alternative council priorities - final version

It’s time to take back your

Council Bas ingstoke Labour Group of Counci l lo r s . An a l ternat ive set of pr ior i t ies .

February 2010

4 simple pledges We will freeze

Council Tax for the next financial year.

We will reduce the council’s town centre car parking charges.

We will cancel the Tories increase in burial charges.

We will scrap the Empty Home Council Tax subsidy.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Your first thought maybe - why have we called this

document “it’s time to take back your council.” Quite simply we feel it’s time the council got back to

serving the people who pay for it—You!

This is version two of our document. We published version one in December and asked people what

they thought of our plans, where do they think the council needs to improve and what they wanted

to see. I’d like to thank those of you who took the time to contact us especially considering we’ve all

been busy with Christmas and then the snow. But what was more pleasing was the thought and detail

that people went into, thank you. You’ll see that we’ve made reference to this feedback throughout.

We are a group of Labour councillors who form part of the opposition at Basingstoke & Deane

Borough Council. We come from all walks of life but have a shared belief in the improvements that we

want to see and how the council, working with partners, should be achieving those much needed

changes. We believe that the Council must be far more open, accessible, inclusive and democratic.

Although we are in opposition we have been extremely effective in changing council policies and

procedures. Our alternative council plan last year contained a number of key issues which we

campaigned strongly on and we managed to get some changes made. For example we managed

to get the council to make it easier for us to pay our council tax bill, we put the scandal of empty

homes high up on the councils agenda and we’ve got action taken to prevent family homes being

divided into more flats but believe me there is so much more to tackle.

We want people to contact us about our proposals, please get in touch, our contact details are at

the back. If you’d like one of us to come and talk to your group then we’d love to hear from you.

Thank you for your time and I hope you can join us in our campaign.

Cllr Laura James

Labour Group Leader

It’s time to take back your council 1

Introduction

One Council.


For every £1000 of your council tax, £900 of it is spent by

councillors and officers in Winchester. It’s time this stopped, it’s

time for Basingstoke to stand on its own.

It’s time for Basingstoke to become a Unitary Authority based

on our existing boundaries. Basingstoke is in Hampshire, that

doesn’t mean we should see our schools, care services and

roads remotely run from Winchester. Portsmouth and

Southampton are in Hampshire but they are Council’s in control

of their own services.

There are very strong arguments that our local Council and

Public Services should and can be run by a Basingstoke and

Deane Unitary Authority.

We have a population of 170,000 which is going to grow over

the next 20 years, and is already the right size for a local Unitary

Council.

It would vastly improve local accountability and create a single

point of contact for local people, a single democratic body

that people can relate to.

It would give Basingstoke the opportunity to tackle some of our

key issues on education, health, and infrastructure such as our

roads and pavements.

Instead of forever being a poor partner inside Hampshire run

from Winchester; we should be proud and strong as our own

Council running all our local services.

We don’t have to accept school closures like Beechdown,

Chineham Park or Worting imposed on us from Winchester

without any real consultation with residents.

We don’t have to accept the closure of older people’s homes

such as Newman Bassett, again done to us by officials in

Winchester.

Why a unitary authority is right for Basingstoke.

� Better value for money, meaning more money for your priorities

� Local people having more say about what

matters to them � A stronger voice regionally and nationally � More decisive, focussed local decision making � Clearer accountability to residents


Instead of arguing over who does what, or who is responsible

for what, it’s time Basingstoke took control of all council services

at local level.

Just think what a programme of infrastructure investment

controlled by a Basingstoke based transport authority could do

for our roads and pathways.

Just think what we could achieve by joining up the public

sector in Basingstoke working with a single authority that gave

leadership and vision for our Town and Borough.

Just think what we could do for older people in Basingstoke with

services that were far more in touch with their local needs.

A Basingstoke and Deane Unitary Authority would be closer to

the people.

A Basingstoke and Deane Unitary Authority would put the

destiny, the vision and the future of our Town and Borough in

our communities’ hands. We could truly shape our future

together because we were no longer competing with 11 other

districts, or being ruled by a remote Council in Winchester.

Other Council’s the size Basingstoke have been hugely

successful in this. Bedford Borough Council is just one example

a council that stood up against its County and delivered for its

residents. It is now a Unitary Council, it is more efficient and has

made real savings for local taxpayers, it has real accountability

and it is driving its own future forward in a way that local people

can truly feel a part of.

So we need to see the politicians of Basingstoke work together

to deliver this change, We want to see a commitment from all

parties to build the business case for a Basingstoke and Deane

Unitary Authority. And importantly we don’t need other

Council’s.

We want Basingstoke and Deane to stand on our own, be bold,

lead and be clear about our future, seize our own destiny and

make this Borough a place to be proud of.

Your local council would control

� Roads and speed limits � Schools and Education � Children's Services � Travellers Sites � Recycling Centres � Adult Services � Libraries � Museums

Neighbourhood Neglect We are proud of our communities. But we have all seen a growing

condition of neglect on our streets. The Borough Council, County

Council and other agencies like Housing Associations and the Police,

are not providing the standard of service we expect.

In our wards we have launched a zero tolerance campaign against

neglect. From broken walls, to overgrown shrub-beds. From broken

fences and derelict garages to poorly maintained footpaths and fly

tipping. From poor housing management and nuisance neighbours to

the serious problem of drugs and dog fighting. We need to see

action! We all want to be proud of where we live and we will ensure

that every street and neighbourhood:

• is clear of rubbish;

• that the green environment, trees and bushes etc, are

maintained to a high standard;

• has well-maintained open spaces and parks;

• has working street lights;

• has well maintained roads and pavements;

• has a dedicated neighbourhood police, community safety and

street cleaning team

• Has enhanced recycling facilities

We will appoint Neighbourhood Managers. These managers will be

focused on wards. Covering one or two wards where the geography

means they can focus to achieve results. They will be accountable for

coordinating services, budgets and standards; they will be dynamic

and able to bring together the various agencies to solve problems

quickly, but crucially, to solve them for the long-term and not just

quick fixes. We want a ‘can do’ attitude focused on standards.

