What we could NOT fit into the May Magazine

BOLTON UNDER 5’s PRESCHOOL

Well I hope you have all had a fantastic Easter break and the children are enjoying their first few days back at Preschool.

Prior to the two week Easter holiday, the first week in April saw our initial week of Stay and Play.  I understand that the children thoroughly enjoyed the week dedicated to messy play, and the parents that participated in the event had just as much fun!  One day involved squishing different coloured jelly, while another playing with shaving foam.  A favourite activity included spray paints, which were used on each others hands to do prints together.   I am sure the Play and Stay event will be repeated again in the future, however should you wish to visit the preschool at any time, please let the staff know who will be happy to arrange this.

We also had our annual Easter Treasure Hunt which was another great success.  All the children enjoyed the tasks involved and the craft making was very well organised. Some fantastic face painting was done and a big thank you to all that helped make the day a success.

Tuesday 24th May is our Pamper Evening for all you parents out there.  Eyebrow shaping, massages, make overs, you name it- it will be there!  If you haven’t already bought your ticket please speak to a member of staff who will be able to help.

Old Basing Carnival is fast approaching and any support you can provide with the arrangements will be greatly appreciated.  Please speak to either Brenda, Claire or Cheryl regarding this should you have any free time to help out.

Further dates for your diaries;
Tues 10th May- Parents Evening 7pm to 8.30pm
Sat 18th June- Old Basing Carnival
Tues 21st June (am) and Thurs 23rd June (pm)- Group Photographs by Magic Eye
Fri 24th June- Sports Day

We are open 8.30am to 2.45pm (Mon-Thurs) and 8.30am to 1pm (Fri) and take children from ages 2yrs 6 months.  If you are interested in your child attending our small friendly Preschool at the Beddington Centre, Riley Lane, Old Basing, RG24 7DH please contact us by email: info@boltonunder5s.co.uk or by phone - Pennie Porter, Preschool Leader 07881 920709or Sarah Crowdy, Chair 01256 322357.

Hampshire Wildlife Trust

Please click here for this months article.

NEWS FROM ODIHAM COTTAGE HOSPITAL

Another month has gone by in the difficult times in which our much loved cottage hospital finds itself. In understanding the background to the situation, it may be helpful to set out “who’s who” locally.

NHS Hampshire are the local primary care trust (PCT) who are responsible for commissioning healthcare services on our behalf. You will be aware from media reports that PCTs are required to hand over many areas of their work to GP Commissioning Consortia, GPCCs, by April 2013.  Locally the GP practices of Odiham/Old Basing, Hook and Hartley Wintney have voted to join with the Basingstoke GPs in a consortium known as “Calleva”.  Calleva are one of the pioneer GPCCs and are acting in shadow form with NHS Hampshire from 1st April 2011.

Hampshire Community Health Care (HCHC) are, or more accurately were, the provider arm of the PCT, that is they provide the healthcare services commissioned by NHS Hampshire (or others) and so, for example. they employ all the nursing staff at Odiham Cottage Hospital. From 1st April 2011, HCHC have merged with Hampshire Partnership Trust, the local mental health provider, as they are required to achieve foundation trust status, giving them greater financial autonomy and responsibility.

The original announcement concerned HCHC’s withdrawal of nursing staff, exacerbated by poor local transport, and NHS managers have always maintained that this was a decision about clinical risk rather than finances.

However a background of economic recession and such upheaval in the NHS, must make financial viability a key consideration.

Meanwhile NHS Hampshire have used this announcement as an opportunity to examine the services that they commission locally and many community representatives are involved in that exercise.  We are determined that through this work, and other initiatives, that a satisfactory solution for our community is found, and our hospital’s door stay open for many more years to come.
 
Ginny East, Secretary to the Trustees. Tel: 01256 393603      
Email: och1@btinternet.com, www.odihamcottagehospital.org.uk

The Sherbornes Spring Exhibition

See here for more details.

