Worthy Road speed control measures and other County matters

Hi everyone,  Lynne from Abbotts Barton Community Group here. Earlier in December, I had a meeting with Fiona Mather, the County Councillor, to find out what is going on in the area.  The most crucial thing is that a crossing for the Worthy Road is under consideration and one of the things that will determine whether or where it goes ahead is evidence of local demand. So now is the time to email Fiona.mather@hants.gov.uk if you want a crossing stating why you want one (for example: I cross every day with two children on scooters, an elderly Aunt etc.) and where. Spread the word!  One email with a number of people’s names and email addresses on it is useful as then Fiona can demonstrate there is demand without having to flood the Council Officers’ inboxes or write a letter and get your neighbours to sign it. Or if that sounds too tricky just send an email yourself.  This week would be handy but if not as soon as you can.

There are however going to be some new signs and road markings on the Worthy Road, these are:

• new 'frail/infirm pedestrians' warning signs on approaches to Abbots Barton Nursing Home + new SLOW road markings
• enhanced 30/40 speed limit signs on backing boards where speed limit changes north of Stoke Road + red pad surface alongside with painted 30 roundel
• replace existing 'frail/infirm' and 'side road ahead' warning signs further north throughout route with enhanced signs on backing boards + new SLOW markings
• some redundant signs will be removed as part of the above works.

The road markings are weather dependent but the Council are anticipating that the new signs should be in place early in the new year.

The 20 mph zones are to go ahead following a recent public consultation. The next stage is the statutory consultation which involves putting the orange signs up, but this is largely a formality. The plan is that the zones will be in place in Stanmore, Winnall and Highcliffe by the end of March and the rest of the areas will go ahead in the summer. This includes Hyde but not Abbotts Barton.

Other items we discussed were ‘Give Way’ lines for the junction between Francis Gardens and the new Abbotts Walk development as there appears to be some confusion there with cars pulling straight out of the new estate and railings next to the Worthy Road at the top of the Francis Gardens alleyway, similar to the ones at the top of the alleyway from Knight Close. Finally Winchester City Museum service has been merged with Hampshire County Council museums and the assets leased to an independent trust for 25 years. This means they are able to bid for private funding and it is hoped that they will be less at risk from cuts. Museums are not a statutory requirement so when central government funding to local governments is cut they can be seen as an easy target.

News Roundup

Hello everybody, as we are nearing Christmas life is getting more hectic. I will keep posting on Facebook and Twitter as I find time but this will be the last News Roundup blog post/email for this year! Let me use this opportunity and wish you all very merry Christmas and also a wonderful 2014!

Council activities

Winchester City Council has announced that there will be no more district-wide distribution of waste collection calendars. Every resident is supposed to receive a brief summary showing the collection day changes for 2013/14 but if they wish, residents can also obtain a full annual waste collection calendar in two ways:

• Online - http://www.winchester.gov.uk/bins
• By phone - ring the local rate number 0300 300 0013 to have a calendar sent out in the post.

Even if it's money saving, I'm not entirely certain this idea serves the voters well: Winchester civic chiefs poised to review elections.

Cabinet approves new car parking strategy for central Winchester: what will happen to the car boot sale?

Sorry to be so negative, but is this another consultation fiasco in the making? Winchester Station Approach report set to spark interest from developers.

Yes, what to build where... Locals strongly oppose proposal of elderly care flats in Chesil Street.

So no conversion of Avalon House into much needed flats: Winchester's largest empty offices set to be re-let after five years

Council changes threatens future of Winchester Area Community Action (WACA). It would be a shame if their services would be destabilised.

Like to save money on your energy bills? Switch Hampshire could find you a better deal.

Aha, M&S want to open another shop but Winchester planners urged to reject M&S food store plans.

Winchester City Council is going to offer a new programme, starting January 2014: "The MEND programme (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition...Do It!) provides families with fun, interactive group sessions that promote healthy lifestyles, and address issues arising from being overweight."

Community

Winchester Nightshelter: "URGENT APPEAL FOR GLOVES - we desperately need warm gloves for our residents. Call 01962 862050 to donate."

Safety

Unbelievable how some people are making their money: Hampshire MP appealing to pensioners to ignore offers from Internet company. The same kind of con exists for the EHIC (European Health Insurance Cards).

Environment

From the marine conservation society: voice your support for the introduction of the 5p plastic bag charge to protect the environment by December 20th!

WinACC and Friends of the Earth collected some information in regards to Fracking: WinACC/FoE Fracking meeting questions and answers.

WinACC "was delighted that demand was so high for our free Green Deal assessments. Sadly, the money has been used up, so unless you are already on our list, an assessment and report from Solent Green Deal costs £150. If you take out a Green Deal loan this charge will be covered by the loan or grant."

Friends of the Earth have "created almost 80 bee-friendly spaces through our Bee Worlds project this year! Smashing our initial target of 60." Can we have something like this here in Abbotts Barton? Ideas and champion needed!

Things to do

Are you familiar with the King Alfred buses? This year's Winchester bus day to be the last on New Year's Day - but don't worry, they want to set up something new.

And the Christmas Market is suffering from its own success: Winchester faces overcrowding problems with success of Christmas market.

Councillor's Surgery

Today we were three, Sarah, Jane and I (Sylke) went to the St. Bartholomew Councillor's Surgery (first Thursday of every month, 7:30-8:30pm at Hyde Parish Hall). Jim Maynard was there to talk to us.

Again, there wasn't a lot to talk about, so here is the short summary:

Play areas

As you will have seen from the last News Roundup, one of our new goalposts has appeared and the old one was taken away. Councillor Maynard assured us that a second new one will be put up. Apparently the council officers aren't quite certain where to put the second one as the old one seemed so far away from the new one when they put it up and they want to find out from the community where the other one should go. Oh and there is also the manhole cover slightly in the way. Let's see how this progresses.

We mentioned again that we would also like some picnic benches in the park, near the playground but not on it.

As for the play area planned for Abbotts Walk nothing will happen before the houses are finished. According to Councillor Maynard a consultation is planned on what should go in the green area.

