Let's Slow Down The Traffic In Freemantle

As local councillors for Freemantle Ward, speeding traffic is one of the top issues raised with me and my colleague Brian Parnell, by local people.

Being close to the city centre many of the roads are used as rat runs to get into town and to the station and they can get very busy indeed.

Also the local schools have grown enormously. When I first became a school governor at Freemantle school it was a small infant school. Today it is a primary with 500 children. Similarly St Marks School has expanded considerably and Banister has been completely rebuilt with both schools now all through primaries. This means a lot more cars and children walking, cycling or scooting to school. Speeding traffic and dangerous parking is a big concern from parents that I talk to. 

Brian Parnell and I have surveyed hundreds of residents over the past year and the overwhelming majority favour slowing down the traffic in residential roads. The view is not universal but from the feedback we have had, about 80 per cent are in favour. 

We have been talking about this issue with the council for years and people keeping asking us when will it happen. Introducing 20mph limits is a fairly simple and cheap process. Department of Transport rules changed a few years ago to make the process much easier for councils. All that is required are the signs, the introduction of a legal order - a traffic regulation order, and a formal survey to seek residents' views. We know council budgets are very tight these days but we also know the city council is making a huge amount of money from parking charges and fines, including the new 1st permit charges which hundreds of people in Freemantle Ward now pay. It is quite proper that some of this money is spent on improving the local roads and road safety measures like 20mph limits. 

We have been talking for years about the problem and it is now time for the council to act and with so many more children now at local schools this has to be made a priority.

Labour's Late Night Levy Will Hit Local Pubs In Freemantle

On Wednesday at Full Council, Labour will look to push through a new tax on pubs in the city. This 'Late Night Levy' was initially billed as a measure to ensure that pubs and clubs in the city centre, pay more towards the 'costs' of the city centre night time economy. It is claimed that the funds raised will be spent on policing and street cleaning, but the worry is that the money will simply backfill other budget cuts.

It has since become clear that this new Labour tax will hit all establishments in the city with a late licence, including local pubs and social clubs outside of the city centre. In fact a third of the affected 271 businesses are outside of the city centre. 11 of these premises are in Freemantle Ward, and include:

- the Freemantle
- the Freemantle Arms
- the Freemantle Social Club
- the Osborne
- the Pig and Whistle
- the Rover
- the Blue Keys Hotel
- the Waterloo Arms
- the Wellington Arms

Businesses will be forced to pay up to £4,400 a year, over and above their business rates and all their other costs; yet local pubs in Freemantle and their cusomers will gain nothing from the money that they are forced to hand over. There will be no extra policing in Freemantle, with most officers deployed in the city centre on Friday and Saturday nights and Labour council cuts mean the streets are hardly ever cleaned.

The irony is that Labour have been campaigning to save local pubs. This new Levy will achieve the exact opposite result.

We Are Better Together

Well done to the Daily Echo for its bold editorial stance in campaigning to save the United Kingdom. The Scottish Independence vote doesn’t just affect the Scots, it affects the whole of the UK, and whilst we English are denied a vote, we should not be silent about our views.

The Union between Scotland and England has lasted over 300 years and in my view served both countries very well. We are better together – safer and more prosperous.

Real risk lies ahead for an independent Scotland; its budget deficit is significantly higher than the rest of the UK, there are questions around what currency it would use and its financial independence, its dependence on volatile and reducing North Sea Oil revenues, and the damage that would be done to the Scottish financial services sector which contributes twice that of North Sea Oil to Scotland’s GDP. 100 years on from the start of the First World War, the world still seems very dangerous place and breaking up our armed forces will do nothing to make us safer. Most importantly though, breaking up the union of Scotland and England would not just be a political separation, it would separate families. How many English live in Scotland and would find themselves living in a foreign country, and vice versa for Scots living in England? How many English are married to Scots and how many of us have Scottish relatives?

I am hopeful that the Scots will vote to remain in the UK, but even if they do, all the indications are that it will be a very close vote indeed.

If we do remain together then there will still have to be change. If there isn’t, then there will be calls of another referendum in the next few years. The UK will have to have a new constitutional settlement. It will have to be one that all the political parties can agree on and be one that will last the next hundred years and not just for the next Parliament. The UK parties are talking about devolving more powers to Scotland and there is even talk of moving to some sort of Federal structure. I cannot see why most, if not all, domestic powers shouldn’t be transferred to Scotland. Similarly any new settlement would need to consider Wales and Northern Ireland. Perhaps there is even an opportunity to continue to develop a more positive relationship with the Republic of Ireland, following the Queen’s successful state visit a few years ago.

The English should of course be afforded the same constitutional rights and a new constitutional settlement would also allow the West Lothian Question to be resolved. With new powers being transferred to Scotland, the quid pro quo would be Scottish MPs no longer voting on domestic English matters; an issue that has been unresolved since the Scottish Parliament was formed in 1999.

