Eastleigh borough Council have given a large scale housing
development the green light. The development will see one thousand four hundred
new homes being built on farm land and a golf course near Botley. The green
belt development will also include a primary school and significant road
changes.
Hundreds of people turned up on Monday to hear the verdict
on the proposed Boorley Green housing plans. The meeting continued until
12:45pm and many residents were very disappointed when the council announced
that the plans had been approved.
The controversial decision has become a key issue in the
Eastleigh by-election. The Tory candidate, Maria Hutchings, says that she is
disappointed and the council has made the wrong decision.
However the Liberal Democrats, who back the plans, think they
will gain the respect of the voters as they make the hard decisions and
criticised Maria Hutchings for not speaking up during the meeting.
Video Report:
Extended Maria Hutchings - Conservative - Interview:
WINOL week three I covered the Chris Huhne scandal. The footage for this piece was made up of archive footage, newspaper headline shots, interview, vox pops and my piece to camera. My main issue with this story was finding enough images to hold it all together, as it is a national story and I was unable to get any footage of Chris Huhnes resignation statement.
On the Tuesday I went to Eastleigh to interview Keith House (Lib-Dem) and Ray Finch (UKIP) and to also gather vox pops from residents. Unfortunately, due to technical problems with the camera and sound I was unable to use any of the vox pops I had gathered, or my piece to camera, or my interview with Ray Finch. I then went back to Eastleigh on Wednesday morning to re-do my piece to camera and the vox pops from the public.
After a very stressful morning of filming and editing, I managed to turn it around in time for the bulletin.
Written Story:
Chris Huhne has resigned as the MP for Eastleigh after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice.
Allegations first surfaced in 2010 that Huhne had got his then wife, Vicky Pryce, to take speeding points for him. The Eastleigh MP and his family consistently denied the allegations.
Huhne’s marriage later ended after he had an affair with his PR adviser, Carina Trimingham. The turbulent relationships within his family were highlighted by texts from his son, which were revealed in court.
His constituents showed very little sympathy for Huhne, one resident said: “I think he owes everyone in Eastleigh an apology”.
A by-election will now take place and with Huhne having won his seat with a near four thousand majority, the Lib Dems are confident they can maintain it. Councillor Keith House said: “it’s a great shame that the events that happened, happened, but we move on, go into the by-election confident that we can hold the seat and elect a new MP for our community”.
The date of the by-election is yet to be announced but there is speculation that it will take place in early May so it coincides with the local elections.