Council blitz on untaxed vehicles

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council have new powers to remove any vehicles not displaying a valid tax disc on the public highway or parked in council-owned car parks.

Previously the council had to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of untaxed vehicles and wait for action to be taken.  But the new powers mean that  vehicles can now be removed straight away and impounded.

In order to get a vehicle returned the owner will need to pay a fee of £200 plus storage charges and also provide a valid tax disc. All untaxed vehicles are reported to the DVLA so that they are able to pursue the owner for backdated car tax.

If the vehicle remains unclaimed after 14 days it can be scrapped or sold by auction .

Cabinet member for Communities, Sport and Leisure Cllr Clive Sanders said: “Unlicensed vehicles are a nuisance and potentially a danger. They can blight communities and attract vehicle crime and anti-social behaviour Very often theyare also unregistered or uninsured.

“It is a legal requirement to keep your car taxed and insured when it is on the road and anyone not doing so in the Borough may suffer the consequences.”

For more information contact the council on 01256 844844 or visit www.basingstoke.gov.uk/go/untaxedvehicles

Council keen to net feedback on new ‘easier to use’ website

Residents are being urged to help make it even easier to access local services and information any time by giving their thoughts on how Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s website could be improved.

The council has restructured the website at www.basingstoke.gov.uk to make it easier to find things that residents want.  Now volunteers are needed for panels and groups to try out the website and give valuable feedback about how it can be improved even further.

Anyone from web experts to internet phobics taking their first steps online are needed for the groups to be held in the next few months to help the council make the website as useful as possible for all its users.

The new structure, which has been carried out in-house, has ‘pay for it’, ‘apply for it’, ‘request it’ and ‘report it’ sections easily visible on the front page, making accessing online services much simpler.  Residents can easily pay their council tax or a parking fine or sign up for the garden waste collection service, as well as buying tickets to the Mayor’s charity events including the popular fireworks and carol concerts. They can report a missed bin, flytipping, litter or graffiti online; apply for planning permission or benefits or housing forms or request a garden composter or a local land search – all with just a few clicks of the mouse.  Residents want to start an e-petition can also do this from a front page link.

And the council is keen to get more most popular services online as soon as possible.  It is also working to ensure that information on the site is as up-to-date, helpful and jargon-free as possible in response to feedback from the online survey that automatically asks a sample of website visitors if they found what they were looking for.

The council’s Cabinet Member for Education, Performance and Partnerships Cllr Karen Cherrett said: “We know that not everyone is comfortable using the website and so, of course, residents can call or come into the council offices if they would prefer.  But so many people are booking their holidays, paying their bills, checking their bank balance or shopping online at a time and place that is more convenient to them, so it is only right that the council offers services online too, where it is appropriate.  Providing services through the website is not only more convenient for web-friendly residents, it also saves money and helps us to keep council tax bills down.”

Anyone interested in volunteering for a group to give comments on how the new website works should email customer.service@basingstoke.gov.uk or call the contact centre on 01256 844844.

Come and encourage others to volunteer!

To mark Volunteers’ Week 2011 Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and Basingstoke Volunteer Services will be hosting a volunteer recruitment event in Porchester Square, Festival Place, Basingstoke on Wednesday 1 June from 8.15 am until 5.30 pm.

The aim of the day, which is funded by the council, is to raise awareness of the variety of volunteering organisations and opportunities on offer in the borough and encourage residents to get involved.

If your voluntary organisation would like to take part in this event please contact Ankita Chakraborty on 01256 423850 or email ankita.chakraborty@voluntaryservices.com. 

Are you a considerate neighbour? Do you take up more than your quota of car parking spaces?