Road safety

We mentioned that Lynne is trying to get people to write in to HCC/Fiona Mather on the topic of a crossing for Worthy Road, and Sarah explained that it was getting harder and harder to navigate safely as a driver through Park Road due to the parked cars there. Councillor Maynard explained that while it might not seem safe with parked vehicles obstructing your view, at least people are going slower due to fact that it is hard to navigate. If the road had double yellow lines everywhere the empty path creates an illusion of safety for drivers and makes them drive faster. While this is true, we believe the situation needs to be watched as if it gets any worse, it would become really hard to get through. A similar observation was made for Hyde Street and Councillor Maynard said it would probably be a good thing to not allow parking in front of the traffic lights at North Walls.

Apparently at some point residents of those areas in Abbotts Barton with the new parking restrictions will be asked by the council how the new system is working out. As far as I'm concerned, it's working brilliantly - crossing the roads with children seems to be so much safer now that we can actually see the road as there are fewer cars blocking the view lines!

Take note, the next Councillor's Surgery will be on Thursday 9 January December 2014 (not on the first Thursday)!

News Roundup

As always just minutes after I had published last week's News Roundup something came up that I would have loved to include: we got a brand new second goalpost in our park! Thank you, Jane, for pursuing this for such a long time!

The new goalpost seemed to be miles away from the old one which got steadied by some workmen a little later. We thought that was it. However, this very morning I noticed that the old goalpost has disappeared, so are we getting a second new one after all? 

Anyway, December has started and with it came the first Advent Sunday. In Germany we traditionally have wreaths on our tables with four candles, one more being lighted every Advent Sunday, until all four are lighted together on the last Sunday. This is a great way for the children to count down the weeks until Christmas. As I found a decent wreath on the Saturday beforehand, here is my first ever attempt at making one for our house:

Slightly earlier that week we had the Winchester lantern parade (the Hampshire Chronicle article has great pictures but here is a fantastic one!) which also ties in with the Advent period.

Another German custom is Nikolaus! On the evening of 5 December (today!) children take their cleanest pair of shoes and put them onto the window sill in their bedroom. Over night Nikolaus (=Santa Claus - who is different from Father Christmas!) will arrive and leave some fruit and sweets and if the children are lucky also some small presents. So on the morning of 6 December there is a lot of excitement in the house when the children discover what Nikolaus has left for them. In a way this custom is quite close to what is done over here at Christmas time, with the stockings waiting to be filled over night. Only that the children in Germany get both, as the Weihnachtsmann (Father Christmas) is also going to pay them a visit on the evening of 24 December.

Oh yes, if you should be short of ideas for Christmas presents: Instead of buying your child a boring old iPad for Christmas, get them a stick!

Riverpark Leisure Centre

The consultation period for the Leisure Centre plans has now finished, I hope many people have used the opportunity to let the council know their opinion on the presented options.

Here is one more article that was published about the open Save the Rec meeting: Winchester meeting hears leisure centre options withheld from public consultation

And another one: Leisure park alternatives not revealed

There were a number of interesting tweets from Save the Parks: 

"Council admits that the 'strip' of lost green space shown in footprint drawings for Option 2 is LOWEST ESTIMATE. No architect work done yet!"
"… 'To get anything decent', they said, 'you'd need to take up much more space'. How much? 'We don't know. We haven't got drawings.'"
"Overheard at the Guildhall: Winchester resident: 'I don't know which to choose!' Council officer: 'Well, Option 2 seems best… Here's a pen.'"

If you haven't had a chance to have your say, I'd say there is nothing stopping you from still writing in.

Council activities

On Monday I spotted that a notice had been put up at a sign post at Nun's Walk, so work will be done there, the question is just when... 

 

You might have been wondering when the annual bin calendar is going to arrive, well, it seems it's not - unless you call and request it to be sent to you! Alternatively you will be able to download a version from the the Working Together website. (WCC press release / Hampshire Chronicle article)

Supported by WCC and HCC: Warm up Winchester offers local people new heating systems at low or no cost!

Good news: Winnall roadworks due to end this weekend.

Hampshire County Council offer this: "Take part in our consultation on young people's emotional wellbeing and mental health services"

And here is a whole bunch of Hampshire Chronicle articles:

Winchester civic chiefs to hold public meeting over revamp plans for railway station area

Winchester 'cycle hub' proposed at town forum

New skate spark for Winchester moves another step closer (sic)

Winchester skate park plan nears funding target

Housing development proposals divide Kings Worthy residents

Winchester civic chiefs take extra precautions this winter

Parents of disabled children offered up support

New Winchester parking strategy discussed today by civic chiefs

Civic u-turn over climate change and special attention for three Winchester estates

Environment

Hampshire chalk streams under threat from household products - this includes the Itchen.

'Government plan to cut energy efficiency scheme "unforgivably perverse"', says govt's own fuel poverty advisor: Britain's damp, leaky homes among Europe's most costly to heat.

13 UK environmental orgs want the government to commit to reversing bee declines by enforcing the ban on neonicotinoids.

Here in Winchester: Lib Dems attack fracking report!

Something to consider: Tell your MP: No more UK coal!

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust: "We need to double our membership to replace cuts in funding. Can you help?"

Safety

For the latest information on recalled products, keep this link on your favourites list: Product recalls - Trading Standards Institute.

Community

Have you ever heard of the Winchester Residents Association? I'm sure people who lived here longer must have but during the last years there wasn't much about them and now they seem to be ready to break up: Winchester residents' group set to close.

Things to do

Why not go for a walk on the newly named Viaduct Way and check out the new features there? There is a great set of photos of the new benches on the WCC page on Facebook.

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Oh, yes, today we have December's Councillor's Surgery! Anybody going? :)

Let's get a safer crossing for Worthy Road!

Here is a message from Lynne:

I had a meeting with Fiona Mathers our County Councillor this week. The Council have money from the Barton Farm development to spend on road crossings. One of the places being considered is the Worthy Road!  Fiona needs to demonstrate that there is local demand for the crossing and also where people would like the crossing to be.

Please could you take a moment to email Fiona on fiona.mather@hants.gov.uk?

A couple of lines is enough, just saying why you would like a crossing (traffic is very fast, children crossing to primary/secondary school, dangerous for elderly people etc.) and if you have a preference where you would like the crossing to be.  Please also put your full postal address in the email.

