Golden
Houndshake (8th August 2003)
The inaugural Mid Hampshire Observer charity greyhound race was
held on Saturday (2/8/03). Six dogs competed over 610 metres to
win the coveted Mid Hampshire Observer Trophy and to raise money
for the Rowans Hospice.
‘Pure Port’ wearing the navy blue and white livery of
the number two dog romped home three lengths clear.
Happily, most of the Mid Hampshire Observer’s entourage had
piled their cash on her and there was a tangible air of celebration
in the winner’s enclosure at the Portsmouth Greyhound Stadium.
Jez Walder The Mid Hampshire Observer’s Managing Director presented
the magnificent glass trophy to Pure Port’s owners the Top
Brass Syndicate.
“The race night was a marvellous success” said Ali Clark
Community Fundraiser for the Rowans Hospice “we raised over
£2,000 and that will go directly towards caring for the terminally
ill.”
The overall sponsor and organiser of the race night was Bob Jenkins
of Intercash Bureau de Change. “I’d like to say a big
thankyou to all the individuals and companies who sponsored races
and gave up their time to help us raise money for this good cause”
said Mr. Jenkins.
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More Mast Madness (8th
August 2003)
Phone mast campaigners are alarmed at the growing number of mast
applications by Airwave mmO2, who are installing a new communications
network for the police.
The system employs the highly controversial TETRA (Terrestrial trunk
radio) technology, which is being imposed on police authorities
by the Home Office. Doubt has been cast on the safety of the system
by a number of experts who fear that the police themselves are being
put at risk as well as members of the public living within range
of the masts.
In September 2001, the Trower Report to the Police Federation warned
against the implementation of the system until more research had
been carried out. Since its introduction in Lancashire, 177 police
officers have reported a number of symptoms, including headaches,
migraine, nausea and sleep deprivation.
Communities fear adverse health effects from the masts themselves
but councils are being put under considerable pressure to allow
applications because they are for the police. In spite of recent
refusals in Chichester and Kings Worthy and ongoing battles with
concerned residents in Kings Somborne, campaigners fear that the
Airwave description of base stations as “radio” masts
is misleading some councils into thinking that they are safer than
“phone” masts.
Byron Avenue campaigner, Karen Barratt was shocked to read, last
week, of approval for two Airwave masts in Eastleigh. “Eastleigh
House is directly opposite the Church of the Resurrection, which
is being converted into flats,” she said. “Are the developers
going to inform future residents? If an individual sells a property
they are legally obliged to tell the purchaser if there are phone
masts nearby.”
Even more worrying is the estimated fifty per cent of masts nationwide
that are bypassing the planning process altogether. These include
antennae on existing structures, those on church property and on
Network Rail land. Finally, there are grounds for believing that
the category described as “licence notification”, which
enables an upgrade of existing equipment, is being abused. The Airwave
mmO2 installation on the Police HQ in Winchester started out at
the end of last year as a planning application with a promise of
public consultation. Over the Christmas period it was mysteriously
redefined as a licence notification which was given the go-ahead
in January, this year, with no publicity at all.
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Bling Bling (8th August
2003)
This week sees the start of a series of exhibits at the Guildhall
that will reveal some of the City’s priceless civic collection.
The first display, which opened this week, is of the civic sword,
presented to the City by Councillors Eric and Dilys Neate to mark
their 25th wedding anniversary in 1956. It is shown alongside the
full-size, colour design drawing by A G Styles which has recently
been acquired by the City.
Every six months a different treasure will be put on show in the
display case, which is located at the end of the corridor to the
right of the Guildhall reception desk, just outside the gallery.
Many of the items in the Civic Collection were donated by, or associated
with, particular Mayors, and so each display will feature a few
treasures plus information about the relevant Mayor. Dilys Neate
was Mayor in 1961-62.
Portfolio
Cllr Therese Evans, the City Council’s Portfolio Holder for
Community Services, said she was delighted that the Council now
has the facilities to display elements of its fine civic collection.
“The display case was purchased with lottery funding for the
display of Winchester Treasure, and it is really fitting that it
should continue to be used to show our other treasures and increase
public access to Winchester’s heritage. I am sure the citizens
of Winchester and visitors will be very interested in our civic
sword over the next six months,” she added.
