St Marks School Community Forum Dates

The date for the next St Marks School Community Forum will be on Tuesday 26th March, with a Bike It presentation at 6:30pm and Community Forum at 7:00pm.

The one after this will be on Wednesday 3rd July. All meetings will be in the school hall and begin for coffee at 6:30 with a presentation of some sort and the meeting beginning at 7pm.

All are welcome!

Labour's Vendetta Against Coxford

Labour Council Leader Richard Williams seems hell bent on attacking residents in the Coxford Ward after two of the local Labour councillors left the Labour Party to become Independents. Our worry is that he is now on some sort of vendetta to punish these councillors and local residents who have opposed Labour's cuts and broken promises. In recent months Labour have:

- Shut Oaklands Pool despite a clear promise before the election not to do so.

- Tried to pretend that money was not there to do repairs on the pool despite this clearly being the case.

- Been working on secret plans to develop high rise flats along Lordshill Way, taking away green space, not consulting with councillors or residents. 

- Tried to cut ALL of the local youth and children's facilities including the popular Zoe Braithwaite centre

- Announced plans to charge residents living around the hospital to park in their own street.

Labour To Demolish Oaklands

Labour have set aside HALF A MILLION pounds in the city council budget to demolish the Oaklands site.

Local Conservatives warned that Labour planned to demolish the site and have been calling for the swimming pool to be reopened and for the former school to be made into an asset for the local community - as a community centre and for other uses like space for a nursery or even small businesses.

There has been no consultation about this and it is again another betrayal of the local area by Labour. Labour said that they wouldn't reopen the swimming pool because it would cost too much for repairs and here we have them planning to spend half a million pounds demolishing Oaklands! It is a perfectly good building and local people have been crying out for a permanent community centre for years. I want to know what our local councillors are going to do about this.

Labour Plans To Charge You To Park Outside Your Own Home

Labour have announced plans to introduce new charges for residents who live in permit parking areas in the city. Until now residents with permit parking have not been charged for a permit for their first car. Labour made no mention of their plans for first permit charges in their election manifesto last year and instead they claimed that they would reduce parking charges in the city if elected. Another broken Labour promise!

Parking is a massive problem in Freemantle, made all the worse by all the extra flats that were built without proper parking provision under the last Labour Government. To now charge people who are already struggling to park in their road is outrageous. 

The Prime Minister Commits to In - Out EU Referendum

Campaigning for a EU Referendum at last year's Conservative Party Conference

Today's speech by the Prime Minister was truly historic and marks a watershed in Britain's relationship with Europe. The British people will be given a say on whether they wish to remain in the EU. I was not alive when Britain last voted on Europe and only those who are at least 55 today had a say when the country was last given a vote in 1975.

The vast majority of the public are thoroughly unhappy with our present relationship with Europe. A Conservative Government would renegotiate a new relationship with EU and put it to the people to decide whether we remain in or leave.

This is a chance to fundamentally change not just our relationship with Europe but hopefully Europe itself, a chance to regain control of our borders and to restore law making powers to this country and most importantly a chance for the British people to decide. 

I am very proud of the Prime Minister today and courage he has shown. The dividing line with Labour is clear. Labour will refuse the people a say. It is therefore imperative that the Conservatives win in 2015.

Conservatives Call For Council Tax Freeze

Southampton Conservatives are calling for council tax to be frozen for a 3rd year running. The government has made available £800,000 this year to support Southampton in keeping council tax down, yet Labour are proposing turning the cash down and instead raising council tax by 2%.

Today we heard that Southampton is set to receive an additional £5.8M from government this year. This is money can be used to protect front line services that are under threat from the Labour run council. Southampton Conservatives are saying that with extra funding from government there is no excuse for key services to be cut and local taxes hiked up by Labour.

Labour Should Abandon Their Cuts to Vulnerable Children

Before Christmas I went to visit the Southampton Young Carers Project, a service at risk of being axed by the new Labour Council Administration.

The Young Carers Project supports some of the most vulnerable families in the city. The project supports 120 brave young children who look after sick or disabled family members. It gives them valuable respite, puts on trips for them and helps to give them a childhood despite the pressures of family life.

Labour announced in November that they will withdraw the full £89,000pa that the council currently gives to the service. This would mean that in April the service will be cut off at the knees, with no time to find alternative sources of funding to keep it going.
Labour’s budget cuts have disproportionately hit services to children in Southampton and cuts like the Young Carers Project will not save money in the long run and instead will put more pressure on families, leading to more family breakdown and children being taken into care.

Local Conservative Councillors are calling on Labour to abandon their plans to cut the service.

