There was good news just before Easter when Southern Water agreed to remove a number of road closures in and around Romsey, perhaps most particularly Hook Road in Ampfield which had been closed for months with very little activity being observed by residents and Parish Councillors. I know Hampshire County Council had received a number of representations from me and from residents and I was very relieved to hear from Cllr Nick Adams-King that an extension was not going to be granted to the road closure order. I know that has been received very positively by residents, some of whom had been very assiduous in keeping me up to date with the lack of work being done.
I know many constituents are rightly concerned at the number of planning applications currently being submitted and under consideration by TVBC. They appreciate this is as a direct result of the Government’s decision to increase the number of houses required for Test Valley by 78%, but it leaves a very nasty taste in the mouth when that is used as an opportunity to bung in an application on sites which have previously been regarded as absolutely inappropriate for building.
It is as much of a frustration to me as to residents that I have no power to, “simply step in and stop this”, if the Borough Council receives an application that has been correctly submitted they have no choice but to consider it, and I have no role to play in that decision. Would that I did, but I do remember a very wise man telling me some decades ago that there was nothing as vexed in politics as the decisions to be taken by the Southern Area Planning Committee of Test Valley Borough Council. I know Councillors have a very tough job to do.
I have used this week to get out meeting both local residents and businesses on a wide range of issues, not least increases in taxation impacting SMEs in the area, and of course the spike in fuel prices as a result of the conflict in the gulf. For many SMEs that has been a double whammy as, particularly in hospitality, they can be high users of energy, sometimes oil fired heating as well, and all their suppliers are facing increased costs as a result of diesel increases. I cannot tell the Chancellor what to do, but I hope she is looking at the number of small businesses that are close to the brink and finds some solutions quickly, very few can wait until the Autumn.