Councillor Steve Forster

New zebra crossing 🚸on Sandy Lane.

I'm pleased to confirm that works are shortly due to start to convert the existing uncontrolled crossing into a zebra crossing on Sandy Lane, to make it safer and easier for people to walk between Crookham Park and Church Crookham Junior School. This work was initiated by Former Cllr. Stephen Parker and the current councillor for Church Crookham has been notified.

Initially as phase 1️⃣, contractors on behalf of Hampshire County Council will be carrying out investigation works ahead of main improvement works. This will involve a camera survey of the existing drainage chamber.

1️⃣ Investigation works:
Date: 29 June to 30 June 2026
Permitted working hours: 9.30am to 3pm
Traffic management: temporary traffic lights (multiway)
For the exact location visit Causeway One.Network.

Following these investigations, the main improvement works 2️⃣ to convert the existing uncontrolled crossing into a zebra crossing on Sandy Lane will be carried out.

The scheme aims to create a safe and direct walking route that supports active travel for children, families, and the wider community. The works are being scheduled during the school holidays to help minimise disruption to the school and local community.

2️⃣ Main works
Date: 22 July 2026 to 2 September 2026
Permitted working hours: 8am to 6pm
Traffic management: temporary traffic lights (multiway)
For the exact location visit Causeway One.Network.

The works to install the zebra crossing will include installing tactile paving (bumpy paving), resurfacing sections of the road and pavement, refreshing road markings, installing belisha beacons, and realigning the kerb at the Sandy Lane and Oakwood junction.

🚧🚗🚙 The nature of the work may bring some disruption or inconvenience; however, every effort will be made to keep this to a minimum.

Advance warning signs will be in place and emergency vehicle access to properties will be maintained at all times.

Please note that all works are weather-dependent and may be subject to change at short notice. Dates shown are a window - works will be carried out in this window, and dates may be revised.

👉Please visit the scheme web page for further information on the scheme improvements and to view the location plan. https://www.hants.gov.uk/transport/transportschemes/sandy-lane-improvements

These works are funded by property developer contributions and in line with the Hart LCWIP and Hampshire LTP4.

💷 COUNTY COUNCILLOR COMMUNITY GRANTS RE-OPEN ON 1 JULY

Applications are about to open for my 2026/27 Hampshire County Councillor Community Grant allocation.

This year £5,000 is available and I am particularly keen to support local organisations that are ideally:

✅ Based in Fleet�✅ Delivering services in Fleet�✅ Benefiting Fleet residents

Grants are available from £100 to £1,000.

Full details and application information can be found here:
https://www.hants.gov.uk/community/grants/grants-list/county-councillor

If you think your organisation may benefit and be eligible, please read the criteria and then please contact me for an initial discussion ⚠️before submitting an application - I only have a limited allocation available each year and not every application can be supported. If any organisation has received a recent county councillor grant in the last year or so, they are potentially not eligible this year if it’s for the same purpose - that’s part of council rules.

📍Please note that my grant allocation is intended primarily for organisations based in Fleet and serving Fleet Town residents. If your organisation is based elsewhere, or primarily serves another area, I would encourage you to speak to the Hampshire County Councillor there in the first instance regarding potential support from their allocation. If you serve multiple areas the grant can be shared across councillors, but the maximum amount is £1,000 in total.

👉If you’re involved with a local charity, community group, sports club, residents’ association or voluntary organisation and have a project that could benefit from funding, please do get in touch📞📧💻

For other grants currently available also see https://www.hants.gov.uk/community/grants/grants-list and check out Hart and local parishes websites.

Over the past 9️⃣ years I’ve awarded £69,000 of funding through around 100 grants to community groups and organisations including:

Elvetham Heath Parish Council
Fleet & District Carnival
Fleet Market
Church Crookham & Fleet men’s shed
Hartland Village Men's Shed
Fleet Phoenix
Fleet Speedwatch
Elvetham Heath Scout Group
The Fleet Festivities
Citizens Advice Hart
A number of local school PTA groups,
…and many, many more.

I look forward to receiving new applications and supporting even more local residents.

Frimley- the right site?
Following the new site announcement for Frimley Hospital colleagues at SHC have published a factual summary of the announcement, the engagement process and the key issues that now need proper scrutiny.

