Latest news with #SouthamptonCityCouncil
BBC News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Former Southampton City Council post room worker becomes leader
A former council post room worker has been formally elected as the authority's Alex Winning did postal work at Southampton City Council at the age of 16, before working in the council's HR and adult services teams, according to his LinkedIn takes over an authority which has been allowed exceptional support by the government to prevent financial Winning is the authority's third leader in two years after Satvir Kaur became an MP and Lorna Fielker resigned to run for regional mayor. The father of one, who was previously the council's cabinet member for children and learning, said he wanted the authority to be "brilliant at the basics".He said he understood residents' "strong feelings" about missed waste collections and the recently-ended car ban in Portswood Road. He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "People in Southampton, all they want is basic services delivered. We have to be doing that."We're fully aware that things haven't been good enough for some time in waste, and we're as frustrated as residents with that."He endorsed the decision to scrap the Portswood Road bus gate trial after it caused increased traffic in neighbouring leader said: "At the end of the day, it didn't work in the way that we wanted it to and we needed to be quite honest about that."There are residents that are sad to see it go. Obviously, there was a lot that were very happy to see it go. It won't be coming back."Mr Winning, who was born and raised in Southampton, said he "never in a million years" thought he would be the council's leader and would "take the role incredibly seriously". Additional reporting by Marcus White, BBC News, Southampton You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
BBC News
16-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Southampton City Council to sell river leisure area to water firm
A council has agreed to sell a river activities site to a water firm, despite environmental area of Woodmill Outdoor Activities Centre in Southampton is being bought by Southern Water, which will transfer the leisure part of the site to a scout said the sale raised concerns for the future health of the River Itchen, while union leaders voiced fears over Southampton City Council's ruling Labour group said the deal would secure environmental improvements as well as leisure access for young people. The terms of the sale were approved privately on Tuesday, after the press and public were excluded from a council cabinet meeting. Environmental campaigner Christelle Blunden, who joined a small protest outside, said activists only found out about the plan last said: "We'd like to see the proposals in the public domain so that they can be scrutinised."Ms Blunden, who leads the council-backed campaign for Southampton to be declared a National Park City, called for "deeply binding clauses" to protect the site, which is vital for Atlantic the Wessex Rivers Trust warned that salmon were at risk of extinction locally because of barriers in the Democrat councillor Thomas Gravatt said people were concerned about selling to "a company with a track record of dumping sewage into our precious chalk streams". However, councillor Toqeer Kataria, in charge of leisure, said he had no misgivings: "The proposed purchase is being driven by Southern Water officers on the clean water side of the business who have been tasked with delivering river restoration projects to support drinking water abstraction." Councillor Simon Letts, in charge of finance, said the council had been subsidising Woodmill by approximately £155,000 a year, while work to maintain the water courses was likely to cost close to £ sale terms will be finalised by 1 September, according to a council said the site could later be re-sold by the new owners, but only with a covenant "restricting the use of the property to be used as a youth camping, water sports, fishing establishment".The mill building will be retained by the city council, along with current tenant Above Board, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Water and Southampton City Scouts have been approached for comment. Additional reporting by Jason Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter
BBC News
11-07-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
Diesel spill repairs to shut Southampton's Thomas Lewis Way overnight
A main route in Southampton is set to close overnight for further work to repair a two-mile stretch of carriageway after a diesel spill from a HGV's fuel tank ruptured, leaking about 580 litres on the road, as it travelled along the A335 Thomas Lewis Way and Empress Way after 05:30 BST on Thursday. The road was closed both ways while the fuel was cleared before reopening in the early hours of Friday. Another full closure is expected overnight from 20:00 until 06:00 on Saturday for resurfacing City Council said the spill left a "vast area to assess" ahead of the most severely impacted parts of the carriageway being resurfaced. Apologising for the disruption, the city council said: "We do have small spills like this from time to time, however the scale of this spillage is unprecedented."Thank you for your understanding as we deal with this evolving situation."The authority added that, due to the risk of diesel contaminating the soil or water, the Environment Agency had been called in to assess the spill. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Wales Online
