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All posts for the month September, 2014

Chalk Hill Road Plans

Posted by horndeanguy on September 28, 2014
Posted in: Horndean Show Ground. 10 Comments

Lynn Evans PhotoTaylor Wimpey have held their community consultation on the ‘Chalk Hill Road’ plans for the land which is to the South of the field we know better as ‘Trickets Field’. To stress, Jack does NOT own this land, and the rumors that the current tenants who have horses grazing have been given notice to leave are NOT accurate. this came directly from the tenant – the ‘Horses Mouth’ so to speak…

Here are some thoughts from Cllr Lynn Evans who is the District Councillor for Murray Ward, and Chairman of the Parish Council. Lynn is most keen to hear your views on the development so she can ensure they are well represented at the planning committee when the plans are submitted. If Taylor Wimpey stick to their ‘end of October’ timescale then this planning committee would be in January or February 2015 at the earliest.

“The Public Consultation in March this year showed an over whelming community preference for Hazleton and Pyle Farms as the area to develop. This site could, if approved, accommodate all 700 houses needed and would be built out over a number of years.

Taylor Wimpey met with Parish Councillors to present their ideas and also held a Public Consultation on Tuesday 23rd September. No convincing arguments were offered as to why this land should be developed.”

The issues at Chalk Hill Road continue to be:

1) The development would be on land which forms part of the gap between Horndean and Catherington.
2) More houses would mean more traffic on already busy and congested roads.
3) Housing density on the built area would be 40 per hectare.
4) Land has been designated for “Open Space” which is of little use to the community as it slopes steeply.
5) The Catherington Lith Nature Reserve would become more isolated from surrounding wildlife affecting the ecology of the area.

The local residents are opposed to the building of 73 houses in this location and there is no good reason to build on this land and many excellent ones for not doing so.

Horndean Show Ground Development 1

Here is a link to the Taylor Wimpey website where they will post updates:

Taylor Wimpey Website

East Hants Sports Awards 2014

Posted by horndeanguy on September 28, 2014
Posted in: Local Issues. Leave a comment

EHDC-logo-300x132 (1)Now in its fourth year East Hants are encouraging nominations for the East Hampshire 2015 Sports Awards for sporting achievements for the year of 2014.

These annual prestigious awards are co-ordinated by East Hampshire District Council to publicly recognise achievement in various nominated sporting categories:
• Junior Sportsman & Junior Sportswoman
• Senior Sportsman & Senior Sportswoman
• Masters Sportsman & Masters Sportswoman
• Junior Disability Sportsperson
• Senior Disability Sportsperson
• Coach of the Year (Male or Female)
• Volunteer of the Year (Junior & Senior)
• Team of the Year (Junior & Senior)
• Junior School Team of the Year
• Official of the Year (Male or Female)
• Service to Sport (Male or Female)
• Club of the Year
• Outstanding Personal Achievement (Male or Female)

The deadline for nominations is Friday 19th December 2014 and elected finalists are invited to the awards evening on Thurs 12th February 2015 at The Old Thorns Hotel in Liphook. The evening is being hosted by ITV’s Fred Dinenage.

If you wish to nominate any members of your school, club, or organisation please select within the appropriate categories in accordance with the guidelines, and either nominate online or return the nomination sheet to Craig Stainton on craig.stainton@easthants.gov.uk

To nominate
1. Check the guidelines for nominations (Link Below) 2. Complete the appropriate nomination form – all available via links on the website. Please go to the following website page http://www.easthants.gov.uk/ehdc/ActiveLifestylesWeb.nsf/webpages/Sports+Awards and click on the hyperlink for the form you require.

For any further enquiries please do not hesitate to contact Kirsty Cope on 01730 234015 on Thursdays and Fridays.

Kind regards

Kirsty Cope
Sport & Physical Activity Officer

Guidelines-for-Award-Nominations-2014

Open Planning Meeting

Posted by horndeanguy on September 22, 2014
Posted in: George Hollingbery MP. 2 Comments

George_HollingberyBy now letters will be arriving across Horndean, Rowlands Castle and Clanfield from George Hollingbery MP conveying his concerns about development in East Hants, and especially South of Butser.