Gold
Next year, both the sword and the design drawing will be part of
an important retrospective exhibition of the work of Garrard’s
- the royal jewellers, goldsmiths and silversmiths - which will
take place at Somerset House in London.
The display can be viewed during normal Guildhall opening hours.
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Access for All at King Alfred’s
(8th August 2003)
Jennifer Emmanuelli, a wheelchair-user from Bath, graduated from
King Alfred’s College, Winchester last week with a 2:1 degree
in American Studies with Media and Film Studies.
Jennifer is one of the college’s many disabled students and
King Alfred’s used the occasion to highlight its successful
record on access and equal opportunities for all.
Jennifer was effusive in her praise of King Alfred’s, its facilities
and the positive attitudes of the faculty and students towards access
and equal opportunities.
The college takes its commitment to disabled students seriously;
each student is provided with a Learning Agreement, which is aimed
at assessing and determining their individual needs.
The college admits students with a wide range of disabilities, including
sensory impairment, mobility difficulties and ‘hidden’
conditions including diabetes and asthma. King Alfred’s provides
these students with extensive facilities to ensure full integration.
These include full support with accommodation, IT, student services
and arrangements pertaining to exams.
King Alfred’s sees the learning agreement as the central tenet
of its response to the Disability Discrimination Act; the cornerstone
of British anti-discrimination legislation. Last year the college
admitted 361 students who declared a disability, across a wide spectrum
of academic disciplines, including humanities, sciences, performing
arts, social sciences, business and applied social studies.
By Tom Lacey
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Baker Street (16th August 2003)
Ecological warrior ‘King Arthur’ held up traffic in Winchester
on Friday (15/8/03). He sat in the road and burnt cakes in a ceremony
designed to invoke the assistance of King Alfred and the old gods
in the battle against ‘the corruptness of Hampshire County
Council.’
The demonstration was a further protest against the building of
a Park and Ride car park on the Bar End meadows.
These meadows were given to the people of Winchester to make up
for the fact that Twyford Down had a motorway built through it.
The protesters say that this promise should have made the meadows
sacrosanct.
So, after Arthur, accompanied by Mike Edmonstone, dressed as a ‘corrupt
monster,’ and Paul Grove, self appointed ‘guardian of
the meadow,’ had asked for help from the gods, he sat down
and burnt some cakes.
This is in the spirit of King Alfred. the burnt offerings were snapped
up by lurking youths, and it was all fun and games until Arthur
and his mob decided to sit and block the traffic.
On a sweltering hot day this did not go down well with the drivers.
Perhaps they were wishing they had used the Park and Ride. It was
not long before the police turned up, arresting Arthur for obstructing
a public highway, and carrying an offensive weapon.
According to some of his companions, Arthur has special dispensation
to carry this sword in public. It would seem that Mr Pendragon is
no stranger to being arrested. he is a veteran of many a protest,
and on his ‘battle standard are inscribed the names of past
conflicts, such as Newbury, Twyford Down and Stonehenge.
When the Metropolitan Police arrested him for possession of it in
public the judge actually said “it is not really in the public
interest to prosecute King Arthur for carrying Excalibur!”
Hear hear.
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We are sailing (16th
August 2003)
After spending hours trying to get to Lymington due to the messy
train situation it was a relief to slip over to the Isle of Wight
in less than half an hour on the Wight link Fast Cat.
Wight Link operate a fast and efficient catamaran shuttle service
across the solent.
From the moment the on-board bar opened the Cowes fever hit me!
A short walk took us through the precious sea-side town of Cowes
and we found ourselves serenaded by young cellists as we stepped
through some pearly gates and entered the ‘festival’.
‘Hotel California’ drifted from the main stage and the
beer tent was packed with pink shirts and boat shoes.
Within seconds my colleague Max had found the free whisky tent and
so we sat sipping Jamesons watching the glistening water and quite
literally sailor spotting. Not a bad way to start the day, sitting
in the cool shade watching buffed and bronzed adonises saunter by.
Unfortunately Max seemed to get most of their attention, and I didn’t
manage to find myself a sailor.
I was delighted to find that despite Cowes being primarily a fantastic
sailing week it also abounds with music, beer and sunshine.
