Smannell Road to re-open

Cllr Len Gates is pleased to report that work on the upgrade of Smannell Road is going to schedule and contractors plan to re-open the road on 19 June. The closure has caused great inconvenience to local residents (see previous stories on this website) and he hopes the contractors keep to this time table.

The road has been closed to allow contractors to build roundabouts for the new East Anton development in safety. The diversion via Upper Enham and Little London has delayed and inconvenienced drivers and led to damage on the alternative routes. He will be working with Smannell parish council and the highways department to ensure that these roads are made good.

Drainage Work at Smannell Road

Local residents are questioning why so much work is being carried out along Smannell Road. A number of different contractors are involved laying fibre optic cables, building additional roundabouts and eventually traffic signals at Tescos.

In addition work is being carried out to improve drainage along the road and on the adjacent open space which has been prone to flooding in the past. As a result a number of the existing trees have been removed to facilitate this work. Council officers have worked with the contractor to avoid loss of as many trees as possible and have recorded the number, size and species of all trees removed. Several of the trees removed have been damaged in the past by vandals/mower damage, this would have reduce their lifespan.

Once the drainage work is completed a comprehensive re-planting scheme will be organised at this site to replace those trees removed. If you have any queries about the works please contact councillor Len Gates on len.gates@andover.co.uk or 01264 356759.

East Anton site traffic

We have had a number of complaints from residents about East Anton construction traffic using Icknield Way north to Newbury Road.

The council’s planning legal agreement (section 106) is quite clear that all construction traffic must access the site via Smannell Road not Icknield Way nor Viking Way.

Ward councillor Len Gates has reported a number of lorries who have ignored this agreement to both the highways department and the site manager. Any lorry driver ignoring the agreed route will be ordered off site and not allowed to return.

If you see construction traffic using the wrong route please note their registration number and let Len know via the Report a Problem link on his web site. He will then take it up with the relevant authorities.

A sad day for the Guildhall

At a meeting of Test Valley’s Northern Area Planning Committee, approval was given for advertising signs on the Guildhall. The application was from Prezzo for signs on the windows and plaques on each door announcing their presence in the building. I am pleased to report that a further application for illuminated lecterns with menus outside the building was withdrawn.Many residents have objrcted to the signs and I agree with them. The proposal is that every window (24 in all) will have Prezzo emblazoned across it in addition to three further plaques mounted on the walls. This I believe is completely over the top and will spoil the building the centre of our town and an important tourist attraction. There can be no-one in North West Hampshire that doen’t know Prezzo are moving into the Guildhall. We do not need 24 reminders across every available window.I was disappointed to hear some members of the committee arguing that the approval must be given so as to speed up the conversion of the building into a restaurant and that any one opposing the application was trying to block the changeover. Council officers made it quite clear that the change of use and the alterations to the building were separate matters and that one does not automatically follow the other.My ammendment, backed by St Mary’s ward councillor Mike McGarry, to restrict signs to the doors only was defeated by eighteen votes to two. A sad day for the Guildhall and for Andover