I’ve also attached a petition with space for seven names.  Please would you consider printing it off and taking it round your neighbours?

Finally if you could forward this information by email but also to people in Abbotts Barton who aren’t on the internet or don't have email that would be great.

The Council did a count of people crossing the road earlier this year and concluded there wasn’t enough demand to justify using Council funds. The Barton Farm money is a one off opportunity to get the crossing and they are making the decisions at the moment!

Any questions please contact us!

Note: Please download the petition document for proper viewing and printing - it doesn't look the way it should when you view it through your web browser!

News roundup

Here I am again, Sylke from the Abbotts Barton Community Group, with the weekly news roundup! Just in case you were wondering, we are really only a very loose group, we don't have any fixed roles or even fixed members. I have been living in Abbotts Barton for the last seven years and via the SaveTheParks campaign I have started to look more into what is happening locally. When a friend had the idea to do a general community group despite not having any meeting place, I took on the internet side of things. I like to look for information and to distribute it - and these days the internet offers great opportunities to meet up and discuss things virtually. There are a few more people who are active (as in talking to councillors, or maintaining the notice board), maybe we could get them to introduce themselves here at some point too! If you would like to properly meet up with any of us, maybe just to get to know a few more people locally, give us a shout and I'm sure we can arrange something!

Riverpark Leisure Centre

This Monday we had the open meeting at the Rugby Club done by the Save The Rec group, and you've probably seen my write-up and Winchester Today's Winchester RPLC plans “like GCSE project”. Apart from the 200+ residents, there were also a number of City Councillors at the Save the Rec meeting; I recognised Jim Maynard (LD), Janet Berry (L) and Ian Tait (C)! There were a few more - but no other Conservative councillors.

Have you been to the exhibition done by the council? If you can't get there, take a look online where you can also fill out the comments form. Important: "The deadline for comments to be received is midnight Monday 2 December 2013."

WINOL's report:


Hampshire Chronicle wrote an article about the man who wrote the Save the Rec song. (By the way, I had to grin at a typo in the article 'Torist Information Office', is somebody trying to tell us something?)

The BBC reported about Edward Agombar, 11, in campaign to save Winchester’s River Park.

Council activities

WinACC reports that Climate change is back in Winchester's Community Strategy.

Surveys

Hampshire County Council is investigating how people are using Winchester station and they even mention cycling! Another survey to fill out! It can be found on the MyJourney website. Hampshire Chronicle also ran an article about this: Transport chiefs survey Winchester Railway Station commuters

What do you think, should dogs be allowed in Hillier Gardens? At the bottom of the page there is a link to a survey asking exactly this!

Community

Fruits of Fulflood collect surplus to give away or raise funding. Buy at St. Paul's 7.30 today (28 Nov).

Maybe cake is the way to go? Winchester community group celebrates 10th anniversary.

Environment

WinACC published their Transport Vision for Winchester to "set out the changes we need to make the city more friendly for walking and cycling". Here is a direct link to their PDF.

An interesting angle on fracking in the Guardian: Water shortages may make fracking impractical, industry says.

Has anybody used any of the four energy suppliers listed by WinACC? Renewable energy - without generating it yourself. I'd be very interested to hear reports!

Other news

As we are entering the cold and flu season, Doctors support campaign encouraging patients not to rely on antibiotics. Makes sense.

Disruption warning over car park expansion at Winchester Train Station.

This started this week: Roadworks due to begin next week affecting Easton Lane traffic. Has anybody here been affected and had to take long detours? Some more detailed info, also for next week: Highways Agency announces overnight closures of Winnall Roundabout.

Things to do

TODAY (28 Nov): This year's lantern parade in Winchester will take place today. If you haven't registered your homemade lanterns yet to take part, it's too late for that, but of course you can always go and watch!

So, today's children are slower than their parents were as children. Why not race your kids and see who wins?

At Winchester Discovery Centre there is a touring exhibition showcasing a superb selection of Japanese treasures. I haven't been yet but it's going to be there until 5 January so I'm hoping to get round to going there!

Has anybody been to the First Cut exhibition in the SeaCity Museum in Southampton? It looks really interesting and there's "only 8 weeks left until we wave goodbye to The First Cut! This is the last time the show will be seen. Sad times."

November is nearly over, but did you see those fantastic Dinovember photos going round the web? There is Welcome to Dinovember and also Something a Little Different at Eats Amazing! If my son was just a little younger I think he would have really enjoyed these cheeky dinosaurs, snooping around the house at night during November!

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If you find the information presented here useful, feel free to forward the blog URL or email to your friends!

The council's Leisure Centre consultation and the Save the Rec meeting

Yesterday morning I (Sylke) went to the Leisure Centre to see the plans that the council have provided for the public consultation. Like at other consultation before (I've been at two in Abbotts Barton) the boards were promising looking. But as we had been through an exercise like this before I was wary about what wasn't said there.

Out of the four options, to me Option 2 looked the most promising, this is the rebuild of the centre north of the existing centre. This option would mean that the centre is still close to where we live, as simple as that. I soon realised that there was no mention any more of the planned 300 extra parking spaces anymore - so I wondered how can that be? Not that I want them, but if those disappear like that, is there any certainty about anything planned?

Indeed, the plans are very vague, nobody knows how big a new building would really be and how much of the surrounding area would have to be converted into footpaths, emergency access roads, etc. So while maybe Option 2 looks easiest to achieve, and therefore the most tempting to vote for, there is loads of information missing.Without all of that we can't make an informed vote. We might get a monster and then we will be told that we voted for it.

So, in the evening I went to the open meeting that Save the Rec had organised. When I arrived just a couple of minutes late, the room was packed with people. There were probably about 200 people in there!

When I walked down, sadly I didn't see anybody from our side (Abbotts Barton) going down there but I saw loads of people arriving from the Hyde side. I'm not saying that nobody else from Abbotts Barton was there, but there was definitely a marked difference in where people arrived from. I wasn't very happy about that as North Walls is used a lot by people from our area too, and if we go by the letters some of our residents got from the council's officers when they were fighting the council's housing development plans for some of our green areas, all of us should be very concerned about what is going to happen to that green at North Walls! The gist was that we don't need as much green area in Abbotts Barton as we have North Walls so close by. Yes, soon all of Winchester will have to go there as the council is trying to fill many little green pockets with houses! And did you know that the council actually cut down on the open space allocation for play and sport earlier this year?

