The Andover summit group working on parking and signage has produced it four point action plan. It focuses on possible introduction of on-street dash and go parking, selective reductions to parking charges to boost Christmas shoppers and visitors to events. The phasing out of old style ticket machines to allow alternative payment options, also reviewing the provision of long term parking for the people who work in town.

I look forward to improvements to parking in our Town.  The present system does not encourage  people to stay longer, with threat of a parking ticket if you overstay your time. Pay on exit on all car parks is the most sensible option for me.

Potential sites for dash and go on street parking will be now identified and approval sought from H.C.C. An initial pilot for new  high tech ticket machines in Andover start in 2014. Proposals for parking charge concessions to encourage shoppers and visitors  to the town at key times and long term parking provision will be developed over the coming months. Also start reviewing the current signage leading to the town from the the trunk road network.

The new underpass which connects the new community at Picket Twenty to the town centre has opened last week. This will dispel the rumors that were going round town that the developers had built the underpass to low for the bus’s to drive through!

This was built with contributions from the developers at Picket Twenty, Persimmons . The hourly P20 bus service is operated by Stagecoach is joining this new community to Admirals Way, Vigo Road, Andover Town Centre, Weyhill Road, Andover Rail Station and Tesco Extra.

There is also a extra bus service, to and from Picket Twenty for children to and from Winton School and Vigo School.

All other road users , apart from cyclists and pedestrians, are not permitted to use the underpass, which is controlled by traffic signals triggered by the approaching bus.

The Andover Shopping experience is set to get worse with this weeks announcement that Habels have made the decision to close its store. The furniture store is located in Black Swan Yard, has closed its doors and is getting the shop ready for its final sale of all stock. This closing down sale will start on the 15th May.

The Habels name has been in Andover for the last 35 years, before this the shop was called Ponds and had been in here 100 years.

This loss of another shop of this size, will be sadly missed in Andover. Also for the people about to loose their employment.

At this evenings Northern Area planning Committee, Churchill retirement living received permission to develop the site where the Ford cottage was located. This site on the corner of Chantry Street and West street has been derelict for twenty years.The develop

Artist impression of how development will look

ment will consist of 7 retail units on the ground floor with 96 apartments above it.

At eight story’s high I felt that this was far to high for this area of our Town and dominate the sky line. With only 36 car spaces it would cause major problems for nearby residents. These were some of my concerns, that is why I voted against this application. Unfortunately the vote was lost and work will shortly start on this site.

The prospect of a skate board park in Andover took a step further, when funding for this project was approved at a cabinet meeting in Romsey.

The site for this is in Shepherd Spring car park. This park will be for skate boards, BMX and scooter use. At yesterdays meeting I spoke in favor of this exciting facility saying, “I feel that this type of park in my view is long overdue in Andover. The young people of our town have wanted this, and waited a long time for the sports park. We need to make sure that this exciting new project goes ahead and we get it right, so that it is well used.”

For too long, young people have been moved on from The Lights theatre, Asda and various car parks as they have had no where to use. Further design work still needs to be done.

Funding for this scheme will come from S106 contributions and the new homes bonus. Final recommendation of this will be at full council on the 17th April. The park should take about a year to complete.

I will put further updates about this as it progresses, please send me your comments on this.

How the new skate park may look

Congratulations to Mike Thorton in Winning the Eastleigh Bye election,  fantastic result for your team.

Yesterdays full Council meeting voted to increase the Council tax for the hard pressed people of Test Valley. This was despite a proposal from the Lib Dem Councilors to use some of the money that they receive for the new homes bonus that they get.By using this money there would have been no increase to your tax! Instead they voted to keep this money in reserves. 4.1% is the highest amount that they could impose without having a referendum of all residents. In doing so they gave up a government grant of £60,000, which was available if the council had frozen council tax.

Not one of the Lib Dem group voted in favour of the increase, eight Conservatives abstained from voting on this issue. The proposal to freeze council tax for another year was defeated.

I feel that Council tax is a totally unfair tax, as it’s not based on any ability to pay. In fact the poorest 20% of households pay three times as much, as a proportion of income.

Ultimately Councils are accountable to their residents for their decisions.

Please remember what the Conservatives have voted for at the next election!

This week Good news for the all the lady’s who say that they can not find anything to wear in Andover! A new shop in the Chantry Centre has opened its doors today.

This shop had been shut for about a year. The fact that the new owners are prepared to take the risk and start this new business has to be applauded. Many of the  units in the Chantry are falling empty at present. The centre is owned by Axa Insurance company, in partnership with Test Valley Council.

I feel that a lot more needs to be done to attract more business to set up in our town

I have spoken with the shop’s owner, who tells me that he plans to be here in our Town for the long term. I urge all people to pop in and take a look and support them.

After complaints from just one local resident to Test Valley Council, enforcement officers were telling the shop keepers of our Town that they had to remove A-boards and advertising signs. Although the Council has a duty to respond to alleged breaches of planning and advertising regulations, hopefully common sense will prevail.

With shops closing at a alarming rate in our High Street, we need to help our local shops stay open and promote them as much as possible.

Andover’s war memorial St Mary’s church.

I feel that few subjects in Andover generate as much debate as the future of our Town’s War Memorial.

The Memorial date from 1920, with 213 names of Andover men who fell in the great war. In 1956 it was moved from the High Street to its present position in St Mary’s Church Memorial gardens.

Many people have said they would like it returned to the High Street. Others feel equally strongly that it should stay where it is.

Hardly a week goes by without letters in the Andover Advertiser, with people stating their views. Your local Lib Dem Councillors have  listened to many people on this issue, including the young and old, ex service personnel and serving members of the armed forces.

We intend to deliver a survey to every house in St Mary’s Ward. so that you can let us know your views on this widely debated issue. This will enable us to represent your views in all future debates about this the War Memorial. Your views matter to us . Please take a few moments to reply, either by email or return the free post survey to us.