Hugh Sandeman
Conservative Councillor for Bell Hill ward, Petersfield

Today David Cameron delivered his New Year message, it centred upon the Conservative Party and our move to becoming the Party that represents normal working people. Those people abandoned by the power hungry, chaotic and increasingly Orwellian Labour Government.

Cameron aspires to reinvigorate social mobility which has been so damaged by Labour's tax, red tape & educational failings. This will be helped by a working party examining the issues led by David Davis.

2007 will be a vital year for the Cameron leadership it will be interesting to see the opinion poll response to the meat being added to the bones of the policies trailed during 2006, given the recent trend, the future looks bright and most definitely blue.

Whilst I was surfing the Times website to find info about David Cameron's message for 2007 I saw the following article about the Labour Government and their dangerous attitude towards the Royal Navy. The ramifications for Portsmouth and Hampshire as a whole if the Naval Base at Portsmouth was to be shut are unimaginable. Especially at a time when our armed forces are committed to so many battles around the World it seems crazy to be cutting the strength of one of the UK's major extensions of power and influence.

Another year, another annual review in the local paper. Amused as ever to read in one how many Tories they could find to tease via their their equine themed comment organ.

To be fair there was a reasonable amount of material generated in the last few months for them to choose from, sadly the context of many of the issues or events commented upon were not fully explained thus reinforcing the widely perceived bias towards the yellow corner.

To confirm this commonly held view there were glowing references to a young local career politician from the yellow team who got praise for;

1: Their Age.

2: The fact that they organised a public meeting over a contentious issue...

..Of course there was no comment about the outcome of the meeting and the complete absesnce of any follow-up meetings or progress to alleviate the problem, but heck! - it wouldn't be fair to dwell on such failures and lack of dynamism over the issues that matter to the people of Petersfield now would it?

This years CF Christmas drinks party was at the Sterling bar located at the foot of the Gherkin in London. The venue was packed with Conservative Future members and as ever it offered a great platform to mingle and network with others from across the country.

According to the 'Spy' column in Friday's Daily Telegraph one of the guests fell asleep in a toilet cubicle and had to escape via a fire door at 3 am in the morning. And before you ask, it wasn't me - the drinks and bar snacks were pretty pricey and there weren't any free glasses of fizz to kick the evening off so it was a struggle to get too merry!

I am unlikely to write much here before the New Year so I hope everybody has a good Christmas. Hopefully 2007 will see this Blog re-open to comments from the readership, that reminds me I better buy my webmaster a Christmas drink in able to get a few of the bugs from the change of skin ironed-out asap.

Just a brief update about the hard work by Hampshire County Council to fix the road up Stoner Hill. Although the traffic levels are now back to their pre-closure levels on Bell Hill, the road once again forms an excellent route to the A32, Alton, Ropley, Alresford the A31 & Froxfield etc.

Also whilst singing the praises of HCC, some of you may have noticed the three new saplings planted on the grass verge at the bottom of Bell Hill - (Near the residents parking zone & telephone box). These were planted in the last couple of weeks by contractors working for the County Council. They replaced the dead cherry tree that has been in decline for a number of years.

As part of this planting I negotiated for a sapling to be planted in the Town Council's Bell Hill Recreation ground, close to the hedge at the bottom of Bell Hill. This tree is now enjoying the recent wet weather as it settles in its new location. The County Council provided this sapling as I had asked them to assess the dead oak tree at the bottom of Bell Hill, they hope to fell it in the next couple of weeks - it is pleasing to replace one dead tree with a new sapling, hopefully with hundreds of years of life to look forward to.

*UPDATE 29/12/06*
I have been informed by local residents that a dangerous section of pavement and kerbing have been repaired by HCC Contractors in Beckham Lane, pleasing to hear that the problem has finally been sorted. Moral of the story is for Residents and Councillors to make lots of phone calls to the relevant authority - it seemed to hasten the work, thanks to those at the Highways Dept.

I am back after the technical changes and migration from an old "skin" to a newer style as you may have noticed. There are still a few gremlins to iron-out, particularly the 500 or so spam comments I had got within 24 hours of the update! The regularity of these spam attacks and their follow-on emails alerting me to the new bogus posts have meant that my email account ground to a halt under the load, hence for the time being I have had to have switched off the opportunity for readers to comment on my ramblings, I hope to rectify this in the near future and also update you with lots of interesting Bell Hill Ward & larger-scale political news.

It's Remembrance Sunday today so I will be at the War Memorial at 11 to watch the ceremony. This year Petersfield has a new clock at the end of the High Street in order to measure the two minutes silence. Supplied with money from the Petersfield Herald's owner, EHDC & Petersfield Town Council the clock should add to the occasion.

Congratulations to George Hollingbery who has been selected for the newly formed Meon Valley seat for the next General Election. George was the Conservative candidate in Winchester for the 2005 election, and has also masterminded the return of Conservative power to Winchester City Council.

I wish him all the best, I am pleased to note that he appears to have beaten-off A-list competition to have secured the nomination.

The news that Marks and Spencer is set to move a food-hall supermarket into Petersfield's High Street, replacing the current Somerfield is an interesting evolution to the retail scene in Petersfield. As Waitrose did on its opening and to a lesser extent Tesco, big supermarkets bring with them a lot of change to consumer trends, wage levels, choice and competition in the town.

There are plenty of likely 'losers' from this deal. Waitrose will lose it's mantle as the only quality supermarket of the town. Opening before Christmas will probably see the M&S shelves stripped bare by the people that used to lay siege to Waitrose when I worked there, buying up everything they thought they may need to cover the day or two the shop was closed for over Christmas (They shop like a nuclear holocaust is due on the 25th of December).

The people who rely on Somerfield for their groceries, an affordable supermarket in the centre of town are going to lose out, Tesco will probably gain a few Somerfield shoppers while those that buy their impulse shopping and lunches at Somerfield are likely to have to spend a bit more at the new M&S or go elsewhere.