These are the new numbers (available in the report under business item 13 on this meeting page):

play: reduced from 0.8 ha per 1000 population to 0.5 ha per 1000 population,
sport: reduced from 1.6 ha per 1000 population to 0.75ha per 1000 population

The important bit is that Winchester Town has a shortfall under either the old standard or the new (lower) standard! We can't afford to lose more!

Back to the meeting. The presentation done by the Save the Rec group focused on the uncertainties about the given build options (I will try to find a link to the presentation for you, so that you can have a look for yourself). Just to give you a few examples of what needs to be thought about for Option 2:

• Were you for example aware of the fact that the cricket field on the green in question right now is just big enough to be acceptable for competition matches; there are 50cm to spare, no more. So if the centre takes up another 5m or 10m (as is suggested on the information board) to the North, the field cannot be used any more for cricket. 
• If the centre would be built there, there might be implications for the Winnall Moors Nature Reserve, simply because of light pollution.
• This build would happen on the existing tennis courts: what would happen to that business during the two year that are apparently needed for building?
• The options given are mostly without any financial information. Option 2 was the only one which had a little of that as it was the only one the council had been pursuing before the consultation exercise was set up.

People at the meeting said the information content on the boards was "worse than a GCSE project" and that the council is "taking us for mugs".

At some point it transpired that the city councillors had even more options on their desks: they were shown to some councillors and then disappeared. The one Conservative councillor who was there - if I got it right it was actually Ian Tait (I was on the other side of the long room) - got asked if he had seen them. I didn't hear the answer properly but it sounded like he had. So why were these options not fit for the public?

A vote was taken in the room about what the recommendation to the council should be, and there was nobody who would have voted for any of the options as they stand right now. Instead the opinion was that the none of the current options are acceptable and that the council should "go back to the drawing board" and give us better information. After all, this is a chance to build something good!

I believe one of the most important things said last night was that Save the Rec are not out to tell what we should vote for: their aim is to save a green area from being built on. However, there are many, many reasons why we should be careful with what we as individuals are going to respond to the council on the consultation! So I urge you to have a look at the boards (and possibly all the other information that's available) while you can and then let the council know your opinion, latest by 2 December! Don't forget you don't have to opt for any of the available options if you don't like them but you still have to tell that to the council so that they know that you are not happy!

Information available:
The council's Leisure Centre Project page.
Save the Rec group website.

News roundup

So the cold has finally caught up with us! Of course there is the usual scaremongering going on in the papers with predictions of snow. Yes, hide now, SNOW! If you are not scared too easily and want a laugh, have a read of this one: Britain to be hit by entirely typical weather!

Nevertheless, I have to remind myself that I need to start every car journey about five to ten minutes earlier, simply to get rid of the condensation in the car, to be able to see things. Here is some more good advice from ROMANSE online: Safety tips for driving in snow and ice. It's all about PREPARATION.

On that note, maybe we should all crotchet some stylish nose warmers?

(Found here.)

Council activities

There will be a Winchester Town Forum meeting on 27 November (agenda items). If you are curious what the WTForum is spending money on, have a look at the file WTF 195 (part of the meeting agenda, see link); most of the money is spent on Recreation Grounds & Open Spaces. The other interesting part is what groups grants are being given to.

The way things always sound in the papers, you wouldn't expect that there are only four council tenants in Winchester who are affected by the benefits cap! I've found this piece of info in the PDF belonging to business item 8 of the upcoming Cabinet (Housing) committee meeting on 28 November (agenda items).

This is an interesting one, I wasn't aware that they want to use as few signs as possible on the new Andover Road route through the Barton Farm site: Councillors safety fears for Barton Farm. I've read about a German town just recently where they got rid of ALL road signs and traffic lights and managed to calm down traffic so much, that as a pedestrian you can step onto the road at any time without being run over. And still the traffic is flowing apparently. I think this works well when it's done properly but it might lead to problems when there is just a pocket of less traffic signs and drivers still behave like they are the kings of the roads because they don't understand what's going on. One thing is certain in my opinion; as soon as there will be the first accident the signs will be put up at Barton Farm.

For anybody who needs to drive into Winchester city centre, be aware that parts of Friarsgate car park in Winchester closed over safety fears.

Into cycling? Winchester South Park and Ride Cycle Track opens.

Riverpark Leisure Centre

According to Hampshire Chronicle River Park expansion proposals eroding public trust, claim councillors.

SaveTheRec was asking on Twitter: "Is the River Park exhibition a real consultation or fig leaf for WCC's 'preferred option' to build on playing fields?" What do you think?

Further, SavetheRec are asking a number of questions why the council seems to be so set on building on the green despite going through a consultation. The answers seem to be that there is a difficult contract DC Leisure and also that it is simply the easiest solution for the council. On top of that the council has not yet done any meaningful research in how much the different options would actually cost - so how can we come to a well informed conclusion on what would be the best option?

Saying that, have you been to the exhibition about the Leisure Centre plans yet? It's running until Monday 2 December and whatever your opinion on the plans is, I believe that we should use any and all chances we have to influence the politicians that have been voted into power by us. If you shouldn't have a chance to get to any of the exhibition venues, you can also find the Leisure Centre plans online - and there is also an online form that you can use to make your voice heard!

Winchester Action on Climate Change also posted a response to consultation on replacement of the River Park Leisure Centre.

Something more upbeat: here's a new version of the Save The Rec song, now with children's choir.

Community

Winchester Nightshelter: "Items most needed for the cold weather: warm hats, gloves, socks, scarves, blankets."

Someone seeing you pick up a piece of litter might just inspire that person to do the same.

Health Care

Hampshire Chronicles reported about plans for the hospitals in Winchester: Future of Winchester maternity unit under spotlight and Health bosses want your views on hospital shake-up, consultation ends on 30 November. Health chiefs will then draw up proposals for formal public consultation. Please fill out the the full (or a shorter) survey to make your views known! And of course NHS chiefs defend plans which could see Winchester maternity services downgraded.

