Footways are being restored around the “Poets” Estate in Totton.

Local County Councillor David Harrison has been out inspecting the quality of the work and talking to local residents. He says “Almost all the feedback I have so far received has been good. It's a relief to see that this work has at long last been undertaken. There were many grumbles about the poor condition of the pavements. This work will improve the look of the estate and make moving about a lot safer”.

Councillor Harrison is surveying local residents to make sure they are happy with the quality of the work, including the attitude of the contractors as work commenced.

Councillor Harrison adds “There are usually lessons to be learnt from every job done. When I asked the contractors to put in additional dropped kerb, they did so without complaint or delay. I'm very happy with them, but I want to make sure that is the same experience as local residents”.

A new litter bin has been installed at the top of Jacobs Gutter Lane. Councillor David Harrison was asked by a local resident if he could get a bin installed. It was done within the week!

Councillor Harrison says “The resident had been picking up litter from outside her home. She was sending e-mails and making phone calls direct to the council asking for a new bin for weeks, without success. Luckily, I knew the right people to approach and “Bingo – a New Bin !”

The lady in question is delighted and says the amount of litter dropped on the ground is a lot less than it used to be.

I chaired another meeting of the Marchwood Bus Focus Group this evening. Encouragingly, it was very well attended, with a lot of local bus users. Parish and District Councillors showing up. We had two officers from Hampshire County Council taking careful notes of what was said and two new representatives from Bluestar Buses, (one of which had only just joined the company).

Detailed minutes of the meeting and action points will be circulated to all those attending. I am glad to say it was a pretty positive 90 minutes. The group is trying very hard indeed to persuade the bus company to run a service through the village in the evenings and on a Sunday and Bank holidays.

I really didn't have to say anything myself. The group made some really excellent points in favour of the bus company re-examining the possible re-routing services so that we get a much better access to buses in the village.

The officers from Hampshire County Council offered the welcome news that the bus budgets are not going to be cut again for the forthcoming year (I commented that this might be something to do with the elections on the horizon!).

A re-tendering exercise is about to take place as the current contracts for subsidised services ends on the 3rd November. Bus companies will be competing for 4 year contracts, (with options to extend a year or two). A consultation will take place aimed at establishing views about which services are the most important, The County Council already tries to give priority for bus users who need the transport for employment, education, health and shopping.

We have decided to meet again in early September so that we can discuss and make late representations to the Portfolio Holder for Transport at Hampshire County Council at his decision day on the 11th September.

In My View......

By Councillor David Harrison
New Forest Liberal Democrats

It wasn't until I joined the Planning Committee of the New Forest National Park that I fully began to appreciate the importance of trying to combat light pollution.

In much of the country, the dark night sky with its glittering array of stars and planets can no longer be seen. The view has been lost as a result of the collective impact of more and more electric lights. Perhaps it is the price you have to pay if you live in a town or city. However, it is still something that can be protected in special places like the New Forest, if sufficient care is taken.

At a recent planning meeting, we had a discussion about whether to approve an application that would have meant just a little more light escaping into the night sky over the leafy lanes of Brockenhurst. A representative from the Parish Council asked us to reject the plans on the grounds of light pollution. He mentioned that there is at least one Professor in the village who uses telescopes and cameras to peer into deep space.

His plea was countered by a member who pointed out that the application only involved light from a single lantern and was likely to be rather less damaging than somebody who failed to pull the curtains on their window at night.

Officers advised us that we should take a sensible approach to the issue. Clearly, we should resist things likely to have a major impact, like floodlit football pitches or car parks, but it would be probably be unreasonable to reject an application on a domestic property on these grounds alone.

I do remember a while back that Southampton City Council proposed firing laser beams from the Civic Centre building towards the New Forest. Happily, this idea was dropped. I think it is also a very strong argument for resisting any commercial port development this side of the River Test and Solent.

These days, I think it perfectly possible to design lighting that does what it needs to do without polluting the night skies. Of course most lights are put up without any sort of planning permission. I just hope that those who do decide to add lights inside or outside their property adopt a more enlightened approach!

Report for Marchwood Parish Council Monday, May 14th, 2012

Children's Centres

A charity called “Action for Children” has been chosen to run our local childrens centres, in place of the excellent staff who worked directly for Hampshire County Council who consistently achieved very good or excellent ratings.

The official position of Hampshire County Council is that organisations like this can run things to the same quality with a lot less staff and management, saving some £3 million in the process. Whilst I really do hope this proves to be the case, I do not believe it to be true.

