Hedge End on the Web - week ending 14 February 2016

What have they been saying about Hedge End on the web? Here are some links to things I spotted this week:

Hampshire police appealed for witnesses based on fairly rubbish CCTV pictures.

The d.@rt centre tweeted about a new exhibition called Tides of Change

Hedge End mental health nurse retires - prompting Daily Echo story about his family links with Knowle Hospital

Hampshire and IOW council leaders reject the idea of an elected mayor for the region

Eastleigh Borough Council announced the result of the Freegrounds Ward by election

Eastleigh Borough Council publicised their MOT test service in Hedge End

Council Leader & Hedge End Cllr Keith House not available to comment on job cuts story

Council Leader & Hedge End Cllr Keith House comments on election results

Local councillor comes back to Facebook after seven months to criticise Hampshire CC budget

UKIP brought news about Cllr Keith House that followers of Hedge End Blogger have known for over a year! 

Hedge End Town Council are looking for volunteers to help with conservation projects

Hedge End on the Web - week ending 7 Feb

Here's a few links to mentions about Hedge End I've spotted on the web in the last week:

The Berry Theatre tweeted about their half term show for kiddies

The Daily Telegraph listed Hedge End station's ticket desk at risk of closure
(This is an old link that has been recirculated this week)

Eastleigh News publicised the Hedge End Gang Show

Hedge End's MP called the Lib Dems' local plan "weak"

The same day Hedge End's MP said the local plan was "not strong enough"

Hedge End's MP asked her leader a question calling for "argument" not "warfare" over the EU referendum

Hedge End's MP met with representatives of cancer charities

Hedge End's MP also tweeted this photo of Conservative activists hard at work on the doorstep in Hedge End during the Town Council by election campaign (!!)

Hedge End company Dimplex got a bit excited to have a visit from our MP

Hedge End Gang Show

Hedge End Scouts have asked me to pass on news about their 2016 Gang Show. Happy to oblige:

Hedge End Gang Show – Feb 2016

Hedge End Gang Show is back with big plans for their return to the Scouting Stage
with their ‘Best of British’ production which will hit the stage in February 2016.

Hedge End Gang Show has been providing creative activities for Scouts in and
around the Itchen district for over half a century having celebrated its 50th Birthday in
2013. After a few years away, the Gang Show is back with huge plans for their next
production  ‘Best of British’ featuring the very best of British music, comedy and
variety from yester-year through to yesterday.

In 2013, Hedge End Gang Show entered the ‘Bright Sparks’ singing competition and
as competition finalists were chosen to perform vocals upon the ‘Project Christmas’
album which was professionally recorded and released on an international scale.

In October, Hedge End Gang Show commenced their revival by uniting with other
Scout shows from across Hampshire to perform in ‘Hampshire Scouts Present’ at the
Winchester Guildhall, entertaining a full house and receiving a standing ovation along
with their peers. Now, nearly 5 months of hard work later, their own district show is
almost ready. The cast are polishing their acts and adding final touches to the show,
scenery is having its final coats of paint and the last sequins being are being sewn
onto costumes.

With a new show comes a new Producer with Kevin Harmer taking the helm.  “This
show is a tribute to our great country, brought to you through comedy, song and
dance. All the music in the show has been written or performed by British artists. In
2016 we celebrate the 90th birthday of the longest running monarch, we also
celebrate 100 years of Cub Scouts. Four years ago we were preparing for the
Olympic Games and 50 years ago the Beatles did their last tour together. We
celebrate all these events and more in the show.

Hedge End Gang Show takes to the stage on 19th and 20th February at Wyvern
Technical College, Eastleigh with a matinee performance on Saturday 20th. Tickets
are £7 for children and £9 for adults and are available from
www.ticketsource.co.uk/hedgeendgangshow or ‘Thoughts’ card shop in Hedge End
Village.

Hedge End on the Web - January

Just some links to things concerning the Hedge End area that have appeared online recently:

The Daily Echo reported on:
Poor sales at Next
More complaints about the Ageas Bowl
Plans for 200 houses between Hedge End and West End
Fire in B&Q car park

Hedge End Councillor Keith House tweeted about:
Donald Trump
Tory immigration policy
Donald Trump (again)
Eastleigh FC
The weather
David Bowie
Barack Obama
Saudi Arabia
Barack Obama (again)

Hedge End Councillor Louise Bloom tweeted about:
Reading and wellbeing
Gender neutral honorifics
Call the midwife
Flood defences
Southampton FC
Mental health
Palestinian rights
Womens wellbeing
Mental health (again)
David Bowie

TGR Worzel blogged about:
Getting the train to Eastleigh
Shortage of pens in Hedge End Post Office

The Hedge End Trumpet blogged about:
By Election in Freegrounds ward

Local Plan Consultation (2)



Option A showing areas targeted for declopment

It was an interesting day yesterday. In the morning, while knocking doors to support the Labour candidate in the Freegrounds by election, I met somebody who is so fed up with the Lib Dem overdevelopment they have decided to move away from Hedge End altogether. They didn't think much of the Lib Dem "Vision" of "improved standards of living for residents; promoting thriving and healthy communities; and maintaining an attractive and sustainable environment that residents value" ("Issues and Options" page 16). For that resident of Freegrounds ward, it was "too late". They were fed up sitting in gridlocked traffic every day.