Environment

Friends of the Earth are not happy with HCC's stand on things: Hampshire County Council accused of towing Government line in fracking row. And: didn't the fracking companies say themselves that costwise this will make no difference for the end user?

I am much more in favour of these schemes even though some people think they don't look good:
Bid for huge solar farm near Winchester given the green light
Winchester planners back wind mast on proposed 14-turbine site at Bullington Cross

Worrying: England's parks and open spaces have lost £75m in cuts since 2010! And "a coalition of 41 UK environment groups warns that the Government is failing to deliver nearly a third of its natural environment commitments, despite huge public support for action for nature, wildlife and the countryside."

Safety

Are your smoke alarms working? Remember to replace the batteries in your smoke alarm once a year. Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service have all the advice needed!

Things to do

Today! Christmas Market and Ice Rink Opening Ceremony, at 6:30pm! Did you know you could do a Christmas twilight tower tour at Winchester Cathedral?

Winchester celebrates new arrival at Marwell Wildlife - I know it's cold, but the animals are still there! And who wouldn't like to see the anteater baby? :)

Something completely different: Knights in shining armour battle on Southampton Common

It looks like there will be great benches at Hockley Viaduct!  I'm sure the children will just love it and no doubt want to play trains on it - no chance for the grown-ups to sit down... ;)

(Found here!)

Opinion

Finally, what do you think? Too much, too young: Should schooling start at age 7? As a foreigner from a country where school starts at the age of six I wasn't too happy to send my son to school at four. He was definitely to young for some of it (and I made him stay at home on some days as long as I could), but in other areas he definitely benefited. What's your experience?

SavetheRec is organising a meeting for Monday!

Concerned about the future of River Park?

Are you a Winchester council taxpayer? Are you a duck-feeder, dog-walker, bike-rider, ball-kicker, nature-lover, child-carer, swimmer, gym-user, tennis-player, cricketer or kite-flyer?

Winchester City Council is consulting on the future of River Park / North Walls Rec – inadequately. Its ‘4 options’ are not costed, potentially misleading, and less destructive alternatives have been suppressed or ignored.

http://www.winchester.gov.uk/sports/leisure-centre-project/
(You can submit your views online before 2 December.)

SavetheRec is hosting the open meeting the Council has failed to hold

When? 8pm, Monday 25 November
Where? Winchester Rugby Club, North Walls Park, Winchester SO23 7EF
Who? Anyone who wants to influence the Council's proposals is welcome.
Why? Because we all want improved indoor sports facilities at River Park but SavetheRec believes this must not – and need not – involve building on green playing fields.
Savetherec.

Please note that SavetheRec as a group have no position on where the centre should go (or stay). Their concern is to make sure that no more of the park is concreted over.

You can connect with SavetheRec through Website / Facebook / Twitter

News roundup

I am so happy we are well into the second week of term, with everything being back to normal. That first week of back to school was simply too short for me with Monday being an inset day and having to catch up on 'everything' after half-term. And then I got this horrible cold which left me almost 'speechless' over the weekend... Enough moaning, I hope you all got well through the last seven days! And anyway, yesterday we had this:

If you ever see this mad woman hopping about in front of the house with a phone/camera/iPad in her hand to take photos of the sky, well, that's me! Come and say hello! :)

We also have a new banner on the website, suitable for autumn but still not the perfect autumn picture of the park for me. I'll try to get a better one!

Council activities

Have you made it to the 20mph exhibition? Friday is the final day! If not, the exhibits are available online as a PDF file. More information in this Daily Echo article: Plans go on show for 20mph scheme across Winchester city centre.

HCC have had hundreds of responses to their survey asking what services we value most, that's good. Have you had your say yet? Here is the survey link again: which county council services do you value most? Fill in the Hampshire County Council survey and help inform decisions on the Council Tax. Takes 10 minutes!

How long has this scheme been in the waiting? Winchester city centre Silver Hill scheme could get underway in two years.

Winchester Town Forum meeting - 27 November (click on the link to see more information)
Winchester (Housing) Committee meeting - 28 November (click on the link to see more information)

Riverpark Leisure Centre

Hampshire Chronicle reported: Winchester civic groups questions over River Park plans

A tweet from Winchester City Council: "River Park Leisure Centre exhibition starts next week (Monday 18 November). We're hoping to hear from you, tell us what you want."

Safety

Stay safe on social media: advice for all ages on the key social networking sites.

One can only dream... Dutch-style bike lanes set for roll-out in Bristol - Britain’s cycling capital

Saving money

Have you read about the Big Community Switch? This is a scheme to find cheaper gas and electricity suppliers, supported by Hampshire County Council!

On the Facebook page I asked if anybody is using a meal planner, be it software or a piece of paper. I've started doing this when my son was little as it greatly helped me with organising our days and also doing a more efficient weekly shop. If they plan at all, most people seem to be simply using pen and paper, whereas I ended up with an Excel sheet that now covers several years! I was asking because I wanted to find out if anybody had a better means as I've found that there are also software and apps out there that can help a lot (also to organise recipes) and I am currently trying something called Pepperplate (with mixed results). If anybody here has any experience on the topic, please come forward and let us know!

Jobs

There was plenty on the news over the last days about the ship building job losses, then I found that FlyBE also want to cut 500 jobs. Scary, as I fly out with them twice a year to go and visit my relatives in Germany.

Things to do

The Christmas Lights in Winchester will be switched on TODAY at 6pm outside Guildhall Winchester. The Winchester Christmas Market will run for 32 days: Thu 21 Nov to Sun 22 Dec. Open daily, 10am-6pm Sun-Wed & 10am-7.30pm Thurs-Sat.

It might not be the perfect weather right now but please don't forget that we have several great green areas in Abbotts Barton that can be used for outside play or other activities even in the rain! Maybe we should organise a bug hunt for the children to see what they can find? Or what about an autumn leave gathering event so that you can make your own leaf garland at home? Any other creative ideas are welcome!

 

On that note, find some inspiration for doing things outside: Swap Some Screen Time for WildTime! On the linked page you will find a link to an app that you can use to find projects for 10 minutes, 20 minutes, and so on.

Safety alert!