Read it here: https://www.surreyheathconservatives.org.uk/news/new-frimley-park-hospital-proposed-site-announcement

A new hospital is essential, but residents deserve clear answers on traffic, access, parking, public transport, environmental impact, & green space.

New Frimley Park Hospital site announcement: the next stage needs serious scrutiny Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust has announced its proposed location for the new Frimley Park Hospital.

🖤 in memory of Simon Fenwick.

Just over a week ago I shared the sad news of Simon’s passing. Since then, a number of people have contacted me asking about the funeral arrangements and how they can pay their respects.

The details are below for those interested, and those who are able to attend.

Simon touched many lives and will be greatly missed. My thoughts remain with all who knew him.

https://www.facebook.com/faulknerfunerals/posts/1026848576553826

Tribute to Simon Fenwick, 1953 - 2026 Dedicated to the memory of Simon Fenwick

🏥 New Frimley Park Hospital - the announcement of new site has now been made!

As anticipated in my FB post yesterday, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust has today confirmed their proposed location for the new Frimley Park Hospital: part of the land currently occupied by Pine Ridge Golf Club, owned by the charity Frimley Fuel Allotments.

I know many residents - and I include myself in this - feel that other sites put forward during the process may have been preferable. Those concerns are understandable and valid. However, the NHS have made their decision based on the information and assessments available to them, and we should recognise and respect that process, even if it is disappointing.

Notable is that Frimley Health has not yet purchased the land, and no final decisions have been made. To proceed needs Government approval from Department of Health and Social Care.

Public engagement and future formal consultation as part of the planning application will be an important part of this process. 😳I’m not certain there will be enough support - but the detail will be vital.

It could all be put back years if support isn’t there.

⏭️So…What matters now is what comes next. There is a significant amount of work still ahead if the site is to proceed - planning applications, public engagement, business cases and national approvals - and delays have been a recurring and disappointing theme with this project.

I’ll be watching progress closely. In particular looking at timeline and access; this site doesn’t have good highways access - and is even more distant for residents of Fleet Town. There’s an absolute necessity to secure good road and public transport access from across the council border, between West Surrey & North Hampshire.

✔️ I’ll also be working with colleagues at HCC and the ICB to ensure that our residents access to hospital services for the next 10 years or so are protected, assured - and improved. That will extend to what happened at Basingstoke hospital, and local facilities.

There’s plenty of time ⏱️ to plan as the construction is scheduled - if a decision is made by government soon - in 2028/2029. Completion is then expected to be by 2035.

Any delays might however impact services. Many of us are worried that the timeline - and maybe the site - is not deliverable.

https://www.fhft.nhs.uk/news/frimley-health-identifies-proposed-location-new-hospital-serve-local-communities

A really positive announcement on employment from Hampshire County Council this week - for both employers, and for those needing support.

A new dedicated route has opened into the **Connect to Work** programme for people with social care needs — helping more residents move into, and stay in, meaningful employment.

👉This new pathway is aimed at people with
▫️learning disabilities
▫️physical disabilities
▫️mental health needs
including those already supported by local authorities or voluntary and community organisations.

Connect to Work is a fully funded national programme supporting disabled people, people with health conditions, and those facing complex barriers to employment.

Hampshire County Council has secured **£18.7 million of national funding** to help thousands of people across the county into work, while also helping local employers address skills gaps.

The programme offers:

✅ Personalised one-to-one support
✅ Up to 12 months of tailored help
✅ Support for both employees and employers once someone is in work
✅ Help to secure sustainable, long-term employment

This specialist social care element is being delivered in partnership with **Shaw Trust**, a leading employment charity.

This is exactly the sort of practical support that can make a real difference — helping people build confidence, develop skills and take the next step towards greater independence.

It is also an opportunity for employers across Hampshire to get involved, offer inclusive opportunities and benefit from a more diverse and skilled workforce.

To be eligible, residents need to be over 18, have the right to live and work in England and Wales, and want to secure employment.

More information and to register your interest can be done here:

https://www.prosperityhampshire.org.uk/connect-to-work

My thanks to Cllr Nick Adams King for highlighting the opportunity.

Fleet BID

Prosperity Hampshire | Connect to Work Connect to Work is a fully funded voluntary programme to support disabled people or people with health conditions, and individuals with complex barriers to move into and maintain employment.

