Alternative Priorities 2010/11 Consultation

It’s time to take back your Council Bas ingstoke Labour Group of Counci l lo r s . An a l te rnat ive set of p r io r i t ies .

December 2009

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.” Over a number of years we’ve seen your council becoming more and more distant from it’s residents and it’s time that stopped. Quite simply we feel it’s time the council got back to serving the people who pay for it—You!

We have been working on a range of policies and ideas that we think can improve Basingstoke. We’ve put these ideas together in this document in order that we can talk to people about them, get your views and make changes where needed. So this is very much a “work in progress” and it’s important you tell us if there is anything we’ve missed— is there anything we should be including to make Basingstoke a better place to live and work?

We are a group of Labour councillors who, along with 3 other groups, form 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.

Please get in touch, our contact details are at the back of this booklet. 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 - it really is time to take back your council.

Cllr Laura James Labour Group Leader

It’s time to take back your council 1

Introduction

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.



Do you agree that this area needs more focus?

Is there anything we’ve missed that you’d like to see?

Summary & Questions Dynamic &

accountable Neighbourhood Managers focused on wards.

Better resourced graffiti cleaning and rat catcher services. Better resourced weed killing and grass cutting services.

Council run street cleaning & grounds maintenance services. In house services are more efficient.

We will keep the weekly bin collection service, extend the recycling services, and we will keep the service run locally.

We will take a Zero Tolerance attitude to neglect. We will hold authorities to account for ensuring high standards.

Pictorial Meadows have been really successful on the Viables Roundabout, we will roll these out across the Borough.

Bring forward regeneration plans for Buckskin, Norden, South Ham, Popley, Winklebury and Brighton Hill.

Apprenticeship and training schemes for Council staff to help develop gardening and environmental care skills.

Food waste will be collected separately and recycled to produce energy and power in our Borough.

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.



Do you agree with our proposals?



Summary & Questions Supporting people to

stay in their own homes. Preventing evictions and repossessions. Enable people to downsize.

Focus delivery of more socially rented affordable housing throughout the Borough.

Purchase to rent scheme. Mortgage support and rent support, to help people find a home.

Bring more empty homes back into use, and scrap the Council Tax subsidy on long term empty homes.

Deliver energy Improvements schemes with partners to help people afford their homes.

Enforce maximum standards on Houses of Multiple Occupancy, and rented sector housing.

Establish a Housing Management Company to bring partners together to deliver affordable housing.

Mandatory register of all private landlords and a Town Centre Selective Licensing Scheme to manage the rented sector.

No more families housed in flats and a fundamental review of housing allocations policy for the housing register.

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 should be able to evaluate each development in light of community objectives. 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. For a start we would make it neighbourhood led. 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.



Do you agree with what we want to do here?

Is planning and new developments a big issue for you?


Summary & Questions Neighbourhood Led

Planning delivering Village Design Statements and Urban Design Statements.

A balance to development to ensure enough rural affordable housing & prevent urban cramming.

Focus on developers to build better designed, more sustainable & family friendly homes.

Emphasise green development and sustainable building standards. Work with developers to secure the green planning.

No go policies - we will protect public open spaces, and employment land throughout the Borough.

Open up the Development Control & planning process to the public, the Council needs to be far more accessible.

Development briefs will be required from developers for all major planning applications.

A minimum standard for back garden sizes set down clearly in planning policy.

Focus on Infrastructure and community needs, forcing developers to respond to community needs.

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.



Do you agree with our plans to improve recycling?



Summary & Questions Keep weekly

recycling & bin collections. We will keep an in house waste collection service.

Food waste will be collected separately and used to create energy and power for our communities.

Increasing what can be recycled such as Tetra Packs & Yoghurt Pots. New community recycling points.

10% of all energy supplied to new homes to come from renewable sources. Encourage Renewable energy.

A scheme for free loft & cavity wall Insulation for the Over 60s.

Explore local Borough based power generation schemes using food waste and biomass.

“Community Skips” and “Bulky Waste Amnesties” to ensure that residents can get rid of bulky waste.

Focus on work with Housing Associations to improve energy efficiency in tenants homes.

Recycling tins, cans, plastic, paper, and glass separated at source and collected from residents weekly.

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.





Summary & Questions We would have a

“One Stop Advice Shop”. Located in the Top of Town

Improving the promotion of the Handy Persons Service.

We will increase support for the CAB at a time when they are facing a real increase in their workload.

We will make sure that the councilors who sit on the boards of Sentinel and Kingfisher actually represent the wards with the greatest number of Housing Association properties.

We will open up the Council’s decision making process to give residents a far greater say in issues that affect them.

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.

Increasing the range of services provided by the Handy Persons Service.

People should be encouraged to come to meetings and take part in the debates on issues that will shape our bor-ough or simply affect their street.

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 do you think should happen with Basing View?


Summary & Questions A new campus for

BCoT at the heart of Basing View.

We need a major strategic partner to properly kick start regeneration of the whole of Basing View.

We will ensure that the communities around Basing View are not impacted negatively by any regeneration

An innovation-hub for new technology businesses working with leading Universities.

We want a business park that would demonstrate excellence in the building, science and technology industries.

New infrastructure to connect the ringway and the town centre, the station, and the new heart of Basing View.

The protection of and enhancement of our green parks and public open spaces.

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

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.

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 do you think the Town Centre is lacking?



Summary & Questions We want to 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.

We will 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.

We will work with Festival Place and the other major retailers to deliver a marketing strategy specifically designed to attract shoppers and increase footfall.

Work with the Chamber of Commerce to develop an Inward Investment Strategy

We will work with partners such as the County Council to develop market town strategies for Tadley, Whitchurch and Overton.

We will 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 Top of Town needs its image improved, it needs to see greater diversity of businesses.

We want the Borough Business Partnership to thrive and be a strong voice of business.

Working with key partners we will deliver a programme of regeneration for all our business parks.

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 do you think ?



Summary & Questions We would support

the market now and help it sustain more stalls and deliver better quality to attract more people.

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.

We would urgently review our car parking charges in order to attract shoppers and workers into this area.

We will explore the delivery of free swimming as a part of the hugely successful national scheme.

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 would review our whole leisure offer to residents living in Basingstoke and examine passports to cheaper and more accessible facilities.

We will 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 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.

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.



What do you think ?



Summary & Questions We will develop local

action plans agreed between communities and the Police and Council.

We will 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.

We will ensure that services like environmental health, housing, community safety, community development and our partners are far more coordinated.

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 will 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.

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 do you think?



Summary & Questions We will exclude land

in clear policy areas; no development of open spaces, no development of key employment land

We will identify key Borough land holdings that can contribute to the development of housing to meet those needs.

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 seek strategic development and oppose piecemeal speculative development.

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.

We will prioritise the infrastructural, environmental and good design standards in strong planning policy.

Local communities must be allowed to see all of the information and develop their own neighbourhood plans. We will employ officers specifically tasked with consulting residents door to door on the future of their communities & the 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. Have we missed something?

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 neighbourhood that aren’t being tackled? Labour Councillors are always on hand to take up issues on residents 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

Date post:	15-Mar-2016
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Alternative Priorities 2010/11 Consultation

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