Stay updated with breaking news from Popley east. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
Sajish Tom, Jacky Tustain and Grant Donohoe all secured seats in their first borough council elections. Describing himself as “inexperienced”, Sajish told the Gazette: “The main thing is we need to prove ourselves. We have a lot of enthusiasm. “I would like to say a massive thank you to our Popley community. Popley stands with Labour, and it is our job now to do our best for them.” Labour party leader Andy McCormick described the Popley results as “the highlight of our day” and welcomed the election of “fresh blood”. “It is sad to see people go but we will embrace the change,” he said. ....
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council offices (Photo: Sean Dillow) Residents across the borough are preparing to go to the polls in all out borough council elections. Unlike usual elections in Basingstoke, all 60 councillors will be resigning their seats, with most going back to the polls seeking re-election. This is because of a number of changes, which include shifts in the boundaries of the individual wards, and the reduction in the number of councillors from 60 to 54. This will mean familiar faces will be saying goodbye to the council chamber come the first meeting in May. In total, 17 serving councillors have decided to stand down in May, with several decades of experience between them. ....
Updated Former mayors Jane and Paul Frankum will be stepping down as councillors in the Popley West ward after Paul was deselected by the Labour party A RETIRING Labour councillor has blasted the party after her son wasn’t selected to stand in a ward he has represented for more than two decades. Jane Frankum said son Paul was deselected by Labour when they were choosing candidates for the upcoming elections next month. The 75-year-old former mayor decided she would step down from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in solidarity, saying the pair only operate “as a team”. Now Jane has criticised Labour and said after 50 years of membership she is disappointed with how her son, who has served Popley West for 22 years, has been treated. ....
A DOCTORS’ surgery has closed suddenly without warning - leaving 14,000 Basingstoke residents without access to their GP. Queuing patients outside Shakespeare Road Medical Practice in Popley were left confused and anxious after finding out their appointments were cancelled yesterday. The Gazette reported last year how partners of the surgery, previously known as Bermuda and Marlowe, were not renewing their contract in the spring after a damming report by the Care Quality Commission. A takeover failed due to ‘contractual issues’, sources told this newspaper. Sources told this newspaper that a planned takeover by Bramleys Grange had failed at the eleventh hour - leaving 14,000 people in Basingstoke without a functioning doctor’s surgery. ....
Controversial Sungrove Farm scheme in North Hampshire approved I don’t think this will have the disturbing effect the local people are suggesting Jonathan Ashby ); SUNGROVE Farm in East End will undergo a transformation after plans to convert a farmhouse into a multi-purpose commercial development were given the green light. At a Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council planning meeting last Wednesday, councillors unanimously approved the scheme, dismissing concerns by a campaign group that the development would cause significant harm to the community. Instead, councillors said the scheme – which will see a farmhouse demolished and a multi-purpose building housing a farm shop, bakery, café and education space built in its place – would bring employment opportunities and help keep the village thriving. ....