Labour Budget Will Hit Freemantle Ward Hard

As a local councillor representing the Freemantle Ward I was extremely disappointed and angered to read the budget plans of the new Labour Administration. Many of the cuts and hikes in charges will disproportionately hit those that I am elected to represent.

Labour came into office full of promises and as predicted, one by one they are breaking them. They immediately u-turned on their pledge to keep Oaklands Pool open. They promised to invest more in SureStart and they are cutting £1m a year from this service. They promised to spend more on libraries, yet they are slashing opening hours, bringing local libraries to the verge of closure. Shirley Library is having its hours cut by 15 hours a week. Pensioners are having their council tax raised by 12%, despite a last minute pre election promise by Cllr Richard Williams not to do this. Even the weekly bin collection was due to be axed and it was only spared because of a grant from the Government.

A 35% reduction in street cleaning in local roads will mean lots of more litter. Local residents associations are fighting an ongoing battle to keep the area clean, with regular litter picks and this will come as a real slap in the face to many people. I am very worried about the cuts to the upkeep of local parks. We already have problems with drinking in Lake Park and cans and glass left behind as well as the ongoing problem of dog fouling. We have more and more young families in Freemantle and keeping the local parks clean, tidy and safe is essential.

Parking is one of the biggest problems faced by residents in Freemantle Ward. I have fought for a long time to stop new charges coming in for first permits in residents’ parking zones. Labour tried to bring in charges last time they were in power and now they are back they are quick to charge residents to park. Worse still this doesn’t even guarantee residents a space in their road. Residents’ Parking enforcement stops at 6pm so many residents will end up paying for permits and much of the time they will be worthless. Labour plans to introduce on street parking charges in the evenings in the city centre will mean more workers parking their cars in local roads after 6pm, making it even harder for residents to park. Also charging people to park when they are shopping in Shirley will hit local businesses hard, damaging trade and costing jobs, at a time when everyone is struggling.

Labour have not thought through their proposals. They were elected with no plan and no vision for the city and now residents are suffering the consequences.

Conservatives Save The Weekly Bin Collections

Local Conservatives have saved the weekly bin collections in Southampton, despite Labour's best efforts to axe the service! 

Labour announced earlier this month that the weekly bin collections would go if a bid submitted to government by the previous Conservative Council was unsuccessful and have put a dozen bin men on notice of redundancy. This was despite their last minute pre-election pledge not to cut the bins. 

Conservatives have been lobbying the government over recent months to provide extra funds for the city which will not only protect the weekly bins but also provide the money for a new, FREE doorstep collection of glass. We have heard today that the Secretary of State for Local Government, Eric Pickles MP, has agreed the funds and saved Southampton's bin service from planned Labour cuts. 

Labour To Axe Weekly Bin Collections

Many residents will remember our pre-election warning about the weekly bin collection being scrapped by Labour.

Labour put out leaflets just days before the May elections, promising to keep the bins weekly. Labour knew the full financial situation of the Council when making this and their other promises.

Labour yesterday broke their bins promise by revealing their plans to end the weekly bin collection. This is a cynical and calculated betrayal of local people who believed in Labour and their promises. 

Despite being in power for less than 7 months, Labour's legacy in Southampton is already one of lies and broken promises. 

On behalf of the residents who value their weekly bin collection and do not want a permanent stinking mess on their doorstep we are now calling on Labour to reverse this crazy decision and stick to their pre-election pledge.

20 Is Plenty In Freemantle

I am calling on the City Council to look at introducing a citywide strategy to reduce speed limits in Southampton.

This comes of the back of new guidelines recently published by the government to make this easier to implement without the need for expensive traffic calming measures in those roads where traffic speeds tend to be slower anyway.

Residents in many residential streets would like to see speeds officially reduced from 30mph to 20mph and this would both reassure local people and reduce accidents.

Weekly Bin Collections Must Stay

Local Conservatives are committed to keeping the weekly bin collections and want to see more recycling in the city. In our manifesto we pledged to keep residual waste bin collections weekly and before the May elections we submitted a multi million pound bid to the government for extra money to fund a new FREE kerbside glass collection service.

By contrast, Labour have refused to rule out axing the weekly bin collections. As recently as September, Labour said publicly that the service might be cut despite their last minute pre election pledge. 

I am lobbying the Secretary of State for Local Government, Eric Pickles, to provide the kerbside glass money to Southampton City Council.

Labour Need To Honest About City Council Finances

My Letter in today's Daily Echo regarding Southampton City Council's finances:

Dear Sir

 

Labour Councillor, Simon Letts complains that previous Conservative Council mismanaged the council's finances (Echo Letters 22nd October). In fact the previous Administration delivered a £6.9M revenue under spend in the last municipal year, presented a balanced capital budget and had in place a robust plan for dealing with the financial challenges faced by the council in the years ahead. 