Then in the afternoon I popped in to the Council exhibition on the Local Plan in the 2000 Centre. Following Labour's campaigning last weekend to make people aware this was happening, one of the planning officers there told me there had been at least a hundred local residents turn up. There were certainly at least 20 there at 3:00 in the afternoon.

Two of the options on offer in "Issues and Options" would affect Hedge End directly. Option A would see more green fields across the Borough given over to up to 5000 houses and "employment floorspace".  The Lib Dems don't say how many of these would be in Hedge End, but the map shows three areas: around Woodhouse Lane, and two to the east of Kings Copse Avenue. It's not so long ago that the Lib Dems were trumpeting that they had saved the land at Kings Copse Avenue from the Tories who wanted to build there!

Option F would put all the additional housing in the fields at Woodhouse Lane, effectively merging Hedge End, Boorley Green and Botley into one huge built up area. So much for Lib Dem promises about maintaining the character of rural villages and protecting the green spaces between them.

An additional 1300 houses and new "employment floorspace" would generate an awful lot of traffic on Woodhouse Lane. Plans are included to upgrade this traditional country lane as part of the "Botley Bypass".  According to the "Strategic Transport Study" the bypass would carve through the green fields south of the railway and join Woodhouse Lane at a new roundabout roughly where the footpath / bridleway emerges.

Bottom Copse under threat

The plan is then to increase the width of Woodhouse Lane itself and add a further 3m wide footpath / cycleway on one side of the road. It is not made clear that the Site of Interest for Nature Conservation (SINC) at Bottom Copse by the side of Woodhouse Lane would be protected at all under this option.

It is also not clear what will happen when all this traffic arrives at the Maypole roundabout apart from wait in yet another Hedge End queue. The "Strategic Transport Study" admits:
"..there is forecast to be a degree of congestion and delay on some approaches to the new junctions at either end of the Bypass and also at the Maypole roundabout where Woodhouse Lane meets the A334."

It is also not clear in the plan what would be the impact of the extra traffic on Kings Copse Avenue, but it clearly won't make things easier for the people living in the roads that lead on to it, nor how it will be made safer for pedestrians crossing Woodhouse Lane to the convenience store on the Botley side of the roundabout, or how it will be made safer for cyclists.

It is not that long ago that the Lib Dems took credit for the new cycle route from Hedge End to (almost) Botley. Now they are planning a new road bypass to cut straight through it. Hardly joined up planning, is it?

The consultation runs until 17 February. Full details and the consultation documents are on the borough council web site here.

 


Local Plan Consultation (1)

Labour's leaflet

Local Labour Party campaigners were out in numbers in Hedge End this morning. Hundreds of leaflets about next Saturday's exhibition were handed out to people in the village centre. Most were not aware of the Council's new local plan or the exhibition planned for Hedge End's 2000 Centre next weekend.

It seems the Lib Dem controlled Council has not done a very good job of publicising the exhibition. It is almost as if they don't want people to know about or comment on their plans.

The exhibition runs from 10am to 4pm on Saturday 30 January. If it follows the format of previous exhibitions there will be lots of information, large scale maps and planning officers to explain things.

We are having to go through this process again because the Lib Dems' failed first time round to produce a local plan that was fit for purpose. It was rejected by the planning inspector because it did not meet the predicted housing needs in the Borough.

According to their web site, the Council now want people's views on:

• How much development is required in the Borough?
• Where should the development be?
• How will the development be delivered?

The relevant plan document is called "Eastleigh Borough Local Plan 2011-2036 - Issues and Options" and is available on the Council web site here.

Comments are also invited on the Council's documents "Sustainability Appraisal", "Habitats Regulation Assessment" and "Strategic Transport Study".

The consultation closes on 17 February 2016.

Stay Away Lib Dem Causes By Election

There will be a Town Council by election in Freegrounds Ward on 11th February. There is a vacancy because a Lib Dem councillor elected unopposed in May 2015 turned up for just one meeting and has not been seen since.

This comes at a time when another Lib Dem, one of the two Borough councillors for Botley has missed every local area committee since February 2015.

When the Lib Dems shout that their candidate is the "best person for the job", perhaps they should check their candidate can, and wants to, actually turn up to do the job.

Following the announcement of the Freegrounds Ward vacancy, the Town Council is made up of 16 Lib Dems and four Tories.

Both the Lib Dems and Tories are putting up candidates who have previously been rejected by the electorate. Maggie Allingham lost her Town Council seat in May but remains on the Borough Council. Paul Redding has loyally allowed his name to go forward for the Tories on many occasions without success.

This time there is a genuine, independently minded alternative with my near neighbour Terry Crow standing for Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party.

Freegrounds Ward