It WAS great to see so many people enjoying the new Riverside Park at Town Mills last week as I welcomed the Deputy Leader of Hampshire County Council. Rob Humby and the Local Enterprise Partnership’s Head of Infrastructure, Kevin Travers to Andover to celebrate its completion.

A real collaboration between both organisations and Test Valley Borough Council under the umbrella of the Andover Vision. By showing them the fruits of our collective labour, I’m sure that the success at Town Mills will add further momentum to our ongoing conversations about the delivery of the wider masterplan. Further enhancing the river corridor and redeveloping the Chantry Centre.

A key element of the masterplan is also the proposed extension to Vigo Rec. Which I want to encourage people to enjoy, perhaps more frequently than they do currently. To that end, we have recently launched a consultation to understand how Vigo Park is being used now and what would attract you to use it more frequently. Over the next few months, we’ll be engaging with clubs, schools, community groups and disability forums to help gain views ahead of forming a management plan and possible additions to the site. Please have your say at: www.testvalley.gov.uk/vigosurvey2021.

Finally, my grateful thanks go to the doctors, nurses, surgery staff and many volunteers who are continuing to work flat out delivering the vaccination programme. At the time of writing over 77 per cent of Test Valley residents have now received their first jab and crucially, over 53 per cent are now fully vaccinated. Whilst there is concern about the Indian variant, the vaccinations are working. There have been no hospital admissions over the last 7-days and no deaths. Actually, according to the government website, there hasn’t been a death in Test Valley within 28-days of a positive test since the March 7. Although the decision on implementing the next phase of roadmap to recovery has not yet been made, the key – even if there is a short delay - is to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible. Please do encourage everyone you know who is not yet vaccinated to get the jab when they get the call.