🚧 Fleet Road resurfacing.…what’s happening and when?

Work starts next week 👍: As promised in my election campaign here are the confirmed plans of the program for Fleet Road high street resurfacing, from Kings Road to the Oatsheaf Junction.

Two separate phases have both formally now issued permits by Hampshire County Council.

Pedestrian access will be maintained throughout.

Phase 1️⃣ – Coring surveys

🗓️ 22–24 June
ℹ️ Traffic managed by multi-way signals 🚦
Minimal disruption or disturbances expected.
ℹ️ Engineers will take core samples from the road surface to confirm exactly what’s needed before confirming program details for phase 2 (which may then need to be modified).

Phase 2️⃣ – Major high street full resurfacing

🗓️ 7 September – 3 October (overnight where practical)
🚧Road closures with diversion in place
ℹ️ The worn surface will be stripped out and replaced with new asphalt, plus:
ℹ️ Structural repairs where required
ℹ️ New road markings
ℹ️ Improved road quality and parking

‼️Works are due to be planned to minimise disruption where possible, including considering overnight working where practical, to support residents & businesses and keep the high street accessible. ⚠️Yellow warning signs will go up in advance.

(Dates are planned windows and may be subject to change. Works may finish sooner than the full planned period.)

I know Fleet Road is in a poor state right now – the resurfacing is a welcome part of the £15million additional budget we allocated earlier this year. Other works are being arranged by highways officers across the county based upon their priority assessments and council policy. ☑️I’ve also written to the government minister responsible requesting further funding to address the significant shortfall in central highways funding for Hampshire, part of a national problem.

This resurfacing program is the high street getting the same treatment as the Kings Road to Station stretch done over a year ago. I know many have noticed and commented favourably on that.

The work is scheduled to avoid congestion conflict - there’s a lot of major work going on through summer across our area including SGN gas mains replacements, and SSE work, plus a number of other projects are to be scheduled.

It may seem that there are roadworks always underway - but they are planned and sequenced to minimise concurrent disruption and conflict or congestion - and therefore often consecutive. All the work is necessary. Works are managed and coordinated to make best use of road space and resource and minimise adverse impact, although utility companies can affect this as they have legal powers to carry out works - and they may need to carry out unplanned urgent or emergency works.

In the meantime, if you spot a new/serious issue or safety defect, please help and report it. Some minor works were carried out last wee. Highways are inspected, assessed and works scheduled where necessary on the basis of those reports – don’t assume someone else has already flagged it. With the resurfacing planned, some temporary repairs may be used in the interim period.

📲 Report any new defects via the OurHants app or use https://www.hants.gov.uk/transport/highways/report-a-problem. If you’ve already submitted a report and want to update or escalate or because it’s worsened or is considered severe, you can also do that online and can flag to me with the highways reference number.

👉👉Please do follow both this and my new highways page https://www.facebook.com/share/1HaT2dJxKG/?mibextid=wwXIfr (which some have said should be titled Mr Pothole 🤦‍♂️) to receive regular local plus Hampshire highways and passenger transport updates. 👌

Elvetham Heath meeting.

Tonight I was at the Elvetham Heath Parish Council regular monthly council meeting. (I try to regularly attend all my local parish and FTC meetings)

Great to see all the parish councillors and the clerk. We discussed local matters including buses, road works - and 🐀 rat concerns which they’re addressing.

It’s always a pleasure visiting and one of the highlights is the EH postbox. Today’s gorgeous knitting 🧶 shown below. 👇

🏥 Frimley Park Hospital - New site announcement expected tomorrow.

👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
Updated Tuesday midday: as expected, announcement now made. https://www.fhft.nhs.uk/news/frimley-health-identifies-proposed-location-new-hospital-serve-local-communities.

I’ve posted a full update on https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CzzjhGnQw/?mibextid=wwXIfr
👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆👆

The Liberal Democrat MP there, Al Pinkerton, has been running a vocal campaign around the site selection process and has posted suggesting Pine Ridge Golf Club / Frimley Fuel Allotments as the likely preferred site, with an announcement potentially coming on Tuesday this week according to his FB.

He has spearheaded a campaign targeting the site selection process and lack of transparency, and been supported by some colleagues. Any impact of his campaign apparently could delay the delivery further which would be disappointing.

