Green Light for New Popley

Demolition Time

Popley took the first step in its regeneration program with the demolition of the Pen and Parchment pub, the Dryden Hall, and the disused Marlowe Surgery. The buildings were empty for months with no new users lined up.

The Pen and Parchment was known locally as the "Pen and Punch-up", and struggled to attract landlords to take it on. Now all that's left is the pub sign which has been handed over to the Willis Museum.

Parking Strategy

Two parts of Popley have been identified in the Top 5 priorities for parking in Basingstoke. Shakespeare Road and Abbey Road are both notorious for their lack of parking.

When Shakespeare Road was built, only 2 spaces were allocated for every 3 houses. Today, the requirement for new builds is for one and a half spaces per dwelling. In Abbey Road, there are massive shortages of parking, and people parking in inappropriate places, e.g. next to 1-way traffic calming chicanes.

We are also aware of severe problems in the Montserrat Road and Tasmania Close areas, where car owners are parking on the inside of the bend on Carpenters Down. This is dangerous. However, there is a dire shortage of parking spaces, especially late at night. We want the Council to provide more parking and stop car owners taking risks parking on the inside of the bend at Carpenters Down.

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.

On The Buses

Popley has had mixed fortunes with buses.

In 2003 the Stagecoach No.4 service from West Popley to Town was axed and that upset a lot of residents who used it to access the factories at Houndmills, Sainsburys, Allders and the Railway Station. The re-routing of the No.5 Service kept West Popley connected to the Hospital and Town Centre every 30 minutes.

The No.9 cross-Popley bus service was saved on the grounds of social need by intense lobbying by your Labour councillors. Even then its frequency was reduced to a paltry 90 minutes.

But we were delighted to see Countywide Travel extend their No.10 service to provide a 30 minute cross-Popley service. 

Popley has the highest public transport usage in the Borough and axing services is ridiculous! We can not understand how West Popley's 30 minute No.4 service is axed when East Popley can support the town's busiest service with a 10 minute frequency to the Town Centre.

We want a decent two-way connecting service between East and West Popley so that the pensioners in Abbey Court and Melrose Court can get to their doctors by bus. Is that too much to ask?

£21m approved for new school 

PPC Paul Harvey	Cllr Paul Frankum	County Cllr Jane Frankum
"We are all delighted that the new school is set to go ahead."

Hampshire County Education chief Don Allen has given the go-ahead for the building of a new John Hunt of Everest Secondary School, the first to be built in Basingstoke for 
over 20 years.

The school will form a key part of the North Popley Development program proposed by Basingstoke and Deane Borough council. 

The new school is planned to have an increased roll of 750 to 900 and will cost £21million, which will come from sale of the existing school site and land north of Popley Way, plus contributions from Basingstoke and Deane, Hampshire County Council, and prospective developers David Wilson Homes.

The new school is expected to open in January 2007.

Labour
More Teachers  More Nurses  More Police

Community Wardens

Two Community Wardens started work in Popley in January 2004. They are based in John Hunt of Everest School.

Community wardens are there to help residents build a better community.

In just 6 months, they have established a proven track record in reducing crime and improving neighbourhoods in Basingstoke.

Community Wardens :
* Help reduce crime and nuisance in the neighbourhood
* Help the environment, tackling litter and graffiti.
* Help residents with building up the community.

Community Wardens are a National Policy Initiative of the Labour Party.

 A Pharmacy for Abbey Road 
Join Jane Frankum's campaign

1st November 2003 saw the opening of the vacant Lloyd's chemist shop at Abbey Road. The shop had been vacant for almost a year following Lloyd's move to a new unit at Shakespeare House. 

However, the new store can not dispense prescriptions, something which concerns local councillor Jane Frankum.

"There are lots of elderly people living in Abbey Court, Melrose Court, and Glastonbury Close who rely on the Abbey Road shops for everything. Shakespeare Road is over a mile away with a very poor connecting bus service: people have to go into town and back out again to get to their doctors and local pharmacy. They need a local pharmacy."

Councillor Jane Frankum originally spearheaded the campaign to prevent the vacant unit becoming yet another take-away - we already have four in Popley! The shop is being run by Dev and Nayna Vyas who also run the nearby FastFare store.

Fire Engine for North Basingstoke
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service are planning a trial
deployment of a Fire Engine at Popley Fields.  

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 experiment is seen as a first in bringing the Fire Service into the community. It is hoped money will be made available to improve Popley Fields as a result.

A public consultation is set to start in September 2004.

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 Hampshire 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 1/2 mile off the slip road and onto the Ring Road at peak periods.

Your Labour Team
We are here to help, please call us

Community Surgeries at John Hunt 12 noon every 1st Saturday of the month