[May 2021]
Here’s the result of the May 2021 contest for the St Faiths ward seat on the Borough Council.
1. Imogen Payter (Con) 1,497
2. Phil Munday (LABOUR) 1,073
3. Faith Ponsonby (LibDem) 359
4. Shelley Saunders (Green) 307
The turnout was 40.0 %, which means that six out of ten people in the ward didn’t use their votes. We wish we understood why!
Congratulations to Imogen, and commiserations to Phil, who ran an outstanding campaign and achieved what we think may be the best ever result for Labour in this ward.
There can be no doubt now that if you live in St Faiths and you want this complacent, shambolic and secretive Council held to account, the only effective option is to VOTE LABOUR !
And now here’s Phil’s pitch again, to remind you why you voted for him…. (or, if you didn’t, why you should have!)
Dear fellow resident,
Who do you want to represent you in St Faiths ward?
My name is Phil Munday and I am standing as the Labour candidate for St Faiths ward in the May 2021 election to Havant Borough Council.
So why am I standing?
Well firstly, on a personal level, I care about this ward. It is where I live and have lived for the last 45 years, in three different houses in the ward.
In that time our children have grown up, with three of them attending the local schools of Fairfield, Bosmere and Warblington and the fourth a special school.
For most of that time I was a teacher and for 17 years a Headteacher of two Hampshire Secondary Schools.
Unlike the Conservative candidate I am no career politician, but the Headteacher role has given me experience of successfully running a large public service organisation, including managing a workforce of over 100 people and setting and managing a budget of several million pounds within strict financial limits.
I want our town to be successful and to thrive, and now that I have retired I have the time, skills and opportunity to make a positive contribution to our local community.
Need for an effective opposition
Secondly, this Conservative Council have become complacent.
They hold 33 of the 38 seats on the Council and yet they have not fulfilled many of their promises, including as examples, building the railway pedestrian bridge at Warblington Halt and the regeneration of the town centre. Phase 1 of their ‘Opportunity Havant’ regeneration strategy has now fallen through, with £3.4M funding lost. Key sites in the town centre have stood empty for many years and others remain in a shocking state of disrepair.
Havant is the only council in Hampshire that has failed the Government’s Housing Delivery Test of 75% of the target for homes built. This means even more of our local green field sites are now threatened because the Council has lost the power to stop development outside of the Local Plan.
Furthermore, our current three St Faiths Councillors make no attempt to give feedback or provide surgeries for us to question them and stay informed.
We must hold them to account for broken promises and expect regular progress reports.
What are the important issues for St Faiths?
Although major decisions over Education and Health are not made by the Borough Council, there is a lot more our Council could do to support our local schools and health service professionals, and the Council has major influence over many other areas. There are important issues they should act on.
As a Headteacher of Community Schools, I worked with both Eastleigh and Fareham Borough Councils on joint projects to promote healthy lifestyles and support Early Years education.
Havant Council could and should do more!
Housing and the environment
Having been a science teacher, I have a strong interest in protecting both our green and blue environment.
Why can we not expect all housing developments to include solar panels and other initiatives? Should we not at least set up a pilot project using ground heat exchangers in one of these new developments?
We should be looking to retro fit all our existing housing with effective insulation.
The 2019 Home Energy Conservation Act (HECA) report for Havant admits that our Council is not being adequately “proactive”. It should be a clear goal to improve the energy efficiency of all houses and to provide adequate support to residents.
This needs to be a top priority.
Many new houses are going up all over the Borough but there is inadequate cheaper rental accommodation available. We should have more. Several other councils have managed to better meet demand by setting up trusts with housing associations.
With the substantial increase in housebuilding in Havant, residents have the right to transparency over progress with infrastructure to cope with the influx of new people and the pressure this will put on public services and transport.
I was a member of the consultation group for the planned housing development between Denvilles and Emsworth. A vital component was a relief road from Bartons Road, across Southleigh Road connecting to the A27 Chichester road by the service station. Our MP, Alan Mak, promised to pursue this with central government but no progress has been reported, and there are suggestions that the road may now not be built at all.
We have been promised a pedestrian bridge over the railway at Warblington Halt for several years. Why is nothing happening? Money was put aside for this. Surely the St Faiths councillors should have made more progress!
If we are to make good on our promise to make Havant greener then we should look closely at the excessive use of flood lighting at Havant Technology Park, which is causing problems for some Langstone residents, seems an unnecessary cause of light pollution and furthermore wastes energy.
Havant’s potential
We live in a beautiful area, near the South Downs with the sea and beaches close by. Our transport links are also excellent. Havant Town has great potential and we can do more to make Havant somewhere to be proud of.
I am standing for the Council because more can be done to realise this vision.
I want Havant to be a thriving local community with involvement from residents in all the key decisions being made
We should hold our Council to account for their promises to electors and inject greater urgency. We also must make good on our promises to protect the environment and reduce carbon emissions.
I have lived here for many years, understand the local issues and will work for local residents.
By working together, we can build a stronger, democratically accountable local community, which supports everyone.
We must protect our environment by reducing our carbon footprint and make the right environmental choices for our children and grandchildren.
If elected I will:
- Work for more open and accountable decision making by our Council
- Inform local residents on planning and infrastructure issues through regular newsletters and follow up on issues raised, including concerns about the impact of all the new houses on our local roads, parking, and medical services.
- Support our local shops and traders after the impact of the pandemic by demanding free parking in our local shopping centres to attract residents back.
- Protect our local environment by working to limit use of green field sites and set sensible limits on housebuilding by considering housing density and increased use of brown field sites.
- Challenge the proposal to build a warehousing and distribution business on the Pfizer site in New Lane because of its impact on our road system.
- Demand that we really do build back greener by promoting environmentally friendly projects and requiring solar panels on all new homes.
Please vote for me on Thursday 6 May 2021 for St Faiths Ward
Vote Labour!
Vote Phil Munday for a better Havant!
I would be pleased to hear any comments.
Please contact me on phil.munday@havantlabour.uk
or on Facebook at facebook.com/PhilforStFaiths
2021 election leaflet
Click an image to read that page, or click here to download the whole thing in PDF format.
