EVE COLES

Dear Elector,

Once again I ask for your vote in the forthcoming District Elections. I have been pleased to serve you these past 13 years and sincerely wish to continue to do so.

I share your very serious concerns and worries about the big lorries coming through the town, affecting both our health and safety as well as damaging our roads and buildings. Some years ago I asked WODC to install equipment in Horsefair to measure and record the air quality there. This they promptly did. Readings show we have the highest level of Nitrogen Dioxide in West Oxon – 50% above the government’s ‘ceiling’. As a result of this, the town centre is now officially an Air Quality Management Area with our County and District Councils obliged to produce a joint Action Plan. The plan is now being put in place but, despite my efforts, progress is slow.

I have strongly stressed our need for an alternative lorry route to Evesham to all councils, groups and media. We do not need a by-pass as this would affect trade, shops would close and we would move even faster towards becoming a dormitory or commuter town. Oxfordshire County Council agreed 18 months ago to an advisory lorry route from Oxford to Evesham. There are still no Oxfordshire road signs to re-direct the lorries away from the A44, despite a sizeable reduction of lorries coming from Evesham soon after Gloucestershire County Council put their signs up. I continue to nag away…

I have been a very busy member of both the Hospital Action Group (HAG) and the Healthcare Users’ Group (HUG) these past 3 years however, we still have some important questions to be answered about our proposed new hospital, healthcare complex and care-home.

We are seeing Council savings (cuts) all around us. On a simple level, we all know about the town’s blocked drains. The County Council used to regularly clean them all but now we report and identify each blocked overflowing drain to be cleaned.

All the recent housing in the town, especially the present ‘infilling’ where every little bit of land usually gets planning permission to squeeze in many houses or flats puts extra strain on our old drains. Strain also on our schools, doctors, hospital, recreation, home carers… I could go on and on. With more council tax payers now living here we need to invest in these services, not keep cutting them.

As a member of the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee concerned that commercial waste from pubs, restaurants, shops etc. usually went to landfill, I was pleased to be one of the 3 members on the WODC working party looking at the issue. We now have a scheme to recycle commercial waste.

After a long battle with WODC on behalf of the Town Council and trades people, I am pleased that we are to get our public toilets at the Town Hall refurbished at last. They are a disgrace.

We have an excellent One Stop Shop at the Guildhall, but we must push to get our proper Visitor Information Centre back there too.

Lack of leisure facilities in Chippy was the main reason I stood for election to WODC 13 years ago. I fought very hard for that Leisure Centre and intend to make it more available and affordable than at present to all ages and abilities. I am a keen supporter of Hailcorns and their wonderful Cornish Road Playground project.

Yours sincerely,