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All posts for the month August, 2014

New Taylor Wimpey Application

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on August 31, 2014
Posted in: Horndean Show Ground, Local Issues. 30 Comments

Sara Schillemore PhotoAt the end of last week I was informed by EHDC that a pre application meeting had just taken place with Taylor Wimpey. This is for a SHLAA site we have not been aware of development interest in before and is on land the developer is describing as ‘Land Off Chalk Hill Lane’. This is a fenced off area adjacent to land we know as Trickets Field (Horndean Showground). This time Taylor Wimpey have spent considerable time preparing their plans to such an advanced stage that they expect to submit an outline application at the end of October, just 8 or 9 weeks time. It might seem that the very public and controversial application at White Dirt Farm may have left them feeling that minimum public exposure was best for them.

Horndean Show Ground Development 2

The proposals are for 73 units of which 30 would be affordable housing. Access is proposed to be via Chalk Hill Road and Highcroft Lane. The development plans border Bentley Close, Highcroft Lane, Chalk Hill Road and Catherington Lith Nature Reserve. The design would leave the risk of further development along the field.

Taylor Wimpey advise they will be holding a public consultation for interested parties. The date and venue is still to be confirmed, but it is expected to be around the 22nd or 23rd September. This time they are making a concerted effort to meet with the Parish Council as well.

The landscape of this site is key to the area with views of the 11th century church, extensive views across the south of Hampshire including the Solent from Hayling Island to Fawley and the Isle of Wight. These would be lost. As with White Dirt Farm this land is also Gap Land which Councillors fought to have protected in earlier versions of the local plan. It is worrying that this is another development in Gap Land, and on another site that the public consultation (LIPS) identified as having very little public support for development.

A copy of the plan for the site is shown below.

Horndean Show Ground Development 1

As a reminder I can not enter into debate or express views about the applications in my ward as I sit on the planning committee at EHDC, and to do so would jeopardise my position on the committee. At this time I have 5 major applications for 40 or more homes in both Lovedean and Catherington. I am keen to hear your comments on sara.schillemore@easthants.gov.uk but due to the extreme volume of applications and emails please forgive me if I can not respond with anywhere near the detail I would like to.

Cllr Sara Schillemore, Catherington and Lovedean Ward
Email sara.schillemore@easthants.gov.uk

Horndean Race Track Under Threat

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on August 31, 2014
Posted in: Local Issues. 8 Comments

Track 4Horndean Race Track – more formally known as SAA Raceway is on Hazleton Farm just off the B2149. It is to the South of the proposed Land East Of Horndean development, but on the same site as the proposed solar farm. If the solar farm goes ahead, the race track will be doomed. Even if the Solar Farm does not proceed, the future of the race track is unclear as the land owner is not engaging in talks to renew the lease the race track has on the land.

Track 2SAA Raceway has 14 events a year, and last weekend I accepted an invitation from Jenni Morton (Former pilot, race driver and current Executive Secretary for the organisation) to join in. A seat in one of the cars was also offered – This would be a Mark 2 Ford Cortina Hearse…. Having not been there before I was keen to find out more about the organisation.

Track 5The club caters for all age groups with Novice drivers up to one member in his 90’s. Groups that race include Bangers where contact is allowed, production classes, modified saloons, Hot Rods, Specials and others. Some of the cars are extensively modified and there was more than one very highly engineered buggy with a space frame.

Track 3The SAA Raceway is also a great social organisation with perhaps 200 competitors at a major event, and a similar number of spectators who line the banks and support. If you are interested in watching a race then spectators are very welcome, just turn up. The first races on a race day start at 11am, and the next meeting dates are 14th, 28th September and the 12th October. Arriving by 10am guarantees you a good view.

Track 7The pit lanes are very busy with pre-race preparation to ensure that the cars are in the best condition for each of the 3 races for each class. Some of the drivers take a cautious approach in the first two races, then let themselves go a little for the third. ‘There is no point being wiped out in the first race!’ one driver said. Safety and controls were very evident on the day with drivers briefings, damping down the track with their own tanker (to keep the dust down), marshals and incident control.