We want to stop the ‘pass the buck culture’, where agencies and the

Council avoid responsibility for sorting out problems. When it comes to

the environment and the fabric of our estates, walls, hedges, bushes

etc, we want the places where we live to be kept to a high standard.

We will keep the councils street cleaners, parks and environmental

staff in house and Basingstoke based. We would not privatise them.

We want our staff to build up pride in where they are working. We

want our staff to develop skills and have the opportunities to

undertake apprenticeships and training schemes to help build their

knowledge in gardening and environmental care.

We will ensure that a percentage of all new development monies will

go to maintaining such development and will be coordinated by the

Neighbourhood Managers.

One successful scheme has been the “pictorial meadows” at the

Viables Roundabout. The public response to these has been so

positive, and we would roll these meadows out all over the Borough,

really improving the local environment and reducing maintenance

costs considerably.



What you told us.....

Great idea about neighbourhood managers.

National things are good like neighbourhood policing and Sure

Start but we need more local initiatives and actions, ones that

really get to the heart of it.

Each estate in Basingstoke should draw up specific plans to

address their own problems and solutions, the council could

then help them achieve that .

We as residents all need to contribute but sometimes we need

someone to co-ordinate!

We need to reduce tensions in some parts of our communities.

The council need to listen and understand what is happening in

communities and use that knowledge when it makes it’s plans.

I’m too busy to get involved so I want my councillor to make

decisions, he says he can’t because its all done by the cabinet,

I think this should change. Councillors are key to building

community confidence and engaging local people.

Ask each small area of residents for one item that would

improve their area, such as painting a fence/wall, new bus

stop, a tree planted on a corner, seating. Just one

improvement could make all the difference to peoples pride.

Invest in urban infrastructure at a local level - high quality bus

stops, tidy pavements, bins, tidy underpasses, use of nice

materials, durable materials.

Could we get schools involved in producing art/ideas for local

use?

Housing Homes are not just bricks and mortar they can be the foundations for

our entire lives. Our first priority will be to stop families being housed in

flats.

We will do more to ensure the homes and neighbourhoods that we

live in today as well as those of the future are well designed,

encourage ‘neighbourliness’ and provide opportunities for social

interaction.

Locally we will undertake a fundamental review of the housing issues

we have in the borough. This really falls into two separate areas; what

we have now and what is being planned. This section of our plan

discusses the “what we have now”, a section later on talks about

future housing.

We will carry out a fundamental review of the allocations policy for

the Housing Register.

We will support people in staying in their own homes. We would

implement wider ranging schemes that are understood and

publicised that enable even more people to stay in their homes. Either

by support and advice or more direct action such as purchasing the

home and renting it back where people find themselves under the

threat of losing their home. Where people want to downsize we will

develop, working with our partners in housing, a package of support

to help them.

We would work with Housing Associations to further improve the

energy efficiency of their properties to help people to afford to stay in

their homes.

We would radically overhaul and improve the council’s policies that

determine the mix of housing built and we would introduce a

mandatory register of all private landlords and enforce the maximum

standards on Houses of Multiple Occupation. We would introduce a

Selective Licensing Scheme in the Town Centre to enforce better

standards in the buy-to-let market and rented sector.

We would renew the Strategic Housing Partnership that brought

developers, Housing Associations and the Council together. We

would task this body with delivering more socially rented housing as a

key priority. We would also task this body to promote long term renting

as a real and cost effective alternative to raising a mortgage. We will

look into the Council providing mortgages to support Shared

Ownership.

We will introduce a strategy for bringing more homes back into use.

It’s estimated that around 2,000 properties are standing empty at a

time of ever increasing need. We would put resources into this area as

it has the potential of making a huge difference to peoples’ lives.

We would make the delivery of social rented accommodation a key

priority.



What you told us. Basingstoke needs more affordable homes for rent . Minimum amenity space standards (garden size) to be put into local plan, and the Borough to acknowledge this fact when future sites are sold off to private developers There are plenty of good quality family houses in the town which have been split into Houses of Multiple Occupation. What methods are there to financially encourage (or deter) landlords from having empty properties? 2000 empty properties in the town is a disgrace. Do we need specialist accommodation for students? The idea behind this is that specialist accommodation frees up housing currently used as Houses of Multiple Occupation...making them available to families. I wonder whether there is any way of preventing houses being split into flats and how the situation can be reversed? I also think the Borough needs to have a minimum sustainability standards for housing. Are you ware of the Code for Sustainable Homes? We should be designing for at least code level 3/4 by now! All new homes built must be highly energy efficient built to a standard well above that required by building regulations. This will help cut C02 emissions and keep down the cost of energy bills.

Neighbourhood Planning Without planning, change often happens in a haphazard, uncoordinated

fashion and because the decisions are often made without concern for

the relationship of one development to another, problems occur.

Planning can provide a way to coordinate individual decisions so that

developments support, rather than detract from one another.

Planning could even lead to alternative projects that might better serve

community needs being proposed. But to be effective the way we plan

in Basingstoke has to change.

We need to be precise in the strategic picture of need, realistic in what

infrastructure is needed, and the shape of our Town and Borough.

