Borough tops in recycling stakes
COUNCILLOR'S REPORT By Vic Pierce-Jones Hayling West CONGRATULATIONS and thanks to all for your support of the council's waste services and recycling efforts.
Our borough is in the top six per cent in the country for producing the least amount of waste. The cost of our house collection services is among the lowest 14 per cent in the country.
We are in the top quartile of councils for recycling and 98 per cent of residents have kerbside recycling services (green wheelie bins).
Understandably 92 per cent of residents are satisfied with these services.
Incidentally, I pay tribute to our East Hayling Councillor, David Collins, who has driven these successes as the portfolio holder for many years.
I should mention I heard a complaint from a respected local doctor about fortnightly collections of household waste in hot weather.
He thinks this is the wrong thing to do with infections like MRSA around. But this may be a specialist medical matter.
Normal household waste should be wrapped up well so smells and bugs cannot get in or come out.
The above mentioned statistics emerged when the council was looking for ways of reducing costs by sharing the service with other councils, but it was felt that where waste services are concerned we should continue as we are at present.
Elsewhere Havant Council is desperate to keep council tax as low as possible, the aim is a zero increase.
You may have heard that one way of economising is by joining a Southampton Council arrangement with the professional services Capita Group.
Already revenue and benefits are being handled by this company.
I noticed someone in Mengham collecting signatures for a petition again this, and I believe 800 were collected over the whole borough.
But councils are being hit by the credit crunch and this is likely to get worse. Reduced expenditure is a MUST not a MAYBE.
You can't say Havant isn't being hit by the credit crunch. New building for Havant College and a new hospital have been cancelled due to lack of finance.
We get surprising news that Hayling College is to share in a 100million payout for new buildings. I wonder...?
Another idea for economic success is to work with Capita and Hampshire County Council in setting up a public service "village" around an improved Civic Centre, bringing jobs, services and administrative activity to the borough.
Hayling councillors made a trip round the Island with council officers to see some of the problems of on-street parking.
It was decided to increase the waiting time at the Station Road parking slots, opposite West Lane, from half-an-hour to an hour, to give people more time to do shopping etc.
New yellow lines are to be put in at Eastoke Avenue, near the junction with Creek Road.
There is a long bend which is difficult to see round if cars are parked on the south side. My most serious concern is the on-street parking down the north side of Hollow Lane.
It makes life very difficult for everyone, especially cyclists, because it reduces the Lane to a single line much of the day.
It also makes life difficult at the junction with Alexandra Avenue.
There have been many complaints about this but traffic engineers are reluctant to put yellows on either side of the lane.
They feared the long straight has potential to become a race track. They also quoted that there had never been a serious accident on this stretch so it can't be described as dangerous.
I suppose one has to wait for someone to be killed! But they did agree to keep a special watch on this situation.
Protest at family's political monopoly
WHILE congratulating Cllr Frank Pearce on being elected county councillor in early June, it means that of the seven council representatives for Haylng (six for the borough and one for Hampshire County) four are held by members of the same family (brother, sister and husband.)
On top of this the chairman of Hayling Conservatives and the Hayling Community Board is the same man, proposed from the same source.
You'd think this was a junta like they get in dodgy parts of South America not a democratic set up in southern England.
There is no law to prevent more than one member of a family taking councils seats but, like MP expenses, it should be a self-regulating matter.
People concerned should realise things are not right.
In protest I now attend committee meetings at Emsworth.
I am not being personal about this, but as a former Mayor of Havant I feel I have responsibility to check on our democratic credentials.
Tour of leisure centres
COUNCILLORS were taken on a tour of the Waterlooville and Havant Horizon Leisure Centres to see their marvellous facilities, swimming pools etc.
I was specially struck by their batteries of exercise machines which obviously help people improve their fitness and slimming.
The snag is that all these are located in the central and north west part of the borough, in fact a percentage of people using them actually live in East Hants and Winchester council areas.
How many people from Hayling, Emsworth, Bedhampton get to use them? Why can't we have some of those machines here?
Also it is striking how much money is lavished on the mainland activity centres compared with, say, Beachlands.
They have so many lifeguards patrolling their baths but we get none on Hayling for our four miles of beach, often packed in the summer.
They have something like 200 staff. What couldn't we do with something like this level of staffing on Hayling, especially when thousands of visitors descend on us and leave their mess during holiday weekends?
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Weather for Hayling
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: -4 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North
