The ancient Chinese curse goes “may you live in interesting times.”
We clearly do live in interesting times. We have Hart Council creating an absolute shambles of their strategic housing allocation. They are currently on their third, or is it more, public consultation. A planning inspector has thrown out their proposals. They have deleted their own consultation and are currently on a new one. The new one appears to be as biased as the previous ones.
We have a national referendum on if we should continue as members of the European Union.
The Chancellor, who has essentially thrown out his own budget proposals within days of making them.
Hampshire is consulting on closing rubbish tips and or reducing the opening hours.
It is also consulting on closing Children Centres, reducing the number from 74 to 11 in the whole of Hampshire.
Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight all applied for devolved powers from the government. The government wants an elected mayor, which was rejected by the councils.
The government has therefore, offered devolved powers to some of the district councils in the south of Hampshire, as well as Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight-dependent upon them accepting an elected mayor.
However, all existing councils will remain in place, thus putting an extra tier of bureaucracy in this part of the country.
What connects all of these?
It is all being done by conservatives at national or local level.
It really is time for a change.

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