Hopefully there will be a way for the race track and the other possible development to co-exist together, and for the next 3 seasons why not take a look and enjoy a different day out at a local event.

To find out more visit www.saaraceway.co.uk

HPC Consider Local Developments

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on August 28, 2014
Posted in: WDF Development. 4 Comments

HPC logoHorndean Parish Council consider all planning applications and give a view to EHDC for them to consider when weighing up a planning application. The Parish Council will be considering two large local applications at the next meeting on Monday 1st September, and for those who are interested in the application, this is, of course, a key part of the process.

One of these applications is White Dirt Farm, and you may recall that Horndean Parish Council were not invited to give views on the community facilities that are required, and their members received their invitations to the consultation the day after it took place.

Cllr Elaine Tickell who represents Catherington Lovedean at the Parish Councillor has prepared two excellent reports on these two key applications and as well as the meeting agenda I am enclosing the reports here so you can download and view.

Parish Council Planning Meeting Agenda

White Dirt Lane Report By Cllr Tickell

Downhouse Lane Report By Cllr Tickell

Agenda With Reports

Lies, Damned lies, and Statistics

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on August 26, 2014
Posted in: WDF Development. 8 Comments

The phrase “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics” is attributed by Mark Twain to Benjamin Disraeli, a 19th Century British Prime Minister. Neither Twain nor Disraeli had to deal with the Statement of Community Involvement from Taylor Wimpey in regard of their White Dirt Farm proposals… Perhaps I can gain personal notoriety for the phrase “Lies, Damn Lies, Statistics and Developers Reports…” This would of course be grossly unfair to Taylor Wimpey, who have simply drawn together the feedback from the consultation on White Dirt Farm and produced a summary document on the community views. The feedback they are submitting to the case officer though seems to bear little resemblance to the community view as I understand it. Here are a few examples to show why I am concerned. According to the Taylor Wimpey Statement of Community Involvement:

13% of people at the consultation took the opportunity to oppose the development.
4% commented that another location should be found for the development
2% thought there was a lack of infrastructure to support the development
4% said it was important to retain the views of the site in question
3% felt there would be an increase in traffic on the local roads.
1% felt White Dirt Lane was not suitable for pedestrian or cycle paths.

These facts are of course distorted by this being merely a summary of some of the comments. They are however presented in a manner that might suggest 87% were not opposed to the development, or that 99% are clearly not worried about the traffic on White Dirt Lane.

It will be interesting to ask the questions again, with a strict yes, No, Don’t Know format, so here they are below. There is already a poll running about building on White Dirt Farm on an earlier blog, so I will not repeat that one here.





And finally, a multiple choice question:

The results of the polls will be passed to the case officer to give a clearer picture of the community view!

If you would like to see the Taylor Wimpey Statement Of Community Involvement then click On This Link Here: Taylor Wimpey Statement Of Community Involvement

Yes Minister – Getting The Consultation Result You Want. Thank you Andy for sending in this very relevant clip.

Council Tax Phone Scam Alert

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on August 19, 2014
Posted in: Local Issues. Leave a comment

EHDC-logo-300x132 (1)Warning over council tax scam

East Hampshire residents are being warned to be cautious about cold calls asking for payment of council tax over the phone after reports from concerned customers.

Two local people have got in touch with East Hampshire District Council to say they had received calls from someone claiming to be from the council, and asking for debit or credit card payments over the phone.

Daniel Lucking from EHDC’s Council Tax department said:
“We would never telephone our customers and ask them to give us their bank details over the phone or to demand payment.

“We are not aware of anyone having actually been taken in by this scam so far, but wanted to make sure people were aware how to tell if a call is real in case there were other cases that had not been reported to us yet.”

He added:
“If you do get a call from someone claiming to be from our council tax department and you are unsure if it is genuine, please end the call and give us a ring on 01730 234400.

“If it is a call from us we won’t mind you doing this at all, we’d rather you were safe than sorry.”

The council has been in touch with Hampshire Constabulary to make them aware of the issue.

Anyone who has any concerns or has received a similar call is asked to let EHDC know on 01730 234400.