We would fundamentally change how the council undertakes it’s

planning. Our planning policies have to be championed by the Council,

and not interpreted in a way that allows developers to get away with

poor and bad development. We would ensure the local communities

needs and aspirations for their area are agreed and documented. These

would play a huge part in making individual planning decisions especially

as the onus will be on the developer to show how their application is

meeting the communities and Borough’s needs.

We will ensure planning meetings which make huge decisions that affect

communities for generations are more accessible and open. No longer

will residents be confined to four minutes of making the case for or

against development. We want to see real engagement. We would

introduce and strongly enforce a number of key planning principles:

• Development no-go areas. We will exclude existing areas of public

open space and key employment land;

• An end to urban cramming;

• Introduce and implement a policy of decent back garden sizes;

• Balance delivery of new housing between urban and rural areas;

• All major sites will be required to have a development brief;

• Explicit polices on housing density and housing mix;

We agree with Shelter who says that “all newly built homes must meet the

living needs of the households for which they are designed. All new

homes should have enough space for the occupants to eat meals sitting

at a table together, entertain friends and family, and store their

belongings. In addition, it is vital that homes intended for growing families

provide enough indoor and outside space for children to play and study,

and for all members of the household to feel that they have some

opportunity for peace and privacy.”

Finally we would work with Housing Associations and other partners in

using the council’s large land holdings to develop schemes that will

benefit local residents and communities. We know how difficult it is for

regeneration schemes to stack up financially. Regeneration will be a

priority, but this must not be at the expense of the existing community or

take away key amenities like open space. We want regeneration at the

right densities and of really good design that compliments existing

communities. Therefore we would give Housing Associations Council land

elsewhere in the Borough at nil value, to offset the financial cost, to

enable the right regeneration to take place.



What you told us. The council and builders must work together before applications are

submitted to make sure applications are assessed quickly.

The council should put more information on planning applications on

its website and tell people automatically that an application has

been received to ensure local residents are fully informed about

planning issues in their area.

Basingstoke is a growth town, we need an efficient and cost effective

planning system . It is crucial for our economic recovery and growth.

I work for a major employer in the Town, Businesses need certainty that

their developments will not be delayed by red tape before and after

planning permission has been given. If we can work together then

proposals will get through the planning system faster and barriers that

stall projects will be removed.

The council need to be more involved in how developments are

designed and built and should be willing to hold out for projects that

will benefit local people the most.

Protecting the Environment


For a number of years now we’ve called on the council to take more

action on recycling. It’s simply not good enough that we sit at the

bottom of the Hampshire and South East league for recycling. It’s

about time we developed a new recycling regime; one which allows

much more to be recycled; food waste and tetra packs to name two.

It’s about time too that we looked at separating these materials at

source; so collecting tins, glass, paper and food waste separately,

making the whole process that much simpler and efficient. Doing all

of this wouldn’t mean reducing the current weekly collection of bins –

we would not allow fortnightly collections.

We would improve our ‘bring bank’ sites to encourage more people

than ever to use them, from simple measures such as increasing the

range of materials that can be taken there to having some sort of

shelter that meant you don’t have to get soaked every time you

recycle. We would even look at installing new technology that can

give residents recycling credits for each item recycled that can be

used later for the benefit of the neighbourhood.

In order to prevent fly-tipping, on a regular,6-monthly basis we would

arrange for the Community Furniture Store and other local charities

along with council staff to provide a “bulky waste amnesty”. Whereby

residents can give over large items for either recycling or disposal. We

would develop ‘community skips’ where on a regular basis a skip

would be delivered to neighbourhoods for residents to dispose of

bulky waste preventing fly tipping.

We do not support the idea of ‘bin police’ or punitive penalties.

People need to voluntarily recycle and change their behaviour

because the Council makes it easier to recycle, or to dispose of

waste. We will not let the Council become a ‘big brother’ enforcer!

The council also has a major role regarding energy use, whether it’s to

do with the Council’s own energy use, it’s planning policies or on

taking strategic decisions regarding the Borough’s future energy use.

All of these long-term serious decisions are currently being dodged

and a new, fresh approach is required.

We would start by create a Basingstoke & Deane Energy Partnership

led by residents but supported by experts and partner organisations to

take a long hard look at our needs. As well as the measures we

highlighted in our housing section we believe the initial priorities of this

group would be to change planning regulations so that we adopt a

standard which requires 10% of the energy supply in all new housing to

be gained on-site and renewably and/or from a decentralised,

renewable or low carbon energy supply.

We would also support the work of Councils like Southampton or

Brighton in what they are doing regards energy production and this

too should be a priority for us — we could for example work out how

to collect food waste and use it in local power generation schemes.

Houses make up a quarter of our C02 emissions, so it’s clear they are a

vital part of our efforts to tackle climate change.

The council should help people who want to greenproof their homes

not restrict them with loads of red tape.

The Sustainable Code for House Building is ok but no-one understands

it, the public don’t understand so they don’t insist on it or even look for

it. We need to change this , people need to understand how this

code will save them more money on bills and reduce the carbon

footprint.

Average savings today at Code level 3 for energy and water is up to

£400. Code level 6 could save between £950 for a flat and up to

£1450 for a detached house in energy and water bills.

Make it easier to recycle - i.e. electronics pickup, more green waste

collection.

You are right to highlight the Borough's shocking record on recycling -

it is simply not good enough.

I think local businesses should also be doing their part...how much

business waste gets thrown straight into the black bins?

The home insulation idea is crucial...this saves people large sums of

money and the council should be co-ordinating this.

Education for recycling is important...make sure the schools are all

teaching the children about local recycling facilities. How can we

become the best place to recycle rather one of the worst?

