Annual Parish Assembly: a meeting of the electors of the parish, chaired by the Chairman of Ampfield Parish Council

Reports from Ampfield Parish Council are on the Spring Newsletter which will be delivered to residents of the parish during early May.

Hampshire County Councillor’s Baddesley Division Report 2023/24

Hampshire County Council tax will increase this year by just under 5%, raising the band “D” Council tax to £1,460.25 which is an increase of £69.45.

All councillors know the system of local government finance is broken and has been for a very long time; caused by cuts to government grants since 2010 and largely unfunded social care pressures. Pressures which have been exacerbated by post-covid demand across children and adult services.

Those services which still survive today are continually getting worse each year.

There will be a further £700K of cuts to Voluntary Organisations in Hampshire. This will have significant consequences; volunteers are the essential component that have kept many services available to residents.

Unless the upper tier Councils receive more government funding next year Hampshire County Council will not be sustainable. The Government have treated Hampshire very badly indeed.

The latest impact on families who are just about managing ,is the further increase in the cost of school dinners. Many families are families are really struggling to make ends meet with the cost of living crisis.

Despite the above, in the parish of Ampfield I have achieved work to be carried out on the highway of the A3090 through the Operation Resilience programme. The Ampfield care home developers have also assisted by financing the new “lighting scheme“ on the Baddesley Road, this has now been started and should be completed this year.

All areas of Hampshire have suffered potholes and Hampshire’s Highway’s Department have received a large amount of complaints about damage to vehicles. Getting them repaired is a lottery, as there are so many, but I have worked tirelessly to get them fixed within the Baddesley Division.

HCC Cllr Alan Dowden

Baddesley Division