ADD UPDATE, 18 November 2016: Yesterday we asked you to write to your local Eastleigh Borough Councillors or Winchester City Councillors ahead of Eastleigh Borough Council’s crucial meeting on 15 December in which we believe it will decide in favour of its most destructive proposals for its Local Plan, namely options B and C. Whilst we gave you correct email addresses for all the relevant Eastleigh Borough Councillors, Winchester City Councillors, Hampshire County Councillors and MPs, we made a mistake regarding a physical address. Should you wish to send a letter rather than an email, please find all the correct details below. Thank you again for all your support. Our campaign is gathering incredible momentum!
NEWSFLASH: EBC LOCAL PLAN – CRITICAL MOMENT APPROACHING. PLEASE WRITE TO YOUR BOROUGH / CITY COUNCILLORS NOW!
ADD UPDATE, 17 November 2016: ADD believes that Eastleigh Borough Council will make a crucial decision regarding its proposed Local Plan at its full council meeting on 15 December. In particular, we believe it will decide in favour of its most destructive options for the plan, namely options B and C.
As time is now ticking fast, we are urging everyone in Bishopstoke, Fair Oak, Upham, Owslebury, Allbrook, Colden Common, Twyford and Otterbourne to write to their local Eastleigh Borough Councillors or Winchester City Councillors to ask what they are doing on your behalf to prevent this planning and environmental catastrophe, either directly (if you live in Eastleigh) or by taking up the case with neighbouring politicians (if you live within Winchester City Council). Borough / City Councillors should know what their constituents think and value, particularly given the magnitude of this issue!
Whilst we strongly encourage you to make your letter/email as personal as possible (using your own reasons to object to options B and C), please find below a draft to give you some ideas. NB Please do make this letter/email your own as duplicate copies only get counted once!
Please also find below email addresses for all relevant Borough / City Councillors, plus relevant MPs and County Councillors (whom we encourage you to copy on any emails).
If you are sending a hard copy letter to an Eastleigh Borough Councillor, please send to Eastleigh Borough Council, Eastleigh House, Upper Market Street, Eastleigh, SO50 9YN. Alternatively, if you are sending to a Liberal Democrat Borough Councillor, Eastleigh Liberal Democrats have a Freepost address: Freepost RTLH-YXCX-BKXE, Eastleigh Liberal Democrats, 107 Leigh Road, Eastleigh, SO50 9DR. No stamp is required for the Freepost option.
If you are sending a letter to a Winchester City Councillor, please send to Winchester City Council, City Offices, Colebrook Street, Winchester, SO23 9LJ.
Thanks to everyone’s support, our campaign is gathering momentum! Please keep up the pressure!
DRAFT LETTER/EMAIL (CONTACT DETAILS BELOW)
STARTS
Dear [your Councillor],
I am writing to ask what you are doing to address the threat to [name of your village/ward] posed by Eastleigh Borough Council (EBC)’s current development proposals within their proposed Local Plan till 2036. Anyone who has studied options B and C of EBC’s proposed Local Plan to build 6,000+ houses and a major new road (https://www.eastleigh.gov.uk/media/184064/151217-Issues-and-Options_postcabformat.pdf) will realise that we face a planning and environmental disaster [and, if you live in Eastleigh, huge financial risk to the borough] if EBC chooses these options (the website www.add-eastleigh.org is informative on these issues).
In particular, options B and C would:
- Destroy much-loved, precious countryside, impacting a Site of Special Scientific Interest, two sites of Ancient Natural Woodland and numerous Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation.
- Destroy the unique identity of each of our communities.
- Destroy our quality of life in many ways, including through vastly increased traffic congestion (due to the estimated 30,000 extra daily car journeys that, despite the proposed new road, would ultimately end up back in the current road system).
Incredibly, I am told that EBC is likely to favour options B and C at its council meeting on 15 December so – as I am sure you are aware – time is of the essence to ensure this does not happen.
