportunity to raise a question about the safety of parking at the Upper Northam Road end of Turnpike Way. There seems to have been an increase in parking there during office hours. It is legal because the double yellow lines stop just east of the Clover Way junction. But it has the effect of forcing traffic heading towards Upper Northam Road onto the wrong side of the road, just where vehicles, including buses, are coming round the bend into Turnpike Way.

The chair of the council referred my question to the Highways and Planning committee. We will have to wait and see what happens.