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All posts for the month October, 2012

Crime Maps

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on October 31, 2012
Posted in: Local Issues, Useful Information. Leave a comment

This is well worth a look, and a great website. No, I’m not self congratulating myself on the blog here, but the “Community Policing and Crime Statistics Neighbourhood” website which shows exactly where every reported crime has taken place. The website address is in the ‘useful links’ section to the right, and here: https://www.crimereports.co.uk/ It is very simple to use. just click on the link, you will need to ‘Accept cookies’ and then enter your postcode.

If you are concerned about crime, you should take comfort that there is little in the Ward, and if you drag the map over to the towns and cities nearby, you start to see where some of the problems are.

The image below is as of todays date.

Horndean Pays While Gas Co Saves

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on October 27, 2012
Posted in: A point of view, Local Issues. Leave a comment

Cones. Bliming Cones Bliming Everywhere.

Currently we are caught in a pincer movement between 3 groups who are making travelling around a misery. Green lane works, the A3 Central Reservation and Horndean Village Centre have all been subject to road closures, speed limits, alternate traffic lights, and the endless exasperation of motorists.

A short while ago I contacted Southern Gas Networks about the disruption in Horndean and raised the following questions:

Q: The works are said to be urgent. What exactly is the issue here? – A: Yes, they are urgent to correct poor pressure in the pipes. (Speaking to the guys on the ground, the gas supply pressure increases on the 1st November each year for the winter demand, and the works need to be carried out by then. They are only urgent as they were not carried out earlier…)

Q: Why are the works not also being carried out at weekends to shorten the duration? 6 weekends = 12 days = 2 weeks faster. A: The workforce can not be forced to work weekends. The available weekend staff are allocated for emergencies. (Speaking to the guys on the ground,and at 2 other SGN sites, there is an overtime ban to save £157 Million this year. Form your own view)

Q: Could the works have been carried out with two gangs, not one? A: No, there is not enough space. They would get in each others way. (Much better to have several large areas coned off and not worked on at the same time…)

Q: Will there be further works after this 6 week period A: The works will finish on the 5th November. (Feedback from the businesses in Horndean is that they have been told that the works are likely to run 2 to 3 weeks late)

It is inevitable that the next 18 months will see progressive works to connect the new gales site to the road, and we need to ensure that HCC and our County Councillor look after Horndeans interests in making the utility companies operate considerately in our community. County Council elections are early next year, please use this vote wisely.

In the meantime SGN do apologise for the works and inconvenience caused. I have advised them that if there was a sense that they were being quickly and efficiently carried out, then there would be nothing to apologise for.

In the meantime this is being taken up with Hampshire County Council who give permission for the road works to take place to make sure they carefully consider the Gales Site services works.

PV farm at Lovedean?

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on October 27, 2012
Posted in: A point of view, EHDC, Local Issues. Leave a comment

EHDC have received a planning application for a 32.7 acre PV installation off Day Lane in Lovedean. For those not familiar with the area, this is accessed via Catherington Lane Behind the Bird In Hand public house.

The application has been made by Light Source Renewable Energy Ltd, and (if approved) would provide enough power to supply 1661 homes with ‘green energy’, generating 5.76MW of power. The application was received 2nd Oct 2012 and is to be decided by 1st Jan 2013.

This will be an interesting application to watch as there will be two firm groups that emerge.

The NIBMY’s (Not In My Back Yard) – v – The Staunch Environmentalists.

The PV farm will be visible from nearby roads, and has a right of way along side it. There are houses immediately adjacent, and the photomontage shows it will be securely fenced with a large framework of PV panels. On the other hand, fossil fuels have a finite life, are polluting the environment, and we do need to use greener forms of energy.

What are the economics of this?

If you put 8 solar panels measuring 2m x 1m on your roof, you will generate most of the electricity you need to power your home. More importantly you will get a rebate from the government called a ‘feed in tariff’ so instead of purchasing electricity, you get paid to produce it. This means that the cost of the installations generally pay for themselves, perhaps over a 5 to 7 year period. In year 8, you are generally ahead, and with a life span of 25 years for the panels, have a further 18 years free power plus the benefit of the feed in tariff.