As District Councillors we work closely with George on certain issues and ensuring we join our efforts on key planning applications and work to protect our community as best we can are key. George is leading an initiative with a planning summit which will be supported by a barrister from London who has very current and relevant experience in structuring objections to applications. This will help to ensure we are making the best use of case history to oppose unsuitable developments. This will be attended by representatives from EHDC as well as District and Parish Councillors and representatives from community groups and residents associations.

This summit will be followed up with a Public Meeting on the evening of the 17th October. If you would like to take part in this meeting can you email George on george.hollingbery.mp@parliament.uk with ‘Planning Meeting’ in the subject line with your full name, telephone number and postal address of everyone who would like to attend and George’s office will send out formal details shortly.

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EHDC 5 Year Plan

Posted by horndeanguy on September 22, 2014
Posted in: Local Issues. 2 Comments

EHDC does not have a 5 year plan in place for housing and this is a key problem for preventing development on gap land such as White Dirt Farm or Chalk Hill Road. There are a number of articles in the press which note that EHDC are working to put this in place, and I am often asked why EHDC has not produced a 5 year plan yet.

The name of the ‘plan’ is perhaps a little unhelpful. The 5 year plan is a requirement to have a 5 year supply of housing in the pipeline so that we are able to ‘meet our own needs’ in terms of housing supply. For east Hants who need to build 582 new homes a year, this means at any time 2910 homes (582 X 5) need to be being built or have have planning permission. It is in fact slightly more than this as we need a 5% safety margin on top which makes the total needed about 3050 homes.

Having had a period of recession, the house building market has been slow and there is nationally a glut of new housing, so you will not be surprised to know that EHDC does not currently have this large amount of housing in the ‘pipeline’ and that we are not alone in this position. The good news is that the rate of applications that have been seen across the District is the same, or even more severe than Horndean. It will not be long before we have enough housing approved to achieve a 5 year plan, and this means that we can then enforce certain policies like the gap policy which will help to protect areas like White Dirt Farm, Chalk Hill Lane etc.

Hopefully this will make it clear the absence of a 5 year plan is not like a report EHDC were due to have prepared and failed to, but is developer driven.

The map below shows the national picture on the 5 year plan with areas in Green not having one in place and areas in Blue or Red with a 5 year plan.

East Hants expects with the current rate of applications to have a 5 year plan in place BEFORE the White Dirt Farm application gets to planning committee. This means that the gap policy will be in place, and will count massively AGAINST the application. Taylor Wimpey were clearly warned this would be the case at the consultation they held in Clanfield.

5 year supply map sept 2014

60,000 Visitors Milestone

Posted by horndeanguy on September 21, 2014
Posted in: Local Issues. 3 Comments

This weekend the blog has passed the 60,000 milestone, and this is the 300th article posted on http://www.horndeanmatters.com Thank you to everyone who has written a post for the blog, and all of you who have visited and commented on the articles.

At the moment the blog gets up to 5,000 visits a week and the most popular articles have been about White Dirt Farm which had 8,000 visitors in the first weekend the topic was posted.

It is fascinating to see how links to the blog from Twitter, Facebook (WDF Action Group) and Nigel Stewards excellent Catherington Village News Letter feed into the blog with spikes in traffic when articles are posted. Anyone who lives in or close to Catherington is very welcome to go on the email list for The Catherington Village Newsletter, to subscribe simply email your contact details to:- VillageNewsLetter@Fullbore.Org

Finally the blog has been accessed from 93 countries around the world in the last 18 months including Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Israel and Korea. The USA has been the second biggest readership. The table below is the number of visitors by country and frequently matched hits when people were known to be abroad. Click on the photo below to enlarge the table.