We need to make it clear where residents can seek advice on

improving the environmental performance of

their homes. The 'Architect in the house'

scheme is a once a year event organised by

RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects)

whereby people can obtain a free

consultation. Maybe the Borough can work in

partnership with local architects (and other

consultants), marketing the event, and

getting people to attend.

What you told us.


Supporting People We all have times in our lives when we need a helping hand, many

times it’s needing someone to talk to or to get some advice from. But

getting the right advice and help can be difficult, often time

consuming and sometimes costly. We have a vision that in Basingstoke

we would have a “One Stop Advice Shop”. Located in the Top of

Town. We would establish an ‘Advice Taskforce’, made up of advisors

from the CAB, the Council, Job centre plus, Education, Legal, and the

voluntary sector professionals and all manner of support could be

accessed easily by simply walking in off the street.

Special mention has to be made of the Citizens Advice Bureau who

really do an incredible job in helping people resolve their legal,

financial and other problems by providing free, independent and

confidential advice. Because of this and the additional workload

they have seen we would provide extra support to them. We would

especially invest in supporting outreach workers who would go into

community centre’s and could offer support, advice and guidance to

people in these times of need in our communities.

Many people struggle getting small repairs done. Whether it’s

because of the cost or because of not knowing who to contact.

Either way things get left which we know can lead to bigger problems

with bigger bills later. We would ensure that the current Handy

Person’s Service is better publicised and accessible. We need to see

this service grow and expand to support more people, and fill the

gaps that exist when needs are identified. It will be a proactive

service.

The Council is remote, people call the council and sometimes do not

get the response they need. People feel powerless to get things done.

You report things and weeks later the problem is still there. We will

implement a reporting system where issues are logged and an officer

is tagged as responsible for fixing the problem, the case would be

tracked from call to solution. The Councillors representing the resident

would be told of the case and informed of the action to be taken

and a timescale of delivery and the outcome. Neighbourhood

Managers would play a huge role in coordinating the solution, with

their local knowledge, accountability and ability in partnership

working to get the job done.

We will make the Council more open and democratic. People should

be encouraged to come to meetings and take part in the debates on

issues that will shape our Borough or simply affect their street.

Decisions made by the Council need to be far more accountable to

residents. We will open up the decision making process to give

residents a far greater say in issues that affect them.

We will make sure that councillors who sit on the boards of Sentinel

and Kingfisher actually represent the wards with the greatest number

of Housing Association properties, and that these councillors account

to the council, and therein the residents, for the work that they do.


What you told us. I like the idea of a walk in “One Stop Shop” in town if we could get those different departments under one roof it would make a lot of sense.

One of the big themes here is 'Community'. Somehow we need to push to get the 'Community' back into the centre of peoples thoughts. We need to be looking out for the person next door, take ownership of our street, our parks, our litter.

I think the council need to make more allowance for the fact that more of us are living longer and we’re going to need more help from time to time in getting things done. It’s the practical things really.

I don’t know how you would do it but we need more joined-up working between health, housing and social care services and between social care and the disability benefits system. Good luck with it!

If I order something from Amazon, I can go on to their website and find out where it is in their system, and when I’m likely to get it. I’d like something similar with the council that when I report a street light not working some graffiti that needs cleaning someway of seeing when it will be done.

I agree with your comments about the CAB 110%. What a great job they do down there, long may it continue.


Basing View We need a major strategic partner to properly kick start the

regeneration of the whole of Basing View. We have to invest in Basing

View as a whole for the good of the community. We must start to take

action this year. Not on a face lift but on actual regeneration. We

want a business park for the 21st Century and that takes greater vision

and more determination.

We would begin by opening a national and public competition for

companies and architects to produce really aspirational plans for the

future of the whole of Basing View and the Town Centre

We have five key elements that must be included:

1. A new campus for BCoT at the heart of Basing View.

2. The protection of and enhancement of our green parks and

public open spaces.

3. An innovation-hub for new technology businesses working with

leading Universities.

4. New infrastructure to connect the ring-way and the Town Centre,

the station, and the new heart of Basing View.

5. People who live in the Town Centre must be included in decisions

on it’s future. It must work for living as much for business.

Now is the time to be bold and be certain that regenerating Basing

View can invigorate our local economy.

The aims at the heart of a new Basing View

1. Innovation and science.

2. Technology and entrepreneurial excellence.

3. Environmental and climate awareness.

We can and should use the opportunity to establish Basingstoke as the

centre for excellence in the South East. Oxford, Nottingham and

Middlesborough, to name but three, are cities that have grasped the

opportunities of new science. We want a business park that combines

zero and low carbon emission buildings designed around landscaped

and green public realm. We want a business park that would

demonstrate excellence in the building, science and technology

industries.

We will ensure that the communities around Basing View are not

damaged by any regeneration of the business park and Town Centre.

We want to see any regeneration compliment and work with our

existing local communities. Whether we are talking about traffic,

development density or infrastructure needs we will be sensitive to the

people living and surrounding the Town Centre.


What you told us. This is an opportunity to be a proper urban business park with award winning architecture.

I used to work on Basing View during the 80’s. it’s a shame to see it in its current state now. Looks really sad. Back then it was symbolic of Basingstoke and of the era in general. I think today we should look at how it could be so much more than just an office area.

Basing View - Excellent points. I would argue that the scale of this redevelopment also needs a bold transport approach...how can we get people to it in a more sustainable way? i.e. people living on the outskirts of the town?

We need to look at case studies from around the world. How can Basing View be connected to say, Gresley road and to areas to the north of the railway station .

How can the council bring onboard major businesses...like The AA, Sony etc.

What we don’t need is a hotchpotch development, it needs to be properly done.