On the 11th July at the Full Council meeting, Councillor Letts acknowledged the under spend publicly and extra funds this provided his new Administration. I did say to him then that if he tried to misrepresent the Conservatives' management of the finances that I would remind him of this and what he said in the council meeting and so I am doing so with this letter.

 

It is very true to say that Southampton City Council faces difficult times financially. The worrying truth is however that Labour came into office with no serious plan to tackle the situation. They immediately set about rewarding themselves with extra paid councillor roles, started spending money on unnecessary pet projects and abandoned the partnership arrangement with the Isle of Wight which would have allowed Southampton to protect services through sharing them with the Island. They have refused to contemplate selling any of the thousands of works of art that the City Council owns, to plug the financial gap, yet are quite willing to axe services like Oaklands swimming pool. Worse still they have spent the last six months arguing and fighting amongst themselves rather than knuckling down and getting to grips with the finances. The result is utter chaos in the Civic Centre and a budget delayed at the eleventh hour. Labour urgently need to get a grip and they need to start being honest with the residents of Southampton.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Cllr Jeremy Moulton, Deputy Leader of Southampton Conservative Group

Labour Need To Be Clear Over the Future Of Oaklands

What a complete mess Labour are in over the issue of Oaklands Pool. Broken promises, deceit and incompetence are fast becoming hallmarks of the new council Administration.

One of Labour's first actions on taking control of the council was to announce the closure of Oaklands, despite their election pledge just a few weeks before, promising to protect it. 

Since then we have had total confusion over the future of the site. On one hand we had Labour saying the long term maintenance costs of the pool were too expensive, then we had a statement several months later from council Leader Richard Williams saying he might commit to repair costs. We had Labour on one hand saying that they would not pay the ongoing running costs, then them spending even more money this year keeping it closed, because of the ongoing costs of wages, building costs and lost income from visitors. We have had Labour on one hand saying that they would welcome a private company or charity taking on the pool but on the other hand had them saying that they planned to demolish the whole site within 2 years to make way for a new Sainsbury's. Now Sainsbury's have announced that they won't be proceeding with plans for a new store anyway.

Labour's policy is in total chaos. The pool should have stayed open and the pipe work repairs that were being carried out by the previous Administration should never have been stopped. If Labour won't allow Oaklands to remain a council pool and if they are serious about finding an alternative operator they need to be proactive and clearly spell out whether or not they will commit the council to ongoing repairs and how long any deal with a swimming pool operator will last. Labour also need to be clear about the future of the former Oaklands School building. Months ago the Conservatives called for the building to be used for community use and for other options like business use or nursery provision to be considered, but Labour voted our proposals down.

Southampton Labour are in Chaos

The new Labour Council Administration in Southampton is in total chaos. Labour were due this week to publish their budget for the coming year but at the eleventh hour have delayed the announcement by a month.
Just days after agreeing £2.8M of pay rises for council staff, Labour have admitted that they have no idea how they are going to pay for it and balance the books next year.

Since May Labour have failed to get to grips with the difficult finances of the city council. They have wasted months taking time off for holidays, arguing with themselves and focusing on minutiae. Now they have run out of time and their lack of a credible plan for the city is being exposed.

The first action taken by Labour was to reward themselves on their election victory with extra paid councillor jobs and chairmanships, spending money the city couldn’t afford. They then axed the developing partnership arrangement with the Isle of Wight, an arrangement which would have allowed the city and the island to merge more functions, protecting services at a time when there is considerably less money than before.
At the last full council meeting Labour again refused to consider selling off a small proportion of the council’s huge art collection to provide funds to invest in and protect services.

Labour’s lack of a plan, its sordid pay deal with the union bosses that funded their election campaign, its tearing up of council partnership arrangements, its refusal to consider options like art sales, all mean one thing; Labour are heading for a financial crisis which will see services axed, hundreds of jobs cut and fees and charges for local residents and businesses go through the roof.
There will be more broken promises. Labour as always will seek to blame someone else; the government or the last Conservative council Administration. However they have no one else but to blame but themselves.

Local Police Meeting

The next Police and Community Together (PACT) meeting for the Shirley, Freemantle and Regents Park area is on the 10th October at 18.30 at Shirley Parish Hall, Colebrook Avenue, Shirley.

I will be going along and there will be city council officer there to answer questions on parking, traffic and highways matters.

Park Hotel Building To Stay

The Park Hotel Today

For some years the Park Hotel in Shirley Road has been empty and boarded up, with local residents uncertain about the future of the building. Owners, Orchard Homes have been unable to reopen it as a pub and possible options for the site have included pulling it down and building a block of modern flats or a convenience store with flats above. Neither option is popular with local residents, nor is leaving the building empty, as it has become a bit of an eyesore. There was also a fire recently and there are concerns that it may happen again.

