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The roads are a huge mess
June 19, 2008
Having read a letter from Mr W Glass in your 12th June issue, could I make a comment?
Is the complaint legitimate? Of course it is, they all are. But it has to be said that when indeed the highways were in fact the responsibility of Rushmoor Borough Council the streets were maintained to a far higher standard with repairs being almost instantaneous.
The problem is now as identified in the letter that as stated nobody cares, and nobody does, except that is us who pay the rates and take an interest in the town.
The responsibility today is totally under the control of Hampshire County Council.
The officers that we have in charge locally are not fit for purpose.
They repeatedly ignore requests for action. The Hospital Hill fiasco is proof of that as is the reinstatement of the road which still cannot be driven with confidence. Add to that the North Lane debacle which all the residents wanted was a safer crossing.
The works carried out to date still have not achieved this aim. The high level lights are missing from that pedestrian crossing, It took too long for a hole in the middle of the crossing to be repaired because this is to be re-laid. When?
Traffic islands and bollards are missing, safety lighting has not been installed. The term “fiasco” here is somewhat of an understatement. Works seemed to finish just after the local elections. As Eric Neal is the county councillor who has taken on board the responsibility for all of this, I would urge the electorate to depose him at the first available opportunity. If it helps, I will stand as a candidate against him.
There is still the problem of lorries using North Lane as a rat run which is still the main cause of concern for the community, without which many of the problems would disappear.
Closer to home, Mr Glass lives in Arthur Street. How long did it take the county council to install a traffic bollard on the newly created island at the Windsor Way junction? I made countless requests. Did anyone seek to have this island installed or was it another money wasting exercise? This area is well within Eric Neal’s council ward.
Mr Glass also has a point with regard to parking.
The arrangements since decriminalised parking was introduced here are again farcical.
The point that I would make is that too many people get away with too much. The town centre is frequently brought to a near standstill by inconsiderate parkers. People who think that they have the right to leave their vehicles wherever they think is best for them.
If the same scenario were enacted in any of the surrounding towns tickets would be hard to ignore. Just try it in: Guildford, Camberley, Farnham or Woking. Then you would have a complaint. They are all in Surrey, do we need to take a lesson here?
We have here parking regulations that require enforcement until 10pm. There is at the moment no chance of that here which is a pity as some of the fines imposed and collected might be a way of paying for the damage caused to the infrastructure.
Reintroduction of Aldershot Borough Council? Not sure it could be made to work in today’s climate but we would certainly be no worse off.
Roger Watkins, Friend Avenue, Aldershot
Is the complaint legitimate? Of course it is, they all are. But it has to be said that when indeed the highways were in fact the responsibility of Rushmoor Borough Council the streets were maintained to a far higher standard with repairs being almost instantaneous.
The problem is now as identified in the letter that as stated nobody cares, and nobody does, except that is us who pay the rates and take an interest in the town.
The responsibility today is totally under the control of Hampshire County Council.
The officers that we have in charge locally are not fit for purpose.
They repeatedly ignore requests for action. The Hospital Hill fiasco is proof of that as is the reinstatement of the road which still cannot be driven with confidence. Add to that the North Lane debacle which all the residents wanted was a safer crossing.
The works carried out to date still have not achieved this aim. The high level lights are missing from that pedestrian crossing, It took too long for a hole in the middle of the crossing to be repaired because this is to be re-laid. When?
Traffic islands and bollards are missing, safety lighting has not been installed. The term “fiasco” here is somewhat of an understatement. Works seemed to finish just after the local elections. As Eric Neal is the county councillor who has taken on board the responsibility for all of this, I would urge the electorate to depose him at the first available opportunity. If it helps, I will stand as a candidate against him.
There is still the problem of lorries using North Lane as a rat run which is still the main cause of concern for the community, without which many of the problems would disappear.
Closer to home, Mr Glass lives in Arthur Street. How long did it take the county council to install a traffic bollard on the newly created island at the Windsor Way junction? I made countless requests. Did anyone seek to have this island installed or was it another money wasting exercise? This area is well within Eric Neal’s council ward.
Mr Glass also has a point with regard to parking.
The arrangements since decriminalised parking was introduced here are again farcical.
The point that I would make is that too many people get away with too much. The town centre is frequently brought to a near standstill by inconsiderate parkers. People who think that they have the right to leave their vehicles wherever they think is best for them.
If the same scenario were enacted in any of the surrounding towns tickets would be hard to ignore. Just try it in: Guildford, Camberley, Farnham or Woking. Then you would have a complaint. They are all in Surrey, do we need to take a lesson here?
We have here parking regulations that require enforcement until 10pm. There is at the moment no chance of that here which is a pity as some of the fines imposed and collected might be a way of paying for the damage caused to the infrastructure.
Reintroduction of Aldershot Borough Council? Not sure it could be made to work in today’s climate but we would certainly be no worse off.
Roger Watkins, Friend Avenue, Aldershot
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'As Eric Neal is the county councillor who has taken on board the responsibility for all of this, I would urge the electorate to depose him at the first available opportunity. If it helps, I will stand as a candidate against s him'
Result of the recent County Election:-
BOWERS Paul Allen Liberal Democrat 614 NEAL Eric The Conservative Party Candidate 1419 ELECTED ROBERTS Mike The Labour Party Candidate 1088 SANDY Peter Independent 700 WATKINS Roger 130 ........................ No more needs to be said Regards Cllr Eric Neal HCC Aldershot East
18/06/2009 at 16:40 Offensive or Inappropriate?
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