The specialist food shops and delicatessans could also take a knock from the percieved high quality food at M&S, hopefully the small, local, niche traders will ride the storm once people realise much of M&S food tends to be quality pre-packed ready meals, I don't recall them having many service counters in the ones I have visited either.

All the above may seem like moans, but the arrival of M&S will have clear repercussions both good and bad. It will be another economic trigger for other retailers who look at the location and success of leading brands to see if an area is ripe to move into themselves. It makes Petersfield more (even more) of a shopping destination than places like Haslemere and Midhurst.

The Market has decided that M&S will move to Petersfield, it is up to M&S how it enters our local market and if it will cater for the people of the town or those who choose to visit from farther a field, it is clearly a key day for retailing in the town I look forward to seeing what changes occur as a result of this news, the promise of more jobs is the first.

Congratulations to all at the Kings Arms who this week won themselves a minibus as a reward for their success in a Hampshire-wide award scheme.

I attended the event last year where there were some amazingly high achievers being rewarded, I am sure the quality of the competition was equally high this year thus making the award that much more notable. More info here at the Petersfield Post.

Hello all, with the help of my IT guru I hope to be making some positive changes to the site over the coming weeks. Currently I get a lot of spam messages so I hope to be able to limit their appearance as well as changing the look of things somewhat I also hope to blog more regularly. Well anyway that's the plan, fingers crossed and watch this space!

The national debate about youth/hoodies/vandalism and anti-social behaviour is echoed in miniature within Petersfield's boundaries. The Town Council has a part to play in Petersfield's response to the issues surrounding young people congregating and the associated damage that is sometimes linked to the more boisterous or malevolent members or sections of these groups.

The damage seen to the Town Council's Avenue Pavillion and the Cricket Club's Pavillion on the Heath are clear evidence that there is a problem, with enough circumstantial evidence to show that it is mainly caused by those who can be described as youths.

Although the shattered tiles and other vandalism are clearly criminal damage what isn't and shouldn't be a clear assumption is that all of the town's young people are responsible for or implicated with these attacks.

One of the options available to the Town Council to try to reduce such incidents is to work to provide 'youth shelters' or 'pods' in places around the town. These are little more than bus shelter style buildings, but they are intended to give young people somewhere to sit and congregate.

I am in favour of at least trying this approach, as it is one of the few things within our power and budget that we as a Council can implement. What I am against, especially without a strong argument or evidence for is to push these pods to distant locations, away from where these teenagers choose to congregate at the moment, to places that are hard for the police to monitor effectively, (Bell Hill Recreation Ground is being suggested), I cannot see how anywhere there is easily observable especially for Police patrols.

As a community we need to accept that teenagers, don't want to and will not sit at home in the evenings, indeed many don't have the luxury of a loving home in which to spend the evening. Mine and other Councillors suggestions of locating a youth pod either in the Square or elsewhere in the centre of Town is one that I am keen to explore further.

It doesn't have to look like the mock-up on the front page of this week's Petersfield Post, it could be architecturally respectful of the square or bright and modern with a contemporary design, it could be an asset for all age groups as there isn't any civic shelter from rain in and around the Square unless you're going to the loo or borrowing from the library.

Petersfield has an opportunity to enhance relations between the young and old, pushing these young people away from their natural hang-out shouldn't happen unless expert evidence proves the value of such a course of action. The dangers of Petersfield not accepting it's young people will lead to a further separation and greater misunderstandings. I am prepared to get some flak about a central location but i'd rather be bold as it might just work rather than seeing Petersfield being allowed to turn it's back on the people that will become it's adults of tomorrow.

I was amazed to read in the Herald, that a well known company from Petersfield - and I am pleased to say from the Bell Hill Ward! has recycled just under 10 Million gallons of water over the past couple of years.

Petersfield and Reliance Launderers and Cleaners of Rushes Road have been using a revolutionary Clearwater filtration system that manages to refresh used water from the laundering process so efficiently that upto 85% of the water that enters the filter can be reused again in other stages of the cleaning process.

Initiatives like this have so many clear benefits to both the environment and savings for the Laundry that it makes sense for other similar industries to sit up and take notice.

The Conservatives are particularly keen on such environmentally friendly ideas and more can be read about our concern about water shortages here.

Just back from a productive morning with the Town Clerk. As the Town Council's South Downs representative I worked with Mr Hitch to complete the Town Council's response to the current consultation exercise surrounding the South Downs Draft Management Plan.

Petersfield is a key town in the area potentially covered by this plan which spans from beyond Newhaven in Sussex to the East of Winchester in Hampshire. Our online response will be used to help steer the policy that is being formulated. In our response we sought to highlight the uniqueness of Petersfield and its surroundings, the importance of sustainability of farming in an increasingly protected area and the need for a realistic approach to increased visitor numbers amongst a wealth of different issues.

I believe we managed to convey the Council's view of the proposed document in a fair, constructive and realistic way.

The Labour Government is threatening to further cut both the Royal Navy and Portsmouth Naval Base. The Portsmouth News is running an effective campaign to raise awareness of this threat.

Strengthening the armed forces should be at the top of the Labour agenda - especially as they continue to commit over-stretched men, women and equipment to the mire of warfare in distant lands.

Today at the Conservative conference Dr Liam Fox (Shadow Defence) warned of the increasing threat of not only from terrorists but from the increasingly restless Russia who this year alone has increased her spending on defence by 25%.

In these circumstances where we face towering threats to our Country it seems ironic that as the Reds rebuild their military capability the hapless socialist scrimping on military spending by our own Government has the potential to leave Britain exposed to those who seek to harm us.

I am already bored of the BBC and others in the media bleating on about the Conservatives and our lack of policies and promises on tax.

There is no point the Party revealing innovative policies now, so far out from the likely date of the next General Election. It would allow the Labour Party plenty of time to cherry-pick the best suggestions and repackage them as their own, (yet again).

The fact that Cameron has been strict on this makes sense, he is working hard to reinvigorate the Party. Some of these changes are difficult and take some getting used to but as somebody that voted for David Cameron I am willing to accept that change is needed and have confidence that these changes are beginning to interest the wider public.