23-06-2025
- General
- Wales Online
Council orders woman to remove trampoline after neighbour's complaint
Council orders woman to remove trampoline after neighbour's complaint The 67-year-old believed all her neighbours were happy with the equipment until she received a call from the council The trampoline Lorraine Roberts, 67, bought for the children (Image: Kennedy News and Media ) A woman says she has to pull down her trampoline after a neighbour complained to the council about children bouncing on it. Lorraine Roberts bought a trampoline and erected it on a council-owned common area in February. The 67-year-old believed all her neighbours were happy with the 16-foot equipment until she received a call from Southampton City Council. Grandma-of-ten Lorraine says staff told her an unknown neighbour had complained about the 'noise and mess' children make while playing on it 'all day, every day'. She was ordered to take it down from the grassy area before it is forcibly removed on 'health and safety' grounds. Lorraine admits children can be noisy while playing but says she lives just a 'couple feet away' and orders anyone off the trampoline by 8pm. She's described the neighbour's complaint as 'gutless' and believes the residents should've been consulted before the decision was made to ban the equipment. The grandma said the local children are 'disappointed and upset' over the trampoline's removal and she remains hopeful the decision can be overturned. Southampton City Council says play equipment such as trampolines present a 'significant health and safety risk' so is banned on council-owned shared areas. Lorraine said: "Just over a year ago, one of my neighbours put a trampoline on a shared area of grass because a lot of kids play there but it was quite flimsy. Lorraine Roberts stood in front of the offending trampoline (Image: Kennedy News and Media ) Article continues below "I've got grandchildren that play on the close so I said I'd buy a bigger, sturdier one. "Everybody loved it. Kids were on it all day, every day. It keeps them off their iPads and PlayStations. "They can be noisy on it but they're going to be noisy either way and they have to be off it by 8pm. I can always hear if there's any issues going on. I only live a couple feet away from it. "I didn't know anyone had any issue with it. I thought the neighbours were happy with it. "We all think it's spineless how [the neighbour] didn't say anything to our face. They're gutless and we've got to live with them." Lorraine insists it's the residents' roles to take responsibility for the children, not the council. She says the kids will still cause noise and mess without the trampoline but now they don't have anything to play on. Lorraine said: "I was quite shocked when [the council] said they'd received a complaint from one of the neighbours. Why didn't they approach us? "They said it was a health and safety issue but I said you're not responsible, we are. We take responsibility for the children. "They said it's got to come down. I said no and she said if you don't take it down we will. I was really disappointed for the children's sake. I just like the children having something to play with. "The complaint was about the noise and mess but you're still going to get that without the trampoline but now they won't have anywhere to play. "The council should've come round, had a meeting with the whole close and asked what we all thought instead of just saying 'take it down'. "There was no discussion. We want to see if we can get this overturned. The children are all upset by this." A spokesperson for Southampton City Council said: "Shared areas of council-owned grass within our communities are spaces for everyone to enjoy safely. "While we understand the importance of outdoor play, play equipment such as trampolines present a significant health and safety risk, and cannot be safely monitored around the clock. "For this reason, we do not permit their use in these shared areas. "The residents are within walking distance of two parks which provide good access to play facilities. "We are aware that this type of play equipment can be expensive, which is why we sent letters to the community to give the owner the chance to collect the trampoline themselves." Lorraine took to social media to voice her concerns with the neighbour's complaint and council's decision to remove the trampoline. Lorraine said: "I cannot believe that some spiteful person from our close has complained to the council that our children are making too much noise whilst playing on the trampoline." Another user said: "They lead a very sad life to complain about the children." A third added: "You're joking. Isn't it good they are laughing and playing or do they want them either stuck in bedrooms or playing with guns outside? What has this world come to?" Article continues below Another said: "What a small minded person. It's lovely to hear children playing outside."
