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Pavements Trip to the Shops Winchester

Trip to the Shops – progress

Encouraging news from the Hampshire Chronicle about the County Council’s response to pressure from our Trip to the Shops campaign and local residents about the state of Winchester’s pavements:

Why a trip to the shops may be a thing of the past

Pledge to spend £2m on pavement repairs

HIGH street pavements in Winchester are in line to be replaced at a cost of £2m, city chiefs announced this week.

The move will delight the many residents and visitors who have endured and complained about the city’s own version of crazy paving’ which, in some cases, has led to people tripping on the uneven surfaces.

We’ve been campaigning hard on this since last year (see reports here). It’s good to see progress, although I know from local residents that there’s a lot of work needed outside the city centre – and I know from personal experience that we will continue to have problems until there is tougher supervision of contractors by the County Council and better control of overweight lorries and trucks being allowed to drive over high street flag stones.

We’re going to keep up the pressure until all the problem areas have been tackled.

You can still report problems on our ‘trip to the shops’ campaign website.

My biggest memory of the first day collecting signatures in the High Street back last December was getting signatures from a troupe of local morris dancers!

Martin Tod collects Trip to the Shops signatures from Christmas Clog Morris Dancers in Winchester High Street

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Pavements Trip to the Shops

Result…

Tackling the pavements outside Lloyds Bank

At last! The ludicrous state of the pavements outside Lloyds Bank is finally being tackled.

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Pavements Trip to the Shops

Trip to the Shops

Martin Tod collects Trip to the Shops signatures from Christmas Clog Morris Dancers in Winchester High Street
David Spender collecting signatures for the Trip to the Shops campaign in Winchester High StreetCharlotte Bailey collecting signatures for the Trip to the Shops campaign in Winchester High StreetKelsie Learney collecting signatures for the Trip to the Shops campaign in Winchester High Street

We got off a great start this Saturday with a large number of people signing our Trip to the Shops petition about the state of Winchester’s pavements, including this group of Morris Men (Christmas Clog) who were collecting funds for Naomi House. Presumably you’re even more likely to trip in the centre of Winchester if you’re dancing rather than walking…

What was most concerning was the number of people who told us they, or a close relative, had needed medical care following a fall on Winchester streets. There was a particularly lethal trip hazard by some cable covers next to Barclays which we reported as a top priority.

There’s a webpage that lets you report trip hazards and similar problems on the Hampshire County Council website.

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Dean Garnier Pavements

Gardens and pavements

I needed a break from working on leaflets and websites, and Michaela wanted a break as well, and so we decided to pop into Winchester to take a look at Dean Garnier’s garden in the cathedral close.

As well as being a campaigner for a sewage system in Winchester, Dean Garnier was a founding member of the Hampshire Horticultural Society.

Dean Garnier's GardenDean Garnier's GardenDean Garnier's Garden

After a very pleasant half-hour taking a few photographs and looking at the plants, we decanted to the cathedral refectory for coffees and conversation (and, in my case, a homemade sticky bun).

On the way back, I’m afraid to say that my political instincts took over. Several local people had mentioned to me the poor maintenance by the County Council of the paving stones in the centre of Winchester, and the campaign being run by the local party on the issue, so I couldn’t resist the temptation to go and see for myself.

Cracked Paving StoneCracked Paving Stone

Yet another area where the Conservative-run County Council is badly letting down local people.