60,000 readership

Homelessness in Horndean

Posted by horndeanguy on September 20, 2014
Posted in: Local Issues, Local People, Old Horndean Photos. 12 Comments

William Gladstone PMAnd now, unusually, a blog which has nothing to do with housing. In this article I am going to tackle poverty, homelessness, disability and how this was a major problem in our community. It will refer to ‘previous governments’ but on this occasion though the timescale is 1881 in the Union of Catherington (prior to the Parish of Horndean).

William Gladstone (right) was the Prime Minister of a Liberal Government in the reign of Queen Victoria. Topically as we have just had the Scotland Independence referendum, it is wroth noting that in 1881 the United Kingdom government of the day decided to create an act of law preventing the sale of Alcohol in Wales on Sundays. Nowhere else, just Wales. Imagine David Cameron PM laying down legislation to do this in Glasgow tomorrow for the health and good of the population. Alex Salmond would burst with fury. Godalming was the first town to have electric street lighting installed and we were in the middle of the First Boer War.

1881 was a census year, so the records are very good. They show that Clanfield had a population of 219 (now 4,637) and Catherington itself 944 (now Horndean with 12,942) Old records show that spending on the poor was £1.8s.8d per head (One Pound, 8 Shillings and 8 Pence). Such was the extent of financial hardship that workhouses were built extensively for the poor. A new workhouse was built in Catherington in 1835 to accommodate 80 inmates and the Poor Law Commissioners authorised a sum of £1,050 on its construction. (Photo below taken in 1977)

Catherington Workhouse

From the map below you can see the T Shaped building was opposite ‘The Good Intent’ on London Road. I wonder how ironic the naming of the public house was with a workhouse opposite…

Catherington Workhouse Map

The 1881 census has a separate listing for the occupants of the workhouse, and at that time there were just 30. This included the Master and Matron of Union House (James and Letitia Westbrooke) with their son George as a teacher, and the inmate residents. If you know anyone on the list then please comment on the article to share any knowledge you might have!

Catherington Workhouse Inmates

Current day figures are from the 2011 census.
Source data from:
Catherington Workhouse
Catherington Workhouse Census 1881

A Modern Day Update.

A few months ago you may have seen a homeless man under the Motorway bridge between Hornean and Clanfield. His name is Nigel and he was there for 3 nights having also spent some weeks on the streets in Portsmouth, Southsea, Havant and then Horndean. During the 3 nights in Horndean he was given food, non alcoholic drinks, money, blankets, pillows and a sleeping bag, all by Horndean residents who took the time to stop and speak to him.

On the third day he was taken to ASDA by a Horndean resident for new clothes, toiletries and other essentials while other residents contacted homeless charities, hotels and hostels to ensure he came off the streets that night, even if it were in a hotel until proper support could be found. While accommodation was being organised he bathed, shaved and dressed in new clothes. The local authority you have lived in and paid Council tax in has the legal responsibility to house you in emergency, so this was Portsmouth and Southsea. A homeless shelter in Portsmouth had one space free and took him in that night. He was driven there by Horndean residents and given some money to support himself over the next few days. The shelter took him to the right council officers to get the right support the next morning.

We have since heard from Nigel, about 6 weeks on. He is grateful to the people of Horndean for the compassion, support and generosity they gave him when in other areas like Southsea he was spat on and had rubbish thrown at him by youths. He was immediately housed in a shared home where he is getting the support he needs for finding work and rebuilding his life and feels very optimistic about the future.

He has not been on the streets since.

I am proud to live in Horndean.

Cllr Tickell – NPPF Select Committee

Posted by horndeanguy on September 14, 2014
Posted in: Local Issues, Useful Information. 2 Comments

Elaine TickellDISCUSSION FORUM: COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT SELECT COMMITTEE.

By Cllr Elaine Tickell, Horndean Parish Council

Earlier in the year, I made a submission as an individual to the investigation by the Communities and Local Government Select Committee into the impact of the first two years of operation of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). I was absolutely thrilled to receive an invitation to participate in the discussion Forum of the Committee held last Monday on the 1st September at Portcullis House at the House of Commons.