On our way across over we were greeted by a multi-sailed pirate-looking
ship and we wondered what we had let ourselves in for. When we arrived
the bling bling floating on the water was unbelievable. I think
what makes boats so iconic is the fact that you can not only feel
their effect but see it too. For example with a car you can feel
the revs and hear them too but, unless it is a rather old diesel
you cannot see the power. With a boat however, you can feel it,
hear it and see the roaring motor churn up the water in a hellishly
powerful way. A boat is the ultimate boy’s toy.
Cowes attracts a a vast array of people, from the classic diamante
flip flopped and pashmina clad ladies to the old aged, new age hippies;
all having the same good time.
There seemed to be no pretensions in the atmosphere - everyone was
there to have a good time. There is something desperately cool about
boats and I did feel slightly put out not to have one bobbing in
the harbour, loaded and waiting with chilled Cristal and strawberries
on ice.
A bunch of drunken forty-year-old men have a certain cool appeal
when you know that they have the keys to a beast of a boat in their
canvas pocket.
In the sweltering heat with little breeze the sailing probably wasn’t
at its best but no-one seemed to mind and come late afternoon, early
evening everyone was quite glad to sit back and relax.
All the boat races take place in the morning and the contestants,
like the crowd are all quite different - with only the love of sailing
as the common denominator. Contestants came from all over the world
and in the sea breeze notes of australian, south african and french
accents could be caught.
Closer to home a crew of 16 professional women are racing on the
Chernikeef in aid of the Winchester based charity Naomi House. The
boat owned by Peter Harrison will be racing on Sunday 7th September
hoping to raise awareness for their charity, which deals with children’s
disabilities.
After drowning ourselves in the beer tent for a good hour and taking
a rather slippery footed walk across the harbour, Max and I attended
the Skandia Life invitation-only cocktail party basically because
we could!
The awards ceremony was an impressive celebration with plenty of
complimentary champagne to sip whilst watching the sun set across
the glittering harbour. Every year Cowes is sponsored by Skandia
and it is clear that practice equals perfection as the affair was
perfect this year.
Outside, on the open air stage the bands were hotting up and people
stopped milling about and turned into a serious audience.
The beer tent was swarming with your usual sunburnt, middle-aged
british male culprits with ridiculously large hats and ridiculously
short shorts. And as the beer flowed and burgers grilled the evening
party gently moved in.
So, Cowes. A seriously good day out - especially considering how
close it is. I only have one complaint and that is that I haven’t
got a yacht.
By Amanda Barnes
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Fairyland for Chernobyl
Children (16th August 2003)
The Winchester Chernobyl Children’s Society organises an annual
visit to Britain for children from Belarus, the country most affected
by the Chernobyl disaster.
The children are able to enjoy the things that we take for granted.
“It feels like I am in a fairyland” said one of the twelve
children.
Mrs Issacs, one of the co ordinators of the trip, told me that the
children particularly liked outdoor activities. They went swimming
in the New Forest, to the beach, had a trip around the fire station
and, of course, went to McDonalds. Another thing they particularly
enjoyed was a trip to the pottery café in Parchment Street.
They liked this as they could take something home with them.
One thing that really struck the group, and the children, was how
welcoming and giving everyone was. “Meeting the children seemed
to really engender something nice in people,” said Mrs Issacs.
“It is amazing how much warmth you can see.” That is good.
The children stay with a host family, and then there is a network
of volunteers who take them out for their day trips. Throughout
the country over 3000 children come over from Belarus and the Ukraine.
Although Chernobyl is in the Ukraine, most of the radiation fell
on Belarus after the Chernobyl reactor went up in the 80s. This
has totally ruined the country. Already desperately poor, they now
have to spend over 25% of their budget on cleaning up after the
disaster. The problem is not going to go away for tens of thousands
of years.
To add insult to injury, the powers that be clad the Chernobyl reactor
in lead so now everyone over there suffers from intense lead poisoning
also.
One of the main problems is that the radiation has now gone into
the soil and the water supply. It is very haphazard though. When
people are picking berries and fruit, some may be alright, but then,
literally two metres away they may be hundreds of times over the
raditiaion limit. Theoretically all the produce you buy in Belarus
should have been tested for its raditaion levels, but in practice
it never is.
So, all in all it is a lovely thing for the Chernobyl Children’s
Society to do, and they will be doin g it again next year. Watch
this space for more details closer to the time.
