Hedge End Freezes Council Tax

Hedge End Town Council has agreed a budget for 2012/2013 which maintains its council tax precept at the same level as 2011/2012.  Unlike the Borough and County Councils, the Town Council will receive no grant from your central taxes to cover any budget shortfall resulting from this change to the long standing Lib Dem policy of putting the Town Council precept up each year.  The freeze is made possible by continuing efforts to reduce ongoing costs and cutting back on proposed capital projects for the coming year.

The Council is still discussing changes to charges for community and sports facilities, but it is looking likely that all hirers will be subject to an increase in line with inflation for the coming year.   That is what is required to balance the books, and a working party convened on 30th December failed after two hours of discussions to come up with a feasible and fair alternative.  Its recommendation to the January Recreation and Amenities Committee will be to confirm a 5.2%  increase for all hirers and that the working party will continue to meet to discuss ways of addressing historical anomalies in the Council's charging structures.

Lib Dems - More Broken Promises

For the third time this year, the overwhelming Lib Dem majority on Hedge End Town Council have avoided any public debate on the Borough Council's local plan consultation.

After promising at the May elections to "stand up for our area against more building and even more traffic" local Lib Dems have failed even to discuss plans to build nearly 4,000 houses in Hedge End and Botley, while the same plan proposes only 68 new houses in Hamble and 536 in West End.

In July, full council agreed to defer any discussion until September.  In September the decision made was to discuss and agree a response at the December meetings of Highways and Planning and Full Council.

But come the December meeting, there was no item on the agenda for this subject.  This was doubly strange as not only were Lib Dem heavyweights Keith House and Rupert Kyrle behind the September resolution to discuss the plan in December, but chair of Highways and Planning Committee, Cllr Cynthia Garton, reported that she had specifically asked that the discussion be deferred to Full Council.

There has been no explanation why the Lib Dems did not follow their own September resolution to "make a full response to the Borough" in December.

Hedge End Lib Dems have failed to represent Hedge End voters and they have failed to keep their election promises. 

Botley Parish Council, in contrast, is not swamped by Lib Dems, and is talking about budgeting for legal representation to oppose the Borough's plans in 2012/13.

July Council Minutes
September Council Minutes
December Council Minutes
Eastleigh News Report on September Meeting
Eastleigh News Report on December Meeting

Berry "First Class"

It is great to see Hedge End's new theatre getting such good reviews for its first Christmas show, Hansel and Gretel.

The Daily Echo has described it as "simply first class ... The Berry Theatre proves the perfect venue", and online review site mintsouth.com exhorts: "If you are thinking of taking the children to a Christmas show, make sure you take them to Hansel and Gretel ... you are guaranteed to be going home with very happy children ... and they won't be the only ones ... with smiles on their faces."

Congratulations to director Sarah Brigham and all the team.

The show runs until Christmas Eve, although ticket availability is already  limited for Friday and Saturday.

Hedge End's New "No" to Nick Clegg

Plans in tatters?

"Bad for Democracy" - Hedge End town councillors were unanimous in their criticism of proposals to split the Eastleigh parliamentary consituency down the middle.

As previously reported (here), the suggested Hedge End and Hamble consituency would throw the town into an artificial mish-mash of wards with no community links, split neighbouring West End down the middle and pluck Bitterne and Thornhill out of Southampton for no good reason other than Nick Clegg's obsession that all constituencies be the same size. 

Even leading Lib Dem councillors admitted at November's Town Council meeting that the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act - introduced by their own party leader -  is flawed in so far as it gives insufficient importance to community, historical or geographical criteria in determining constituency boundaries.  The Boundary Commission have merely followed the guidance in the Act.

Cllr Keith House recalled knocking on doors in Woolston when it was tacked on to the Eastleigh Constituency in a previous boundary change and getting the unamibiguous message that Southampton voters only want to vote for a Southampton MP.  He felt that voters in Bitterne and Thornhill would feel the same way and that turnout would suffer as a result.

In calling for no change to be made to the existing Eastleigh constituency (which is already the "right size" according to the Con Dem Coalition's calculations) Hedge End Town Council is joining a nationwide movement of opposition to the constituency changes.

In Cornwall a Tory MP has described them as a "dog's dinner".

