10:01am Thursday 25th June 2009
A SPECIAL meeting called by Andover Councillors’ Forum attracted only 15 members of the public to the Guildhall on Wednesday evening.
Forum chairman, Cllr David Drew, said: “I was pleased that we covered all the main points during the meeting but was disappointed that only 15 people turned up.
“If Andover wants a town council we need to have far more enthusiasm shown by the public.
“It is very important that everyone in Andover who has a view returns their ballot paper.”
The campaign in favour of the proposal urged Andoverians yet to return their questionnaires to get them back to Test Valley Borough Council in the reply-paid envelope by the June 30 deadline on Tuesday.
At the Guildhall the borough council came under fire for making the questionnaire more complicated than a simple yes-no answer.
“Some older people could not understand the forms – and it could be open to challenge,” said Michael Mumford.
“This is about Andover as a community and a place where people take pride in the town.”
He added that a new town council would ‘better off’ if it attracted people who had had nothing to do with politics before.
But council officers said there was a requirement to look at other options as part of the community governance review.
Sarah Evans, who is a leading campaigner for a town council, said that attending a recent meeting of the Test Valley Association of Local Councils had been enlightening.
“It was a real eye-opener hearing TVBC officers asking parish councils to fill in forms to help them find funding for new facilities from Section 106 ‘planning gifts’ and seeking views on future housing development, when Test Valley’s biggest town does not get asked,” she said.
The borough council will agree its proposals for publication by 31 July and the matter will go out to further consultation between 10 August and 10 October.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/trade_directory/