If, however, you are a large organisation who can buy several thousand panels at a far better price (compared to your 8) and install them at ground level (cheaper than climbing about on the roof) and connect them all together, then you can install a very much more cost-effective installation. The feed in tariff rate has, however, been changing. Over the last 18 months the government has been reviewing the Feed In Tariff rates for domestic and commercial applications, and as the panels and technology become cheaper, the rebate you earn is being reduced. Currently the commercial rate is expected to reduce to 7.1p per KWH from 1st November this year. This will generate £408 per hour in government subsidy for this particular development when the sun shines, plus the value of the electricity. Very big business. (The feed in tariff rate is guaranteed for 25 years)

Clearly this is being done for commercial gain, and while this is fine, we must be sure this is for the right reason in our community. I work in construction for my ‘Real Job’ and yes, PV is an important way to generate power. I have installed it on 3 buildings now. It does however need to be applied in the right areas, and this is where the installation is sympathetic. Installed at ground level these will always be seen, and are not elegant or attractive structures. It is impossible to screen them with hedging as this also blocks out the sun. The neighbouring properties will be affected and suffer a possible reduction in value. Some of them will possible be affected by light reflecting off the panels.

Personally I think farmland should remain as farmland. I would be worried about this site being converted to ‘Light Industrial’ in 25 years time based on its change of use now. I do however believe that PV should be installed, but think the right location for this are land we have already built on, and locations such as the roofs of ASDA, B+Q, Tesco, Cash & Carry structures and industrial buildings with flat roofs where these can be installed without being visible from ground level are really the best uses of land, and funnily enough, keep the power being generated next to industrial and populated areas where the cost to distribute and sell it are also very economical.

I will be interested to see the outcome of this.

There is a public meeting where you can find out more. Monday 5th November, 6:30 Jubilee Hall, Crouch Lane, Horndean.

Details of the application can be found here: http://planningpublicaccess.easthants.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=_EHANT_DCAPR_228504

More information on feed In Tarrif rates for commercial purposed can be found here: http://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/commercial-feed-tariff

9th Oct Community Forum Report

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on October 11, 2012
Posted in: EHDC, Local Issues. Leave a comment

The South of Butser District Councillors held their Southern Community Forum meeting on 9th October 2012 at Merchistoun Hall. This is where the 8 District Councillors from Clanfield, Horndean and Rowlands Castle meet and discuss local issues. It is an excellent opportunity to address any questions about District issues, and also to get issues raised with your County Councillors.

The meetings are public, and there is a formal question and answer session. You can either submit the question in advance where work goes into finding a helpful answer, or you can ambush us and raise it on the spot…

There are usually a number of presentations, and this week we heard from representatives of the Southern NHS and Hampshire Joint Health and Wellbeing committee. This covered in some detail the changes to the structure of the NHS (See earlier blog). We also heard from Brendan Charles, Manager of Horndean Community Centre (Merchistoun Hall) who is currently working hard on grant funding applications and plans to regenerate the hall.

Some of the questions submitted to the panel for the Hampshire County Councillor to respond to include:

  • Parking on London Road just north of Horndean is a problem with the same parked vehicles affecting traffic flow in the village. Will the county look at double yellow lines.
  • The Urgent gas works in Horndean village are not being worked on efficiently. Future works in this area, especially on the Gales site, need to be planned in far better.
  • The bus stop in front of the old Blue Anchor needs to be relocated to a safer position with, hopefully, a shelter.
  • The change to the 41 bus timetable has taken place with no notification or consultation. This is disappointing and we have missed opportunity to press for better service provision.

When an update on these issues is forthcoming, I will post it on the blog.

First Bus Consumer Panel

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on October 11, 2012
Posted in: Local Issues, Useful Information. Leave a comment

First Bus, to their credit, have a consumer panel. This is to review strategic change to the service, and make sure that customer views are heard, and considered. If you have the spare time to attend 4 meetings a year and give your views to the Directors and Senior Managers of First, then you can contact First on buscustomerpanel@firstgroup.com

Further information from their website, including a link to the full page:

  • The panel has a number of customers (between 8 and 10) who represent other customers who use specific bus services.
  • They meet quarterly with local senior management and directors.
  • Each panel member was chosen to ensure that a broad cross-section of our customers would be represented.
  • The individual customer panel members are completely independent from First.

http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/hampshire/help_contact/customer_panel/