Personally, I’m keen to see rapid progress 🚑 on the new Frimley Park Hospital (FPH) - it’s anticipated that there will be a site announcement made tomorrow.

I’m keen to also hear plans from government for Basingstoke Hospital, plus about local input from NHS HIOW ICB (Integrated Care Board). We’re not expecting news on that yet but... We need both hospitals. And they’ll need appropriate highways and infrastructure to support them.

Both have been repeatedly delayed and are highly anticipated - and it’s fair to note any decisions could be contentious particularly for residents near where FPH’s new site is rumoured. I’d hope the decision is not further delayed.

🤔Priorities. Have government got it right? 👎?

And what about providing enough for highways maintenance?

🚶‍♀️🚴‍♂️ potholes? Government announces £4.5 billion for walking, wheeling and cycling. What about road maintenance?

You might have seen this in the news this week - and it’s worth a bit of explanation before too many questions start appearing.

The headline figure is £4.5 billion. But it’s not £4.5 billion just for cycle lanes, and it’s not a cheque being written tomorrow. And a lot isn’t new money - it’s spin. It covers walking, wheeling and cycling across England over five years as part of the Government’s new ’Active Travel Strategy’.

I know from experience that when many see “£4.5 billion for cycling,” the assumption is that money is about to flow into local schemes. The reality is more complicated than that.

✅ It’s a national figure spread over five years
✅ It covers walking and wheeling, not just cycling
✅ Funding is competitive - bids have to be strong and deliverable
✅ It will largely go through Active Travel England and local transport settlements.

One point likely of interest is that they say the announcement sits alongside:

* £24bn for strategic and local roads,
* £15.6bn for city-region transport funding,
* £2.3bn in Local Transport Grants,
* £900m per year for bus services.

But again, much of that isn’t new. And we’re not seeing enough locally.

I support safer routes to school, better crossings, and sensible improvements that genuinely help people get around. But I do think there is a serious question of priorities here - and I’m not sure the Government has got the balance right. They have not😡. We need to see much more - real new money from government - for maintenance and improvements, and necessary new road projects here in Hampshire.

I suspect many of you are thinking: Why is the Government announcing billions for new cycle routes when there poor roads and pavements and there are potholes on too many roads ? It’s a fair question, and frankly it’s one I also ask.

The straight answer is that these are different funding streams. Thats how governments works: Active travel money is ringfenced and cannot simply be redirected to highway maintenance. But government decides the ring fencing we then have to follow.

Pothole funding comes from a separate budget entirely. But that separation is itself a Government choice - a reflection of the priorities set in Whitehall, not an unavoidable fact of life.
And that separate budget is nowhere near enough.

👉Hampshire receives around £55 million a year (About half of that from Government) for highway maintenance. To actually bring our roads up to a proper standard, we need around £600 million. That’s not a rounding error - that’s a fundamental underfunding 💷of our road network that has built up over many years, under successive governments of different political persuasions, and it is a direct consequence of the priorities Governments over many years have chosen to set.

Meanwhile, drivers in Hampshire are paying 💰fuel duty, Vehicle Excise Duty and VAT on fuel that collectively raises billions for the Treasury. Very little of it finds its way back to the roads those same drivers use every day.

Before - or as well as - committing billions to new routes and national programmes, the Government should get serious about maintaining the roads we already have. Good national transport policy starts with the basics - safe, properly maintained roads and pavements in every community.

I am actively lobbying for a much fairer settlement for our local highway maintenance funding, and I will continue to make that case as loudly as I can.

That doesn’t mean Hampshire shouldn’t compete hard for active travel funding where it delivers genuine benefits - safer crossings, better access to schools and town centres, links to public transport, and accessibility improvements for people with mobility needs all matter. We should be making the strongest possible case for our share of that too.

As the new Hampshire & Solent Combined County Authority gets up and running and takes on more of a role in strategic transport, working closely with partners will matter more than ever when it comes to securing external funding and making sure local priorities are heard.

I’ll keep residents updated as more details come through.

Full details and the strategy document:

🔗 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cycling-and-walking-boom-with-45-billion-for-thousands-of-new-routes-and-safer-crossings

🔗 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-third-cycling-and-walking-investment-strategy/active-travel-active-england-the-third-cycling-and-walking-investment-strategy-cwis3