The Future of our Local Economy We will support business and jobs in Basingstoke. The Council can do

more to make a difference to the way local businesses get through

the recession and how we achieve growth that means jobs, security

and prosperity for all.

The Top of Town needs its image improved, it needs to see greater

diversity of businesses.

We will work with Festival Place and the other major retailers to deliver

a marketing strategy specifically designed to attract shoppers and

increase footfall.

We will work with our leading business representatives, such as the

Chamber of Commerce, to develop an inward investment strategy

with a programme of ambassador events that sees key figures from

our economy go to the key places where business decisions are

made to sell the best that Basingstoke has to offer the business world.

We want to ensure no stone is left unturned in reaching out to major

businesses and encouraging them to see Basingstoke as an essential

destination.

We will work with our local letting agents and partners in the business

community commissioning them to work with Council to plan the

regeneration of our business parks, delivering what businesses need in

pre-lets and tailor made business premises. We want real plans that

will refurbish, renew, and secure the future of our business parks so

they are fit for the 21st Century.

We will make Basing View a beacon in the South East for what can be

achieved in the very best business park we can deliver for the 21st

Century.

We will work with partners such as the County Council to develop

market town strategies for Tadley, Whitchurch and Overton. This work

is well underway and must be kept relevant, effective and in touch

with what businesses need.

We will launch a job support service, linked to our ’Advice Taskforce’,

that will seek to connect people in work to skills providers, link people

out of work to advice, skills providers, and opportunities to get back

into employment. We want to see our education institutions step up in

a time of need and offer people the support they need to get back

into the workplace. We want to see advice and support readily

available to people in need.

We want the Borough Business Partnership to thrive and continue to

represent the voice of business and the economy in the development

of the Council’s policy. We will move away from the culture of remote

top down planning, to an approach that enables entrepreneurial

talent to drive policy. Our approach to business and our economy

seeks to reconnect people with their Council and what it can do to

help and support them.


What you told us. Local businesses are important for the town.

We (the residents of the town) need to encourage businesses to use Basingstoke as their base.

Thriving business encourages people to relocate and spend money within the town.

Using low business rates or possibly a rate discount for the first 12 months (gradually increasing over say 3 years) would make the town an attractive proposition for young businesses and I am sure would generate more revenue over time. This leads onto the fact that, in my mind, it is vital to have as many town centre premises fully occupied as possible (the same applies elsewhere in the town).

It would fantastic to have Basingstoke as a hub for regional business enterprise.

We’ve got the right ingredients; location, skills and space we need to make sure we carry on attracting big names to our town, but they have to have a reason to come here: what is it?


The Town Centre, Culture & Leisure We believe that Basingstoke has the potential to become a vibrant

regional cultural and leisure capital attracting investment, creativity,

tourism and jobs. We believe this is important for our economy and our

regional reputation.

We have a vision that the Top of Town should become the market

place, the meeting place and the cultural centre of Basingstoke. We

see a Top of Town equipped with children's play-areas, green areas

and space for entertainers or exhibitions. An area for residents to be

proud of and an area that becomes a destination in it’s own right.

We need to invest in improving the street scene image of the Top of

Town, encouraging the creation of shop fronts on New Road. In short

we would return the Top of Town to an old town centre.

To achieve this vision requires ambition, determination and partnership

working. There are a number of things we can do to get things moving

and to stop the area falling further behind. We would establish zones

for special rents in the Top of Town to attract new businesses and give

a helping hand to revitalise the existing ones.

Basingstoke has a long and proud tradition as a market town but the

market is dying on it’s feet and action is needed to halt it’s decline

before it’s lost forever. We would support the market now and help it

sustain more stalls and deliver better quality to attract more people.

We would urgently review our car parking charges in order to attract

shoppers and workers into this area. We would rule out any

privatisation of the councils car parking service or its car parks. We

would rule out the option of turning our Top of Town car parks into

high rise flats and we would promote multi-story car parking.

Leisure

We will explore the delivery of free swimming as a part of the hugely

successful national scheme. We would review our whole leisure offer

to residents living in Basingstoke and examine passports to cheaper

and more accessible facilities.

It matters that you can get to the aquadrome, and afford to use it. It is

right that the Council supports public transport that goes to the places

people want.

We will also protect our open spaces such that leisure means more

than sport. Green open spaces are good for health, for good living

environments. We will not concrete over the town, but we will enforce

the right standards of open space in our urban communities. Informal

open space, were people simply sit and enjoy a green piece of land,

has no less value than a marked out football pitch on a big playing

field. Our policy will be to protect both.


What you told us. Holding an architectural competition for the top of town will generate

a huge amount of ideas. It reminds me of similar projects in Dublin and

Liverpool.

We need to play on the strength that the top of town, down to the

railway, is actually all pedestrianised. What I am getting at here, is

that we want the top of town to appeal to all ages of people/

backgrounds.

What sports facilities should be improved to make them national

standard, e.g. a 50m pool, a push to make the rugby team national

standard, an extra 2 lanes on the athletics track?

We should get local sports men/women to help raise the profile and

link in with schools, colleges etc. For town of our size, we could do

with some top sporting teams.

I know from my time as a teacher that Sport does help teach

discipline and hard work, especially with 'harder' sports such as

running, rugby and cricket which take time and effort to master. The

council along with schools should ensure more is done in this area.

How come other towns have free swimming for kids and the over 60’s

and we don’t?


Tackling crime & delivering safety We all know that anti social behaviour, nuisance neighbours, and

crime in our communities creates tension, fear and leads to

confidence issues with local police and the Council.