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Not for the faint hearted
(16th August 2003)
This August head to the Guildhall Gallery in Winchester for an art
exhibition that promises to reveal parts of yourself that you will
have never seen in such detail.
Dr Geoffrey Farrer-Brown’s exhibition ‘A Picture of Health’
is in Winchester until Sunday 24th August and explores the beauty
of the heart through mixed media of watercolours and oil paintings
through to metal work and glass blowing.
Focusing on the miracle of how our bodies work, the histopathologist’s
work returns to the tree of life image found throughout nature -
this image serving as the inspiration behind his art works. Dr Farrer-Brown
uses imagery from his experience as a Doctor, transporting the blood
stream onto his art work.
This may not only be an exhibition for art lovers but also supported
by the British Heart Foundation, the exhibition encourages smokers
to respect their hearts and not damage their inner beauty. As the
artist himself comments, “The exhibition also aims to have
an impact on young female smokers, asking
them to consider the question - why damage the inner beauty by smoking.”
Entry to the exhibition is free and all donations go to the British
Heart Foundation.
By Amanda Barnes
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Water Wonderful World (20th August 2003)
An estimated 10,000 people flooded in to Winchester on Saturday
(16/8/03) to take part in the first ever Hampshire Water Festival,
an event aimed at raising awareness of the importance of water via
a series of family-friendly free events.
At the Water Market in the Outer Close of the Cathedral, Cresson
Creative sold out of watercress pancakes by 12:30 and Southern Water’s
events marquee reported it’s busiest day this summer. Families
flocked to Abbey Gardens to enjoy free music, theatre, storytelling,
crafts and a memorable performance from the sensational Spurting
Man.
Winchester Guildhall also had a constant stream of punters as it
hosted the Hampshire Water Expo and a series of talks and films.
The National Trust’s City Mill had a record 900 visitors, and
many festival-goers took the opportunity to enjoy a series of guided
walks along the River Itchen or to take free lessons from Winchester
Canoe Club.
With the Tourist Information Centre reporting its busiest day of
the year so far, the Festival organised by Hampshire County Council
and partners was clearly a wonderful success.
Should you have any feedback about this year’s event, please
contact the organisers via festival@hampshireswater.org.uk or 01962
845832.
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Meadows ‘Not Important’
Says Councillor (20th August 2003)
Winchester City Council last week mounted a vigorous counter-offensive
against the broad coalition of local residents and environmental
activists who remain opposed to the planned redevelopment of the
Bar End site.
The Council, which has faced accusations of aloofness and being
unresponsive, ineffectual and out-of-touch with the concerns of
the locality, is now seeking to state its case with clarity and
cohesion and to systematically undermine the protesters.
Justification
Speaking to the Mid-Hampshire Observer, the council’s portfolio
holder for transport and access, John Beverage, responding to calls
for a written statement of justification, reiterated the council’s
reasons for the choice of Bar End over other sites.
He claimed that the development ‘did not impinge on the natural
environment of Winchester’ and stated that he personally did
not consider Bar End to be an important piece of land.
Seeking to refute claims of unresponsiveness, he said that the protesters
had had ‘plenty of chances’ to express their views and
poured scorn on the notion that the council did not take into account
their views.
Mr. Beverage also defended council procedures widely criticised
by the protesters, including the manner in which the council deals
with petitions. Stating that ‘that is the way the council has
always dealt with petitions’, he also stated that he found
the procedure ‘perfectly reasonable’, and made the point
that the council did on occasion debate important issues raised
by council meetings: He drew attention to the fact that the council
had recently debated issues pertaining to the creation a new South
Downs National Park.
When asked why the council had decided that the issues raised by
the protesters did not merit discussion, Mr. beverage said that
the issues had already been discussed many times, and that he did
not feel there was anything to be gained in raising them again.
However, Mr. Beverage did say that there was some prospect of a
change in council procedures, and that he would be ‘happy’
to re-evaluate the procedures if the need became pressing.
Mr. Beverage urged protesters to ensure their proposals were ‘considered’
and not ‘decided on the spur of the moment’. Addressing
concerns that the council did not actively encourage consultation,
he said that the consultative process was always under review and
that he believed that the town forum established by the council
was an adequate form of consultation.
Mr. Beverage said that formal engagement with the political process,
through standing for election to office, was ‘within the rights’
of the protesters, and cited other examples of independent candidates.
