Motoring

Winchester Councillors Report

11 o’clock 11th November

New Alresford remembered with a one minute’s silence, the moment that the guns fells silent in 1918 in a moving ceremony on Friday attended by many including us. The traffic was halted and the British Legion flags lowered at the top of Broad Street to honour the dead of two world wars. George Skayman, ex- Royal Anglian Regiment gave a fine rendition of the last post. And then normal life, traffic and everyday noise started again.

May we wish you a Happy Christmas and a Better 2023.

After the appalling events of 2022, and the continuing pressure not only our pockets but also the safety of others across the world from extreme weather events and extreme regimes we must be grateful to live in a democracy where disagreement results in an election rather than jail or worse.

Whilst out canvassing in a small village in the ward, I fell into a conversation with two residents. I was somewhat surprised when the gentleman told me, with a certain amount of pride, that he always spoilt his ballot paper by writing ‘none of the above’ under the list of candidates. This peaceful village in rural Hampshire lies but 1500 miles from where a brutal and bloody war is raging from where the free Ukrainian nation is, amongst other things fighting for the right to go to the polls and make a choice of candidates. You can of course just accept the Putin way of doing politics, where the ballot choice is done for you, as in the referendum in Luhansk where 99.2% voted to join Russia. I would urge all to read manifestos, to listen to the arguments of candidates, read the literature and cast your vote intelligently, be it for city councillors or parliamentary candidates. Don’t forget if you are new to the area or have just had your 18th birthday to register to vote. Elections in this area can be very close run affairs, so your vote really can matter. As Joni Mitchell so memorably sang, “you don’t know what you have got, until it is gone!” Thank you to all those that are able to support others in need, locally nationally and globally.

To turn to more local matters we are refreshing the Council Plan which sets five priorities

• Tackling the Climate emergency • Living well • Homes for all • Vibrant local economy • Your services, your voice Progress has been made on all of these and our latest residents’ survey shows that these remain the priorities that most wish us to concentrate on.

££££, less of it!

Draconian action is necessary to address the shortfalls resulting from inflationary pressures, for councils as for you. The scenario is ever changing and when a lack of clarity on government funding is taken into account we were looking at potential deficits as below.

We have authorised work which addresses the short-term deficits, further work is in hand to address later challenges.

It is no easy matter to balance the books and also make the improvements that the district needs and invest in efficient working at a time of chaotic central Government financial mismanagement and total lack of direction. Developing solutions to several different scenarios consumes much officer and councillor time.

Budget Shortfall (Base case) £m

-1.185

-1.728

-3.451

-4.133

-5.391 Year

2022/23

2023/24

2024/25

2025/26

2026/27

Digital working

The largest item on the council budget is staffing costs, so we are constantly working on ways of improving efficiency, We would encourage people reporting problems to use the WCC website or the app ‘Your Winchester’ rather than telephoning, and to do what they can online, freeing the very necessary face to face resources for those that are marginalised in so many ways nowadays.

878 AD

A slightly more light hearted matter: The WCC has invested money into a real life exhibition centre for the on-line game ‘878 AD,’ part of the Assassins Creed. The exhibition is held in the Brook Centre and includes live actors, real artifacts, and video displays. There is an app that can be loaded into mobiles and allows a tour of AngloSaxon sites in the city, with images of the past. The development and production of on-line games is a huge industry in this country, making a £2.2 billion contribution to the GDP. This is about the same as the British film industry. The exhibition will be a tourist attraction and will make our ancient city much better known across the world. The game has to do with King Alfred defeating the Vikings. No doubt your children and grand-children can tell you a great deal more about this popular game. Quite handy to have them along on your to sort out the app.

Margot Power 01962 734167

Russell Gordon -Smith 01962 733219 rgordon-smith@ winchester.gov.uk

Visit Winchester’s catacombs today! Community Information Volunteers

This year, the charity “Cards for Good Causes” will be selling its Christmas cards from the former bike hub premises on the lower level of the carpark under the Brooks Shopping Centre. Yes, this subterranean cavern does exist; if you want a pop-up shop for free, you’re never going to get a prime location. Do please make an extra effort, and explore somewhere you may never have visited before. Emulate Jules Verne and drop down into the centre of the earth one day this month.

Cathy Wallis and her team will be really pleased to welcome you and you may actually find the very cards you’ve been after.

Vernon Tottle

Curtis Museum & Allen Gallery

Allen Gallery As part of its National Lottery Heritage funded redevelopment project, the Allen Gallery in Alton is delighted to be starting work to catalogue its highly important collection of ceramics, as well as the artworks of William Herbert Allen, many of which are still in storage. The project team are seeking assistance to catalogue and research some 3000 objects at the gallery, plus the additional artefacts in the Hampshire Cultural Trust archives. These are activities that can be done either from home or at the gallery on a flexible basis. If you, or your friends or family, would be interested in helping with this project of national significance, please get in touch at the email address below.

Please contact Allen.gallery@ hampshireculturaltrust.org.uk or ring 01420 82802 for more information on how to volunteer for the collections work, or to register for activities.

Christmas at The Allen The Gallery will also be putting on fun creative activities for all the family over the Christmas period: Saturday 10th and Tuesday 21st December, print-making workshop inspired by the ceramics collection (all ages); Saturday 17th December, children's toy-making workshop; Tuesday 20th, Make & Take - children's seasonal crafts. Enquiries to 01420 80802 or email as above.

Exhibition Echoes of Iceland the exhibition of textile pieces inspired by Icelandic scenery and traditions continues until 15th January 2023. FREE entry.

Talks sponsored by the Friends of the Curtis Museum & Allen Gallery (No talk in December or January.) How Safe are our Medicines? From Curtis to Covid by John Taylor. 9th February 2023, 7.30pm FREE, donations welcome. G F Watts: England’s Michelangelo, A talk by Jane Turner. 9th March 2023, 7.30pm FREE, donations welcome

Christmas At The Curtis Museum We sell an attractive range of books, souvenirs and toys. Why not pop in and bag a few stocking-fillers. There will be a Yuletide trail to follow from 18th November into the New Year.

Alton Papers No. 26 in this occasional series is at the printers – it should be available before Christmas. Items in this issue include The Gold Family of Chawton by Violet Hunt Did Victorian Altonians move around? by Steve Millar - 3 and 5 High Street, Alton by Jane Hurst. The Donkey Ladies by Ken White. Alton Papers are available from the Curtis Museum, priced £3.

Opening Times - Tuesday to Sunday - Curtis 10am – 4.30pm. Allen 10.30 – 4pm www.hampshireculture.org.uk/curtismuseum www.hampshireculture.org.uk/allen-gallery Tel: 01420 82802) Age Concern Hampshire’s Community Information Volunteers (previously known as Village Agents), help people – and their family, friends and carers – find the information and support they need to stay living safely and independently.

• Find – Provide information on a range of topics, such as finding help to manage around the home, social activities locally or what government help someone may be eligible for. • Help – Get to know the local charities and support groups working in the area and can help put people in touch with the right help at the right time. • Connect – Provide a bit of tailored support to help a person to get connected to the service they need. This may be making a phone call, filling in a form on their behalf of making first introductions to a group.

Examples include: reviewing benefit eligibility; completing forms, such as Attendance Allowance and Blue Badge; locating tradespeople for your home and garden; finding transport; signposting to home services, such as cleaners and meal delivery, and much more.

You can contact Denise, Alresford’s Community Information Volunteer, on 07969 376023 or enquiries@ ageconcernhampshire.org.uk