http://robin-hughes.org.uk/newsarchive.php Recent News Stories from Cllr Robin Hughes en-GB Cllr Robin Hughes http://robin-hughes.org.uk/ Prater Raines Ltd http://www.praterraines.co.uk/ (c) 2008 Cllr Robin Hughes 2008-12-02T06:28+00:00 United Kingdom http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000035/cllr_robin_hughes_backs_husrtbourne_tarrant_parish_council_road_safety_campaign.html Hurstbourne Tarrant Parish council has received the full support of Andover North County Councillor Robin Hughes after expressing their dissatisfaction with the lack of progress to address their concerns on the safer route to school. The parish council identified five main issues that they regard need urgent attention. Cllr Robin Hughes said, "I share the concerns of the parish council who quite properly state on behalf of their community, that are not are prepared to wait for a serious accident or fatality to occur before funding and action is taken. The road safety campaign voiced by the Parish Council has my full backing" Cllr Hughes has spoken to several county officers who have confirmed that resources have been diverted to attend to road safety matters following tragic accidents and fatalities on the A326. This has had a knock on impact for the measures at Hurstbourne Tarrant which have been delayed. Cllr Hughes said after talking to the highways officers," I have every confidence that the county officers are trying to deliver both a quality and timely service but are constrained by and have to work within the resources they have been given. I am sure that the highways officers like myself are fully supportive of the parish council and the community in Husrtbourne Tarrant to see these traffic issues investigated and measures completed at the very earliest opportunity. I have asked them to do all they can to expedite the issues that have been raised." Cllr Hughes has also written to both the Cabinet member for the Environment and Leader of the Council so they are both fully informed of the parish councils concerns and would ask them to increase the level of resources available to the Area Director (West) Highways and Transportation. Additional resources would enable the Area Director (West) Highways and Transportation to deal with these matters without any further delays. 2008-11-22T00:00+00:00 http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000034/household_waste_recycling_centre_opens_on_wednesday_3_december_2008.html Andover's new Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) located in Scott Close, on the Walworth Industrial Estate, will open to the public at 8:00am on Wednesday 3 December 2008. The existing Household Waste Recycling Centre at Shepherds Spring Lane will close permanently at 4:00pm on Tuesday 2 December 2008. Diversion signs will be in use to redirect users from the old HWRC to the new site once it is up and running. The new centre's opening hours will remain the same as those of the existing facility. County Councillor Robin Hughes said, "After several years of waiting, a bigger and better Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) for Andover will open on Wednesday 3 December 2008. I congratulate the contractors and the county officers for completing this new facility two weeks ahead of schedule." "Local residents close to the old Shepherds Spring Lane site will no longer have to put up with cars parked nose to tail back from the old site and on to New Street and beyond." 2008-11-20T00:00+00:00 http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000033/1800_grant_success_for_cllr_hughes_on_behalf_of_hatherden_church_of_england_primary_school.html Asked by the Chair of Governors to support the schools appeal to raise £6,500 towards a capital project costing £65,000. Cllr Hughes immediately asked the county council to support the project. Today it was confirmed that his request to the county council for a contribution to the school's project to enhance the outside learning environment for Key Stage 1 and Foundation Stage children had been successful. Cllr Hughes said "I am really pleased that I have some very good news to share. I have been informed that my request was successful and the county council will be making a £1800 contribution towards the £6500 needed." Once the remaining £4700 has been raised the county council will release the money. Cllr Hughes added, "I wish the school every success in raising the rest of the money. I am looking forward to receiving an application from the schools P.T.A so that I can consider using my County Councillors devolved budget scheme to help further in raising the money required". 2008-10-30T00:00+00:00 http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000032/andover_liberal_democrats_select_cllr_robin_hughes.html County Councillor Robin Hughes said "I am delighted to have been selected again to fight the next County Council elections and for the opportunity to serve the people of Andover North. The provision of Hampshire County Council services in Andover is vital to the future of the town. Andover's education, youth and older people's services need to be improved. Years of under investment in our area is demonstrated by the woeful condition of our roads and footpaths. I am keen to continue the fight at County Hall for a fair deal for Andover." 2008-10-04T00:00+00:00 http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000031/andover_library_closes_from_10th_to_11th_september_for_computer_system_upgrade.html Andover Library will be closed from 10th to 11th September 2008. This closure is part of a wider roll-out programme of improvement to customer service. It will enable the installation of and training on the new Library Management System, 'Spydus'. 2008-08-31T00:00+00:00 http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000030/getting_a_job_half_done__completed.html As residents on one half of the King Arthurs Way estate celebrated the repainting of the faded 'T' parking bay markings. The other half asked, "What about us"? Contrary to the report in the local paper of the 15th August 2008 stated that the faded 'T' parking bay markings had been repainted in all of King Arthur's Way. It was only Launcelot Close and Tintagel Close that had the lines repainted. Local resident , County Councillor Robin Hughes pressed both County Council and Test Valley Borough Council officers for an explanation why it was a job, only half done. Cllr Hughes explained that having walked the parking areas of the estate it was obvious to anybody that looked that the 'T' parking bay markings needed to be refreshed on both Camelot Close and Galahad Close, Galahad Close being by far the worse of the two. 2008-08-28T00:00+00:00 http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000029/enham_alamein_30mph_speed_limit_in_operation_on_the_29th_july_2008.html Cllr Robin Hughes has received notification that the Enham Alamein 30mph Speed limit will come into operation on the 29th July 2008. THE HAMPSHIRE (A343 AND MACCALLUM, ENHAM ALAMEIN) (30 MILES PER HOUR SPEED LIMIT) ORDER 2008 was made by the County Council on the 14 July 2008. Cllr Hughes said "I have driven though the village today and the new 30mph speed signs have been erected, drivers are already reducing their speed. This is a successful end to a long campaign that I and many other Liberal Democrat Councillors have been involved with. Working with and for the residents of Enham Alamein and latterly the new Enham Alamein Parish Council, we have achieved a very long held local ambition." 