Dear Editor:
 
One of the things which I like about living in Old Basing is its friendly feel. Despite being so close to a big town centre, Old Basing still has the feel of a close-knit village community and we have friendly, sociable and considerate neighbours. It is disappointing, therefore, that when it comes to how many cars each household has many residents become utterly inconsiderate. Parking is at a premium in the village. This is especially the case in the older parts of the village, where houses often do not have off-road parking facilities and the roads narrow. Given this, I encourage residents to ask themselves ‘How many vehicles can I accommodate without causing my neighbours difficulties?’ At present, many households which do not have their own off-road parking, not only have their daily use vehicles, be it one for ‘him’ and one for ‘her’, but also have additional, ‘leisure’ vehicles. These vehicles which seemingly get used only rarely – be it on a sunny day, for weekend activities, or as restoration projects – take up crucial parking spaces. This means that those with just the bare minimum of cars have to struggle to park their car, often having to carry their young children and shopping far from their house because there is no space near their own house. Things are set to get worse as well. Hampshire County Council is soon to implement double-yellow parking restrictions near St. Mary’s church. I encourage residents to therefore consider the potential impact of their behaviour on other residents and whether their lifestyle choices could be negatively impacting on their neighbours.
 
Yours faithfully,
M. Veldrew.

Riley Lane Cemetery

As a past member of the Parish Council and one who has two close friends buried in Riley Lane Cemetery, I should like to add my views on the removal of articles from the graves, as the Basingstoke Gazette is not noted for publishing both sides of any controversial story.

Before starting, I should like to point out that all persons applying to bury loved ones at the Cemetery sign up to agree to abide by the regulations that apply.

Letters in the Gazette continue to imply that the removal of articles by the Parish Council is unreasonable and came without notice; this is completely untrue, as a sensitively worded notice was placed at the Cemetery three months before the articles were removed for collection by the owners.
The Groundsman who assisted with the removal of the articles is an employee of the Parish Council and in no way should be criticised for the action taken, as he was acting as instructed.

It is important that Parishioners are aware of the nature of some of the articles that were found on graves and form an opinion on their appropriateness.

Beer bottles
Champagne bottles
Helium balloons
Electric fairies
Soggy articles in polythene bags

I fully recognise that all of these articles have immense sentimental value to the bereaved, but may not attract the same sentimentality from those bereaved who wish to maintain the dignity and tranquillity of a rural cemetery.

Tony Fendall

HMOs– The risks they represent?

HMOs means a home of multiple occupancy, for instance, a four bed roomed house which has been rented out to four unrelated individuals who share the cost of the rent. HMOs can represent a risk to the community in many ways if they are not controlled. Typically the following problems can arise, fires, excessive noise, properties are poorly maintained by the landlord and excessive on the road parking occurs. In extreme cases HMOs can turn into drug dens and brothels. This has happened in the Norden Ward in Basingstoke where I used to live. If any of these things were to happen in Basing and Lychpit apart from the moral, social and personal risk issues that could arise from this type of dwelling, property prices could also be negatively affected and houses could become difficult to sell in areas with HMOs.

            Each ward within Basingstoke and Deane can bring in controls to monitor the development of HMOs. However, our Parish Council chooses not to do that. I have written to Sven Godesen (Chairman of the Parish Planning Committee) twice to ask him to bring controls into our parish to monitor HMOs, but unfortunately to no avail. I received an inadequate reply to my first letter and no reply to my second letter.
 
Because there was a change in the law in October 2010 there is currently no need for a landlord to apply for planning permission to convert a property into a HMO.
 
            If you feel HMOs represent a risk to your parish then write to Sven Godesen at the Parish Council offices and ask him what he can do as a councillor to control them for the benefit of the parishioners and the parish. Other wards in Basingstoke are already in the process of doing this.

           I should point out I am not opposed to resident landlords who supply rooms for lodgers, run small hotels or landlords who rent entire properties to one family. I would also like to point out there is no political agenda in my letter as I am a non voter. But I am concerned that parts of Old Basing and Lychpit could decline in the same way that parts of the Norden ward did.
 
Now is the time to take preventative action.
 
 
            Yours sincerely
 
 
             Steve Partridge
             Linden Avenue