We will tackle this head on. We will develop local action plans agreed

between communities and the Police and Council. Residents will be

able to set the standards that they expect for their communities. This

will be resource intensive, it will cost, but it will connect people with

those charged with delivering their security and keeping our

residential areas safe. We also want the Police to be far more

responsive to residents, communication makes a big difference in

tackling the fear of crime.

We will focus hard on criminals. We will take a zero tolerance attitude

to drugs. By linking the work of Housing Associations, the Police and

the Council we will ensure that action is taken to stamp out drug

dealing and drug availability on our estates. It’s time the tables were

turned on the drug criminals. We will target them.

We will roll out a programme of promoting neighbourhood watch

across Basingstoke reinforcing the communities role in preventing

crime.

We will work with the youth services in Basingstoke to identify where

the County Council is failing and we will name and shame their lack of

support. The Borough Council will be the people’s champion in

holding other authorities to account for actions they should be

fulfilling.

We will take a hard line on drinking culture in our Town Centre. The

level of readily available cheap alcohol is a serious problem. We see

the impact on our streets, in anti social behaviour and vandalism. We

need to get the balance right in licensing and codes of operation for

bars and pubs, bouncers and the relationship between business and

the Police. We want a safe town centre, but also safe suburbs when

people walk home after a night out.

We want to see effective actions, not a target culture, in tackling

crime. We want standards to be driven by actions and the

communities needs, not what ticks the authorities box. The balance

needs to be right between tactical policing that delivers major effects

in keeping Basingstoke one of the safest boroughs in the country, and

on the street patrolling which gives residents confidence and allays

the fear of crime. The Council has a key role in tackling the fear of

crime.

We will ensure that services like environmental health, housing,

community safety, community development and our partners are far

more coordinated. Neighbourhood Managers will have a key role

coordinating the agencies to get the job done.


I don’t think that there is one particular silver bullet to the crime

problem. I agree that the causes of crime need to be tackled, in my

view crime for the majority of people has its origins in

family/household structure.

If we can understand the psychology of crime, we can go about

helping families to change, either through punitive measures i.e. if

they break the law, or supportive measures designed to inform people

of the short and long term effects of certain attitudes and behaviours

and informing/supporting them to make decisions that will ultimately

enhance their lives.

There has to be a focus from the Police, the council and anyone else

who is involved in tackling anti-social behaviour to concentrate on

getting early to support families where children may be going off the

rails.

Residents should have a much stronger voice in setting priorities for the

Police and the council at a local level.

There needs to be more youth provision with young people having a

say in what’s spent and where, targeted youth support like they’re

doing in other places where youth workers and young people

themselves are out on the streets intervening where there might be

trouble and supporting organisations that are helping young people

into work or training.

What you told us.


Planning the future of the Borough We will make the new Local Development Framework, which will

replace the Local Plan in shaping the future of our Borough up to

2026, open, transparent and reconnect with residents. We will start

from a position of clear strategic choices:

� We will exclude land in clear policy areas; no development of

public open spaces, no development of key employment land

etc.

� We will identify the housing need of our borough and establish a

growth figure based on need for affordable housing and market

housing.

� We will identify key Borough land holdings that can contribute to

the development of housing to meet those needs.

� Local communities must be allowed to see that information and

to develop their own neighbourhood plans that set out their

vision for the future of their communities.

� The Council will not force development, nor support private or

speculative developers against the wishes of local communities

Residents views must be clearly expressed, therefore it will be

essential that the Council enables local people to express a view

and that residents have possession of all of the facts.

� We will seek strategic development and oppose piecemeal

speculative development. The Council will ensure that residents

have a clear understanding of the bigger picture affecting the

whole Borough.

� We will prioritise the infrastructural, environmental and design

aspirations and needs in clear policy that determines whether

development is indeed achievable, desirable, and developable.

We want a balanced approach that respects our existing

communities, and delivers the homes that people need, that will meet

the significant housing pressures in our borough. Development cannot

happen where it is opposed by the community, but the community

must have all the facts and be consulted properly. We do not believe

people are opposed to housing development in Basingstoke, they

want better quality, designed, and supported development.

Basingstoke needs a proper debate, not a political free-for-all on the

crucial issue of the future shape of our town.

It is absurd to take intractable positions that say no development to

the east, none to the west or none to the south. Any decisions must be

based on facts, on the best interests of the existing communities in

which sites are situated and in the interests of the whole borough

community.

This is not an easy balance to strike, and we oppose the confused and

unfocused manner in which the rural Tory cabinet are currently

pursuing the Local Development Framework process. Basingstoke

town will lose out heavily if this one sided approach continues. It is

time to reconnect the people of our Borough with planning their

future.


What you told us. We need masterplans! Yes the Local Plan sets out housing

targets and the like, but there appears to be little joined up

thinking. How does one site link to the next? I personally think

that the Borough should hold national ideas competitions to get

the best architectural talent in the country to come up with

ideas for the town.

It is vital that we work and develop the image of Basingstoke.

What do we want to be? What are our strengths as a town?

Who do we want to attract? How much do we want to grow? I

see Basingstoke as a forward thinking borough that should be

setting the bar for a contemporary approach to housing, urban

development, recycling etc. We don't have the constraints of

an historic fabric (such as Winchester) and we should be bold

with our solutions. We need someone to be pushing Basingstoke

at a National level.

We need to be investing in longer term solutions, investing in our

residents and looking after all people. Short term thinking is

unsustainable and one of the pitfalls of single term thinking by

political parties.

We need to encourage sustainable development. We need to

develop and pioneer ways to reduce dependence on the car,

not just from a 'green' perspective but also by the fact that it

reduces expenditure for families.

