Leafleting in Shamblehurst

Lib Dems claim the Recycling Centre
will be moved, but when...?

I have just spent a chilly but thoroughly enjoyable morning walking round part of the Shamblehurst ward, delivering campaign leaflets. Thanks to everybody who spared a little time to talk to me, even if it was just to exchange a quick "Good morning". Thanks also to the chap who declined a leaflet and said "You Politicians are all the same": it was a very polite refusal and a point of view that I know many people hold. I have said the same thing myself, before now. It is funny how things turn around sometimes...!

Now I must admit that I've not had cause to walk round the mobile home park previously. It isn't one of those things that there's ordinarily a valid reason to do, unless delivering or visiting. It is not a through route, it is not a dog-walking area, it is not a play area, it is a quiet residential area.

I found that getting round the mobile home park efficiently, without missing anybody, is quite a challenge when delivering leaflets, but I hope I managed to visit every letterbox. I do have a few spares if I did accidentally miss you out. Let me know and I will get one to you.

Whilst walking around the mobile home park, I noticed how homely and well-loved many of the plots were, with some fabulous water features and well tended gardens. I was also surprised at the cost of the mobile homes and the rentals that are charged. It is not as cheap a way of living as I had thought. Having walked round the whole park, I feel that I understand your little corner of Hedge End a little better now.

One problem I noticed in Shamblehurst Lane was the perennial problem of youngsters cycling around residents car parks, clearly causing some annoyance to one particular resident. It is the noise and the risk of damage to expensive and cherished vehicles that creates the concern. It seems trivial, but can actually be very stressful for the residents concerned. If you happen to read this and you know the young people who might be causing the problem, and you know them well enough to do so, please ask them to stick to the public highway. The Council might be able to erect some signs about cycling, if we campaigned hard enough, but can only do so much. Friendly education by parents, elders and peers, is likely to be a more effective solution.

I was pleased to be given one of the Lib Dem Standpoint leaflets whilst walking around the area, the one where the top story is "Recyling Centre to Move?". I agree that it is a problem in Shamblehurst Lane, causing long queues and congestion sometimes, not to mention the huge lorries that have to travel up and down the lane. I wholeheartedly support the idea of the Recycling Centre being moved, but noted that the Lib Dems were unable to say when that would happen. It is just a grand idea at the moment.

Please remember that I'm campaigning against the Lib Dems, but I would also like say that I was appalled that the Lib Dems leaflet seemed to have been written by the Borough Councillors with little or no input (so far as I could see) from the Lib Dem candidate himself. I urge you to read it again if you still have it. Even the email addresses were for the Borough Councillors, rather than the candidate in this Town Council Election.

And that I am afraid, is the problem that has finally brought me to the ballot box.

Hedge End Town Council is dominated by the Borough Councillors, who essentially do what they are told to do by the Lib Dem leader, Cllr Keith House. We thus have a subservient and compliant Town Council, currently comprised of 18 Lib Dems with only 1 independent Councillor (no Conservatives) to oppose them.

Hedge End desperately needs more Councillors who will stand up to the Borough and fight for the best interests of Hedge End, not the best interests of Cllr House's Lib Dem empire...

Your vote for me on the 1st March will help to reduce that problem. The Lib Dems will still have a huge majority on the Town Council after this election, but a second independent Councillor would greatly improve the dynamics of Town Council meetings. We'd be much better placed to get some of the important counter-arguments discussed and minuted. Those discussions could not be managed out of Town Council meetings by the cunning Lib Dems. If you would like to understand the problem more fully, this report by Eastleigh News might help.

Thank you for reading

Ray Turner
http://www.facebook.com/hedgeendindependents