Conservatives have always been the natural Party of lower taxation where possible. I am not worried that when the time is right and of course once we have won election to Government, lower levels of taxation and less beauraucracy are likely to be an important constituent of policies that are implemented in order to put right the harm that Labour meddling has done to citizens and business alike over the last 9 years.

Edit: 3/10/2006 ConservativeHome article on similar theme to the above.

As the Party Conference starts it is well worth remembering how interactive the event is this year. Keep up-to-date with news, views and opinions at the following links:

ConservativeHome

Conservatives

BBCi

I have just enjoyed the first speeches which were carried by both BBC News 24 and Sky News as well as the BBC Parliament channel, I look forward to the rest of the week with great anticipation; will David be able to better the excellent speech he has just delivered when he closes the conference on Wednesday?

Find out how CF Hampshire's Ranil Jayawardena is living up to his NME election promises at his website HERE. Ranil is keeping an online photo gallery about his work in the coming months, it is already looking impressively full indicating how hard he has worked since winning his place just over two weeks ago.

David Cameron's blog about his visit to India earlier in the summer has now evolved into the brilliant Webcameron blog. I really like the style of the Beta version I have just had a look at, the embedded videos are a nice touch as they convey DC's domestic life to those that view them, showing that he is a normal parent too.

Whilst at the Winchester University freshers fair last weekend the CF stand was next to the Jamie's Computer Club stand. They are a Social Enterprise from the Society of St James a homelessness charity from Southampton. They help vulnerable adults in and around the city by collecting, refurbishing and re-using electronic equipment and materials.

There are many advantages of this project, the environment benefits as less used computer equipment is sent to landfill. The equipment which can be refurbished is bought back to life and then re-sold very cheaply.

The work allows people to learn new skills and gives them a greater chance of employability. Is also means a ready supply of fully working PC's affordable to almost everybody.

It seems like a great initiative for example a PIII PC with Windows XP is only £145 with a 3 Month Guarantee! I will definitely consider them the next time I need to upgrade to a newer PC.

On Saturday I attended the freshers fair at my old University in Winchester. It went really well, we signed up some new members and our positive, realistic message on issues the Conservatives have a real chance of being elected to implement were well received by those students who came to talk with us.

Conversely the Lib Dem stand had an array of the usual petitions pretty much against everything that already exists and for anything that would make them permanently unelectable... I do wonder whether these petitions ever get to Menzies Cambell as they are alleged to do.

Probable highlight of the day was the hugely popular Boris Johnson branded merchandise, posters, badges and postcards that had the amusing effect of baiting the Lib Dem MP for Romsey, Sandra Gidley (who had a majority of only 125 votes at the last election) to come over and ask about the way Boris had voted over the Iraq War! Such cutting, up-to-date and relevant political insight is clearly why the people of Romsey are likely to relieve her of her post at the next election.

If any of you are keen to read more about her 'latest' news check out her blog http://romseyredhead.blogspot.com/, from what I can see the last entry was made in January this year and her 'latest news' on her website http://www.sandragidley.org/news2006.htm was last updated in early July. This somewhat makes a mockery of her 5th pledge on the front page of her website too, '...keep in touch with local people, reporting back regularly'.

Anyway I will leave the ongoing critical commentary of the MP for Romsey to http://gidleywatch.blogspot.com/ a hugely entertaining read and much more regularly updated blog than her own!

As a political critic I often spend my time and online space (here) highlighting the profligacy of the Public Sector, Government or other Councils wasting public money on items that only further alienate those we are elected to serve.

Being the deputy chair of the Public Halls Committee for 2006 -‘07 I have taken an even larger interest than last year in the budgetary rounds for the next financial year which are just beginning now.

I am well aware that I am one of twelve Councillors on the Council and only one of four who attended last week’s Halls Committee. At that meeting my view that providing air conditioning for some of the Town Council’s offices was a poor use of Pubic money, (yes that means your Council Taxes) however - fellow Councillors, (and Officers) disagreed with my view, (which is entirely their democratic right of course) the item now continues to the Finance and General Purposes Committee for consideration.

My concerns about the air-con being budgeted are numerous; many of the reasons FOR air-con were strongly put to me by Officers sat around the table on Monday and also by the Chair and other Councillors.

As I suspect my views against expenditure on air-con would carry more weight with the public of Petersfield than those at the Halls meeting I will list the reasons why I think embellishing our own offices at a time when the Town needs as much Council cash as possible to be spent on our existing assets, could be seen as a mistake.

1) Air-conditioning is expensive to purchase, install, run and maintain. (all of it from your council tax bills folks)

2) The claim of equity for all staff to work in Air-conditioned offices falls flat when we consider the Officer who works in the un air-conditioned entrance hall of the Festival Hall.

3) We have a duty of care to our staff (the Officers) however I am sure there are plenty of employers who run businesses in Petersfield without using Air-conditioning – hands up those of us who break into a sweat whilst at work during our annual fortnight of hot weather?

4) I have heard that even the Chief Exec. of East Hampshire District Council doesn’t have air-conditioning in his office.

5) It’s introduction into a Council office which is locked to prevent Public or Councillors from entering is not in the public interest in my opinion.

6) The huge impact of Air-Conditioning on the environment due to the increased demand for electricity and the by-product of heat being released into the atmosphere is clearly undesirable, as a Quality Council I would like to think that PTC would lead by example on this one. The aim of the Quality status is afterall to;

...provide a benchmark minimum standards for parish and town councils and enable them to better represent the communities they serve.

Although air-con is a luxury that would be nice to have, at the moment I cannot see any reason that other projects which would directly benefit the people of Petersfield should see their funding reduced or lost to make way for this to be installed - or worse still the Town Council tax precept increased in order to have the air conditioning installed.

I believe that my primary duty of care is with the public who rely on our council to administer their Town, by not installing this additional air conditioning I don't think the Council will have breached any current employment law. Windows can be opened, fans used and summer clothing worn. I’ve got a feeling that it isn’t just me that will be getting hot under the collar about this issue.