Transport must demand bold ideas, Trams? Cycle networks that

take priority over roads. There must also be a push for planning

controls to encourage sustainable design, but also financial

incentives for developers.

The Borough also needs to appreciate that although one wants

to sell a piece of land for the highest value, by doing this, it

leaves the developer with little choice but to increase the

number of units. The Borough needs to be more responsible in

this aspect, and think of ways to ensure private developers

achieve a certain % profit, without creating ghettos of the

future.


Transparency and Democracy restored It’s time to take our democracy seriously, not as some play thing

of councillors, but as the bedrock of good governance for all in

our Borough. All the Council’s work must be open and publicly

available, and that must be the priority.

We would restore the balance between scrutiny and leadership.

We would create an independent Scrutiny Committee of the

Council, tasked with holding the Executive and Council to

account. It would be chaired by the opposition and its role

would be to look carefully and with intent at how we can make

the Council a better organisation for all. It would have the

power to set up ‘task and finish panels’ to look at specific

subjects, investigate evidence and produce recommendations

on process improvements.

Area Committees.

We would set up four area committees, a Basingstoke Town

North, Basingstoke Town South, Rural East and Rural West. These

would be tasked with tackling each communities issues and

would be able to focus on areas of need geographically. They

would be chaired by all parties on a rotating basis and focus on

policy and delivery of services.

Policy Select Committee, Environment Select Committee &

Housing Select Committee.

We would set up three policy forming and reviewing

committees to look at what the Council does, how it looks at

policy and to help the executive design policy. No longer would

just 8 members of the Executive be able to come up with policy.

It would be the responsibility of these committees to investigate

policy proposals, come up with policy recommendations and to

consult and involve the public in the making of policy. These

would be smaller and more focused committees.

Planning Committee, Licensing Committee, Personnel

Committee & Audit and Governance Committee.

These are the regulatory committees that we must have by law

and would oversee the important statutory roles of councillors.

We aim for these committees to be smaller and focused.


The Executive.

We would set up an Executive of 8 members. Cabinet would

meet as a committee and would also include the Leaders of all

Groups. The portfolios we would establish would be.

� Leader of the Council

� Deputy Leader of the Council & Council Services

� Finance and Property

� Environment and Climate Change

� Housing, Planning, & Neighbourhood Renewal

� Leisure, Sports and Culture

� Community Safety and Development

� Business, Skills and Education


Summary. � A Unitary Council not a “budget airline” one where you

pay once for council tax and again for a decent service.

� Dynamic & accountable Neighbourhood Managers

focused on wards.

� Council run street cleaning & grounds maintenance

services.

� Bring forward regeneration plans for Buckskin, Norden,

South Ham, Popley, Winklebury and Brighton Hill.

� Each estate to draw up specific plans to address their own

problems and solutions with the council helping them

achieve that.

� Keep the weekly bin collection service, extend the

recycling services, and keep the service run locally.

� Encourage each small area of residents for one item that

would improve their area, i.e. painting a fence, new bus

stop, a tree planted etc. Just one improvement could

make all the difference

� Food waste collected separately and recycled to produce

energy and power in our Borough.

� Apprenticeship and training schemes for Council staff to

help develop gardening and environmental care skills.

� Better resourced graffiti cleaning and rat catcher services.

� Better resourced weed killing and grass cutting services.

� Pictorial Meadows as developed on the Viables

Roundabout, rolled out across the Borough.

� A zero tolerance attitude to neglect, holding authorities to

account for ensuring high standards.

� A council listening and understanding what is happening in

communities and using that in it’s planning.

� Supporting people to stay in their own homes. Preventing

evictions and repossessions. Enabling people to downsize.

� Purchase to rent scheme. Mortgage support and rent

support, to help people find a home.

� Establish a Housing Management Company to bring

partners together to deliver affordable housing.

� No more families housed in flats and a fundamental review

of housing allocations policy for the housing register.

� Mandatory register of all private landlords and a Town

Centre Selective Licensing Scheme to manage the rented

sector.


Summary

� Bring more empty homes back into use, and scrap the

Council Tax subsidy on long term empty homes.

� Enforce maximum standards on Houses of Multiple

Occupancy, and rented sector housing.

� Focus delivery of more socially rented affordable housing

throughout the Borough.

� Deliver energy Improvement schemes with partners to help

people afford living in their homes.

� Neighbourhood Led Planning delivering Village Design

Statements and Urban Design Statements.

� Focus on developers to build better designed, more

sustainable & family friendly homes.

� A balance to development to ensure enough rural

affordable housing & prevent urban cramming.

� Development briefs to be required from developers for all

major planning applications.

� Focus on Infrastructure and community needs, forcing

developers to respond to community needs.

� A minimum standard for back garden sizes set down clearly

in planning policy.

� Increasing what can be recycled such as Tetra Packs &

Yoghurt Pots. New community recycling points.

� “Community Skips” and “Bulky Waste Amnesties” to ensure

that residents can get rid of bulky waste.

� Recycling tins, cans, plastic, paper, and glass separated at

source and collected from residents weekly.

� 10% of all energy supplied to new homes to come from

renewable sources. Encourage Renewable energy.

� Focus on work with Housing Associations to improve energy

efficiency in tenants homes.

� Explore local Borough based power generation schemes

using food waste and biomass.

� A scheme for free loft & cavity wall Insulation for the Over

60s.


Summary � A “One Stop Advice Shop” located in the Top of Town , an

advice Taskforce, made up of advisors from the CAB, the

Council, Job centre plus, Education, Legal, and the

voluntary sector professionals and all manner of support

could be accessed easily by simply walking in off the street.

� Increase support for the CAB at a time when they are

facing a real increase in their workload.

