Whilst the big story in Parliament this week was the Autumn Statement, and yes I do welcome some of the important measures, I had to spend Wednesday focussed on the Aster Group and the Adjournment Debate I had requested.
I know the Romsey Advertiser has previously covered this issue, but on Wednesday night we dedicated half an hour of Parliamentary time to the exorbitant charges being levied by Aster for sewerage. There are a number of former Aster properties, without mains drainage, attached to small village sewage treatment plants. Aster is charging households many hundreds of pounds a month for their waste water disposal, and these bills have become simply unaffordable. I won't relay the whole story here, but suffice to say the whole debate can be watched on Parliament.tv
It was a busy Wednesday as it was lovely to have Braishfield Primary School come into Parliament and have a session at the education centre. The pupils were so bright and engaging, and we had a great question and answer session covering topics as diverse as automated cars and artificial intelligence, to whether all dogs should be kept on leads at all times. Alfie and Luna would definitely vote against that one!
This weekend is the Christmas Lights switch on, I can't wait, although will admit to not having got any decorations even out at home. Romsey does look beautiful at Christmas, but that doesn't happen by accident, so a huge thank you to all those who work so hard on both raising the funds, doing the organisation and getting the lights and tree up.
