On the move...

As some of you may know I was elected (unopposed) at the recent local elections to Totton Town Councillor.

In order to keep everything in one place, I have set up a Facebook page, which you can find here:

https://www.facebook.com/davehills.totton/

101 does work!

I keep hearing people say that they didn't bother calling Police on 101 to report an incident because "they don't do anything".

Well, I called 101 a few days back to report a "suspicious incident".

Received a voicemail the following day to say the neighbourhood team had been informed, sadly no one was found, but patrols would be altered to cover the area in question for a while. Maybe they'll come across the scallywags another evening and catch them red handed - I hope so. Personally, I couldn't really ask for more from the Police - what else could they do under the circumstances?

The police *do* listen and *do* take action but can only do so if we report it. I think maybe they fall down a little on keeping the public up to date. I can see why this isn't top priority for them, given their workloads, but I know how frustrating it is for us, the public.

Why Don't We Win Eurovision?

So, the UK has picked yet another another naff song as our entry for the Eurovision Song Contest. Is it any surprise we never win? Why on earth don't we pick a better song and bring the trophy back home?

Truth is, the BBC does not want to win!

It costs something like £40m to host the ESC, money which the BBC cant afford. This is in addition to the money we already pay to be in the European Broadcasting Union and the extra fees we pay to get an automatic place in the final. 

Azerbijan shelled out £47m on hosting after their victory in 2011. The plan was that it'd help their tourist industry but once the dust settled they realised it had only brought in an additional £7m.

If the UK won then they'd have to go cap-in-hand to the government and ask it for a hand out. There'd be uproar when there are so many good causes hard up for cash. The result is the Beeb are always entering OK-but-a-bit-rubbish songs because we want to lose but not make it obvious that we're throwing the race!

Many people believe we do poorly because the rest of Europe hates us. Just look at our choice of entries over recent years and you'll realise our neighbours have probably got it spot on.

I mean, if the EU nations *really* wanted to screw us over, all they'd have to do is vote for us to win the European Song Contest!

New Industrial Estate for Calmore

Plans have been submitted for a new Industrial Park in Calmore:

Nestled between the AFC Totton stadium and The Little Testwood Farm caravan site, the development would comprise six units.

The proposal is for a mixture of business, general industrial, storage and trade counter units.

It's not known at this stage when a final decision will be made. Whilst it will mean an increase in traffic on that bit of the A36, it's an unattractive site and it's thought it could create more than 50 new jobs for the local area.

Aerial view of proposed site:

Planning reference is: 18/11691

Tank Traps at Testwood

Wandering about the other day and I came across these "Dragon's Teeth" near Testwood lakes, next to one of the bridges:

It struck me as an unusual place to install these things? Perhaps they were expecting invading Nazi troops to make their way up the River Test under the cover of darkness and unload their equipment inland, thus avoiding costal defences?

Does anyone know of any other WW2 relics in the Totton area? Let me know in the comments section below.

Testwood School is GOOD!

Testwood School in Totton have just released the results of their latest OFSTED inspection and were judged to be GOOD.

Congratulations to pupils, staff, parents and of course Headteacher Mrs Pitman!

You can find the report, and previous ones here: 

https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/23/137315

Anti Crime Meeting TONIGHT!

The Totton Anti Crime meeting is being held tonight at 7pm.

I'll see you there!

Rock Challenge NOT Cancelled (hopefully!)

There's a story in the local press and rumours circulating online suggesting that Southampton Rock Challenge has been cancelled!

Link to story:
https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/17411692.rock-challenge-cancelled-in-southampton

It would be a huge shame if the show were cancelled as having been to a couple of the shows the amount of effort the kids put in is incredible! The performances ooze professionalism and it's a really important part of the calendar for many schools.

Concerned, I made contact with the Rock Challenge people; they are due to make an official statement sometime later today.

It seems that BYB Foundation, the charity that paid for events,  has gone into administration, hence the story in the Echo.

Currently, there are NO PLANS to postpone or cancel the Southampton event and staff are doing everything humanly possible to ensure events go ahead.

Rock Challenge is comprised of two separate companies and work is frantically going on to move contracts between the two companies.

While the transfer of contracts takes place the O2 Guildhall has temporarily suspended the sale of tickets. Once this is done tickets will go back on sale. Existing tickets will still be valid.

Tell your kids to keep rehearsing! It seems the show will go on!

Anti Crime Meeting

Just a reminder of the Crime Meeting that is taking place at AFC Totton on 7th February at 7pm, which has been organised by Cllr Churn and Cllr Penman.

Please come along!

Nat West to be Demolished

It seems the Nat West building in Totton is scheduled to be demolished in the near future. 

The building has remained empty since Nat West moved out in 2017, blaming a dangerous roof. When asked, Nat West didn't really give an answer as to when (if?) the branch would re-open, before finally confirming the closure was permanent in late 2018.


Since closing, the building has been covered in scaffolding, but this was removed early 2019. A quick check of the NFDC planning website revealed a plan to demolish the building altogether.

There is no news as to what is destined to replace it. Interestingly, I asked the question on Facebook as to what people would like to see in it's place..."a bank" was a popular answer!

It's disappointing that Nat West don't see Totton as important enough to have a branch. Whilst online banking is increasingly popular, some people still want to do their banking at a local branch . It's not the most attractive building so it's re-assuring that the owners of the site aren't going to leave the building empty. Hopefully they'll build something in its place that the public want and that will create employment opportunities for local people. 

To view the application in more detail go to: http://planning.newforest.gov.uk/online-applications/ and search for "Nat West".