Please be aware of a suspicious incident on the 11th November in Abbotts Barton where a male purported to be a police officer and showed identification to a local resident and suggested that his car was at risk of being broken into. His motives were not clear, but residents should be mindful of any callers and if in doubt, disengage, close the door and report it to the police straightaway on 101.

NEVER allow cold callers into your home!

Typhoon Haiyan

I'm just hearing on the radio about the terrible damage and loss of lives caused by typhoon Haiyan.

The Guardian reports: Typhoon Haiyan: desperate survivors and destruction in flattened city

If you haven't already done so and can spare a little please think of those who have to get on with their lives in the Philippines despite what happened.

Here are some charities you could donate to:

Disasters Emergency Committee Philippines Appeal
British Red Cross
Unicef
Save the Children

Councillor's Surgery Visit

Jane and I (Sylke) went to the St. Bartholomew Councillor's Surgery (first Thursday of every month, 7:30-8:30pm at Hyde Parish Hall). Jim Maynard was there to talk to us.

We only talked about a few subjects this week, so there is not a lot to report this time:

Council house development

Councillor Maynard told us that there will be a Council meeting (not a public one) on 28 November to talk about the houses to be built in Abbotts Barton. This of course set our alarm bells ringing immediately and Councillor Maynard didn't have much more information to offer on this, but we are generally assuming that it's simply a meeting to go on with the process for the planning applications for the selected areas (down Hillier Way and the garage sites), based on seeing something like this happening for Westman Road in Weeke as well, where the Council also continued with the planning despite only wanting to build there in about three years (like in Abbotts Barton).

Riverpark Leisure Centre

We were of course generally curious about the Leisure Centre controversy and asked what happened at the Council meeting Wednesday evening as I had heard that something was supposed to be said despite the Leisure Centre not being on the agenda. It turned out it wasn't much more than what had been published in the Council's press release from the day before, with Council Leader Keith Wood announcing the exhibition to show the options the Council has.

I was also wondering what would happen now to the Skate Park project with the plans for the area being very unclear at the moment; Councillor Maynard suggested it might be best for these plans to be made part of the whole scheme to get the best out of the area for all parties.

The next Councillor's Surgery will be on Thursday 5 December 2013!

News roundup

For most people it was back to school this week, with Halloween, bonfires and fireworks all done now! I hope you all got out of it safe and sound!

Thank you to all the kind people in Abbotts Barton who opened their doors to the Trick-and-Treaters last week, our little gang had a great time! And I think I managed to scare some little ones with my big nose as well! :)
We also really appreciated all of those superbly carved pumpkins: I think we (as in little grim reaper and mother witch) have to do better next year, ours looked like beginners' versions next to the pieces of art we saw around the neighbourhood! Some people also prepared very special Halloween treats, see what our own 'Eats Amazing' had on offer.

 

According to Hampshire Chronicle there were about 19,000 people at the annual Winchester Bonfire/Fireworks. What I'd like to know is whether they got more or less money for charity now that they have used tickets. It seemed like there was a little less crazy parking going on this year in Abbotts Barton. What's your impression?

There are updates to the Abbotts Walk car break-in post from Monday:

• The sheet music has been found, albeit without the bag. 
• On the bad side, there were more news about break-ins in the area: the police posted a letter to residents in the Francis Garden area which mentioned a 'theft of car', however we are not quite sure whether this really means that a car was stolen or simply something was taken from a car (in which case it should have been 'off' I believe). Also I've been told that something has been taken from a van at Austen Close but the van might have been open, so that one was really an opportunity theft. 

Please keep your eyes open, lock your car (also on your drive!), and in case you spot something suspicious call the police on 101.

Council activities

Today: Is there anybody who would like to join us on our monthly Councillor's Surgery visit?

On Wednesday evening there was a Cabinet meeting and the agenda didn't include any obvious items referring to Abbotts Barton and the Leisure Centre controversy. However, late yesterday there was a tweet from Save The Rec:

So it transpires, last minute, that a question about River Park WILL be asked at tonight's council meeting. If you can attend, please do!
— SavetheRec (@SavetheRec) November 6, 2013

Now I am all curious what was going on, hopefully we can find out at the Councillor's Surgery tonight.

Dates have been announced for the Riverpark Leisure Centre exhibition, it "will run from 1pm on Monday 18 November to Monday 2 December at two venues: the River Park Leisure Centre at North Walls and Guildhall Winchester in the city centre. [...] For those unable to attend the exhibition, all the information and the chance to respond will also be available on-line via the City Council’s website from 18 November."

The two-week exhibition on proposed 20mph for Winchester is now open! Information can be found "at four venues – the Tourist Information Centre at the Guildhall, the BID offices in Parchment Street, the Winchester Discovery Centre and the Brooks Shopping Centre (ground floor) – from Monday 4 November to Friday 15 November."

It is National Adoption Week (4-10 Nov) - HCC are looking for adoptive parents from all walks of life: County Council asks 'Could you adopt a child?'

Community

Winchester Nightshelter tweeted: "The first truly cold weather arrived. We'd be grateful for any spare blankets or sleeping bags as we frequently give these out at night."

Environment

WinACC have published a summary of the responses to the Winchester Community Strategy survey. While a high percentage of those who filled out the survey have supported climate change being a priority, it is shocking that only 204 people actually responded to the survey! Winchester City Council's summary of responses can be found here.

Greenpeace UK had this article running: "Fracking bosses: "It’s like pushing sh**e uphill. Why anti-fracking campaigners should take heart"

Things to do

Today: Fancy a visit to the Winchester Science Centre (Intech Science Centre and Planetarium) without children? Here's your chance! But I also recommend a visit with children, the exhibits have been renewed, things have been arranged differently and almost everything seems to be working!

If you like to be out in the woods, this new Woodland Trust website might be for you: VisitWoods.org.uk

The Winchester Christmas Lights Switch on runs from 3pm-7pm on Thursday 14 November and will be held on The Broadway, next to the Guildhall.

A request from Grace re a break-in

UPDATE (5 Nov): the missing organ music has been found, without the bag, but still! Sadly I've also heard this morning that a car got stolen from the Francis Garden area. Not good!