There were in the region of 60-70 delegates from around the country. The discussion was a little like speed dating. We were divided into tables of seven and an MP or representative of the committee then sat at each table with a note taker to take views on specific questions. The four questions asked were

1) An overview of the NPPF,
2) The provision of housing,
3) Local Plans and
4) The effectiveness of consultation.

Each table had 20 minutes to give an opinion and air concerns. After each 20 minute slot, the MP/ representative then moved on and we got a different person. I think that it worked very well and that MP’s were surprised and sometimes shocked to hear the reality of the impact of the NPPF on communities. I spoke to Clive Betts, the Chairman of the Select Committee, Mrs Mary Glindon MP, Kelvin McDonald a lecturer in Planning at Cambridge University and Glenn McKie, the Clerk to the Committee.

In my view, Horndean is an ideal case study into the operation of the NPPF. The Parish has a large site that not only could (if approved) deliver the 700 homes required for the period up to 2028, but also would deliver employment land, a care home for the elderly, housing for the elderly, a school, allotments, many community facilities and infrastructure. It is supported by the majority of the Parish. It is a showcase for sustainable development as required by the NPPF.

The aim of the NPPF was to provide for effective planning inter alia to deliver housing. Sustainability lies at its heart with a core principle of empowering local communities to give input into development in their areas. The three elements of economic, social and environmental should be sought jointly to achieve sustainable development. The planning and appeal decisions that are coming through are clear that the five year land supply (see next paragraph) is one matter in the planning balance.

The planning authority for Horndean Parish is East Hampshire District Council. EHDC does have an adopted Local Plan but at present does not have a Five Year Land Supply. The effect of this has been discussed in previous articles on Horndean Matters. The reality of the operation of the NPPF in Horndean is that developers have manipulated the provisions of the same to their own ends and tried to drive through planning applications on a “first come, first served” basis with applications on inappropriate sites outside settlement policy boundaries, out of character with the area, in the Countryside and in Local Gaps without the support of the Local Population. Public Consultation has been flawed and what is reported by the developers as part of their applications flies in the face of the Public Consultation carried out by EHDC and now embodied in LIPS and in separate polls. The result has been the complete antithesis of the effective planning envisaged by the NPPF.

Hopefully, the evidence given by the individuals on the 1st September will form an important part of the evidence presented to the government that will lead to changes to the NPPF to ensure an effective planning system that is balanced and not just driven by special interest groups.

The Parish Council represents the views of the residents of Horndean. Please let us represent you better – let us have your views on contact@horndeanpc-hants.gov. The more evidence supplied to us, the better the input that we can have into the planning process with a better outcome for Horndean.

A lot of work is being carried out by Parish and District Councillors and it is important that readers know that we are doing all that is possible to achieve a good planning outcome for Horndean.

Cllr Elaine Tickell. Horndean Parish Council.

Note from Guy – That Elaine as an individual made the effort to write to the select committee raising concerns, and delivered a sufficiently robust set of views to have been asked to meet with the Select Committee is a very big deal. Bloody well done and an excellent narrative to share with the community. Thank you. Guy.

Trading Standards Warnings

Posted by horndeanguy on September 14, 2014
Posted in: Local Issues. Leave a comment

HCC Trading StandardsPlease be aware of the following two trading standards alerts where scams are currently underway in the community:

Police Telephone Impersonation:

We are raising awareness of incidences of telephone calls to residents in Waterlooville and surrounding areas which falsely claim to be from the police. In some cases, to reassure and make the call appear genuine, names of officers, ranks and police station addresses have been quoted.

They raise concerns over the person’s credit card and financial issues. Bank and other personal details are requested to aid security.

This is a criminal scam being investigated by the genuine police who advise anyone receiving similar communication to refrain from giving any details and to end the call immediately. Do get some assistance if a call like this leaves you feeling anxious – telephone the police on 101.

If you have been affected or would like to report information for intelligence purposes, this can also be done on the 101 number.

