2020: Andover's year in review (Part Two)

IN JULY, the grieving mother of a woman who was murdered in her home by her estranged husband opened up about the heartache.

She said her family was torn apart, one year on from her daughter’s death.

Thirty-year-old Lucy-Anne Rushton was forced to swallow her wedding ring before she was violently killed by “jealous and controlling” Shaun Dyson, at her house in Suffolk Road on Sunday, June 23, 2019.

Dyson, of Anna Valley, was sentenced to a minimum of 17 years in prison, with the judge condemning him for the “violent and brutal” attack on his former partner.

Lucy’s mother Myra Simpson said: “We are the ones living the life sentence, not him.”

July also saw reopening of pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and play parks as a semblance of normality returned to the Andover High Street.

Andover’s take on ‘Super Saturday’ began with large queues forming outside barbers in the High Street as early as 7.30am.

Salons were jam-packed for much of the morning as customers’ lockdown locks were tamed.

And while there were no such queues outside the town’s drinking holes, the punters inside were just as relieved to back in their favourite haunts.

“You’re my knight in shining armour”, cried one customer in the John Russell Fox as the barman delivered a pair of pints and two bottles of Corona. Another told the Advertiser, ‘It’s amazing to be back’, after almost 15 weeks of lockdown.

Andover was hit with a tragic news on July 10 as a 63-year-old woman, Angelika Ballard, was killed in a fire.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service were called to a house fire in Bremen Gardens at 1.11pm.

The woman was confirmed dead at the scene by South Central Ambulance Service.

AUGUST

August was a tragic month for Andover.

Parish councillor James Nash was gunned down outside his home on August 5th, and later died in hospital on August 8th.

Cllr James Nash, also a children’s author, was shot in the head in Upper Enham, just after 3pm.

The gunman, named locally as Alex Sartain, fled the scene on motorbike and crashed a short time later and died.

Andover community was left in shock after the incident..

Cllr Nash, 42, moved to the village in 2013 and lived in Holly Cottage.

He was a faithful parish councillor and helped raise money for Andover Mencap.

He also taught art classes and was interested in local history.

He left behind his wife, his mother, father and sister.

SEPTEMBER

IN THE first week of September, it was announced that Andover would get a new theatre, street and public square in radical plans to rejuvenate the town centres.

Test Valley Borough Council revealed that they intend on building a new Lights Theatre and constructing a public square in front of it to open up more space for pedestrians.

The leader of Test Valley Borough Council, Cllr Phil North said: “This year has been one of the most difficult many of us have faced. But I believe regeneration is key to recovery and so we begin to move forward, the transformation of the town centre will be our primary focus.”

Later in the month, Test Valley Borough Council also announced its plans to transform Andover over the course of the next decade.

This included plans to demolish the Chantry Centre, and construction of new parks, a college campus, and housing in the heart of town.

Cllr North said: “This is a truly incredible day for the town and I am so excited to finally be able to share our plans for the future of Andover. This is the culmination of a huge amount of hard work and I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has been involved with this project including all those who took the time to respond to the surveys and in particular the amazing teams at HemingwayDesign and NEW masterplanning for sharing my passion and vision for the town and believing in its potential.”

It was also announced that TSB will be closing its Andover branch at 24 Hight Street next year, leaving three jobs at risk.

The closure came as part of sweeping measures by the TSB group to streamline operations in the online age as part of a three-year transformation that will see 164 branches close across the UK.

The closure means, the nearest TSB branch would be in Romsey.

OCTOBER

October started with heavy rains that caused flood misery for residents, racking up thousands of pounds worth of damage.

Residents blamed Hampshire County Council for not doing enough to protect their homes, as the ‘soak-aways’ designed to drain water into the ground were ‘overwhelmed’ due to heavy rainfall.

It was a month when Andover Town Council went into deep crisis.

The council first came under fire for excluding the general public and press whilst it selected its new members behind closed doors.

Two councillors were drafted onto the authority in a process known as co-opting, where representatives are selected rather than elected.

But fellow councillors and members of the public were outraged when they were ejected from the meeting for the selection to take place confidentially.

The public are generally invited to hear the pitches of those standing to be councillors, but during the meeting, held on Zoom, a vote was taken to remove the public and put them into a breakout room.

Borough Councillor Nick Mathews said that the decision “goes against everything that councils are meant to stand for”.

He said: “I think it’s a disgrace. I’m genuinely stunned. There’s no justification for that and I think it’s disgusting.”

But Mayor of Andover, Cllr Richard Rowles, defended the move by saying it was “just a procedural thing as we’ve never done it on Zoom before”.

In the last week of October, the mayor had to shut down Andover Town Council and place five staff on leave amid concerns for their health.

There were concerns raised about mistreatment of the employees.

Mayor Richard Rowles said: “The Town Council has engaged a locum clerk to act as the proper officer and to handle the statutory notices and other matters relating to the Extraordinary General Meeting the town mayor has called to address matters raised by a number of the Town Council’s staff.

This was the latest drama at the town council which saw a number of resignations from councillors since May 2019 election.

NOVEMBER

England went into a second lockdown in the first week of November, causing pubs, bars, restaurants and non-essential shops to close. People were told to stay at home and only leave their house for one of six essential reasons over the course of next four weeks.

Large swathes of the hospitality industry were told close, while schools, universities and colleges remained open.

November also saw mayor Richard Rowles being asked to stand down or face vote of no confidence by a member of his own party. Cllr David Treadwell, accused him of making up council rules, stopping colleagues from speaking at meetings and removing motions from the agenda.

Cllr Treadwell also said that the mayor “intimidate[s] the staff” and “he has encouraged the staff to submit the grievances.”

The criticism came after five full-time employees at the authority were placed on gardening leave by Cllr Rowles following a number of grievances.

Cllr Treadwell said: “The only way I can see this situation being halted and resolved sensibly is [to] stop you controlling the council.”

Cllr Rowles hit back at the accusations, denying that he had stopped members from speaking, and said he is chairman until May.

Andover was placed in Tier 2 of the government’s new coronavirus measures in the last week of November.

This meant, people would not be able to socialise indoors with anyone they don’t live with or anyone who is not in their support bubble.

Pubs and bars were told tol close unless operating as restaurants, while they were not allowed to serve alcohol without substantial meals.

Cllr Phil North, leader of Test Valley Borough Council, said it was ‘disappointing’ that Hampshire was not placed in Tier 1 and expressed his concern for the business community.

DECEMBER

Government’s plan to build accommodation for up to 500 asylum seekers near Andover sparked a row among the town’s political leaders in December.

The Home Office submitted plans to build a temporary accommodation block on Ministery of Defence land in Barton Stacey.

The leader of Test Valley Borough Council, Cllr Phil North, expressed his anger at the news by launching a joint petition with MP Caroline Nokes to protest against the proposals.

But Cllr North and Mrs Nokes were accused of being “populist” and not taking onboard responsibility to help “desperate refugees who have escaped horrific regimes and wars”.

Cllr Celia Dowden, Test Valley Borough Council’s Liberal Democrats, said: “We have a duty to protect our environment, residents’ interests and the asylum seekers.

Cllr David Coole said he was shocked over the petition.

He said: “Shouting ‘not in my backyard’ by the leader of Test Valley Borough Counicl is simply not acceptable.”

The year ended with the news of Hampshire county with the exception of New Forest being placed in Tier 4 from Boxing Day.

This was in the backdrop of sudden rise in number of coronavirus cases, and the discovery of a new variant of coronavirus in the United Kingdom.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This new variant is highly concerning because it is yet more transmissible and it appears to have mutated further than the new variant that has been discovered in the UK.

This is the Part Two of Andover's year in review. Read Part One here.