================

We received this message from Grace this morning: 

"A good friend of mine moved into one of the new houses yesterday, and last night his car got broken into! All that was in there to be stolen was a very nice bag full of organ music.  We think it's very possible that the music may have been dumped once the person who took it realised what it was" 

Could you keep an eye out for this? For all we know it might even have landed in somebody's bin! If you find anything please let us know through a message on the contact form.

News roundup

It's half-term, the clocks have changed, the storm has passed, it's Halloween, and Bonfire Night is almost upon us too! What a week!

I hope you didn't get too much damage in your gardens or anywhere else on Sunday night! We went on a walk on Monday, trying to get to King's Worthy via Nuns Walk - and couldn't because of this (and by 'this' I mean the fallen trees and not the little person):

Just where the path turns right to lead into the tunnel that goes under the A33 was this huge uprooted tree, completely covering the path. It had taken down some more trees too, so really there was no more space to get past. (If you would like to see some more photos from our walk feel free to check out my Flickr album - or, even better, just do the walk yourself! :))

Have you been carving your pumpkins, found some scary costumes and are you ready for trick and treat visitors? The little Grim Reaper and Mother Witch will be making their rounds tomorrow, be warned!

Back to business!

Council activities

We've heard from Jane that Hampshire County Council Highway Management have accepted that they need to do something about the footpath near the allotments:

"The enquiry you raised has been inspected and does require action.
Defects of this nature are added to our contractors work programme and are normally processed within two months.
Please note, this could take longer depending on the severity of the issue and availability of resource which could be affected by severe weather events."

Even though it will still take some time, that's good news.

A handy site to know is Hampshire County Council's reporting site: you can report things like potholes, faulty street lights, trees and hedges and some more.

Leisure Centre / North Walls Recreation Grounds

The Sk8 Winchester group who are working on getting the Skate Park re-done had some brilliant news, they are getting a £100,000 grant from Veolia. Steve Brine also has an article about this on his website.

Winchester City Council is going to do an exhibition for the Leisure Centre plans. Hampshire Chronicle has all the details.

And Save The Rec have their own song 'Jumpers for Goalposts'! It's a good one!

Community

The Big Lunch people have sent out a newsletter with some tips; I'm already looking forward to next year's Big Lunch in our park!!!

It's not too late to sponsor Christina Hutchings from Hyde on her 10 mile Great South Run that she did on Sunday! :)

I also wanted to share with you little Jemima Syvret's story, her brother was in this article: Winchester boy completes triathlon to raises £1,500 for disabled sister Jemima Syvret

Trips to take, things to do

Have you received a booklet for the half-term adventures in Winnall Moors? Let us know whether you have done the story trail and what it was like.

Today is the last chance to go to the Westgate Museum for Halloween:

"From Saturday 26 October to Thursday 31 October the creepy Westgate will be decorated for Halloween, and young visitors will be challenged to stay long enough to complete the Halloween Horrors Spotter Quiz. Can you find the scary rats hidden around the Westgate chamber before they find you?"

Anybody into Roller Disco? Seventies-themed roller disco comes to Winchester this weekend.

Shopping

Winchester-based record producer spinning a new tune: this Hampshire Chronicle article was supposed to advertise the opening of yet another new Homewares shop in Winchester - I nearly missed that bit!

Successful pop-up shop returns to Winchester for third year running: this one is a bit more straightforward to understand! :)

------------
Finally, let me remind you that there will be another Councillor's Surgery next week Thursday, 7 November, starting 7:30pm at Hyde Parish Hall.

New houses at Abbotts Walk as seen from Nuns Walk

Cows in Winnall Moors - who's staring at who?

News Roundup

I can't believe the clocks are changing already on Sunday! At 3am they'll be set back to 2am to give us an extra hour in the morning - which means it will be dark earlier in the afternoon. I keep thinking I'd rather have darker mornings and slightly longer afternoons: why can't we stay on summertime all year long?

Likewise I could hardly believe my eyes on Tuesday evening when the Thunderstorm got going! It was great entertainment for my family, however for some it got serious: Lightning strikes homes in Winchester (Hampshire Chronicle).

The problem with the sewage overflow at Abbotts Walk has been resolved: According to Mrs Kan on Monday a man with a watering can appeared and disinfected the area with something that smelled like bleach. Hampshire Chronicle had this to say Sewage overflow at new housing development in Winchester and here is the final update from the Kan family.

Council activities

Have your say on setting Council priorities for 2014-17 - it's the last week to complete the survey! It only takes 5 minutes! This would also be a good opportunity to tell Winchester City council that they must keep it a Community Strategy priority to cut the District carbon footprint.

Public exhibition on 20mph speed limits for Winchester: the two-week event will be held in early November at the Tourist Information Centre at the Guildhall, the BID offices in Parchment Street, the Winchester Discovery Centre and the Brooks Shopping Centre (ground floor) – from Monday, November 4, to Friday, November 15.
Council staff will answer questions at the discovery Centre on Thursday, November 7 from 11am to 2pm, and Tuesday, November 12, from 4pm-7pm.

From Hampshire Chronicle: Project launched to decide future of Council’s City Offices

From sometime tomorrow we will be able to see the meeting agenda for the 'Special Meeting' set up for Cabinet on Monday 4 November. I'm really curious now what this is about. Any bets that it will be about our next topic in this News Roundup or would the City Offices project also be a hot contender?

Leisure Centre and Recreation Ground

Quite a few things here:

Yesterday's Cabinet meeting resulted in this press release: Statement on the future of River Park Leisure Centre. Here a quote from it:

"We will shortly work up some detail on these options and display them in the Leisure Centre, the Guildhall and on-line. We will list both advantages and disadvantages so that residents can question and comment.
There will be four options: new build at Bar End using the playing fields; new build at North Walls either a) using the tennis courts, artificial turf pitch and a strip of land alongside or b) using the tennis courts, artificial turf pitch and a significant part of the existing leisure centre site; refurbish the existing centre."

Save The Rec tweeted this:

"I sold the land to the Citizens of Winchester for a Recreation Ground and not for building purposes". William Barrow Simonds, 1908.