Mr. Beverage drew attention to the fact that a new working group
has been established to review the remit of the planning committee
to counter claims that the council was not well-placed to decide
planning strategy.
Mr. Beverage also denied that the council did not value the contributions
of young people; he cited meetings on youth issues previously held
in Winchester as proof of this, although he admitted not having
a view on initiatives such as the National Youth Parliament.
In a significant development, he also said that he doubted ‘very
much’ that the protesters had a third of the council’s
support, in direct contradiction to statements made by Emily Edmonstone
last week in the pages of the Mid-Hampshire Observer.
Mr. Beverage also criticised Green MEP Dr. Caroline Lucas for becoming
involved, and inferred that he did not believe she was well-informed
on the issue. In an attempt to offer some reconciliation to those
who oppose the planned scheme, he said that ‘the loss of any
green site is to be regretted’, but repeated his earlier assertion
that the Bar End site was not of any environmental importance. Mr.
Beverage closed by saying that ‘at the end of the day there
have been plenty of opportunities for views to be expressed and
considered’. Mr. Beverage defended Mark Oaten MP against criticisms
voiced by Alan Weekes.
By the Mid Hampshire Observer’s Political Correspondent
Tom Lacey
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Schools Putting Children at Risk (20th
August 2003)
Winchester campaigners who have been battling for two and a half
years to prevent a phone mast being erected in Byron Avenue, are
incredulous at reports of schools in other parts of the country
being used as mast sites. The proximity of Western Primary School
to the proposed Orange mast in Byron Avenue sparked an unprecedented
public protest, which has continued to gather momentum as new evidence
comes to light.
“Concerns about the safety of children is what is driving this
campaign,” says Byron Avenue resident, Dawn Barnett whose three
young sons attend the school. “ Western staff and governors
take their duty of care very seriously. I’m amazed that other
schools are putting the pupils at risk for money.”
The Stewart Report, published in 2000, recommended a precautionary
approach on mast siting, saying that the beam of greatest intensity
should not fall across any part of school grounds. The Government
chose to ignore much of this advice when planning guidance was revised
in 2001, influenced no doubt by the £23 billion received from
the telecom industry in licence fees.
Other countries are taking a much harder line on controlling the
telecom operators. In March this year, masts were removed from a
school in Paris after eight children developed leukaemia. Similar
action has been reported in Spain, and Russia has recently brought
in tough new standards to prevent children using mobile phones.
“I think school governors are taking a huge risk,” says
mast campaigner,
Karen Barratt. “ Local education authorities may be insured
against future legal action by parents of children who become ill
but I suspect that governors may be personally liable.”
Byron Avenue campaigners are maintaining a presence on the mast
site while they wait for the result of the Orange Appeal, due to
be issued on Tuesday or Wednesday this week.
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Cleft Lip and Palate (20th
August 2003)
A mother from Bishops Waltham is at the forefront of a campaign
to raise money for the Cleft Lip and Palate Association, (CLAPA).
34 year old Nicola Morris gave birth to a daughter 18 months ago.
Chloe was born with a cleft palate, and now Nicola has decided to
raise £39,000 for CLAPA, which is the only UK wide voluntary
service dedicated to helping those with cleft lips and palate.
The fundraising kicked off with a golf tournament at Alresford Golf
Course. 12 teams, including M.O.D teams from RAF Uxbridge, Warminster
and Whitehall, raised a total of over £1000. Nicola played
the round with her daughter, who had her cleft lip repaired when
she was ten weeks old. Cleft lips and palates are surprisingly common.
One in 700 children in this country suffer from condition, although
very little is known.
“Chloe’s cleft lip was diagnosed when I had her 20 week
scan,” said Nicola. “ Although my husband and I knew about
it from an early stage, there was very little information about
until I finally got hold of CLAPA’s number.
There are a lot of people out there in the same position, which
is what makes CLAP’s work so important. As well as supporting
research into causes and treatments, CLAPA also produces information
leaflets to raise awareness.”
Nicola and her colleagues at ESS, who provide catering and hotel
support services at MoD sites across the UK, are now working on
a whole plethora of fundraising events. These will include a grand
ball, and a raffle. The winner of the raffle will get a meal cooked
for them and five friends by ESS top chef Richard Bowden.
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