A YEAR-long campaign by Holybourne residents for improved signage for London Road came one step closer last week to achieving its goal. Alton Town Council's planning and transportation committee agreed to accept East Hampshire District Council's offer to make changes to the signage which, it is hoped, will avoid future confusion over the location of properties in London Road. The call for action came in December 2003 following an incident which could have cost a woman's life. An ambulance driver had been unable to find the address of a lady who had suffered heart failure. He had turned into the village when, in fact, the house he was looking for was located in the part of London Road which lies on the Alton side of the Grange Hotel, near to Anstey Park. Since then local residents have been pushing for signage which will make clear that numbers 1 to 24 are actually located along the stretch of London Road which joins Anstey Road, by Anstey Park, and that numbers 79 upwards are located within the village itself. According to deputy town clerk Greg Burt, the missing numbers were left in case more houses were built between the two built-up areas and required London Road numbers. The confusion has developed because, according to local councillor John Smith, when the by-pass was built in the 1970s the link road served to sever London Road. And while the sign for Holybourne village stands at the Eggar's School junction, the historic boundary for the parish and the existing ward boundary is actually at Anstey Park. However, a meeting with EHDC officers and subsequent survey of residents had revealed strong feelings that the Holybourne village sign post should remain where it is - at the T- junction by Eggar's School. A proposal to replace that sign with two - one near the junction with Mill Lane and the other at Anstey Park -were clearly rejected. In addressing ATC's planning and transportation committee, Holybourne Village Association (HVA) representative Steve Downes said that residents felt the existing sign helped identify the village as an individual part of Alton, rather than as an extension to the town. "The village would be strongly opposed to moving the Holybourne sign," he warned. Mr Downes was supported in this view by fellow HVA member John Bound. He believed that, while it may be the difference between "the perceived and the legal boundaries", if the sign were to be moved the identity of the village would be lost. Instead, local residents were keen to endorse a proposal to amend the London Road signposts at Anstey Park to include the name Holybourne under the road name. They also believed that two new signposts be installed at the T-junction outside Eggar's School with directional arrows to indicate that numbers 1 to 24 were located west, towards Alton, and that numbers 79 to 228 were located to the east, within the village itself. On the question of the naming of the part of the B3004 linking the Holybourne roundabout on the A31 with the Eggar's T-junction, councillors decided to invite ideas from the public. An article is to be placed into the next edition of The Altonian magazine, asking first if the road should be named and, if so, what name would be appropriate. Mr Burt suggested that names might be associated with the surrounding areas of Lynch Hill, Copt Hill and Neatham. He would be happy to receive suggestions in writing at the town hall.