2008-07-27T00:00+00:00 http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000028/tesco_megashed__developers_goodmans_clarify_100_acre_corner_junction_costs.html ANDOVER Airfield developers Goodman clarify the construction costs to improve the 100 Acre Corner junction at the proposed Andover Airfield development. The developer will fully fund the improvements to the 100 Acre Corner junction costing £4.9m plus a sum for maintenance of £1m which will have to paid over to the county council. If this development proceeds and work is started, the developers will have to provide a bank bond which guarantees the completion of the project should Goodmans or the contractor default. The value of this bond is £8.8m which will cover the costs of the county council having to get a new contractor in to complete the work. It also contains a contingency in case the costs increase. The planning application for a warehouse at Andover Airfield will be determined by the Northern Area Planning Committee on 1st September 2008 at the Lights theatre in Andover, starting at 5.30 pm 2008-07-25T00:00+00:00 http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000027/hampshire_tories__digging_deeper.html In a packed Hampshire County Council meeting councillors were told by the public why their Minerals plan is unsound. The numbers attending filled the public gallery and had to be accommodated on the floor of the chamber. Cllr Hughes said after the meeting, "I applaud all those members of the public who attended this meeting and put forward their concerns. The arguments they made deserved to be listened to but they have been ignored by the Conservatives and Labour councillors, who together forced through the Minerals Plan at much higher levels of mineral extraction than the market currently demands." 2008-07-11T00:00+00:00 http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000025/hampshire_library_service_downgraded.html The Hampshire Library service has lost one of its stars being downgraded from a two-star rating to a one star. The service failed to meet targets for library opening hours, visits per 1000 population, number of computers and new book buying. However those in charge of the county library service chose to dismiss the service standards as out of date and not properly reflecting the performance of modern public library services. Cllr Robin Hughes, County Councillor for Andover North said, "I am not surprised, last year the Tories reduced the professional library staff by a quarter. Invested the least amount in book stocks per head of population of any English county and experienced the largest decline in book lending." "Despite spending a additional £350,000 this year on books they still fell short of the target for new additions this year". "Rather than being dismissive of the Audit commission ratings they should accept that the library service could be better and do something about it". 2008-07-07T00:00+00:00 http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000024/extraordinary_extravagant_conservative_controlled_hampshire_county_council.html Revelations in the Daily Mail and Hampshire Chronicle this week highlight the "extraordinary extravagant" Conservative controlled Hampshire County Council. They reveal that of the £40M being spent on refurbishing the county council headquarters in Winchester, £1•25M has been spent on new furniture and fixings. These include directors' chairs with adjustable lumber support, head rest and multi-position tilt. Multicoloured designer sofas and chairs provided for rest areas when staff are not working. The six kitchenettes areas now have the best in designer taps costing £2000 each. 2008-07-06T00:00+00:00 http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000023/tesco_megashed__highways_measures.html Hampshire County Council has negotiated a package of measures and legally enforceable controls with the developer on this development which removes any objection from the County Council on highway grounds. 2008-07-01T00:00+00:00 http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000022/andover_library_now_open_on_a_sunday.html Cllr Robin Hughes attended the 11:00am ribbon cutting ceremony on June 29 as Andover library opened its doors for the very first time on a Sunday. The library will now be open from 11:00am to 3:00pm on Sundays. Cllr Hughes said, "Sunday opening will give customers, especially for those who work all week the opportunity to use the library at more convenient time. Today has been a tremendous success as I have been told that today, the first Sunday opening, the library is as busy as a normal week day afternoon." 2008-06-29T00:00+00:00 http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000021/railway_station_offered_as_a_stop_on_the_cango_c3_service.html Cllr Hughes has given his full support to the Smannell Liberal Democrats Focus Team campaign to provide a greener, safer, reliable bus service to Andover Railway Station from Smannell, Little London and Enham Alamein. From Monday 9 June 2008 the Railway Station will be offered as a stop on the C3 service. The bus cannot travel to both the Railway Station and Tesco so bookings will be taken on a first come, first served basis. Cllr Hughes said, " I am extremely grateful to the Hampshire County Council Community Transport Officers who have looked closely at Cango C3 timetable and stolen a couple of minutes which would allow passengers to be dropped off at the Andover Railway Station but only if no one has booked to go to Tesco." "I have asked that when the CANGO timetables are next being reviewed changes are made to enable both the Railway station and Tesco's being offered on a permanent basis not either / or". 2008-06-15T23:05+00:00 http://robin-hughes.org.uk/news/000020/the_chapel_arts_project__success.html The news that the Test Valley Arts Foundation has secured a £65,000 grant, needed to fund the Chapel Arts (St Mary's Chapel) project - Andover has been welcomed by County Councillor Robin Hughes. "I am delighted with the news that the Arts Council England South East has decided to award £65,000 towards the Chapel Arts project". "The commitment demonstrated by the partnership of the Test Valley Arts Foundation, Test Valley Borough Council and Hampshire County Council will have helped to persuade the Arts Council to fund this project". 2008-06-14T10:43+00:00