Drive Jet Washing:

Hampshire Trading Standards are aware of several incidents regarding a company cold calling offering to jet wash and seal driveways. This has been reported in Waterlooville and other areas within the County.

Trading Standards would advise consumers not to agree to work that is instigated as a result of a cold call or via a leaflet drop. Consumers should obtain at least 3 written quotes from reputable businesses or traders who are either members of the Hampshire County Council Trading Standards Buy With Confidence Scheme or a recognised trade association.

Members of the Buy With Confidence scheme are fully audited to ensure their trading practices are legal, honest and fair. All members have been checked for trustworthiness and compliance with consumer protection laws. Details can be obtained by telephoning 01962 833620, emailing buy.with.confidence@hants.gov.uk or via the website http://www.buywithconfidence.gov.uk

Traders who agree work at the home of an individual or at a place other than their usual business premises are required by law to provide consumers with a Notice of Right to Cancel, which gives consumers a 7 day cooling off period. Work should not commence until this period has ended, unless written agreement is obtained from that consumer beforehand.

If anyone has any information about traders who are cold calling or requires any advice on doorstep crime they can contact Hampshire County Council’s Quick Response Team on 01962 833666 (Monday – Friday 0900hrs to 1700hrs) where specially trained officers are on hand to provide advice.

If assistance is required outside of these hours please contact Hampshire Police on their non-urgent number 101 or dial 999 if you feel threatened or intimidated.

Hampshire County Council Trading Standards Service
Montgomery House Monarch Way
Winchester Hampshire SO22 5PW
Tel: 01962 833620
Fax: 01962 833698
E-mail: doorstep.crime@hants.gov.uk

WDF George Hollingbery Comments

Posted by horndeanguy on September 14, 2014
Posted in: George Hollingbery MP, WDF Development. 1 Comment

George_HollingberyThe public consultation on the White Dirt Farm development has now closed, and currently there are 242 comments on the website. This is a fantastic return, and I am sure that there are many more in the system waiting to be uploaded, such was the public interest in the application and the concern about the potential impact it may have on the community if allowed.

George Hollingbery MP has also made representation to the case officer and he has kindly passed me a copy of the letter for the blog.

Click on this link to see a copy: White Dirt Farm letter

Flood Road Fixed by HCC

Posted by horndeanguy on September 14, 2014
Posted in: Local Issues. 11 Comments

For the last few years Downwood Way flooded regularly when the ground water was high and rain was regular. Earlier this year this site advised that Hampshire County Council Highways Dept had a solution to this. I am delighted to let you know that these works have been carried out, and we should not see any more flooding on this dip in the road from now on!

Sincere thanks to Cllr Marge Harvey, our County Councillor and the HCC Highways team (Richard Peach, Clive Thornton) for following this up.

Downwood Way Flooding March 2014

Land East Of Horndean Update

Posted by horndeanguy on September 14, 2014
Posted in: Land East Of Horndean, Local Issues. 7 Comments

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe Land East Of Horndean application was expected to be submitted by WGY at the end of August, and at this time has been delayed a little.

The development site has been found to be habitat for a rare breed of bats known as ‘Bechsteins Bats’ and the developers have had to trap some under licence, stick transponders on them and monitor their movements to ensure clear flight paths for foraging can be designed in.

According to Wikipedia there are perhaps 1,000 of these bats in the UK, and they are a highly endangered species. as a result they are heavily protected. Based on the numbers found in the two roosts it seems most of them are at Hazleton Farm!

The bat specialists have concluded their studies and the final impact is being designed into the masterplan now. WYG expect to get the application in by the end of September which will be in good enough time to help demonstrate suitable alternatives to our less preferred sites.

Chalk Hill Lane Consultation

Posted by horndeanguy on September 10, 2014
Posted in: Horndean Show Ground, Local Issues. 17 Comments

Elaine Tickell 2

As reported recently, Taylor Wimpey is looking at making an application to build seventy three units at Land off Chalk Hill Road, Horndean. The Consultation with Parish Councillors will be next Tuesday, 16th September following which we shall have a clearer idea of what is proposed.