Brilliant cartoon from the Guardian - click HERE

The massed unions at today's TUC conference didn't give Tony Blair an easy ride during his final visit as PM.

The bad old days of the dinosaur unions were recalled by militant jeering from the audience, walkouts and slow hand claps whilst Blair tried to give his speech.

Although unions have their place, the ridiculous display today further illustrates the childish, un constructive way that they seem to conduct their business.

No other political party in the UK (at the moment at least) is as close to these unions as the Labour Party. Regardless of my thoughts on Blair's politics it is a fact that he has been the most successful Labour PM ever.

Seeing this cauldron of rude unrealistic socialists giving him a hard time not only shows how impossible they are to please but also sends out a dangerous warning of what the future may be if a more left-leaning replacement for Blair is found.

Given the fact that the unions hold one third of the votes available in any Labour leadership contest, it seems likely that those wishing to be the next Labour leader will have to do a certain amount of flirting with these people...hopefully the new leader will need their votes more than they will need their political ideas.

Amused to read about the Government funded TV channel for the Government's favourite key workers. Teachers'TV is funded by the DfES and basically runs shows about teaching and how to teach more effectively.

If I was a Dr, Nurse, Fireman, Council Officer, member of the armed forces etc I would be dissapointed not to have my own dedicated channel on Freeview feeding me new-labour style 'how to do your job' tv shows.

To add insult to injury Cherie Booth QC Cherie Blair has pocketed £3000 of public money in presenting a series for the channel. More info to be had at the following BBCi link.

The Heath Pond is currently experiencing an attack of a vicious algae which is devastating both the fish and birds that live there.

Petersfield Town Council and the Petersfield and District Angling Club have erected signs warning the public not to enter the water and also to keep dogs from entering as the algae can be deadly to them.

In order to keep up to date with the issue both the Petersfield Herald and Post have information in their papers and on their websites (The Herald doesn't seem to have uploaded any news to it's site lately).

Today Vosper Thornycroft's yard at Portsmouth is launching HMS Clyde, a new offshore patrol vessel which is due to protect the Falkland Islands.

The ship is the first Naval Vesel to be built entirely at Portsmouth for 40 years, more about the launch can be read here at BBCi.

David Cameron is blogging about his trip to India to read more click HERE.

It looks like a great blog which utilises embedded video to illustrate what has been going on. Pleasing to see him opening a new JCB plant in India. Proof that Britain & India's economic relationship is thriving.

A brilliant spin-off from ConservativeHome has been launched recently - CF Diary is looking at the runners and riders for the 2006 Conservative Future (CF) Elections. Links to both sites are in this post and on the Link list on the right hand side of the page.

Good news that the Conservatives have hit 40% in the polls today. Full break down available here courtesy of bbci.

I have just renewed my car tax online, at last Government is working WITH us rather than AGAINST us. The National Insurance Database and MOT Database have been used to make this once annoying trip to the Post Office carrying piles of paperwork a thing of the past.

More info at http://www.direct.gov.uk/

I continue to be amazed at the efforts by some environmental groups to hamper the reopening of Stoner Hill. In this week's Herald, the good news of the repair work being due to start imminently was reported.

The road is a key route to Petersfield's satellite villages as well as a great route to Alton, Ropley, Four Marks, as well as the A31/A32. To label the route as a rat run is ridiculous, it is a country road just like many others crossing the countryside around this area of Hampshire.

Since the closure of the road due to the landslip many more journeys are being forced through Selbourne, a village which already suffers from excessive amounts of traffic travelling from the A3 to Alton. As well as through Froxfield via the A272, I doubt either of these increases are particularly environmentally friendly at each of those locations.

The Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty was I believe designated in this area on the 26th September 1962, well after the road up Stoner Hill existed. The road allows many people access through the heart of this beautiful countryside and offers a lifeline to local business, and easy access to Petersfield from those who live in and around Froxfield.

I cannot wait to be able to use this route again as it offers the shortest and quickest way to Alton, and any reduction in miles travelled is clearly only going to benefit the environment. Lets get it repaired soon!

This week the Conservatives have pledged to do more to protect the special character of residential areas like Buckmore Avenue from inappropriate development in future, the 1st point of 5 being;

(to) Protect back gardens, by changing planning rules to help conserve green spaces and maintain the character of local neighbourhoods

More can be read about these exciting and highly relevant planning suggestions here: BBCi & Conservatives. Michael Mates.

The inspector has reported back about the Appeals lodged over refusal of planning permission for new dwellings at 2 & 4 Buckmore Avenue. The pdf's of the decisions can be found on the EHDC's website here: #1 & #2

It's not politics but it's my blog so I can write about what I want to! Well done to Jenson Button following his victory today. He and the Honda team did amazingly well to come from 14th on the grid to claim victory. I'm having a few issues uploading images but I will sort this and get a suitable photo up soon. BBCi Coverage, Team Honda Site.

It is a pleasure to bring you the news that Lib Dem EHDC Councillor Chris Graham has defected to the Conservative Party. One of the reasons cited by Cllr Graham was,

...I have a particular regard for their (Conservative) financial management of district affairs, which I believe have been of immense benefit to the residents of East Hampshire.

The full article can be read HERE at the Alton Herald's website.

It is suprising and slightly strange that this news has not made it to either of the Petersfield newspapers this week, however the story will be reaching a much wider readership as the Conservativehome blog is currently mentioning it on the frontpage HERE.

Update 1900 20/7/06 :- The Petersfield Herald report the story in today's edition of the paper.

More news of a similar vein, the Conservatives have gained control of Dover District Council after a 17.6% swing away from the Lib Dems in a recent by election. more info at BBCi.

Nobody wants a Nuclear power station near their home, the potential for accidents and the lingering threat of increased instances of Cancer the obvious reasons among many that could be used to explain the dislike people have for them.

However everybody enjoys keeping their food in fridges, their clothes cleaned by machines and their news delivered via television or the Internet - in other words we all rely upon electrical appliances.