The Scottish Independence debate has in my view been positive for democracy, I hope dearly that they vote NO to Independence, and I hope that afterwards all the political parties can work together to ensure that the Union, albeit perhaps a changed one in the future, remains strong for the decades and centuries that follow.

Standing to be the Southampton Test MP

Last night I was selected as the Conservative candidate for Southampton Test at next year's General Election. Really honoured to be chosen and will work hard to become a good constituency MP.

Thank you for your support!

"I am very grateful for the trust local residents have put in me by re-electing me as a councillor for Freemantle Ward.

Thank you if you did vote for me this time, but either way I will work hard to represent you and to do a good job, standing up for the area and local people."

- Jeremy Moulton


The full results for Freemantle Ward are: 

• BARTRAM, Dean - UKIP: 471 
• BLUEMEL, Christopher Francis - The Green Party: 449 
• MARX, Michael - Trade Unionists and Socialists Against Cuts: 36 
• MITCHELL, Harry - Liberal Democrat: 214 
• MOULTON, Jeremy Richard - The Conservative Party Candidate: 1472 Elected 
• USHER, Pat - Labour Party Candidate: 1166 

Results for all wards can be found HERE on the Southampton City Council Website.

• Conservatives gained a seat in Portswood, Millbrook and Swaythling but lost a seat in Shirley.
• Liberal Democrats lost two seats - Portswood and Swaythling
• Labour lost a seat in Millbrook and gained a seat in Shirley.

The over state of the parties on Southampton City Council is now as follows: 

• Labour: 28
• Conservative: 18
• Independent: 2

12 YEARS OF HARD WORK FOR THE FREEMANTLE WARD

Dear Resident

I have been your local councillor for the past 12 years and on 22nd May I am standing for re-election.

I have always worked hard to represent everyone in the area and to get things done and make a difference. For me this is the best part of being a councillor. It’s a job I love and which I put my all into and I hope after May to continue to represent you and the area I grew up in.

We have great community spirit in the area and some really active Resident Associations, Neighbourhood Watches and Community Groups. I have enjoyed supporting them over the years and I am confident that in the years to come we will bring about a lot of positive improvements for the area.

After May I want to see through the improvements to the Civil Service Sports Ground. Let’s finally get it opened up for local residents and schools.

I am also keen to work with residents’ groups in drawing up local neighbourhood plans to protect the area from inappropriate developments and ensure that future developments are in keeping with the area and have proper parking.

Thirdly, I want to help ensure that residential areas are shielded from the impacts of the docks; this means better communication from the port, more trees to screen the docks and improving the local air quality. It also means fighting inappropriate developments like the Biomass Power Station.

I look forward to meeting you during the election campaign and if ever I can be of any help please let me know.

Best wishes,

Cllr Jeremy Moulton

Changes to Bin Collections

The City Council is changing the bin collection days for the whole city. Those areas shown in Blue in the map above will have their days on Monday and those in Orange on a Tuesday.

The changes will coincide with the introduction of a new doorstep collection of glass. This new service is funded by the government (see link to earlier article about the bid to government) to improve recycling whilst keeping the our weekly residual waste bin collections.

The changes will undoubtedly mean some teething problems and missed collections so please let me know if your bin is missed and you need me to speak to the council. 

However I think the changes are positive. The council has written to households and enclosed a sticker with your bin day on it. It is worth sticking this on your bin. Hopefully going forward when new people move into the area they will immediately know what day their collections are due. With lots of rented properties and student households in Freemantle Ward we do have a problem with new people not always knowing when to put their bins out. My only concern is that that having whole areas done on the same day may lead to bin lorries filling all the local streets causing traffic congestion. However hopefully this won't prove to be an issue. 

Again Labour Show Why They Can't Be Trusted

The deceit of the Southampton Labour Party knows no bounds. Ahead of the last council election they were peddling the message that the Council's Community Language Service was safe with them and that the Conservatives would end it. I recall one Labour Councillor, now the Communities Cabinet Member, telling a packed public meeting this in 2012. Now Labour are in power they are axing the service. When the Conservatives ran the city we protected Community Languages because we valued the work of all the dedicated volunteers and great work done by all our language schools in the city.

This new Labour betrayal is the exact same scenario as Oaklands Pool: Labour say whatever it takes to get elected and then do the exact opposite when in power. They have proved time and time again that they can't be trusted and this is just one more example.

Plenty of U-turns when it comes to parking charges

Do we believe Labour when they say no more parking charge hikes in Southampton? They made a similar promise before the 2012 council election but as soon as they were in power they set about increasing charges and introducing new ones like residents parking first permits and night time city centre charges. They also voted through plans for charges for shoppers in district centres like Shirley and Portswood. If Labour are genuinely having a rethink and accepting that their approach up until now was wrong, they should scrap their first permit charges and night time charges which will hit residents and businesses in the pocket.

Empty Labour promises before an election have been proved worthless. As the council leader himself admitted himself; much of Labour's 2012 election manifesto was simply an election tactic.