Hart Corporate Plan: Liberal Democrats in the pocket of Community Campaign Hart
A consultation has been launched on the latest iteration of the Hart Corporate Plan. Whilst this contains some welcome initiatives, there are other developments that are of significant concern.
We rask that you respond to the consultation that can be found here. The deadline is 4pm on 31st October 2017. We suggest you make the following comments:
- Communities. Restore the plan to create a Hart-controlled trading company to deliver much needed social housing to the district.
- Communities. Drop the idea of delivering more houses than identified in the SHMA, and follow the new Government housing target of 6,132 instead.
- Communities: Focus infrastructure spending on the areas most in need: roads, education and healthcare provision. Adopt a Local Plan that minimises the infrastructure funding gap.
- Local Economy. Drop the idea to obstruct brownfield development by using Hart controlled SANG to restrict redevelopment of brownfield sites.
- Local Economy. Restore the focus on urban regeneration, by appointing a cabinet member with specific responsibility for this area.
Community Campaign Hart dominate Hart Corporate Plan
Anybody who has been to the last two council meetings cannot have failed to notice the domination of Community Campaign Hart (CCH). This is evidenced by:
- Council leader passing furtive glances to CCH deputy leader as he answers questions from members.
- CCH leader passing notes on how to answer questions to the head of the Planning portfolio.
- Submissive body language from Lib Dem cabinet members towards CCH members.
This shows that the changes to the Corporate Plan have been driven by the CCH dominance of the coalition administration.
In particular, the policies to restrict brownfield development, drop the housing trading company and remove the focus on urban regeneration will impact Liberal Democrat voting areas such as Blackwater and Ancells Farm, where they hold both District and County seats.
The Lib Dems should reassert their position and start fighting for policies that will help the areas that vote for them.
David Turver do you know anything about Winchfield Lodge development? Report says several ‘red’ constraints (but when did that ever stop developers?) and also that it will not be available for 5 to 10 years. But local estate agent has double page in magazine about houses being built by Kirby Homes.
I think construction is underway.
Because of their desire to build more houses than required in Hart, CCH will always be Concrete Campaign Hart to me.
Dear Hook Conservatives, please take this in the way it’s intended, as a helpful suggestion, but I’d like to highlight to you that in my view as an ordinary voter in Hart District, you are not doing yourselves and your Conservative councilors any favors by mounting these attacks on the Lib Dems and the CCH. I get that you are unhappy about the way you lost control of Hart, but mounting a personal attack campaign on the other parties and individuals in them is not going to endear yourselves to many of your potential voters. My suggestion is to focus on painting a more positive picture of how much better things would be if the Conservatives were back in charge and leave the name calling (like puppet) to the playground. By the way, I’d be saying the same thing to the Lib Dems and CCH if I was coming across them saying the same things about you and your councilors.
Don’t agree someone needs to call a spade a spade. ‘Puppet’ -name calling, come get on real, hardly. I think sometimes when people hear something they don’t like they dress it up as something it isn’t – like using words like ‘attacks’ ‘name calling’ I’m not a Tory by any stretch but a member of Lib Dems – but need to cancel my membership if the Lib Dem’s don’t get their act together at a local level. I’m pleased to hear someone speak up so I can hear what they say. I’m not an idiot and will critically evaluate what’s being said but it’s good to hear all points of views, including strong ones.
Then I suppose we’ll have to agree to disagree.
As the true Lib Dems will never win a seat outside of Yateley and Blackwater, their only chance for power is to partner with the disguised Lib Dems of Fleet/Crookham who call themselves CCH.
The Lib Dems seem to have sold their souls to CCH for a bit of power, that is no power at all. They ought to be ashamed of themselves
Given that the restriction of the use of brown field site is diametricall apposed to to Government guidance on brown field usage, how are CCH allowed to get away with it. What is their reasoning on this? Secondly, how is someone who isn’t leader permitted to dominate? Our Council isn’t fit for purpose.
The depiction is 100% the case at Hart now. Deputy Leader James Radley is running the show, writing the content for his puppet cabinet members and taking all major decisions himself. He even tried to silence the public by only allowing 20 mins at full council for pre-submitted questions from the public. It was a Conservative member who requested that they follow the lead from the previous Tory administration and allow whatever time necessary for public questions. Radley tried to suites this but was told to ‘sit down’ and ‘be quiet’ as the issue was for the Chairman to deal with, not the puppeteer Deputy Leader.