If you have made a payment you think may be fraudulent call Hampshire Constabulary on 101.

Historic Photograph Exhibition

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on August 16, 2014
Posted in: Local Issues, Old Horndean Photos. 1 Comment

Historic Photograph Exhibition 24th, 25th August at Catherington Church Hall

The Colonial Bar

Local resident Sara Schillemore will be holding her sixth exhibition of historic local photographs in Catherington church hall over the bank holiday weekend Sunday 24th and Monday 25th August from 10am until 4pm each day. She has built up an extensive collection of photographs over the years some over 100 years old and it is a popular event locally. People come quite a distance, from Wales and Yorkshire to visit and there is always the chance that you can meet up with old friends you haven’t seen for years or family members.

Folk love to come and see the villages as they were and see pictures and of the area where their house was built. Families are becoming more aware of their family history too. Four years ago Sara saw two ladies become aware that they were cousins. Both lived locally but were unaware of any relationship until they both identified the same man as their Uncle.

Clanfield

Sara also arranges a selection of some of the church records from All Saints, Catherington and St James, Clanfield to be on display. This year she also hopes to have records from Holy Trinity, Blendworth. These records are irreplaceable and therefore priceless, she asks that if you want to look through them and copy any entries from them you should bring paper and a pencil as an ink pen is not to be used near them. Sara says, ‘People love to look through the records and see the history of their family unfold. People today have no idea of the high mortality rates in infancy 150 years ago. Quite often a baby would be baptised within a week of birth and then die within a matter of days. The family would recover from their loss and a year later, have another child. If it was the same sex it was often named with the same name as the lost child, in remembrance. This can cause quite a bit of confusion to amateur historians until you get the hang of it’.

Bird In HandHundreds of photographs from Clanfield, Catherington, Lovedean and Blendworth will be on display and tea and coffee will be available. Entry is £1 and the proceeds go towards the upkeep of Catherington church, a beautiful grade two listed building.

Sara is always looking for old pictures for her collection so if you have anything that she might find interesting please bring it along so that she can copy it for future displays.
Troops Horndean

Renewable Energy – vs – Visual Impact

Posted by Cllr Guy Shepherd on August 16, 2014
Posted in: Land East Of Horndean, Local Issues. Leave a comment

Is renewable energy a good thing? Yes. undoubtedly. We need more of it, but to generate enough electricity with PV (Solar Panels) vast areas are required. Typical schemes are 50 to 100 acres. these are too big for the roofs of any buildings, and there is simply no such thing as brownfield land big enough to be re-used. If Solar Farms are to be used as a source of renewable energy then they will cover large areas of land, usually green field space.

We are currently aware of one set of proposals which is adjacent to, but not on the proposed ‘Land East Of Horndean’ site. The farmland is Grade 4 – About the lowest quality possible, but has been used in the past for grazing, and undoubtedly has its own habitat.

For me the size of the proposed scheme came as a surprise, but to generate enough power for perhaps 5,000 homes everything is proportional. The location is far less sensitive than the solar farm in Lovedean, and we are told the ground below will still sustain much of the existing habitats for the current biodiversity.

In the last few weeks consultation have been held in Rowlands Castle and Horndean, but were not very well advertised. I found out the morning of the Horndean consultation, but instead of finding a large corporate machine who were looking to do the minimum possible consultation, met the proposers, who are local businessmen doing this for the first time. They are very happy to keep the consultation open for any comments online, and with their permission I am enclosing images of their plans here.

Solar Farm Website Details and Contact

Red line drawing showing the extent of the proposed solar farm:
Solar Farm Red Line Drg

Plan showing the general orientation of the panels:
Solar Farm Panel Drg

For me the balance of loss of farmland and visual impact are a close call against the environmental benefit of renewable energy, but tipped just in favor because the visibility of the site from the motorway and surrounding roads will be minimal. When the plans are submitted to EHDC there will be a formal opportunity to comment, but in the meantime please pass any feedback to them on their website (link above). The ward Councillor is Cllr Marge Harvey in Rowlands Castle.