The Full Public Consultation is on the 23rd September between 3pm and 7pm at Horndean Football Club off Five Heads Road and all interested parties are welcome.

The ‘Chalk Lane Development’ is better known as land to the South of Tricketts field. It is NOT owned by Jack Trickett.

Having looked at the initial development plan, I have the following concerns:-

1. The application site is outside the Settlement Policy Boundary except for a small area on the south western side of the site. The countryside policies thus apply to it and development would be restricted unless it is necessary and justified. There is no need for any housing to be built here as the 700 homes required to be built in Horndean in the period up to 2028 can be built at a sustainable site at Hazleton Farm/ Pyle Farm which in addition to the housing will also provide infrastructure and community facilities.

2. The site is in the Local Gap between Horndean and Catherington. The Local Gap is intended to prevent the coalescence of the two settlements.

3. The roads are inadequate to take the traffic that would be generated by the development. There is no public transport in the area and it would be necessary to own a car to live here. Chalk Hill Road, Highcroft Lane and Five Heads Road are already very busy congested roads that are dangerous in parts.

4. There are no local services in the area.

5. The site is a valued landscape in an elevated part of the Parish. There are views to the 11th century Church to the north; views to and from South Hampshire to Hayling Island to the east, across the Solent to the Isle of Wight in the South and across to Fawley in the west. These would be lost to a densely built out development that is out of character with the area. Some of the buildings are shown as being three storeys in height and would completely dominate the area. We would not want a replica of the development at Waterlooville in the countryside at Horndean.

6. Catherington Lith is situate just to the north. It is a local nature reserve, is a SINC and is protected by a woodland tree preservation order as it contains remnants of Ancient Woodland. A development of this nature would have serious, detrimental implications for the Lith.

The Parish Council represents the views of Horndean residents. Comments and views are very welcome and should be sent to the Parish Office on contact@horndeanpc-hants.gov.uk.

Cllr Elaine Tickell, Horndean Parish Council, Catherington and Lovedean Ward.

When the public consultation plans are published a copy will be posted here with a poll asking your view on if the development should go ahead.

Horndean Show Ground Development 1

Housing Outside of Horndean

Posted by horndeanguy on September 10, 2014
Posted in: A point of view, Local Issues. 2 Comments

A lot of the blog is about Housing in Horndean as this affects our community and environment, but it is worth mentioning a few bits from outside of Horndean which will help put some things into perspective and correct some urban myth…

A number of people have said the development ‘West of Waterlooville’ is being filled with bus loads of people from Birmingham, with two very authoritative statements that a Mosque is being built. Aside from perhaps having hysterical racist undertones, this is a complete myth. Winchester City Council who are the local authority for this site, and also control the affordable housing element confirm this is not the case. There is a dedicated blog for this land which is run by Jacky Wilson who works for Winchester City Council and Havant Borough Council. it is worth a look if you are after some facts on this development: www.westofwaterlooville.wordpress.com/planning-applications

We are under pressure for housing from all other areas. People will move into Horndean from outside. I did, and from Leigh Park… This was the first home I could afford after I moved out from my parents home. Equally a number of people move away from the area. The fact is that our housing growth is about the same as our own population growth, and this is about 1.5% a year. All of the adjacent planning authorities, with the exception of the South Downs National Park, have a similar rate of housing to us.

Interestingly there is fact sheet which was published by the South East England Councils Partnership and the South East Strategic Leaders Group which covers the housing need in London, and the pressure percieved on the surrounding counties. If you want to read it there is a link below. If not then the key point is that London needs to take care of its own housing need, and not the nearby counties. Click here for the London Housing Plan

At the moment we have an unprecedented number of housing applications coming in to EHDC, and a very large number in Horndean. Because of this we are very worried about our own community and understandably so. The picture is worse though at Bentley, Fourmarks, Medstead and Alton where even larger numbers of housing applications are coming in, and the communities there face the same problems with proposals to develop unsuitable sites. The good news though is that this will help to quickly satisfy the ‘five year plan’ (the need for there to be enough housing in the pipeline to fill a five year demand) and this will shortly allow us to retain our GAP status.

