Diamond Jubilee

Racehorse named for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee 

Diamond Jubilee, the racehorse named to mark the only previous occasion one of our monarchs  reached the 60 year milestone, was the leading colt of his generation, winning five races in the 1900 season before being exported to stud in Argentina.

It is unlikely that Hedge End Town Council will name a racehorse to celebrate the 2012 jubilee, but the Community and Culture Committee meets on Tuesday to discuss a rather more realistic way to mark the anniversary.  It will consider the merits of working in partnership with the Hedge End Carnival Committee to stage a Jubilee Street Party with funding from the Town Council's coffers.

In what looks to be a busy evening, the committee will also discuss the Hedge End Festival at the Berry Theatre, a Hedge End calendar for 2013, twinning with Möckmühl, and the provision of grants to local organisations.

The meeting starts at 7:00pm in the 2000 Centre, and is open to the public.  The official agenda is on the Town Council's web site here.

Shamblehurst By-Election Goes Digital

Democracy in Hedge End is starting to embrace the internet!  Three of the four candidates in the March 1st by-election have agreed to answer a short questionnaire and provide a short online election address to Hedge End Blogger.

The questions are intended to reveal something about the candidates themselves and what they think they can bring to the Town Council, and what they think about Hedge End and its future.

I hope to have responses from the three candidates by the end of the week.   In fact, I am hoping that there will be a change of mind on the part of the only candidate who has declined my invitation so far, and that all four will have agreed to participate by the end of the week. 

The four candidates are (in alphabetical order of first name for a change):


Michale Steven O'Donoghue of Melbourne Gardens (UKIP)

Paul Redding of Newcliffe Gardens (Conservative Party)

Raymond Ronald Turner of Newcliffe Gardens (Independent)

Richard Sean Effeny of Walker Gardens (Liberal Democrat)


Previous posts on this subject are: "By-Election Looms" and "Shamblehurst By-Election Date Set"

Is Lily Laburnum Still Safe?

Borough Council Refused to Protect These Trees 

A number of Hedge End people have asked me recently what is happening about plans to convert this green space outside the Village Hall to a children's play area.  In June last year, the Town Council agreed with my resolution to protect the attractive laburnum tree, named Lily by campaigners, from felling and urged the Village Hall Management Committee and Pre-School to find a solution for their children which does not involve killing mature trees.

In the meantime local campaigners have been disappointed that Eastleigh Borough Council did not see fit to confirm a tree preservation order which would have given Lily a degree of formal protection.   Campaigners in favour of the tree are now understandably concerned that public opinion is once again the only defence against the original plans to cut Lily down.  Communities across the country are planting trees to celebrate the Royal Jubilee.  It would be tragic if Hedge End was to go the other way and cut down a tree in Jubilee year.

Clarification is needed, and I have asked for an update at Thursday's Finance and Administration Committee.

The committee will also approve the Town Council's monthly expenditure, receive an update on the new storage building for grounds maintenance equipment at Pavilion Road, and discuss leasing arrangements with the St Luke's Pharmacy.

Yobs to Close Short Cut?

Antisocial behaviour by late night pedestrians using the unofficial short cut between Stubbs Drove and Willow Close and Aspen Close has brought local residents to the end of their tether.  They came to the Town Council last year asking for help in restoring tranquillity to this area of Hedge End.

The Council has been consulting people who live in the area, and some who use the cut, and representatives of both parties have come to meetings to make their case.  Discussions with the County Rights of Way Officer have led to the suggestion that the Town Council put a fence and gate on the land they own to the south of Stubbs Drove.  The gate would be open during the hours of daylight, but in the dark even law-abiding pedestrians going about their legitimate business would have to go the long way round. 

A report on the latest consultation will be presented to the Recreation and Amenities Committee on Wednesday 8th February. 

Other items on the agenda include:

Hedge End Junior Cricket Club's plans for the new season,

Green Flag Community Award for the Recreation Ground,

Whether dogs should be on lead only in our local parks,

Protecting Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation,

and The Village Centre Clock.

The Queen's College Hates Hedge End Countryside

Oxford Institution Wants to Build on Our Fields

With no fewer than ten comments on the draft local plan, The Queen's College is showing more interest in the future of Hedge End than many of our elected town councillors.  Clearly worried that the value of their own land holdings will go down if they are excluded from the development, most of their comments can be paraphrased as "build on our land, not Boorley Green", or "build on our land, not Chestnut Avenue". 

Desperate to get their land north of Hedge End included in the Lib Dem plans for almost 4,000 houses in Hedge End and Botley, they are even opposing the principle of gaps between our settlements and insist that the proposed countryside policy is "unnecessary".

The Queen's College is a wealthy institution that can call on and pay for all sorts of planning consultants and lawyers to defend its interests.  Ordinary people (the overwhelming majority of whom have opposed the Lib Dem's plans for large scale development in our area) rely on our local councils to stand up against these vested interests.  That is why Hedge End Town Council were guilty of dereliction of duty in refusing to debate and agree a response to the draft plan.  Just about every other parish council in the area has commented, but there is nothing from Hedge End.

The message given is that with two notable exceptions, the Lib Dems on the Town Council do not care what happens to Hedge End, and the wealthy landowners and developers are encouraged to bulldoze ahead with their plans to concrete over our green fields.

When will the Lib Dems keep their election promise to stand up for our area against more building and traffic?