Scottish Sun
17-06-2025
- General
- Scottish Sun
I bought a trampoline for the local kids to enjoy but my spiteful neighbour made us rip it down – they lead a sad life
'There was no discussion. We want to see if we can get this overturned. The children are all upset by this' BOUNCE ON I bought a trampoline for the local kids to enjoy but my spiteful neighbour made us rip it down – they lead a sad life Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A GRANDMA claims she has to pull down her trampoline after a 'spiteful' neighbour complained to the council about kids bouncing on it. Lorraine Roberts bought a trampoline for children on her estate in Southampton, Hampshire, and erected it on council-owned common area in February. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 The grandma claims she had to pull down the trampoline after a neighbour complained to the council Credit: Kennedy News 2 Lorraine bought the trampoline for the kids on her estate Credit: Kennedy News The 67-year-old believed all her neighbours were happy with the 16-foot equipment until she received a call from Southampton City Council last month [May 19]. Grandma-of-ten Lorraine says staff told her an unknown neighbour had complained about the 'noise and mess' children make while playing on it 'all day, every day'. She was reportedly then ordered to take it down from the grassy area before it is forcibly removed on 'health and safety' grounds. Shocked Lorraine admits the children can be noisy while playing but says she lives just a 'couple feet away' and orders anyone off the trampoline by 8pm. She's since described the neighbour's complaint as 'gutless' and believes the residents should've been consulted before the decision was made to ban the equipment. The grandma said the local children are 'disappointed and upset' over the trampoline's removal and she remains hopeful the decision can be overturned. Southampton City Council say play equipment such as trampolines present a 'significant health and safety risk' so are banned on council-owned shared areas. Lorraine said: "Just over a year ago, one of my neighbours put a trampoline on a shared area of grass because a lot of kids play there but it was quite flimsy. "I've got grandchildren that play on the close so I said I'd buy a bigger, sturdier one. "Everybody loved it. Kids were on it all day, every day. It keeps them off their iPads and PlayStations." Shocking moment nightmare neighbour 'Chinese spy' haunt family in hedge dispute Although the Grandma admitted the kids are noisy on the trampoline, as far as she's concerned "they're going to be noisy either way." "I didn't know anyone had any issue with it. I thought the neighbours were happy with it. "We all think it's spineless how [the neighbour] didn't say anything to our face. They're gutless and we've got to live with them." Lorraine insists it's the residents' roles to take responsibility for the children, not the council. She says the kids will still cause noise and mess without the trampoline but now they don't have anything to play on. Lorraine said: "I was quite shocked when [the council] said they'd received a complaint from one of the neighbours. Why didn't they approach us? "They said it was a health and safety issue but I said you're not responsible, we are. We take responsibility for the children. "They said it's got to come down. I said no and she said if you don't take it down we will. "I was really disappointed for the children's sake. I just like the children having something to play with. "The complaint was about the noise and mess but you're still going to get that without the trampoline but now they won't have anywhere to play. "The council should've come round, had a meeting with the whole close and asked what we all thought instead of just saying 'take it down'. "There was no discussion. We want to see if we can get this overturned. The children are all upset by this." The Top Five Reasons Neighbours Squabble One study by Compare the Market revealed the top reason British neighbour's argue Broken fences - top of the board was broken fences and whose responsibility it was to fix it Parking: one of the leading drivers of neighbour disputes, with 54.1 per cent of people having issues with people parking in front of their house, parking bay or driveway Trees - complaints about a neighbour's tree cracking your garden path was also common with nearly half of participants finding it frustrating Bin wars - outdoor bin etiquette continues to ignite the most furious debates between neighbours Nosy Neighbours - some people have their eyes and ears at the ready to have a peek causing problems for others A spokesperson for Southampton City Council said: 'Shared areas of council-owned grass within our communities are spaces for everyone to enjoy safely. "While we understand the importance of outdoor play, play equipment such as trampolines present a significant health and safety risk, and cannot be safely monitored around the clock. "For this reason, we do not permit their use in these shared areas. "The residents are within walking distance of two parks which provide good access to play facilities. "We are aware that this type of play equipment can be expensive, which is why we sent letters to the community to give the owner the chance to collect the trampoline themselves.' Lorraine took to social media to voice her concerns with the neighbour's complaint and council's decision to remove the trampoline. Lorraine said: "I cannot believe that some spiteful person from our close has complained to the council that our children are making too much noise whilst playing on the trampoline." Another user said: "They lead a very sad life to complain about the children." A third added: "You're joking. Isn't it good they are laughing and playing or do they want them either stuck in bedrooms or playing with guns outside? What has this world come to?" Another said: "What a small minded person. It's lovely to hear children playing outside."
