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Housing Latest News

Martin Tod backs residents of council sheltered housing wanting warmer homes

Liberal Democrat Prospective MP, Martin Tod, has backed residents of Danemark Court wanting action on heating.

Discussing heating at Danemark Court
Martin Tod discusses the heating problems at Danemark Court with Mrs Esme Lipsham

During the cold period, elderly residents suffered as the boiler at the city council-run Danemark Court sheltered housing complex couldn’t keep up with the job of keeping people warm. Elderly tenants in their 80s and 90s were forced to use electric heaters running up extra bills of hundreds of pounds.  Some were unable to have hot baths or showers.

The council has now said that the boilers will be replaced.

Mr Tod met Mrs Esme Lipsham, 89, who has been organising the campaign to get better heating.

After meeting Mrs Lipsham, Mr Tod commented:

“The residents of Danemark Court are owed an apology.  I’m shocked at how they have been treated.  The City Council has let people down.”

“Since the new communal boilers were installed, central heating for the building just hasn’t been good enough, especially for people whose flats which are furthest from the boiler. Despite what has been said by councillors defending what has happened, switching on the immersion heater isn’t enough to keep the flats warm.”

“Some people have run up extra electricity bills of hundreds of pounds to keep extra electric heaters on so that they stay warm.  The council has promised to pay back the difference, but it’s still very worrying for people with small pensions.”

“One thing that rightly annoys the tenants is that they’ve still not seen councillors or senior council management come along to apologise and explain what’s going to happen.  It’s time for them to stop hiding in their offices and go along to face the music.”

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Economy Latest News

Vince Cable visits Alresford

Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, visited Alresford on Monday, March 8, to meet local businesses.

Vince Cable visits Alresford
Vince Cable and Martin Tod meet John Sole of Sole Butchers. (Photo: Alick Cotterill)

Accompanied by Liberal Democrat Prospective MP for Winchester, Martin Tod, Mr Cable visited the Alresford Gift Shop, both the town’s butchers – C.E. Evans & Son and Sole Butchers, the Alresford Builders Merchants and the Alresford Cobbler before finishing with a cup of coffee in Caracoli.

Mr Cable visited the town after speaking at a conference on the “Hampshire’s Road to Recovery” held at Intech.

Martin Tod commented:

It was great that Vince had the chance to meet local businesses and hear about how the recession has impacted them and also about the treatment they’ve been getting from the banks. Because we’re a relatively prosperous part of the country, some people assume that we’ve been unaffected, but that certainly isn’t the case for everyone. It’s vital that we get economic policy right if we are not to be thrown back into a deeper recession.”

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Martin Tod backs NUS campaign against higher top-up fees

Winchester Prospective MP, Martin Tod, has signed up to support the National Union of Students (NUS) campaign Funding Our Future campaign. The campaign believes that the education funding system is too complicated to be helpful to students. Instead, the NUS are proposing a single, simple student finance support system that can be a central distribution mechanism for all finance questions and solutions.

Best pics from Freshers Fayre

The Government launched a review of higher education funding on 9 November 2009 which is expected to announce top-up fees of up to £10,000, an increase that both the Liberal Democrats and the NUS are vigorously against.

Commenting, Martin Tod said:

“Everyone who has the ability and desire to go to university should be able to, and the price of study should not be a hindrance.

“The Liberal Democrats have strongly opposed top-up fees and want to phase out tuition fees. We are strongly opposed to any increase. The Government should not be saddling students with even more debt. Instead we need one simple, centralised system of student finance that increases accessibility to further education, rather than acting as a further barrier to it.

“Higher education funding must be based on fairness and access to all, and I am therefore delighted to support the NUS campaign.”

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Winchester unemployment up again – with record high levels of long-term unemployed

The number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance in the Winchester district rose again in January 2010 by 78 to 1,283 – the highest figure since August 2009 and the second highest figure since February 1997. This more than reversed the decline in December 2009.

The level of unemployment amongst the under 25s remained higher than any other age-group, although the increase in unemployment came mostly from people in their 40s and 50s.

The number of long-term unemployed (i.e. those claiming JSA for more than 12 months) rose 20 to 110, more than twice the level in December 2008 – and the highest figure since July 1999.

Martin Tod, Liberal Democrat Prospective MP for Winchester, commented:

“We’re not out of the woods yet. Although the unemployment figures were good for December, they’ve got worse in January.  There’s still a worryingly high level of unemployment amongst the young, and worrying increases amongst people in their 40s and 50s. It’s also a concern that increasing numbers of people have been unemployed for more than a year. The recovery is still very weak and there’s a real possibility that we could go back into recession. The last thing we need is a slash and burn approach to public spending, or we could end up seeing a bad situation get even worse.”

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Latest News

Winchester Lib Dem Prospective MP backs wind turbine plans

Liberal Democrat Prospective MP for Winchester, Martin Tod, has backed proposals for 3 wind turbines to power a local nursery business outside Crawley near Winchester.

Derek Taylor & Martin Tod discuss wind turbines
Martin Tod near the site of the proposed turbine with Derek Taylor, who is applying to build the three turbines.

Local business, Kirton Farm Nurseries, on the Stockbridge Road near Crawley, is home of the Hairy Pot Plant Company, which provides eco friendly, sustainable and ethically produced cottage garden plants and herbs grown in hairy coir pots to individual businesses across much of the south of England.

Commenting on the plans, Martin Tod, said:

The draft plans are excellent. I wish some of the ones we saw for buildings in the city were as good.  It’s a brilliant location with lots of wind and is barely visible to nearby residents.  This is exactly the kind of countryside innovation we should be supporting.  The Winchester district has one of the higher carbon footprints of any area in the UK and we need to be taking a lead with this kind of initiative.

Details of the plans are available online at http://www.kirtonfarm.co.uk/