The urgent need for an increased use of renewable energy is obvious, the improvements in solar, wind and wave technology allied to rising costs of conventional energy sources are making these renewable options more and more attractive as ways of contributing to the energy production of the UK.

However the renewable energy family cannot be relied on to offer 100% of the electricity needed, there simply isn't enough wind or places to locate the wind turbines without destroying precious countryside to fulfill a 100% wind generated UK National Grid, at least with current turbine technology.

The idea of local energy production, and small scale schemes such as solar panels and a turbine on every house would go someway to denting our reliance on the National Grid but even then the effect of a dark windless day would lead to people relying on electricity from the grid.

But where would this electricity come from? Primarily from the Coal and Gas fired power stations, which incidentally will begin to rely more and more upon fuel supplied from overseas - this is fine today but what would we do if we upset Mr Putin and saw our gas supply switched off tomorrow?

The economic and strategic importance of having control of energy supplies is clear, the UK needs to continue to be able to stand alone if for whatever reason, our current and future energy sources were compromised. So this leads me back to Nuclear energy - it is the easiest way that the UK will be able to bridge the gap that is imminent in terms of supply and demand for electricity, and also despite the negatives of the Nuclear process there isn't the associated problem of high carbon emissions as with the other major fossil fueled electricity production.

Although the Government haven't been bold in their energy review I am heartened that there is an acceptance that Nuclear has something to offer. The renewable sources are worthy of increasing attention but I hope that the Conservative opposition are able to support the Government on this one whilst continuing to explore the longer term benefits of a widespread take-up of domestic renewable micro generation.

The above photograph shows the repaired wooden safety barrier near the disabled drop-off point on Sussex Road. Having been damaged for some time by a mystery vehicle the new wooden barrier looks great and is once again in a fit state to do its job effectively.

Despite the warm weather, the water level in the pond seems to be holding up well at the moment.

Watched the match at the Folly Wine bar, took the above photo on the way home. Technically it's vandalism but I have to admit the flags, football under the hoove and even the bra hanging from the statue were quite impressively assembled, sadly the carnival atmosphere ended this weekend making the decorated statue in the square a painful reminder of what might have been.

Yesterday morning a very positive site meeting occurred at the Bell Hill Recreation ground entrance. Members from Petersfield Town Council, East Hampshire District Council & Hampshire County Council met with Engineers and Residents to discuss ways to improve the foot access to the recreation ground from Bell Hill.

For those involved with the project for some time the sense that we were all starting to move in the same direction was palpable, with the meeting concluding with the proposals put to us by the residents being taken away by HCC engineers for further consideration in Winchester.

Obviously, nothing is certain, agreed, finalised, costed at the moment but having all the interested groups at the same place at the same time has certainly focussed all of our minds on the issue at hand.

Just read a short article on BBCi about Russian plans for floating nuclear power stations. I am amazed that anybody thinks that these would be a good idea, building them on land threatened by rising sea levels and erosion is risky enough.

I am not an engineer but I cannot imagine a floating structure that will be able to stand the test of time, the power of the sea, both in terms of waves and corrosion for long enough to guarantee a fully working nuclear power station wouldn't just sink at the first hint of a storm.

I presume a likely comparison would be to Oil and Gas rigs, these stand up to the worst weather that the North Sea, and other seas throw at them, but still they only have a finite life. Although in our current situation Nuclear energy seems to be a necessary evil, I cannot see the sense in risking a major catastrophe for the small advantage of having floating, movable power stations.

If I was celebrating my 110th Birthday today I certainly wouldn't want to have to meet Gordon Brown. For Henry Allingham, veteran of the Battle of Jutland this is what happened. However on a brighter note, his secret for living so long is apparently, "cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women". Read more here at BBCi.

No real news of late, the Labour Government is so blatant in it's failings that I don't need to blog about it to highlight them to my readership.

On a more positive note, the new Civic year has been going smoothly, I have been elected as the Deputy Chairman of the Public Halls Committee - I look forward to deputising when needed.

Also an interesting result at the recent candidate selection for the by-election in Bromley and Chislehurst. I can vouch for the quality of the A list candidate Syed Kamal MEP as I enjoyed a Curry and a taxi journey with him whilst I was up in Manchester at the Spring Conference. But I was pleased to see Bob Neill, a strong candidate from outside the A list selected. I hope this result confirms that there will be no three line whip on constituencies having to choose solely from the A list.

The recent meltdown of many Government departments should be an important reminder to all of us why ID cards must never become a reality in this Country. As the watchtowers of Labour's big Government crumble, the glaring and intrinsic problems of a failing Home Office should bring in to sharp focus that the people who don't blink as hundreds of foreign prisoners are released without being deported are going to be the people managing your most sensitive genetic information.

...it is also sobering to think that our biometric data will not only be 'safeguarded' by people like those at the Home Office, but will also be accessible eventually to the World's best computer hackers and cyber criminals, nothing is hacker proof after all.

The Hotel being constructed at the Buckmore Farm site is coming along well. Unfortunately the photograph above doesn't do the site justice. It is pleasing to see the design features fought for at both Town & District Council Planning becoming a reality.

I owe many thanks to Tim Montgomerie of Conservativehome fame for kindly allowing me to attend tonight's Built to Last discussion in Hammersmith, the power and importance of the Web were highlighted once again by the wide range of different people who came to see David Cameron explain the ideas behind the Conservative Party's Built to Last policy document.

The hour passed all too quickly but a wide range of topics were touched upon, sadly time constraints meant the topics of discussion could not be investigated more deeply and I did feel frustrated as I had a few questions to ask DC. (ie why are the new Tory councils in London opposed to the tram scheme?? any ideas about this please post a comment, I am genuinely interested to hear the reasoning)

The evening continued its upward trend with a trip to a pub across the road from the venue. Was brilliant to speak with Tim who as editor of Conservativehome is readily becoming the gatekeeper to an amazingly powerful group of Conservative minded web users. The site firmly established itself as the place to read about the leadership contest in ''05 and is now growing in influence across the complete spectrum of conservative issues.

