Oakmount Road Update!!!

At 9.30 this morning Oakmount Road appeared to be open as usual so I phoned the Council - Hampshire Highways - on 0300 555 1388 and was unable to get through to the people who are dealing with these roadworks, so I left my contact details so they could return my call.  They gave the Reference 21142287. 

Later, we had to go into Eastleigh to do some shopping and were confronted with this at the junction with Oakmount Avenue:

However, when we returned home it was raining and the road was open as usual and the Highways Department still haven't returned my call.

It would have helped if the Council had stated that they were intending to repair the road in segments and explain which parts would be closed and when.

Oakmount Road, Chandler's Ford Closure

Oakmount Road to be closed in its entirety from tomorrow

We have just discovered that Oakmount Road, Chandler's Ford is to be closed from tomorrow - Monday 16th February until Friday 20th February during the times specified above.

We have driven past this sign near the bottom of Oakmount Road and two others quite a few times but the only way I was able to discover what was on it was to park in front of it.  There are no signs on roads at their junctions with Oakmount Road, such as Hillcrest Avenue and Bodycoats Road, advising of this closure.  Thus I fear that many residents will be totally unaware that Oakmount Road will be closed.

This is what the Liberal Democrat run council says hidden away on its website:

BOROUGH OF EASTLEIGH 

ROAD TRAFFIC REGULATION ACT 1984 – SECTION 14 

TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF OAKMOUNT ROAD, CHANDLERS FORD 

By arrangements made under section 19 of the Local Government Act 2000 

with Hampshire County Council, notice is hereby given that Eastleigh Borough 

Council proposes to make a temporary closure order pursuant to the 

legislation above as the Council is satisfied that traffic on the road(s) below 

should be restricted because works are proposed to be executed on or near 

the road, the effect of which is detailed below.

Roads to be Closed:  (There is only one road to be closed)

Oakmount Road, from its junction with Leigh Road to its junction with 

Winchester Road 

Alternative Route: 

Leigh Road, Bournemouth Road, Winchester Road, and its reverse. 

Reason for Closure: 

To allow Hampshire County Council to carry out carriageway repairs 

Period of Closure: 

The order will be effective from 02 February 2015 for a period of 6 months; 

notwithstanding this it is expected that the closure will only be in place for a 

period of 4 days. The work will be completed in phases, during the spring half 

term and/or Easter school holiday. 

The closures specified above apply only during such times and to such extent 

as indicated by traffic signs prescribed by the Traffic Signs Regulations & 

General Directions 2002. 

DATED: 16 January 2015

(Any enquiries, please contact Hampshire Highways on 0300 555 or

email roads@hants.gov.uk)

I am very disappointed that the council has made so little attempt to advertise such an important road closure.

Mardi Gras - Shrove Tuesday

Last Saturday, 20th September, the LibDem run Eastleigh council celebrated Mardi Gras, which is the last day of the carnival that precedes Lent. Lent, of course, starts on Ash Wednesday, 44 days before Good Friday, and Mardi Gras is the French for Fat Tuesday.  To us it is better known as Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day.

Traditionally, households would use up their sweet and fatty food before starting the austerity of Lent - the ritual fasting, so they made pancakes, and there was often a carnival. 

This year Shrove Tuesday was on 6th March, but for the third year running Eastleigh Council have held this event on a Saturday in September.  Is this because 44 days later it is Hallowe'en?  

Hallowe'en, of course, has both Christian and Pagan connotations, the former being All Hallows Eve, 1st November being All Saints Day,  and the latter being a Celtic festival.  So the question is: have our LibDem Council deliberately shunned a Christian festival to link up with Hallowe'en, which could be considered Pagan?

Or are they just ignorant?  Do they just not know or care that Mardi Gras is Shrove Tuesday?  And do they not know when Shrove Tuesday is?  Or could this be a hint that Christianity has to be pushed to one side, and not ignorance at all?

A Confusing Letter

I received this letter from the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, Winchester the other day, and I am sure I can be forgiven for thinking that they thought I had asked for my appointment to be changed.

I telephoned them and was told that this is a standard letter and, in fact, the appointment had to be changed due to sickness: theirs, not mine! Why couldn't they have said so???  To me, the use of "we confirm" suggests that they thought there had already been contact between ourselves, and that could only have been my request for a change.

WH Smith with Post Office in Chandler's Ford

Here is the new WHSmith in Fryern Arcade, Chandler's Ford, which opened last Friday, and which now houses the Post Office.

Late opening post office till

At the moment it has no book section, although the manager says that one will be added very soon; and he mentioned another very useful facility: there will be an extra post office till alongside the shop's counter and which will be open all the time the shop itself is open, which could be as late as 7pm on weekdays, all day Saturdays, and even for a while on Sundays.

