We’ve received an email from an former Andover resident with family still here that makes interesting reading. Normally we don’t publish emails (and have no plans to) however this one stuck out.
As a generalisation there appears to be 3 groups within the town:
- Feel the council are doing a good job
- Feel the council are doing a poor job
- No feelings one way or the other
Are the council doing enough or not? Are the council doing things but just not telling us? Should residents and businesses be doing more? Should we as residents be doing things instead of relying on someone else to do it?
Please feel free to comment however please keep it constructive! All comments are moderated so it may take a while for yours to appear.
Carol’s Email
I am not sure if this is a forum for having our say or not as some of the links seem to have been broken (now fixed – Ed) but if there is a way of publishing what I have to say about Andover I would hope I would have something constructive to try and add in the hopes that the town council might stop their slow erosion of Andover’s original market town concept.
I moved to Andover in 1990 having returned from South Africa after seven years and we chose Andover because it was a market town with a market on Tuesdays and Saturdays which we came to enjoy very much. At that time it was a thriving place with the market stalls and many people coming into the town; farmers, people from neighbouring communities wishing to purchase fresh food from the stall holders.
By the time we left Andover in 2003 Andover was a shell of its former self with the demise of the market and the introduction of very stringent parking regulations and fees. If you notice the town hots up after 4pm these days when there is free parking but the council don’t get it.
The council have introduced no end of rules and regulations about parking, have increased the danger on our roads with their hideous traffic lanes and bollards where people now do not have the patience for anyone who happens to get into the wrong lane when trying to exit all the various roundabouts in Andover.
They have an old fashioned parking garage which I discovered has right hand driving in and out in it and which is so small for the large cars it has to accommodate that it is now a hazard to pedestrians coming and going from the site.
The local hospital has no parking garage and there is almost a riot there when people cannot get parking and when they do it is absolutely exorbitantly priced. Why hasn’t the council built any park and ride areas for Andover?
Why has it used hard earned tax money to buy concrete bollards (balls) from China and completely change the way the town center looks? Its hideous! There is little or no market anymore clearly because fees are high to be able to have a market there anymore and the council have made it difficult for them to be there.
It allowed inferior shopping services there like pound stores, too many charity shops and no real shops of any consequence where people could buy upscale products. We have a dirth of cheap clothing stores and generally the local council have done a poor job of promoting Andover within the business community.
People from Andover would rather drive out to Salisbury or Winchester or Basingstoke because they know they can get what they need or want in those places.
This town council are so rich they can pay themselves more in salaries than our Prime Minister earns and they don’t care that they are working for “us” the people of the area. They have become disrespectful to those around them when dealing with us and spending our money.
When will the people of Andover revolt in some way against these controlling councils? The fact they have also cut back on NeighborCare is another thorn to be borne by the people of Andover.
This service is primarily looking after those folks who cannot do things for themselves anymore, the elderly, disabled, etc. and yet they find they need to cut the amount they give.
If a vote went out to the people in Andover that cut would never have been made but instead it is done behind closed doors on our behalf and to our detriment.
I still have family living in Andover and they relied on the services of NeighborCare but now that will not be the case for them. This was a trusted charity where the elderly and disabled could go when they needed to have work done in their homes or assistance in their homes.
Now they will have to rely on finding respectable workers themselves which in today’s society in Andover it not so easy with the many con men there and people ready to use scare tactics on vulnerable people.
It makes me angry to see the demise of such a lovely market town and I wish Andoverians would have a demonstration or something to voice their distaste for their council.
Sincerely,
Carol Frayne