� Encourage residents to come to meetings and take part in

the debates on issues that will shape our borough or simply

affect their street.

� Increasing the range of services provided by the Handy

Persons Service & Improve the promotion of this service.

� Open up the Council’s decision making process to give

residents a far greater say in issues that affect them.

� Make sure that the councillors who sit on the boards of

Sentinel and Kingfisher actually represent the wards with

the greatest number of Housing Association properties,

� A new campus for BCoT at the heart of Basing View.

� Ensure that the communities around Basing View are not

impacted negatively by any regeneration .

� A major strategic partner to properly kick start regeneration

of the whole of Basing View.

� The protection of and enhancement of our green parks

and public open spaces.

� People who live in the town centre must be included in

decisions on It’s future. It must work for living as much for

business.

� A national and public competition for companies and

architects to produce really aspirational plans for the future

of the whole of Basing View and the town centre.

� An innovation-hub for new technology businesses working

with leading Universities.

� New infrastructure to connect the ringway and the town

centre, the station, and the new heart of Basing View.

� A business park that would demonstrate excellence in the

building, science and technology industries.

� Create special zones for rents, the top of town will be a

priority for us to ensure that we can invigorate the small

business sector in our old town centre.


Summary � Work with Festival Place and other major retailers to deliver

a marketing strategy specifically designed to attract

shoppers and increase footfall.

� Launch a job support service that will seek to link people in

work to skills providers, link people out of work to advice,

skills providers, and opportunities to get back into

employment.

� Work with the Chamber of Commerce to develop an

Inward Investment Strategy

� The Top of Town needs its image improved, it needs to see

greater diversity of businesses.

� Work with key partners to deliver a programme of

regeneration for all our business parks.

� Make Basing View a beacon in the South East for what can

be achieved in the very business park we can deliver for

the 21st Century.

� The Borough Business Partnership to thrive and be a strong

voice of business.

� Work with partners such as the County Council to develop

market town strategies for Tadley, Whitchurch and Overton.

� Support the market now and help it sustain more stalls and

deliver better quality to attract more people.

� Urgently review our car parking charges in order to attract

shoppers and workers into this area.

� Rule out any privatisation of the councils car parking

service or its car parks.

� Rule out the option of turning our Top of Town car parks into

high rise flats and we would promote multi-story car

parking.

� Enforce the right standards of open space in our urban

communities. Informal open space, where people simply sit

and enjoy a green piece of land, has no less value than a

marked out football pitch on a big playing field. Our policy

will be to protect both.

� Invest and support the Top of Town, and deliver a

regeneration scheme for the New Road area, a return to

an ‘old style Top of Town’.

� We will explore the delivery of free swimming as a part of

the hugely successful national scheme.


� Review our whole leisure offer to residents living in

Basingstoke and examine passports to cheaper and more

accessible facilities.

� Develop local action plans agreed between communities

and the Police and Council.

� Take a zero tolerance attitude to drugs. By linking the work

of Housing Associations, the Police and Council we will

ensure that action is taken to stamp out drug dealing and

drug availability.

� Roll out a programme of promoting neighbourhood watch

across Basingstoke reinforcing the communities role in

preventing crime.

� The balance needs to be right between tactical policing

that delivers major effects in keeping Basingstoke one of

the safest boroughs in the country, and on the street

patrolling which gives residents confidence and allays the

fear of crime. The Council has a key role in tackling the fear

of crime.

� Get the balance right in licensing and codes of operation

for bars and pubs, bouncers and the relationship between

business and the Police. A safe town centre, but also safe

suburbs when people walk home after a night out.

� Ensure that services like environmental health, housing,

community safety, community development and partners

are far more coordinated.

� Exclude land in clear policy areas; no development of

open spaces, no development of key employment land

etc.

� Identify the housing need of our borough and establish a

growth figure based on need for affordable housing and

market housing.

� Identify key Borough land holdings that can contribute to

the development of housing to meet those needs.

� Local communities must be allowed to see all of the

information and develop their own neighbourhood plans.

� Officers specifically tasked with consulting residents door to

door on the future of their communities & the Borough.

� Seek strategic development and oppose piecemeal

speculative development.

� Prioritise the infrastructural, environmental and good design

standards in strong planning policy.

Summary


Summary � A balanced approach that respects our existing

communities, and delivers the homes that people need,

that will meet the significant housing pressures in our

borough.

� The Council will not force development, nor support private

or speculative developers against the wishes of local

communities. Residents views must be clearly expressed,

therefore it will be essential that the Council enables local

people to express a view and that residents have

possession of all of the facts.


Laura James 40 Shooters Way Basingstoke RG21 5PN [email protected]

Contact us. Do you have an issue that needs raising?

Do you have something to tell us about what you’ve

just read?

Or do you just want to ask a question or share a

thought.

Either way we’d love to hear from you.

You can either write, email or phone us using the

details below. Are there any issues in your street or neighbour-hood that aren’t being tackled? Labour Council-lors are always on hand to take up issues on resi-

dents behalf, please contact your local Labour councillor below. Cllr Mary Brian 01256 322108 / Popley East Cllr Jane Frankum 01256 819924 / Popley West Cllr Paul Frankum 01256 472496 / Popley West

Cllr Paul Harvey 07968 941009 / Norden Cllr George Hood 01256 359917 / Norden Cllr Laura James 01256 322108 / Norden Cllr Seán Keating 01256 422969 / South Ham Cllr Andrew McCormick 07879 436985 / Popley East Cllr Gerald Traynor 01256 325964 / South Ham

If you prefer, our email addresses are available at www.basingstoke.gov.uk/council/councillors

alternative council priorities - final version

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