Archived decisions

AT THE FIRST MEETING of the TEST VALLEY AREA COMMITTEE of HAMPSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL held at Houghton Village Hall on Tuesday, 28 September 2004.

PRESENT:

Councillors: M.J. Woodhall (Chairman); A.G. Dowden; P.A Pearce; Mrs. P.A. West; Councillor I. Carr - Chairman, Test Valley Local Strategic Partnership

Councillor D. Bidwell - Chairman of Test Valley Association of Parish Councils

Ms J. Blann - Test Valley Community Service

1 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members were mindful that, where they believed they had a personal or personal prejudicial interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting, they should, normally at the time of the debate, declare their interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in paragraphs 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the County Council's Code of Conduct, consider whether to leave the meeting whilst the matter was discussed.

2 INTRODUCTION BY THE CHAIRMAN, COUNCILLOR WOODHALL

Councillor Woodhall welcomed those present, including the County Chief Executive, Peter Robertson, and introduced himself as a local County Councillor and Deputy Leader of the County Council. He explained that the Committee was part of the County Council's approach to involving local residents in decision making and enabling local communities to have a greater voice, and for the County Council to share information about its services.

3 COUNTY COUNCIL RECREATION AND HERITAGE SERVICES - IN PARTICULAR LIBRARIES AND "HOG THE LIMELIGHT"

Nicola Horsey, Head of Arts and Tourism, gave a presentation on the "Hog the Limelight" programme, a rural touring programme of arts events put together by the County Arts Office. In 2003/04 there had been 29 performances in the Test Valley at 13 different venues. For 2004/05 there had been 26 performances in 9 different venues so far. The programme was a useful way of bringing the local communities together and attracted a cross section of local residents. In response to a question, Nicola confirmed that it was planned to include Romsey and Andover as "Hog the Limelight" venues next year rather than just villages.

Richard Ward, Head of Library and Information Service, gave a presentation on mobile library services, services for people with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups, Sunday opening, children and young people's services and Romsey library. He drew particular attention to the services provided for visually impaired people with a large number of titles in large print, together with cassettes and cds and reading groups. Deaf awareness training and reminiscent therapy courses were also held. Sunday opening was being investigated for various locations in the county; children and young people's services sought to ensure that children carried on reading during the summer holidays and that boys were encouraged to read.

4 COUNTY COUNCIL ROAD SAFETY SERVICES

Tim Cheeseborough, Group Engineer, Highway Safety in the County Council's Environment Department, gave a presentation on the County Council's Road Casualty Reduction Services. He drew particular attention to the key casualty reduction objectives up to the year 2010 which entailed a 40% reduction in fatal and serious road casualties and a 50% reduction in fatal and serious child casualties from their average level in the mid 1990s. He stressed that making roads safer was a key health and well being objective of Hampshire's first community strategy and also pointed out that the County Council Road Safety Strategy linked in with other local and national policies and entailed a casualty reduction partnership with Hampshire Constabulary.

Ernie Sage, Road Safety Services Manager, reported on the work of the Test Valley Road Safety Council which supported road safety programmes and messages by working through a network of representatives of the County Council, Test Valley Borough Council, Parish Councils, the Police and Disabled Groups. Educational and enforcement campaigns were undertaken.

In the ensuing question and answer session it was stressed that speed limits needed to be appropriate to the particular stretch of road and that a package of measures, such as parish partnership work and local speed watch schemes, was needed to reduce vehicle speeds. Study work was ongoing on measures to improve the speed management regime and accident record along the A3057.

5 COUNCILLOR WOODHALL'S CLOSING REMARKS

Councillor Woodhall thanked those present for attending and felt that it had been a useful meeting. The next meeting would be held in November probably at a venue in Andover or Romsey.

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