Have just renewed my payment for another year for the url hughsandeman.com, both the .com & .co.uk addresses point to this blog so if you're bored or just feeling a little geeky you can come back to visit the site by using the .com rather than the .co.uk address. Have fun!

Was interesting to see Adam Rickitt included on the A-list for future Conservative Candidates. In the time I have been involved with CF I haven't ever seen him attend an event, I have also heard very little about what he has done on the campaign trail. I have taken a lot of time to read around the web for any evidence of his activism for the Party and have found very little. I would love to know what boxes he ticked on the application form when asked about his previous voluntary work for the Conservatives.

I am well aware that my own chances of getting on a similar list will have taken a dive by writing this blog entry, however some things are worth talking about. If anybody has any info about what Mr Rickett has done for the Tories other than being a soap star I would love to know - If I am deluged with facts and info about campaigns he has been involved with I will happily eat my hat and publish them all here.... until next time take care.

Edit 14/5/2006 - Seems like i'm not the only person with doubts about Mr Rickitt, contributors to the Conservativehome Blog & Ellee Seymour seem to agree with me.

Following a unanimous vote at yesterday's Mayor Making ceremony Cllr Bob Ayer has been made Mayor of Petersfield for the coming year.

Taking on the role from Cllr Vaughan Clarke, the new Mayor has chosen the Kings Arms youth project as his charity for the year. Speaking of Cllr Clarke's Mayoral year and the support given to him by Gill his wife, Cllr Ayer commented,

As far as I can see there are no bounds to the commitment, enthusiasm and energy that they have committed to the Town during the Mayoral year.

In the photograph the new Mayor is joined by his wife Hilary and outgoing Mayor and Mayoress Vaughan and Gill Clarke. In his address the new Mayor looked to the future,

My predecessor has laid a very firm foundation and I am optimistic regarding the coming year and determined to leave a Council that is in good shape for the successor Council. My aspiration is to maintain the good links we have with the community groups who serve our Town so well...

I was very pleased to witness this Mayor making, I know Cllr Ayer will work hard in the role and the unanimous vote indicates that he has the full backing of all councillors. With the imminent arrival of our new Town Clerk I am convinced that between us all, under the Mayor's leadership we can continue to achieve great things.

At the meeting Cllr Paul Molloy was elected to the position of Deputy Mayor for the year.

Easter Sunday saw a short service to commemorate the dedication of the War Memorial in Petersfield High Street. The freshly cleaned monument also had two new names added to the role for servicemen who had fallen in WW2 and the Falklands War. Some smart new ironmongery has also been added around the base. It is pleasing to see this important monument looking so impressive again, I am sure it took a lot of hard work from all those involved.

Above is a photograph of the two freshly carved names, the photograph is courtesy of Cllr Bob Ayer.

It is always a pleasure to wake up on Good Friday to see that Menzies Campbell & the Lib Dems have accused the Conservative Party of being "unpleasant".

An even greater pleasure is for me to wake up on Good Friday, think of one of the many things that makes the Lib Dems actually unpleasant, in my opinion, and write about it here. May I ask you to cast your minds back a couple of weeks to the story about the Lib Dems having a printed guide about how to canvass. This guide included the advice that children could be made to deliver leaflets by offering them sweets!

"You go into the middle of a council estate with your leaflets and you shout at all the local kids you can see and hear 'any of you lot want to help deliver all these leaflets?'.

"Then proceed Pied Piper-like round the estate doling out badges and toffees and leaflets, the last at least to be pushed through doors by the shouting, squealing and quarrelsome horde."

If you are interested to know more about Lib Dem platitudes, there is an interesting article on ePolitix that looks at the truth behind Lib Dem policies.

This evening (Wednesday 12th) was the Annual meeting of the Town, where Town Councillors speak about the work of Council during the previous 12 months. All members of the Town are welcome to attend, it is publiscised in the newspapers and in leaflets.

I am pleased to report that this year the audience was up almost 50% on last year's turnout. (last year we had about 7, this year we had about 11 members of the public - including the press).

Democracy is a two-way process, elected representatives need to know what the public think in order to inform their decision making. Councillors are elected by YOU and there would be nothing more satisfying than to have a packed house next year with lively debate, testing questions and hopefully a sense that although we may not agree on everything, we would have at least listened to each others ideas.

I plan to be there in twelve months time, listening to reports about how the Heath Intergrated Management Plan has progressed in its first full year, How the Public Halls continue to be maintained and run, How the Planning committee continue to apply common sense local knowledge to Planning applications and hopefully how the budget has come in on target...will you be there with us?

Was looking through the local BBC news website where I found this 'story'. It is news to me that we have an official regional assembly in the south. The article describes a project of the beaurocratic nightmare that is Seeda (South East England Development Agency) as: "The regional assembly's strategy names Brighton and Hove and urban south Hampshire as "two diamonds for growth".

This seems suspicious to me, as the BBC wouldn't call Parliament the Senate in any of it's journalism would it? So why should this overblown talking shop 'Seeda' be wrongly named a regional assembly? - especially given the failure of the Labour Government's North Eastern regional assembly plan that was kicked out of town in a referendum sometime ago.

I have even braved the spin riddled pages of the Seeda website (notice their website doesn't have a .gov.uk or .org.uk address - perhaps it's to make it seem less Governmental to the casual punter?) To capture this brilliant quote:

The economy of the region is the 22nd largest in the world, bigger than several countries including Denmark, Austria, Sweden, South Africa, Singapore and Greece. As home to over eight million people, it is the largest region in the UK - bigger than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland combined, and covers the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and East and West Sussex.

I love the way that Labour like to compare the artificial 'region' of a few geographically close counties in the south to Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland which are, as we all know, Countries/Provinces in their own right! The World has gone mad, and in this article I feel that the BBC are speeding up the acceptance of Regional Government by wrongly using the title.