Although the change has taken place, I have had no assurance that the Partnership Boards, (one of which I Chair) that oversee operations will continue. Some of my colleagues have resigned their voluntary positions. I have not yet decided what to do. I am very worried that the quality of service delivery will decline markedly.

Marchwood Bus Services

I have organised a further meeting of the Marchwood Bus Services Liaison Group, which will be held here at the village this Thursday, 17th May, at 7pm. All Parish Councillors are welcome to attend.

Marchwood to Totton Cycle & Walking Link

I have had a meeting with HCC highway officers and briefed them as to progress to date. They have indicated a willingness to help and to attend a meeting that we are hoping to set up with local landowners, Barker Mills Estate.

Adult Mental Health

As a member of the Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee (HOSC), I have been closely following developments involving the gradual withdrawal of beds for those suffering from mental health problems, in favour of more care in the community or as it is nowdays termed “hospital at home”.

The local MP, Dr Lewis, has been fighting to keep Woodhaven hospital at Tatchbury open and made representations to the last meeting of the HOSC. Unfortunately, as I work for the NHS Trust concerned I was unable to take part in discussions or vote. The latest position is that the HOSC has supported the NHS Trust with its plans but has created a small working group to monitor the detail.

New Forest National Park Authority

I have joined the planning and Development Control Committee on the NPA. I have been involved in Project Mosaic, welcoming ethnic minority people to our National Park, explaining how it works and encouraging responsible visits in line with our duty to protect the area, help people enjoy it and assist in the prosperity of the area. I have volunteered to help man the NPA stand at the New Forest show when it starts on July 24th. It would be nice to see any of you. Free coffee for the first 20 visitors!

Fight to Save Recreation Ground

Totton Councillor, David Harrison, has launched a campaign to stop barriers going up at a local recreation ground.

The conservative controlled Town Council are considering a request from a local soccer group, GR Soccer, that proposes it be given a long term lease for exclusive use on a large part the ground. It is also asking to erect barriers all around the pitch and to build a new clubhouse.

Long term Council Member, David Harrison, is horrified by the proposals and wants the Town Council to kick them out entirely. He says “Eling Recreation ground is a recreational park for everybody to use, not for the exclusive use of one particular sport. Although I love football and don't object to games being played at Eling Recreation ground, there is absolutely no way we should spoil the wide open space that everybody enjoys”.

The campaigning Councillor has written to the Chairman of the Amenities Committee and the Deputy Clerk, saying that the proposals should be booted out quickly.

Totton Councillor, David Harrison, is well known for his campaigns to keep car parks in the town free but he didn't intend a near miss that left a parking space free and an access road blocked.

A red faced Councillor Harrison explains “ I parked my car up in a parking bay at the Civic Centre car park. I then went off delivering leaflets for two hours.

On return, I was shocked to see that my car had rolled back out of the parking bay and was blocking the access road. I must have forgotten to engage the handbrake.”

Luckily, the car only rolled about 12 feet before coming to a halt. As this happened on a Sunday there were few other cars about and no damage was done. A local resident who witnessed the empty car rolling back said.

“It was quite funny to see the unattended car slowly rolling backwards but it could have had serious consequences if anybody had been driving past or stood behind it at the time”.

Councillor Harrison adds “ I have to hold my hand up and apologise, it was an unfortunate error on my part.

I will be extra careful in future to make sure that the handbrake is properly engaged whenever I park up”.

Tory Council Fails To Tackle Fouling


Conservative controlled New Forest District Council employ just one dog warden and not a single penalty notice has been issued against people allowing their dog to foul on pavements, parks and even recreational areas in the past 7 months.

Councillor David Harrison, member for Totton South, is calling upon the council to employ more wardens so that offenders can be caught and fined.

He says “I cannot blame the one dog warden for the abysmal performance. This person has enough to do catching and dealing with the many stray dogs that are abandoned in the district, a huge geographical area. Dog fouling is a serious problem and it is high time the District Council took the problem seriously.”

In Totton, residents are often complaining about irresponsible dog owners who fail to clean up after their dog. The deposits can be a serious health hazard and may contain the toxacara canis parasite, that can cause blindness.

Councillor Harrison has written to the Environment Portfolio Holder, Councillor Edward Heron, asking that he agree to employ more wardens to tackle the dog fouling problem.

He says “ It's such a common problem that a few extra wardens might even pay for themselves if they catch those responsible and issue fines. I don't think the District Council is acting responsibly by ignoring the problem”.