In Scotland the Electoral Reform Society has criticised a "cold mathematical vision of equality" which " flies in the face of real communities, simple geography and common sense."

In Southampton, Labour MP John Denham has pointed out:

"Voters in Bitterne will be part of a constituency which stretches to the outskirts of Portsmouth.  So their MP will have Saints fans at one end and Pompey fans at the other.  They will have to say they are not interested in football.”

“This was just one example of the nonsense of linking Bitterne and Thornhill with Hamble, Warsash, Titchfield and Parkgate. People want their MP to represent the real community they live in.  Southampton voters want to vote for a Southampton MP.”

Following the overwhelming rejection of his new voting system in the May referendum, Clegg's plans for electoral reform look like being in tatters if the new constituencies are thrown out too.  It is doubtful whether improved proposals could be drawn up in time for them to take effect at the next general election in 2015.

Town Council minutes are published here.

The full text of the Town Council's objection as discussed at the meeting is available here.

Eastleigh Borough Council's response to the proposals will be decided by the Administration Committee on 21st November.

Photo credit: David Spender

Lib Dems Resting on Laurels

“Every other council could raise its game if it wanted to, it’s a matter of political will,”  said Hedge End Town Councillor and Borough Leader Keith House in response to a Daily Echo report putting Eastleigh top of the league table of Hampshire councils' recycling rates.

Eastleigh's 43% of waste recycled is indeed impressive compared to neighbouring councils, some of which only achieve percentages in the low twenties, and Eastleigh is undoubtedly a leader in innovation locally with its weekly collection of food waste for recycling.  However, the percentage is one point down from last year, when Eastleigh achieved 44%

Look a bit further afield, moreover, and The Guardian reports that there are councils which manage to  recycle 64-65% of their waste.  If Bournemouth can recycle 64%, why can't Eastleigh?  Are the Lib Dems resting on their laurels instead of putting them in the garden waste bag?

Cllr House's fellow Lib Dem Town Councillor, and cabinet member with responsibility for the environment, Louise Bloom recently said:  "We know that around 70% of waste can be recycled so we are aiming to further improve the amount we recycle.  I would encourage all our residents to recycle their bottles and jars."

A report by the now defunct Environment Scrutiny Panel earlier this year claimed that Eastleigh was already collecting 85% of the available glass.  So residents are already doing a pretty good job of recycling bottles and jars.  Perhaps Eastleigh too needs is a bit of the political will which is apparently missing in our neighbouring councils to increase recycling rates.

Hedge End - The Future?

Local Lib Dems' promises to "stand up against more building and even more traffic" in Hedge End will come under scrutiny on Tuesday 15th November.

Eastleigh Borough Council's Draft Local Plan  exhibition comes to the Village Hall in Hedge End between 2pm and 8pm.

Attention will doubtless focus on the huge housing developments for which Hedge End Lib Dem councillors have repeatedly voted.  The plan proposes 3,700 more houses in Hedge End and Botley - nearly 40% of the 9,400 proposed for the Borough as a whole.

The draft plan also provides for:

• Two brand new roads at Botley and Sundays' Hill
• "Improvements" to Woodhouse Lane, Kings Copse Avenue and Heath House Lane
• A "green route" linking Hedge End to Eastleigh
• "Regeneration" of parts of Hedge End village centre
• "Traffic management" in Hedge End centre
• New public open space in the north of Hedge End

The Council's "consultation"  runs until 3rd January, although Tuesday is the only date in Hedge End for the exhibition. 

More independent commentary on the consultation can be found at Eastleigh News and TGR Worzel's blog.

Something on Your Mind?

Have your say on anything that is bugging you about life in Hedge End at the inaugural meeting of the Hedge End Society.

Do you have an idea about how life could be better for everybody in Hedge End, but are not sure about how to make it a reality?

Would you like to talk about it in a relaxed, informal, non-political atmosphere?

The HES is being organised by a group of citizens who want to make things better and realise that if we help each other we are more likely to succeed.

The inaugural meeting will be chaired by Chris Rowberry, the Vicar of St John's and will take place at the Underhill Centre, St John's Rd, starting at 7:30 on Monday 14th November.



Picture credit - Benoit Derrier