This week I was really pleased to stumble across the following blog, it is hilariously written, (warning for those with sensitive eyes there are a few swear words) it's a great looking site, full of amusing observations - particularly about lefties! This is definately going onto my "read regularly" list. I hope a few of you will find it as amusing and enlightening as I have done, ladies and gentlemen I give you the Raw Carrot.

I hope the UK Tax money that is being sent by Gordon Brown to improve education in Africa will show better results than the public services here that have 'benefitted' from Labour throwing money at them whilst showing only limited improvment since 1997.

Was just having a browse through Mark Oaten's website, where on the front page I found this interesting statment:

On the smoking ban I found myself on the losing side as I did not vote for a full ban and felt that private clubs should be allowed to decide for themselves. Based on e-mails and my post bag most constituents seemed to want the ban, but I am increasingly nervous of the state telling people what they can and cannot do, which is why I voted no.

Mark Oaten February 2006.

Although I agree with his concerns about increasing Government intervention in the minutae of life it suprises me to see that the majority of his constituents views were ultimately ignored by their elected representative. Surely in a situation like this where his electors generally felt the opposite to the MP an abstention would have been more justifiable - Liberal Undemocrat seems an appropriate description.

CF Hampshire Area Chairman, Ranil Jayawardena took the opportunity to present Conservative Party Chairman the RT Hon Francis Maude MP, with our CF Hampshire Trident Strategy Document whilst travelling to Manchester last week. Rest-assured it isn't a document about Britain's next generation nuclear deterrant. It is a three pronged document looking at how Conservative Future (Click here to read about the competition we entered) could follow the trailblazing style of CF Hampshire in it's approach to Campaigning on Campus, locally and also online. In order to read this document in pdf format please follow this link. We both used Virgin Trains and I was greatly impressed with the service, particularly the Pendolino tilting train, (thank goodness for privatisation)

Just back from an exciting two days in Manchester after attending the Conservative Spring Forum. I have a few photos of the event which I will post up in the near future along with comments and thoughts about some fringe events I attended and also some of the parties I attended. All in all a refreshing and exciting weekend.

Edit 13/4/2006 Click Here for the Photos of Manchester.

The closure of Stoner Hill has effectively cut off the most convenient Petersfield to Froxfield road. The Landslippage (shown above before the road completely gave-way) will need many weeks of work to make good the damage.

My Colleague Hampshire County Councillor Michael Cartwright worked quickly after being contacted by local businesses who were suffering from decreased passing trade and signs were erected at the bottom of Bell Hill to advertise the fact that it was still possible to access both the Cricketers and Harrow Inns.

In the past couple of weeks two organizations in Petersfield have launched web sites. Interestingly they are of a similar theme, one being the web site for Petersfield Tomorrow and the other for Petersfield Museum. The ever increasing use of the Internet is well documented, seeing it being harnessed so well by two local groups is encouraging. Click above to be taken to the respective web sites.

Labour will make ID Cards compulsory IF they win the next Election according to the BBC Here. So that's another good reason not to vote for them, hopefully they will not have ruined too much of the Country before they crash out of office...right, must dash - im off to apply for my new passport before the rules change at the end of 2007.

More info also here at Conservativehome.

A few things the Chancellorsaurus didn't tell us today, with thanks to the Conservativehome site.

1: The £200 payment made to pensioners before the election to help with council tax bills has been abolished.

2: Gordon Brown did not mention the fact that this Budget adds £5.5bn to Britain’s tax bill – already the highest ever – over three years.

3: Even after that, Brown has revised up his borrowing to £175 billion over the next six years – £7,000 per family.

4: Brown made much of environmental taxation but the proportion of taxes raised by environmental taxes has fallen from 6.4% to 6.2%.

5: There was no mention of the NHS at all. For years the Chancellor made the NHS his priority. Now it is in financial crisis he simply ignores its existence. (..for example, when will the Grange Centre reopen?)

6: There were no measures to implement the Turner Report or to restore incentives to save.

7: The Treasury have revised down long-term productivity growth from 2% to 1.75%.

I haven't typed much lately, mainly due to a new job and also things being quiet between Council meetings. However I have found a couple of interesting links (well I found them interesting).

The first is www.toryradio.com which is pioneering in it's use of podcasts for purely Conservative interviews. I enjoyed listening to Grant Shapps MP being interviewed and I look forward to more in the near future.

The second is Save Parliament a look at how the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill threatens the traditional role of Parliament in the creation of new laws.

I have it on good authority that a competition is due to be run in the near future in the local press to choose a name for the pub and restaurant that is currently being constructed on the Buckmore Farm site near BP in Petersfield as part of the motel building.

So if any of you out there have any suggestions for what this landmark building could be called get your thinking caps on and look out for the brewery's advertisements about the competition which I believe will be announced soon.

It is vital to give a pub a locally relevant name and I look forward to seeing what is chosen as the winner once the pub is open later in 2006.

I seem to get loads and loads of questions about the SNAP events in Petersfield. I don't have anything to do with the running or organising of these, I simply attend as a volunteer to help the Police. For all those who have been asking recently, I have asked at the Taro Centre and the next SNAP is due to be on April the 1st.

I hope this helps and saves all the messages, I have tried to answer either by posting a comment or emailing you back though some emails have bounced-back so next time use a real email if you would like feedback!

I think plans for a basic SNAP website for the area are in the pipeline so hopefully this will happen soon to keep you all up-to-date properly.

One of the key policy ideas discussed openly in interviews by David Cameron as he campaigned for the Conservative Leadership in 2005 was his program of volunteer schemes for school leavers.

Since his leadership victory, work has been progressing to investigate the practicalities of these schemes, with advice being sought from many charities already operating in this field.

The recent (unjustified) media-induced fury about Prince Charles and his political thoughts seems to have rubbed off on the man that wont be PM and his not-so-new Labour Party. They are up in arms about the fact that The Prince's Trust are giving guidance to the Conservative Party as we seek to plan for the future implementation of this policy.