The Queen's College Photo credit : James

Lib Dems Listen on Library Lolly

The rapidly increasing cost of installing self service kiosks in Hedge End Library set alarm bells ringing back in January when I blogged "Library Costs Treble in Three Months".  My concerns multiplied when I stumbled across an Isle of Wight blog which discussed the library self service project on the Island.  It quotes an expert and independent consultant on these kiosks saying that "you should expect to pay £6-12,000 for one of these devices". 

That means that the £7,000 figure quoted to the Community and Culture Committee in November is more reasonable than the £23,000 in the report presented to the HEWEB Local Area Committee on 30th January.  It certainly looks at first sight as if Ken Thornber's Conservatives are trying to rip off the Hedge End council tax payers.

Taking advantage of the invitation for members of the public to address the committee on any agenda item, I pointed out my concerrns at the LAC meeting (making clear that I was generally in favour of the steps being taken by the Borough and Town Councils to mitigate the worst effects of the County's library cuts).  It's impossible to know whether any of the committee members would have questioned the costs without my intervention, because the rules of engagement are that members of the public have to say their piece and shut up before the real debate (between members) gets going.

Once they had it pointed out to them however, Cllr Louise Bloom and one or two of her Lib Dem colleagues did seem to agree that there was a discrepancy that should be explained.  It may be that the increase is explained by additional cabling and new desks required to accommodate the kiosks.  It may be that the cost of tagging all the books is included.  It still looks a high figure though and I hope that our councillors will follow through and keep an eye on these bills. 

Lib Dems Split Over Station Car Park



Car Park is Rarely Full

 As predicted in my post last week, the issue of whether to extend Hedge End station car park proved a difficult one for local Lib Dems.   Asked whether to proceed with a project that will destroy a wild flower meadow in order to extend a car park which is only three-quarters full most days while commuters enjoy free parking in nearby residential roads, the Lib Dem members of the HEWEB Local Area Committee could not agree, leaving the Chair to use his casting vote to break the deadlock.



Council's Own Wildflower Meadow Threatened

 This came after the bombshell news that the committee meeting on 30th January was not in fact empowered to make any decision on the project, and that whatever the local councillors decided, the Borough Council cabinet would override them.  So the real decision will be made by councillors from Chandlers Ford, Eastleigh, Netley Abbey, Bishopstoke and Fair Oak and Horton Heath who depend for their cabinet posts on the patronage of Lib Dem Leader and supporter of the car park extension Cllr Keith House.

Despite having the wind somewhat taken out of his sails by this bureaucratic technicality, Grange Park Cllr Derek Pretty put up a staunch defence on behalf of the nearby residents (represented by two speakers from the public gallery who eloquently opposed the project).  His alternative recommendations to address immediately the parking problems in residential streets and postpone any decision on the car park extension until it is shown to be necessary were supported by fellow Grange Park Cllr Louise Bloom.

Cllr House made it clear that he would prefer to spend money now - even to the extent of "buying out" the covenants that currently protect the land - to solve a problem that might or might not exist in the future.  Cllr Dan Clarke agreed with his leader and showed off his growing Lib Dem loyalist credentials by quoting liberal luminary David Lloyd George(*).  Like Cllr Clarke, Cllr Bruce Tennent chose not to support his Grange Park voters as he spoke in favour of the Lib Dem leadership line.

When it came to the vote, five were in favour of Cllr Pretty's compromise proposal and five against.  Cllr Tony Noyce (West End) abstained, and Cllr Mick Wheatley (Hedge End) had mysteriously absented himself from the meeting without explanation.  The tension of a five-five split was broken a few seconds later when Committee Chair Cllr Rupert Kyrle put his casting vote at the disposal of the Lib Dem party line.

The votes in favour of delaying the decision came from Cllrs Pretty, Bloom, Welsh and (Jenny) Hughes from Hedge End and Cllr Goodall from West End.  Those against were Cllrs House (Hedge End), Fraser (Botley), Kyrle (Botley), Tennent (West End) and Clarke (West End).

Cllr Pretty's alternative recommendations having failed on the chair's casting vote, consideration then returned to the published recommendations.  These were amended to include a plea to cabinet that any yellow lines required to discourage parking in nearby roads be payed for from corporate, not local, funds. It is surprisingly expensive to get a yellow strip painted along the gutter (there have to be consultations, reports, additional signage and all manner of legal and administrative high-jinks).

When it came to this second vote, Cllr Noyce came off the fence and Cllr Goodall was clearly satisfied with the additional request for money, and now sided with the leadership so that the proposals supported by Cllr House were passed seven to four.  It therefore looks likely that the Lib Dem cabinet will bulldoze ahead with the car park extension despite the valiant opposition of some of our Hedge End councillors.

It must have been frustrating for the independently minded committee members who spoke and voted against the party leadership line in favour of Hedge End people.  It only needed one more vote, and we were all left wondering how Cllr Wheatley would have voted had he been in the room.  Would he have sided with Cllrs Pretty and Jenny Hughes in line with their joint election promise to "Save the Countryside"?  Would he have voted with the majority of Hedge End councillors or with those from outside Hedge End who mantained the Eastleigh leadership's preferred outcome?

(*) Footnote:  Cllr Clarke quoted an obscure Lloyd George aphorism that "there is nothing more dangerous than to leap a chasm in two jumps", which although witty and entertaining, was not exactly apposite in this case, because this is the second extension to the car park, so the Council supported by Cllr Clarke is doing precisely what Lloyd George was warning against.