I particularly like the very comprehensive magazine section, which we have had nowhere in Chandler's Ford since Alldays closed about six years ago.  And since the demise of the bookshop it's good to know that we'll have the facility to order any books not carried in stock once more.

As for the old post office, in three weeks time a butcher's will be opening there, a welcome replacement for the one that used to be in The Mall on the opposite side of Winchester Road.

Don't Renew Your Driving Licence Online. It's not worth the hassle

I have just tried to renew my driving licence online and, judging from my experience, it's just not worth the hassle.  I thought I'd do it that way in order to save the postage and also because I thought it would be quicker.

But I couldn't have been more wrong!  The paper form has just a few questions to fill in - but I soon discovered that the online version goes on and on.  It even asks for my passport and National Insurance numbers, the former of which, of course, I had to look up.

And when I finally got to the end it THEN informed me that I would have to download "the application completion form" and post it to the DVLA.  So I was required in effect to complete the form twice - and with more information. And still post documents.

I had to take a break from the computer then as I was required to do something else.  When I got back I discovered that I had been logged out and couldn't download the form.  I tried to log in again but it wouldn't accept my password and it locked me out.  They had sent me an e-mail telling me to download the form, but I couldn't even log in via that.

So I ended up phoning DVLA and getting them to cancel my online application.  And I then took just a few minutes to complete the form they had sent me by post.

So don't be deceived by the DVLA.  They still insist on paper for driving licence renewals.  And it makes me wonder how many people will be stopped after October for allegedly driving without valid car tax even though they would have done it online.

Just one more thing: during the online rigmarole you are informed that you have to cut your (expiring) driving licence in two and return it to the DVLA because you are not allowed to have two driving licences!  But you won't have two because one is expiring.

By the way: the counterpart also has to be returned.

A Nice New Post Office - but a poor future for mail collection and delivery.

This is the new Post Office that will be opening in Fryern Arcade, Chandler's Ford a week today - on Friday 29th August - in a new branch of WH Smith, which is replacing the old bookshop and the dry cleaners. That sounds good, but what about the future of mail collection and delivery?

BUT THERE WILL BE NO POST OFFICE COUNTER SERVICE IN CHANDLER'S FORD ON THE MORNING OF FRIDAY 29th AUGUST. The new post office will open at 1pm having closed at the usual time of 5.30pm in the current location.

Many Chandler's Ford residents will remember when the post office was located in the building now occupied by the beauticians opposite the Co-op in Winchester Road.  At that time, of course, there was also a post office in Bournemouth Road. The Fryern post office was then located in Circle K/Sperrings at the top of Oakmount Road before moving to Fryern Arcade. And at that time the Bournemouth Road branch was closed.

WH Smith have incorporated many post office branches into their stores, so we should be grateful both that they are opening one of their branches in Fryern Arcade, and also that they are enabling the post office to continue to provide a counter service when they are reducing their mail collection and delivery.

The letter box at the top of Bodycoats Road now shows the following:

So the recently privatised Royal Mail could be collecting mail just once a day and as early as just after 9am! Thus next day delivery for most people will be a thing of the past.  And a new notice at the post office in Chandler's Ford says:

It used to be collected at 5.30pm. Now it is 20 minutes earlier.

Royal Mail have announced that these changes are taking place as a part of restructuring, to replace the collections currently being made after 4pm.  They now say that boxes will be emptied between 9am and 3pm to enable postmen to empty them as part of their daily rounds.

But the postmen are already very overstretched, our mail being delivered by a different postman virtually every day and any time between 9am and 4pm.  There is no consistency and we  get mail for several of our neighbours - bundled together, that is - pushed through our letter-box, presumably because the postman is too busy to deliver it himself.

And this happens nearly all the time.

This post contained confidential letters which, if opened by a criminal, could have been used for identity fraud.  I have complained to the post office and to individual postmen, some of whom hardly speak any English.  On of them just laughed at me and others said: "I'll see that mail is delivered correctly to you," but had no intention of doing so to our neighbours.  Royal Mail has a contractual obligation to deliver mail to the addressee and not leave it accessible to anyone else. 

The problem with  Royal Mail has been caused by the European Union who made the government open up all mail delivery to competition.  Other companies creamed off the most profitable parts, leaving Royal Mail to deliver to the door, both urban and rural.  The amount of mail sent has been falling fairly consistently due to e-mails, so it is more and more difficult for Royal Mail to make a profit.  the last straw was when the Coalition ill-advisedly privatised them.  

There is currently a legal requirement for Royal Mail to have post boxes within half a mile of 98% of homes, but they could still close tens of thousands of them.  And if they still can't make a profit it is inevitable that this law will be changed, so I can see the day not too far distant when the only way to send and receive mail will be to take it and collect to or from a branch of WH Smith.