Of course, I understand that we need new homes in Eastleigh but options B and C seem to be calculated to cause maximum damage to our precious environment whilst there are other places in the Borough that could absorb this kind of growth with far less impact, in particular EBC’s options D and E in the area around Allington Lane. One would never believe that EBC’s slogan is “tackling climate change”!
Indeed, from a planning perspective, there are plenty of reasons why options D and E make the most sense, not least because they would produce a compact, sustainable community, well connected to the centre of Eastleigh and therefore directly boosting the town centre. In contrast, options B and C would produce a series of unconnected housing estates strung along a road (of questionable value) that won’t relate to Eastleigh town centre at all.
As my local Borough [City] Councillor, I assume that you are also very concerned about this issue and are doing everything in your power to ensure EBC [or if you live within Winchester City Council – “to lobby neighbouring politicians to ensure EBC”] makes the right choice regarding its Local Plan. Are you, for example, lobbying hard for the Chickenhall Lane Link Road to be built as soon as possible? As you’ll no doubt know, this long-planned road, favoured by many stakeholders, would increase the viability of more appropriate development options.
I much look forward to hearing what actions you are taking to prevent this planning and environmental catastrophe.
Yours sincerely,
ENDS
CONTACT DETAILS
Borough / City Councillors – prioritise contacting the ones for where you live!
Eastleigh – full list (with postal addresses) is at: http://meetings.eastleigh.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?fn=ward
Bishopstoke West: Cllr Anne Winstanley (cabinet member) [email protected]
Bishopstoke West: Cllr Vickieye Parkinson-McLachlan [email protected]
Bishopstoke East: Cllr Trevor Mignot [email protected]
Bishopstoke East: Cllr Angela Roling [email protected]
Fair Oak: Cllr Des Scott [email protected]
Fair Oak: Cllr Rob Rushton [email protected]
Allbrook: Cllr Sarah Bain [email protected]
Allbrook: Cllr Maureen Sollitt [email protected]
Allbrook: Cllr Chris Thomas [email protected]
Winchester – full list (with postal addresses) is at: http://www.winchester.gov.uk/meetings/councillors/
Colden Common & Twyford: Cllr Sue Cook [email protected]
Colden Common & Twyford: Cllr Richard Izard [email protected]
Upham and Owslebury: Cllr Lawrence Ruffell [email protected]
Upham and Owslebury: Cllr Amber Thacker [email protected]
Otterbourne: Cllr Jan Warwick [email protected]
Otterbourne: Cllr Brian Laming [email protected]
Otterbourne: Cllr Eleanor Bell [email protected]
FOR COPYING ON EMAILS
Relevant MPs
Steve Brine, MP for Winchester [email protected]
Mims Davies, MP for Eastleigh [email protected]
George Hollingbery, MP for Meon Valley [email protected]
Hampshire County Councillors
Bishopstoke and Fair Oak: Cllr Martin Lyon [email protected]
Bishopstoke and Allbrook: Cllr Andy Moore [email protected]
Colden Common, Twyford, Upham, Owslebury: Cllr Rob Humby [email protected]
Otterbourne: Cllr Phil Bailey [email protected]
IN ADDITION:
As we believe EBC will favour its most destructive options at its meeting at on 15 December, we need as many people as possible to attend in order to demonstrate support for our cause. The meeting will be held at 7.00pm at Kings Community Church, Upper Northam Road, Hedge End, Southampton, SO30 4BZ. Please ink this date into your diary now! If you need a lift, let us know.
IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO, PLEASE ALSO:
- Sign this petition to get the Chickenhall Lane Link Road built as soon as possible. This long–planned road, favoured by many stakeholders, would increase the viability of more appropriate development options.
- Email us to register your support and offer your help. In particular, we want volunteers to deliver campaign leaflets and to help with our research.
- Consider donating to our cause to enable us to afford the best planning and traffic / highways consultants and other professionals to ensure we have the highest possible chance of success. Donate here. Any donation – big or small – will make a difference.
If you value living in this area, and wish to protect it, please ACT NOW!