Residents and Councillors have met with directors from Orchard Homes on two occasions to see if an agreement could be reached about how the site might be redeveloped. The most popular choice was to see the building retained and converted to residential use and last week Orchard Homes presented some architects plans to the Freemantle Triangle Residents Association. The plans would see the outer walls and roof of the building retained and a second floor added to the single story part of the building fronting onto Shirley Road. 

As a local councillor I often find myself opposing inappropriate planning applications. It is a rare but welcome thing to have a developer making the effort not just to engage with the local community but also to come up with a design that is sympathetic to the neighbourhood and its heritage. 

My grandfather used to drink in the Park Hotel in the 1950s and 60s. It was managed for a while by my former colleague on the Council, Matthew Dean and I have spent many an evening there over the years. including helping clean it out when Matt first moved in. I think it would be a dreadful shame to see it bulldozed and I am very encouraged by the plans put forward by Orchard Homes. 

I found this old advert for the Park Hotel in a Southampton football programme from August 1963. It shows the old organ and the bar. I hope that the building can be saved and I will be supporting Orchard Homes' planning application when it is submitted. 

The Park Hotel 50 years ago (click to enlarge)

           

UPDATE: Orchard Homes have now submitted their planning application which can be seen here.

Labour Announce 240 Council Job Cuts

Another broken Labour promise by Southampton's new Council Administration as a hit list of 240 jobs is revealed, ahead of the draft city budget announcement next month.

Labour went into the local elections in May saying there would be no council job cuts as a result of their new staff redeployment model based on one adopted in Sunderland. They renamed this approach the Solent model and described it as their plan B for the council. The scheme would have seen the staff redeployment period extended to 12 months. Immediately after the election this was watered down to 8 months and today the final scheme will be agreed by the Labour Cabinet - just 4 months. At the Council's Overview and Scrutiny Management panel meeting on Thursday Labour admitted that they hadn't researched the policy properly and upon taking control of the council they realised that it was totally unaffordable. They also admitted that the policy was only intended to last one year to get them through the election period and was then due to be scrapped anyway.

However the biggest bombshell was revealed at Full Council on Wednesday and then clarified at the Overview and Scrutiny panel meeting the day after. Labour has been working on a secret hit list of staff who will be axed - all council staff on fixed, short term temporary contracts. The list of staff includes over a dozen bin men, library staff, sure start and nursery workers. These staff will receive no redeployment. Labour say that the union bosses have been working hand in glove with them on the issue.  Not only is this a betrayal of City Council staff who Labour have misled it is very disrespectful and totally unprofessional for Labour to once again reveal job cuts in public before speaking with those involved. After leaking their summer mini budget to the media, Labour were rightly chastised for having Oaklands Swimming Pool staff first hear about their jobs on the radio. Now Labour have done it again, announcing 240 job cuts in the public meeting of the Full Council, before having the decency to speak with those affected, some of whom have been with the council for up to 7 years.

Labour are proving time again that they cannot be trusted in Southampton and that they were prepared to say anything before the elections in order to win power, but had no intention of keeping their promises once they got in. Will the the local union bosses do anything about it? No of course they won't because they are Labour Party people who represent their own interests and that of the Labour Party - jobs and services are not their priority and once again this is being shown to be true.

Tougher Licencing Rules Needed Locally

Residents living in and off of Shirley Road are getting increasingly concerned about the amount of street drinking, the amount of bottles and cans dumped in the street and the numbers of licenced premises (shops and off licences) springing up in the area. I am getting more and more complaints and in recent years I believe that the situation has gotten out of hand. Action is need to curb the number of new licenced premises - enough is enough. 

I have written the Southampton District Police Commander and to the Chairman of the City Council's licencing panel calling for tougher licencing rules to be introduced. A few years ago the Council brought in a new licencing policy (called a Cumulative Impact Policy) in parts of the town centre, Bedford Place and Bevois Valley. This policy shifts the emphasis onto applicants for new alcohol licences, requiring them to demonstrate that they will not add to existing problems in the area. 

I am pleased to say that I have had encouraging feedback from the council's licencing department and the chairman of the licencing panel has agreed to work with the police to see if a tougher policy can be introduced locally. I will keep residents updated with any progress.

New Play Park Needed for Lake Park

The Children's play area in Lake Park is in need of improvements, with play equipment in need of updating and the area surrounding it often waterlogged.

I have received a number of complaints from parents that use the park and I am pushing the council for an urgent upgrade. The City Council has funds available for improving play parks in the area. These funds have been paid over to the council by developers over recent years as part of planning requirements that new developments help support improvements in the area. So the council has the funds and in my view it needs to make Lake Park a priority.