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Why
Chineham Needs Better Sports Facilities
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Cllr
Andy
McCormick
Marathon Veteran |
Recently
there has been considerable disquiet over Chneham sports facilities
following the controversial plans to vire the funds from Chineham's
proposed Sports Barn to save the Town Centre Swimming Pools. Irrespective
of the political points which certain parties may have tried to score, the
fact remains that the vast majority of sports facilities in this town are
south of the railway line: *
The Town Centre Gym and Swimming Pools
* The Aquadrome
* Down Grange: track, astroturf, hockey and rugby clubs.
* Squash courts at Beechdown and Bounty Road.
* The indoor tennis courts near Costello School In
the north of the town, we have a few playing fields and basketball courts, and that's about it.
Private facilities such as Centrecourt are way beyond the means of many
people in the borough. It also costs considerable money for our young people in the north of the borough
to catch two or more buses to get to use proper sports facilities.
At Basingstoke, we are over-dependent on the car and do not exercise
enough. This has to change. Providing better sports facilities for
under-provisioned areas is of paramount importance if we are to improve
the health of people in the Borough.
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Labour fights
for Chineham Station
Station a step nearer
The Strategic Rail Authority have
included Chineham Station along with Green Park on its list of projects. But
there is still a very long way to go before the
station can be built.
Chineham
Station is Top Priority of all the transport schemes in Basingstoke
under consideration by the Basingstoke Environmental Strategy for
Transport (BEST). At Basingstoke Labour we welcome this.
There are still considerable hurdles to be overcome, not least the
problems of increased journey time from 28 to 36 minutes meaning the
provision of extra trains between Basingstoke and Reading, the proposed
new freight terminal at Dibden Bay, and general capacity issues at Reading
station.
Chineham
station is an ongoing project which has the support from councillors of
all parties.
Fire
Engine for North Basingstoke
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service are planning a trial
deployment of a Fire Engine at Popley Fields. This will mean improved
response times for Chineham. The
engine should be on site for April 2005. The engine will be stationed most
days from 3pm until 11pm. There will also be community-based programs on
fire prevention. This
is welcome news. A fire station for the North of Basingstoke has been
talked about for 20 years. Residents in Oakridge, Popley, Chineham,
Lychpit, Sherfield, Bramley and Sherborne St John can look forward to
improved response times as a direct result.
A33 Roundabout works
back on
Crucial improvements to
the A33 will happen after all but not until 2005, following another U-turn
by Tory Hamshire County Council.
In February 2003 the Hamsphire Tories jeopardised this scheme with the
dramatic axing of funding for
the BEST program. This is in spite of already spending money on the works'
planning.
Work was due to start for 20 weeks installing traffic lights, new street lights, cycle
paths, crossings and anti-skid road surfaces on the Reading Road Roundabout,
where the A33 joins the A339 Ring Road.
Traffic has been known to tail back half a mile onto
the Ring Road at peak times.
There have also been over 30
killed or serious injury accidents on the roundabout in 3 years.
A33
could become Dual Carriageway
The RAC Foundation has published a
report urging for the A33 to be dualled. Hampshire County Council is
considering the possibility of dualling in its 2005 Local Transport
Plan.
Traffic volumes have increased from less than 30,000 per day in 1999 to
nearly 40,000 a day today, making it one of the top 10 busiest roads
in Hampshire (the top 2 are motorways). 29 people died on the road in 3 years between
1999 and 2001.
At Basingstoke Labour we welcome these plans. Dualling the road could save
on average 8 lives a year. Reducing congestion also means reducing
pollution. We should also look to using the existing A33 to implement foot
and cycle schemes between Basingstoke and Reading.
Your Labour Team
We are here to help,
please call us
Paul Harvey 07968 941009
basingstoke@email.labour.org.uk
Andy McCormick 07879 436985
cllr.a.mccormick@basingstoke.gov.uk
Jane Frankum 01256 819924 jane.frankum@hants.gov.uk
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Community
Wardens Phenomenally Successful in Oakridge and Popley
Chineham residents can
look forward to reduced crime as a direct result.
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Cllr David
Potter,
the man
who brought you
Community Wardens |
Community Wardens started work
in January 2004, thanks to your Labour-Led Council at
Basingstoke. Ten
wardens now operate in Buckskin, Oakridge, Popley, South Ham and Tadley.
The wardens work in pairs with staggered shifts. They are based at John Hunt of Everest School in Popley, with local
bases in South Ham and Tadley. Community
Wardens :
* Help reduce crime and nuisance in the neighbourhood
* Help the environment, tackling litter and graffiti.
* Help residents with building up the community.
Since
their introduction, we have seen massive
reductions in crime in Popley and Oakridge. The
secret of Success for Community Wardens is their ability to connect with
the community. First and foremost, they are not there to arrest
people: that is the job of the police. Evidence from across the country
shows that the most successful schemes do not have wardens with powers of
arrest: that makes them "poor mens' policemen" and, crucially,
loses them a significant slice of the public's trust. Community
Wardens is a scheme championed by the Labour Government which has been
phenomenally successful across the country.
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