WinchesterNewsOnline (WinOL) brought us this personal commentary from one of the Save The Rec campaigners, James McConnachie, COMMENT: Tear Down The Walls – Saving River Park and also River Park decision won’t ‘please everyone’ says Council Leader

While our councillors initially presented us with plans to build a new Leisure Centre on a nice green field, in Eastleigh the plan is to build a new centre on the existing car park and then create a new car park on area where the old centre was. This might be much easier for them with some additional parking available nearby but it just shows that you have to consider all options.

Community / volunteering

Last week Sarah Evans and I met with a representative from the Scouts who is looking for more group leaders and assistants to set up new groups at Holy Trinity from January onward. As you all know it's difficult to get your child into a beavers group - because there aren't enough volunteers to set up enough groups. So is there anybody here who would be interested? You would only have to attend one of every three group sessions (6 to 7pm), but of course there are also other meetings that will have to be attended for planning purposes. If you would like to find out more please contact us via the contact form and we'll forward your name for an introductory meeting.

Winacc is looking for more members: "Live around Winchester? Get involved, join WinACC, meet likeminded people, influence policy, take action!"

Community Bank anyone? Government agrees funding for first community bank in Winchester

Road safety

Heads up: The Highways Agency will be starting work on A34/M3 J9 Winnall Roundabout improvement scheme Monday 28 Oct. Disruption possible for 5 weeks.

Things to do

The legacy of King Alfred celebrated in annual festival in Winchester: "The King Alfred Weekend starts on Friday evening in St Bartholomew Church, with the opening of the 'Re-uniting the Stones of Hyde Abbey' exhibition and the ‘Negative Capability 2’ show which is Hyde900/St. Bart’s contribution to Ten Days/Winchester/Creative Collisions arts festival."

Mums in the Know have lots of ideas for you with Half Term, Halloween and Bonfire Night all coming up!

Discovery Centre: "Fancy taking your children to a FREE author show this half term? Peter Bently & Guy Parker-Rees (DINOSAURS AND DIGGERS!), Josh Lacey & Garry Parsons (DRAGONS!), Andrew Weale (HALLOWEEN!) and Kaye Umansky (WITCHES!) are all free of charge. Visit www.wessexbookfest.co.uk for full details then call us on 01962 873603 to claim your free tickets."

Have you heard about the Project Wild Thing film? It's going to be released 27 October. A study suggests children are missing out on the wonders of nature (BBC) – how do you get your children outside exploring?

Sea City Museum Southampton: Ever wondered what the city looks like from the top of the clock tower? Find out on 27 Oct or 10 Nov on a Clock Tower Tour. Call 023 80834536 to book. Ding, dong!

Fancy a scary Halloween night? Then ON A DARK DARK NIGHT at Theatre Royal is just the right thing for you!

Curious Creatures is all about outdoor play for children. This is happening in Otterbourne so the after school events are a bit impossible to get to on time (starting at 3:30pm), but maybe your little discoverers (2-4 years) would really enjoy this!

Miniprofessors introduces your pre-schoolers to science right here in Winchester! Also from Hampshire Chronicle: Winchester mums form new science class for toddlers

And finally: Intech is no more! Don't fret, they still exist, but under a different name: Winchester Science Centre and Planetarium.


If you like reading our weekly news roundup, would you please consider forwarding it to friends in the area? Thank you!

Serious sewage spillage at Abbotts Walk and Redrow are making a mess of it!

Yesterday a sewer broke at Lea View in the Abbotts Walk area and according to one of the residents (Louise Kan) I spoke to today, sewage was covering a big area of Lea View and Mansfield Road. Residents were not (and many possibly still are not) aware of it and drove and walked through it, most likely carrying the unhygienic mixture right into their homes and spreading it further out onto other roads (also Francis Gardens). If you have been walking around the area, it is advisable to disinfect your shoes before you bring them into your house.

Here is Southern Water's advice on how to deal with wastewater spillages:

• Wash and treat footwear with a mild disinfectant
• Keep children and pets out of the contaminated area
• Wear rubber gloves when clearing up and look out for sharp objects
• Always wash your hands
• In the unlikely event of feeling unwell, contact your GP

Mrs Kan tried her best to alert some neighbours and also tried various ways to find somebody to get this cleaned up in a responsible way but to not much avail so far.

Mrs Kan contacted Redrow who sent out a road cleaning vehicle to mop up the spillage. However, it looks like a disinfectant was not used. As the roads are not yet adopted, Southern Water (who would normally be responsible for a clean-up on public roads) is not getting involved. Their policy is to have a spillage like this cleaned up within 24 hours and also to have the area disinfected to minimise health risks to the public:

If the flooding is caused by a problem on our sewerage network, we will

• Carry out an initial external clean-up where possible within 12 hours for internal flooding and 24 hours for external flooding
• This includes removing excess liquid, cleaning debris, applying household disinfectant – this will remove all traces of bacteria within 24 to 48 hours
• Clear gardens of water and debris. (Bacteria are best killed by natural exposure to the sunlight’s ultra violet radiation)
• Clean and disinfect hard surfaces such as paths and drives.

This cannot be the first sewage problem that Redrow have come accross, you would assume there are similar policies and procedures to follow.

Ward councillor Dominic Hiscock who was also onside this morning, speaking to Mrs Kan and the staff at the Redrow office, contacted the department of Public Health. Mrs Khan also contacted local papers (Daily Echo and Hampshire Chronicle) and Hampshire MP Steve Brine to get this spillage the attention that it needs.

While we were talking about the spillage we could see workers mowing the grass in the affected area, apparently not having been made aware of the health risks. Then a bulldozer with a special load arrived:

Its 'shovel' had been loaded with water which was now released onto the road. While this will make sure that the sewage remnants will not dry out too quickly and rise as dust particles into our noses to be inhaled, it also makes sure that the sewage is going to be spread further, as the water flowed down into Mansfield Close. If you can, try to avoid walking around these roads and roads nearby.

Update 1: please also see this article by Mr Kan for more detail - WHAT’S THAT SMELL?!

Update 2: Redrow have promised to disinfect today (Monday)! (It seems when you involve the papers things all of a sudden move a bit more efficiently. Quite sad really but well done to Mrs Kan!)
Here's today's Hampshire Chronicle article: Sewage overflow at new housing development in Winchester