This week saw a lovely leaving party for Judith Giles, the chief officer of Romsey Town Council, who has been with the council for 20 years.  

Judith has been at many of the wonderful events we have seen in Romsey over the years, not least the unveiling of the beautiful War Horse statue in the Memorial Park, and made sure that many a civic event runs smoothly.  I have no doubt we will all miss her and her administrative efficiency.

I have also been at the annual Business South networking lunch at Kimbridge Barn.  It was great to catch up with business leaders from across the region, including Natasha Dochniak from Hampshire Fare. I think it was about in 2014 we did a Hampshire Fare event in Westminster, bringing together producers from across the county to showcase their produce in Parliament.  It is clearly high time we did it again and I am hoping to convince new colleagues from the county to spearhead this initiative.  If not, I guess I will just have to organise it again, but the last time it was well worth doing.

This week I have been in Monxton with villagers campaigning to get the Village Green properly recognised as such.  We were joined by press photographers and there is an article in the Daily Mail about it.  I am not sure I have ever seen such a compelling case for the acceptance of the application to formally designate the Green as such, and I very much hope Hampshire County Council formalises its status.  

This weekend sees the return of the Food Festival to Romsey.  It is always such a fabulous event and I am very much looking forward to it. But events like this do not happen by accident, there is a team of dedicated volunteers who make all things possible in the Town, so I would like to express my thanks to them in advance.  One such individual was Mark Edgerley, who after his successful stint as our Town Centre Manager, took on many voluntary roles in the town, not least as part of the Food Festival team.  He is much missed, so I was pleased to hear on Tuesday night that the refurbished bench outside NatWest is to have a plaque on it in memory of Mark.  I cannot think of a more appropriate place to site a permanent tribute to him, as it was where I so often bumped into him. 

Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP,

Member of Parliament for Romsey and Southampton North, 

Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons