Free Bus Travel In Southampton This Weekend!

Black Watch is one of nine cruise liners docking in Southampton this weekend

Southampton's Conservative Council is teaming up with local bus companies to lay on free bus travel this coming Saturday and Sunday.

The city will play host to nine cruise liners and nearly 50,000 passengers this weekend. This will provide a huge boost for the local economy, potentially bringing millions of pounds into the area.

It is estimated that an extra 12,000 vehicles will be on the road this weekend and the City Council is keen to do all it can to cut congestion and keep the city moving. By laying on free buses it is also hoped that more people will be encouraged to use public transport in the future.

Bus travel is free in Southampton until 6pm on Saturday and Sunday. The journeys will be free as long as they start and finish within the city’s boundaries.

The Future is Bright for Southampton

This week Conservatives on the City Council took the decision to award a contract for a new street lighting partnership for Southampton.

Many of city’s 28,000 streetlights are very old and in a poor state due to years of underinvestment by previous Labour and Lib Dem Council administrations.

More than half of the street lights will replaced in the first few years of the new contract.

In addition to the extra council investment Conservative Councillors have secured nearly £30m of inward investment from the Treasury.

As well as good quality, well maintained streetlighting for the next 25 years, Southampton will have better quality, more efficient lighting, helping reduce road accidents and cutting crime and the fear of crime in the city.

Recycling Boost for Ocean Village

Earlier this week I attended the launch of a new recycling facility outside the Tescos at Ocean Village. The new machine, which takes plastic bottles and tin cans and shreds them into tiny pieces, is one of ten trial units being piloted by Tesco around the country. Southampton was chosen because of its excellent green credentials and the strong commitment that the City Council has to recycling.

If successful more of these machines will be rolled out across the city and elsewhere. As well as helping the environment, Tesco shoppers will be able to pick up points on their Club Cards!

Southampton needs more powers to manage Houses in Multiple Occupation

From meeting many residents associations over recent years I know that local people are concerned about the numbers and concentrations of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in Southampton.

Whilst HMOs play an important role in the city economy, meeting housing needs and providing choice, high concentrations are often associated with anti social behaviour, noise nuisance, parking problems and the loss of family housing.

Southampton is a student city with a growing student population. Also as a port city there is a substantial transient population. Given that, there is a considerable demand for HMO accommodation. However this demand needs to be careful managed to protect the character of communities and the residents who live there. In my view the objective should be the creation of balanced communities.

As it stands councils like Southampton have very few powers to manage HMOs. It is great news that the Government is now conducting a review on possible changes to planning laws relating to HMOs. These changes could give Southampton City Council much greater powers. The Government review has come after years of hard work and lobbying by local residents groups and the City Council.

The Communities and Local Government department published its ‘Studentification Paper’ over a year ago which argued strongly in favour of the Government changing the planning laws. It also highlighted the excellent work being done in Southampton by the City Council and the two universities to tackle issues relating to HMOs.

Currently planning permission is not required to convert a family house into an HMO. One of the options in the Government’s consultation is to require planning permission. If the change goes through the Council would be able to refuse inappropriate applications or attach specific condition to any planning approvals that are granted. Such conditions might include a requirement for adequate bin storage or parking provision. Such conditions are a regular feature for new blocks of flats but because of current planning laws they aren’t required for HMOs. Even garages and quite minor extensions require planning permission, so why not HMOs? In Northern Ireland HMOs require planning permission and it works well there, so why not here?

This is a change which I have been campaigning for, for some considerable time. In parts of Portswood and the Polygon now, some roads are already over 90% HMOs. It is therefore important that the Government acts quickly and proactively.

I have written to the Government pushing for urgent action.

Lake Park Improvements

Residents in Freemantle are being asked their views on how they would like to see Lake Park improved.

Yesterday I went along to the park to meet members of Groundwork Solent, the environmental charity who are leading the project in conjunction with the City Council.

£30,000 has been set aside by the Council for the improvements. When planning permission is granted for larger developments such as new houses and flats the developers must contribute funds towards improving the local area. The money for the park improvements comes from this pot of developer funds. In addition, Groundwork will aim to top it up by drawing in grants from other sources.

Across the city the Conservative Council is allocating more funding to local parks. The improvements to Lake Park will follow similar such works to Portswood Rec and Daisy Dip in Swaythling.

Lake Park is popular for families and dog walkers and I would like to see the works focus on improving the general appearance of the park, an emphasis on making it safer and also perhaps providing information on its history.