Blitz on Potholes

Tonight the new Conservative Council approved extra funds to tackle blight of potholes in the city's streets. An extra £300,000 is being allocated to tackle the affects of the winter weather which caused serious damage to Southampton's roads. This new money will mean that 4,500 extra pot holes will be filled. The money comes on top of the £800,000 increase to the council's roads budget announced in February.

The state of the roads is top concern for Southampton residents and we are working hard to do more to tackle the dreadful backlog of repairs. Year on year we are increasing investment despite the backdrop of chronic underfunding of council services by the Government. This winter saw a week of unusually bad freak weather and we are determined that we will not be knocked of course in our drive to fix the roads.

Hill Lane Crossing Works Underway

Work on the junction of Hill Lane and Raymond Road is now well underway.

Southampton City Council is installing a new pedestrian and cycle crossing. The pavement has also been widened on Hill Lane to improve visibility for cars turning right from Raymond Road. Click HERE for further details.

The First 100 Days of Conservative Administration

Today is day 100 for the new Conservative administration on Southampton City Council. The Conservatives took minority control of the council following the May local elections which saw the Conservatives top the poll across the city and form Southampton's first Conservative Council in 23 years.

Since May the new administration has been working tirelessly to improve the city and modernise the city council.

An enormous amount of hard work has been done in the past 100 days and the new administration has not shied away from taking bold decisions.

We have brought the secondary education review to a successful close. £5m has been awarded to secondary schools across the city and an education charity, Oasis, has been appointed to run two new city academies, a move which will attract £50m of investment.

Four years of discussion over the future of council support services such as IT, property and customer services has been ended and the Council has signed a £290m agreement with Capita to deliver these services over the next ten years. The partnership will transform and modernise these services, attracting over £25m of private investment, saving the tax payer millions of pounds, whilst securing jobs and creating the prospect of new employment in the city.

The uncertainly over the future of Eastpoint has been brought to an end and a decision taken to help facilitate Itchen College's move to the site.

We have got to grips with the appalling state of the roads. The Lib / Lab legacy is a backlog of more than £500m in roads and pavements repairs! It is not going to be possible to find the money for this overnight but a strategy is being put in place to bring much greater investment into the roads.

The new administration is sticking to its election commitments. A pensioner council tax discount will be introduced next year. Tackling crime and disorder is a top priority for the administration and Council tax will be scrapped for Southampton people who sign up to become special constables in the city, to help make our streets safer. Free bus nation wide bus travel for seniors will be rolled out in April.

A citywide energy strategy is being put in place to make Southampton a greener city and to tackle carbon emissions over the next 20 years.

Policies are being finalised to protect family housing in the city.

Daft policies such as the laser lights have been scrapped and we put forward our own suggestion for a wow factor in the form of a bronze spitfire on the roundabout by the DeVere; a proposal which attracted overwhelming public support. We are also progressing our plans to build a city heritage centre in the west wing of the civic centre, to celebrate the titanic and the city's trams. We will insure the city's £150m art collection which was scandalously put at risk by previous administrations. We will also ensure that this wonderful treasure is not left gathering dust in the civic centre basement. We are committed to delivering an ice rink as soon as we can strike the right deal with a provider and agree the site.

Major city developments are being pushed ahead. Carnival is on site and a planning application will soon go in for the redevelopment of Northern Above Bar.

We will be bring forward our draft budget proposals in October this year so that there can be a full public discussion before the city sets its final budget in February. We know that unpopular decisions may have to be made but by bringing up issues early we will enable true consultation and then hopefully make the best decisions for the city.

All this is being achieved against a backdrop of chronic under funding of Southampton by the Government. We are lobbying hard for Southampton to receive its fair share but of late much of the money has been given to local authorities in the north of England.

Only 100 days have so far passed but decisions are being taken, and the ground work is being laid for a bright future for Southampton.

Forthcoming Road Works

Below is a list of forthcoming road works in Freemantle Ward:

Hill Lane - Junction with Darwin Road
Nature of work: Gas main & water main works
Traffic Control: Temporary traffic signals
Start Date: 10th September
Duration: 4 days
Organisation: Southern Gas / Southern Water


Howard Road - Shirley Road to Stafford Road
Nature of work: Kerb & footway works
Traffic Control: Partial closure & temporary traffic signals
Start Date: 24th September
Duration: Four weeks
Organisation: Southampton City Council


Shirley Road - At Howard Rd Junction
Nature of Work: Gas Main Works
Traffic Control: Temporary signals Tied in with above
Start Date: 24th September
Duration: One week
Organisation: Southern Gas


Archers Road - Between Carlton Rd and The Avenue
Nature of Work: Highway alterations
Traffic Control: Partial Road Closure
Start Date: 8th October
Duration: Six weeks
Organisation: John Reilly Civil Eng


Howard Road - Shirley Road to Stafford Road
Nature of Work: Carriageway resurfacing
Traffic Control: Road closure
Start Date: 22nd October
Duration: One week
Organistion: Southampton City Council


Shirley Road - Junction Landguard Rd
Nature of Work: Gas main works
Traffic Control: Temporary traffic signals
Start Date: 29th October
Duration: Two weeks
Organisation: Southern Gas


The Avenue - Northbound from Northlands Road
Nature of Work: Carriageway resurfacing
Start Date: Feb/March 2008
Duration: 3 to 4 weeks
Organisation: Southampton City Council

The State of Southampton's Roads

Southampton's roads are in a dreadful state. Last week councillors of all political parties were given a presentation on just how bad they are and possible solutions for the future.

There is an estimated £50m backlog in road repairs and each year, despite additional investment, the roads are deteriorating. The situation is getting worse, not better.

The state of the roads and pavements is a key concern to local people and rightly so. What is needed from the politicians is honesty.

The council is not in a position to reverse years of neglect using local taxation alone. Significant extra money is going to be needed from external sources.

The council has recently submitted a bid to government for £300m of PFI money to tackle our roads. It is expected that the bid will be unsuccessful. We all know the money tends to go to Labour's heartlands in the north and our local Labour MPs have no influence with government and consistently fail to lobby on behalf of the city.

Labour locally are promising in their election literature to repair a mile of road a week. This sounds impressive and I don't know how they have calculated the figure. What I do know is that in their city council budget proposals in February they proposed to spend the least of the 3 parties on repairs to the roads and last year they voted to cut the pot hole repair gangs.

Conservatives by contrast have pledged extra money. We would also spend the money more sensibly. Rather than wasting it on gold plating areas like Portswood Broadway, moronic schemes like the one in London Road and pointless pavement widening exercises we would address the roads that most need fixing.

The council needs to consider bringing in private sector expertise and experience to help us use our budgets more effectively. We also need to keep looking out for additional sources of funds from government and be quick to apply for such money.

Labour are forcing an extra £16,200 homes on Southampton over the next 20 years but they are not supplying the funding needed to support these extra homes (roads and other services).

A change of government is the best hope for Southampton, or at the very least we need MPs who will speak out for the city.