The pace that David and his team have formulated their policy has left the Chancellorsaurus looking decidedly flat-footed, despite his new found love of Britishness and his mumblings about National Service style schemes for younger people. While we are on the subject, who out there thinks that a bright and shiny Blairite will stand against Mr Brown and win? I think the Labour Party would be foolish not to be seen to have a proper leadership debate when the time comes, and as we have seen with the Conservatives and the Lib Dems, the front runner doesn't always come out too well in the ballot.

Congratulations to David and Samantha for the birth of their third child (a boy) this morning. All the latest available from the BBC news site.

I hope he enjoys his paternity leave but comes back slightly fresher than Charles Kennedy who made the now infamous blunder during the General Election at an early morning press conference following the birth of his child last year.

The determination of Officers and Councillors at Petersfield Town Council to investigate the needs and wishes of the skate ramp users is now well underway. As widely reported a couple of informal meetings have already occurred between the Users, Representatives of the wider community and representatives of the Town Council.

Although it is very early in the process it has been great to see the mutual respect shown to each other, the ideas generated and thoughts about possible funding being discussed. Nothing is guaranteed but at least a solid foundation has been created for future ideas to be built on.

Anybody else see Prescott's awful speech about education today? Rushed, breathless, monotone and unable to even pronounce the word GCSE correctly. His performance single handedly proves the point for the importance of a good education!

I think the Pipeline card seems like an interesting proposition. Register your name, and when enough people have also registered, a card will be issued that will allow the user to discounts on their petrol/diesel from a yet to be announced major fuel company. I believe that it is genuine, and am only mentioning it as a way to get more people to sign up, by the way I am not getting a cut of the profits for mentioning it here! More at the website.

Despite appearing to be quiet on this issue over the last few months, myself and Cllr Chris Jenner (Independent) recently met with an Officer of the EHDC at the pedestrian entrance to the Bell Hill Rec.

The surface was as bad as I have ever seen it, slippery mud and broken-up tarmac making safe use of this entrance almost impossible. Without revealing the details of our thoughts too early, I believe that the site visit and the valuable advice from the EHDC representative has given us a few concrete ideas about how to improve pedestrian safety for those entering and exiting the Recreation ground. I hope that this momentum will carry the project forward now that we have a possible solution in mind.

Petersfield was shocked to hear of the sad death of Frank Westwood at the age of 76 last week. Mr Westwood was a well known figure in Petersfield, he had run the extremely popular and widely known Petersfield Bookshop since 1958.

I hope that the Petersfield Bookshop will continue to flourish after this sad news, if you haven't visited before it is well worth a look.

The growing paranoia of this Government about it's own people is shocking. Many of the latest initiatives that are glossed-up to be seen as improving our security (DNA Recording/Biometrics/ID Cards)and the implementation of new technologies (GPS tracking of vehicles via the Galileo satellite network)apparently to help with road pricing are some of the biggest invasions of privacy and perversions of freedom ever seen by the people of this Country.

Many of these current and future plans will empower the Home Office and the Police to have a complete picture of not only your genetic composition but also your wherabouts via the tracking of your vehicle (or mobile phone). Given the fact that car users have become a soft target to this bully of a Government it is not beyond the realms of imagination that within 10 years the Galileo system will be used to administer speeding tickets as it doesn't take much computing power to work out that it is impossible to drive between point X and Y on a map without breaking a certain speed limit.

Another worrying and sinister trend is the Police DNA database, anybody arrested for an imprisonable offence has their DNA taken. Even if proved innocent, their records are not automatically destroyed. To me this is a clear signal that the Judge Dredd style of Policing is slowly gestating in our own Country. What right do the Police have to store the genetic information of innocent people? Surely this flies against all the freedoms that we have enjoyed for centuries where people are innocent until proven guilty?

Of course the Big Brother style standard answer is to say, 'if you have nothing to hide it shouldn't matter', but it matters as the people have no real idea how this information will be used in future or by other Government agencies. Interestingly from what I have read, the July 7th Bombings in London would have still happened even if ID cards and a DNA database ecompassing all citizens of this Country were in place. To me this proves that despite the huge damage to our freedoms, those people that we are told these systems will protect us from would still manage to get through and cause attrocities. It is time to start thinking, do you want to be a Subject or just a number, a genetic code or a GPS coordinate on a Government computer?

A new film which highlights similar themes is about to be released: V for Vendetta which interestingly enough is set in the UK uses the strap line, "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people". I couldn't have put it better myself.

Interesting to see that Winchester MP Mark Oaten is the first to withdraw from the Lib Dem leadership race. Although I may perhaps be a little biased he surely removes a fair bit of colour from the contest. The MP for Eastleigh Chris Huhne is defending a majority of only about 600, I wonder if this will lead to an interesting battle at the next election? With the Cameron effect, there is every chance that the LD's could see their new leader defeated at the polls to a Conservative candidate in Eastleigh.

So it's bye bye Charlie-boy, the shocking lack of compassion shown by his own front bench team really exposes the reason why the Liberal Democrats will always be a poor third place in the national political picture. They play at the periphery of the debate and just when they are onto a good thing they decapitiate themselves. It will be interesting to see who comes to the surface, with so few MP's, and not many of them having any profile or charisma the LD's really have to decide where they go from here.

They have reached their maximum point of popularity primarily based upon their opposition to the Iraq War. However that is now an issue that cannot be relied on to bring them votes in future. With David Cameron's new direction, and the Labour Government's control of the centre/left the Lib's have nowhere to go. The pressure being experienced has led to these events, what interests us all is whether they can find anybody better than Charles Kennedy and I doubt they will be able to.

I found the following quote at the conservativehome site which they have lifted from an article in the Sunday Times by Simon Jenkins:

"The Liberal Democrats are not a serious national party. They have had no power since the advent of the universal franchise, and have no prospect of it. They are a dustbin party, a middle-ground asylum party, a none-of-the-above party, a wine-and-cheese party, a cheap peerage party, a memorial to Gladstone and Lloyd George party. They are historical jetsam. The Liberal Democrats represent no great interest. No one becomes a Liberal Democrat MP to rule the country"

...I think it makes some interesting points!