So, hopefully the above notes show what some of the issues and facts are outside of Horndean.

WDF Community View Letter

Posted by horndeanguy on September 7, 2014
Posted in: WDF Development. 9 Comments

One of the files in Taylor Wimpey’s planning application for White Dirt Farm was a ‘Statement of Community Involvement’. In it, Taylor Wimpey explain how the community has been consulted, that views have been incorporated into the plans, and as a result the design has evolved to address the community view.

Taylor Wimpey advise in their report that:

13% of the visitors to the consultation took the opportunity to oppose the plans
4% of comments said the views into the land should be preserved
5% were worried about the loss of the gap land
1% felt White Dirt Lane was unsuitable for cycle or foot paths
3% felt the development would worsen traffic in the surrounding roads

This is not the consultation I visited, nor the view I know the community has about the development. Many of you reading this will now realise why I posted a poll asking the exact same questions, but in a Yes – No – Don’t Know format. You will not be surprised to learn that this generated very different results, and this has been used to gather key data to challenge Taylor Wimpey’s ‘statement of community involvement’.

Along with the failure to consult with Horndean Parish Council, the general consultation quality and the two different plans of White Dirt Farm, Taylor Wimpey’s consultation has been a very substandard affair.

I have summarised this and the letter below is for the attention of the case officer asking him to support my view that the consultation was ineffective, and the application has no more weight than an application where consultation had not been carried out. If accepted this would be a serious embarrassment and a blow to Taylor Wimpey. Something like this could be the swinging point on a marginal application.

There are two files below. The Taylor Wimpey consultation report which has been submitted to EHDC and my letter raising my concerns.

Taylor Wimpey Statement Of Community Involvement

Cllr Guy Shepherd Letter Re WDF Consultation

Schools In Our Community

Posted by horndeanguy on September 6, 2014
Posted in: Local Issues. 2 Comments

EHDC-logo-300x132 (1)With the recent interest in development in Horndean, and the pressure this would put on our services like education, the next Community Forum meeting will be about Education. this is a great topic of relevance, and Martin Shefferd who is the School Organisation Officer at the children’s Service Department at Hampshire County Council will be giving a presentation and taking questions.

The agenda will cover:

• Education In The Area

• School places

• Capacity and allocation of schools in the area

• The proposed school on the Hazleton Farm Development (subject to planning)

• The future of the schools in the area

• School Placements Policy and

• He has offered to explain the position regarding CIL and s106 agreements and the need for EHDC to work closely with the County Council to provide the CIL funding to expand schools?

This PUBLIC MEETING will be at Merchistoun Hall on Tuesday 14th October from 6:30pm and all are welcome.

The plan is to continue this theme of local infrastructure and we hope to get someone from Hampshire County Council to join us for the January meeting.

A3M Closure Dates

Posted by horndeanguy on September 6, 2014
Posted in: Local Issues. 7 Comments

Over the next few weeks the A3M Northbound carriageway is being closed from 10pm to 6am for resurfacing works. This is to include a quieter tarmac surface which has already been applied over much of the carriageway.

As part of the consultation process I suggested spikes embedded into the tarmac that activate and rise when the exhaust of a particularly deafening motorbike, or lime green Vauxhall Nova with lowered suspension, CHAV lighting to the underside and Halfords 400W stereo with Boom Box Base units passes over and can be heard from 2 miles away. Sadly this suggestion has not made its way into the final scope of works.

A full list of the closure dates is below:

A3M carriageway closured

1950’s Horndean

Posted by horndeanguy on September 4, 2014
Posted in: Old Horndean Photos. Leave a comment

Horndean Village Centre 1950's

1950’s Horndean. Note the very different skyline before the Gales Tower was modified at the top. Telegraph poles line the road with a 1950’s double decker bus. At this time the A3M had not been built, so the road is lower – it had to be raised in level to get high enough for the bridge.