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All posts for the month June, 2013

Horndean Roadworks To End…

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on June 29, 2013
Posted in: A point of view. Leave a comment

This time, the end is in sight, and even I believe it is.

Virgin are currently lowering the ducts that prevented the resurfacing works and the area that is opened up will be reinstated this weekend, and the lights taken down. They have a second 15m stretch of ducts to lower 50m to the north and will do this in a 3 day period early next week.

The final resurfacing is now planned to take place on the nights of the 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th July at which point the roadworks in Horndean will end. I hope the residents on the road have been notified by Hampshire County Council and it will not be unbearably disruptive.

The new carriageway will be protected with a Section 58 order which prevents any roadworks for a period of 5 years unless they are urgent.

The end is in sight.

After a year of disruption, perhaps some sort of formal closing ceremony…

HPC – Transparent and Clear

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on June 23, 2013
Posted in: Local Issues. 4 Comments

Horndean Parish Council is our closest and most accessible Tier of local government. It also spends as much of our Council Tax as East Hampshire District Council. Of the 5200 homes and 12,942 people it represents, very few people take a day to day interest in the organisation and what it does.

The main reason (I believe) is that we are all busy people running ever busier lives and there is often too little time to go beyond our immediate interests. For this reason I personally believe that the concept of ‘Localism’ is complete Bollocks.

There are a few documents at HPC worth reading though so you know what they do and where your council tax is spent, and these include the annual report (what the money is spent on) and the Annual Return (the financial report for the Council). In here you can see how the parish council spent its £371,700 precept between March 2012 and March 2013. (This has been increased by 9% for this current year)

In a spirit of openness and transparency the Parish Council have published in full the expenditure for the year including salaries, training, incomes from clubs and hall hire and bills. It is a fascinating read.

Click here for the HPC Annual Return 2012-2013

Click here for the HPC schedule of meetings, agendas, supporting documents and minutes: http://www.horndeanpc-hants.gov.uk/meetings.php

Horndean 2013 SHLAA Sites

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on June 23, 2013
Posted in: EHDC, Local Issues. Leave a comment

The SHLAA sites submitted to EHDC have now been assessed and a map prepared to show which sites have been included and which sites excluded. Unfortunately, there are a few shocks.

First off to explain the coding. SHLAA sites have been assessed for 5 years now. Anything ending ‘-05’ is part of this years assessment. (-05 is 2013. -04 is 2012. -03 is 2011. -02 is 2010. -01 is 2009. No ending is 2008, the first year they were assessed.)

Blue Anchor Field which is HD002-5 is a major disappointment as this land is in the South Downs National Park, has no access, is on a slope and viewed extensively from surrounding areas. There is currently some confusion as to whether this site has been assessed so we hope this is an error. Updates will be posted here.

Trickets Field which is HD008-05 is also a new addition and could well bring 250 homes into the fields which would significantly change the views over Horndean.

Green Lane – 2 is also under threat with CL001-5 marked up and showing this site as included. This was probably inevitable but will do nothing to allay the concerns of residents who moved into a quiet village and are seeing its transformation around them.

Please see yesterdays post about the Community Forum meeting on the 30th July to discuss housing in Horndean and come if you can.

SHLAA Sites Horndean June 2013

Important Housing Meeting

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on June 22, 2013
Posted in: EHDC, Local Issues. Leave a comment

East Hants is currently renewing its local plan, and this is a breakdown of the Districts housing needs between now and 2028.

This will give us a picture of the housing that is likely to be built in Horndean and the surrounding areas and it is important that people attend to understand what the impact will be on our communities.

Once the housing numbers are explained, the next step will be to look at where this might go and to see how we can link this with community facilities and where we can improve our villages.

This meeting is at Horndean Technology College in the Sixth Form block on Tuesday 30th July from 6:30pm.

The link below is to a presentation I made at the HPC Annual Meeting. It sets out population growth, how changing household size affects housing needs and SHLAA sites.

Future Housing In Horndean

For Downs Ward, residents should know that protecting White Dirt Farm against development is a number one priority and this land is designated as ‘Local Gap’ to prevent Catherington merging with Clanfield and Horndean.

A Brighter Horndean is coming!

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on June 22, 2013
Posted in: Local Issues. Leave a comment

The HCC street light replacement works have started and this will see every light column in the area replaced with a new lower energy smart fitting (see past blog article “All New Street Lighting For Horndean” dated 3rd January for more information including maps of the works)

This will see some improvements to roads where there are currently no light columns, for example White Dirt Lane, and we have managed to get some local improvements considered and hopefully designed in.

One of these is to the entrance of the Clanfield Coop where the entrance is very dark. Thank you to Father Brian Goldsmith for raising this particular area as an issue.