Residents in Greenfields Avenue in Alton breathed a sigh of relief last week as the grass verges at the New Odiham Road end were cut.

It was not because they suffer from hay fever and now had some local relief – they were happy because the street party they planned could now go ahead on the grass beside the road. I had a call from a resident because they had asked for this to be done but had no response from East Hampshire District Council. It’s not the only time this has happened as other councillors reported the same issue.

We are not talking about kerbsides set aside for ‘No Mow May’, these were scheduled to be cut but had not been. My residents were upset that their street party would be spoilt. Navigating your way around East Hampshire District Council to contact a real person is, to say the least, tricky.

Luckily, I was able to report the problem to higher level officers, who to their credit acted straight away. The grass was cut the day after my intervention.

On top of this, Norse South East mowed the flagship re-wilding project in Alton, despite signs and posts designed to protect the area. EHDC has since apologised, but for this year at least the flowers have gone, and the pollinators that feed on them will suffer.

The reason I am highlighting this is two-fold – firstly, East Hampshire District Council only has an indirect contract to deal with environmental services, the largest contract that the council lets. The EHDC contract is in fact with Havant Borough Council, which has the contract with Norse.

At the annual council meeting in May the leader specifically mentioned Norse as not performing as he would like. I agree with him, but I am not sure what can be done now we are in an eight-year contract.

My second point is how East Hampshire District Council deals with residents’ concerns. It is clear to me that the online system is not working, certainly not for priority cases. Automated mails are logged and seem to stack up. At the end of the day, it needs one human being to sort through residents’ reports and feedback to prioritise and take action on them.

I am not sure our manual post handling system is really up to speed either, leaving residents feeling frustrated.

What is the root cause of all this? I am very tempted to say it is “transformation” – the process that has led EHDC from merger to de-merger of staff with Havant.

Staff are faced with uncertainty, and I am sure many are asking themselves should they stay or should they go. Many familiar officers have left the council. Change is always unsettling, but the question is whether EHDC has bitten off more than it can chew.

I hope not, because the council seems pretty set on its trajectory of moving into the new Bedford Road HQ in Petersfield, even as we await the business study to justify this. How many council officers will be based at Bedford Road? What facilities will be available in local ‘hubs’ and where will these be? In Alton, Whitehill & Bordon, Liphook and the southern parishes?

And in the meantime, councillors need to know who to contact when residents have issues. Your local councillors are here to help residents navigate the cyberspace that is now the go-to method for interaction with the council. Your call is important to me…

Cllr Steve Hunt