Within the last week there has been an increase in fly tipping in the Horndean area. Investigations have led to a householder giving a very clear account of a woman with a white van, accompanied by a teenage girl, knocking her door offering to take her waste which was in her garden for a fee of £50, this was later fly tipped just a few hours later.

Pease be aware that there are cold callers offering to take waste for a fee which may later be been fly tipped within our community. If your waste is found fly tipped and you have not taken reasonable steps to ensure that the person at your door is a licensed waste carrier with the environment agency and obtained a written receipt detailing your waste, YOU could be held liable and be face prosecution.

Fly tipping is a criminal offence and as a householder you have a responsibility to ensure your waste is taken and disposed of by licensed carriers only. If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is. Don’t take the risk, ignore people calling at the door, and check that people carrying waste away are registered.

EHDC and local Councillors are not interested in targeting local householders who can take waste to the tip, but lets be aware about this. Bonefide businesses don’t cold call offering a waste collection service. Just say no.

If you are approached or have a random visit then please speak to Sonja Reames on 01730 234061 at EHDC. Any descriptions including people, vehicles or number plates will help – but please do not take any risks.

In 2014 an application was submitted for land to the rear of 191 – 211 Lovedean Lane for 38 homes. This was refused by EHDC and on appeal was again refused by the planning inspector in May 2015. In January this year a revised application was submitted for 33 dwellings but was again refused in April this year by EHDC as the site was not an allocated site, outside of the Settlement Policy Boundary and our 5 year land supply was being delivered elsewhere.

Southcott have appealed against this decision and both the developer and EHDC have until the 25th October to present their evidence for their case.

Not wishing to pre-judge the response from the planning team but I would expect it to be that the land is outside of the settlement policy boundary, not an allocated site and we have a valid local plan that is delivering in excess of its 5 year land supply elsewhere. Horndean’s own allocated sites are progressing and site investigation has been commenced at Land East of Horndean with developers in place to build this out.

Cllr Schillemore said “I am very surprised to see this appeal by Southcott Homes as it was comprehensively rejected by planning officers when submitted last April. Since the inspector judged the East Hants Development Plan to be sound, developers have respected the boundaries of the areas of settlement and agreed that the land East of Horndean will fulfil all of Horndean’s housing requirements until 2026.”

This appeal is in the form again of an inquiry – a very expensive format to resource – and will be held locally and open to all members of the public. The date and location will be advised here shortly.

 The appeal documents can be found on this link HERE Please can you submit any comments to Cllr Sara Schillemore, the ward Councillor on sara.schillemore@easthants.gov.uk and the case officer Jon Holmes referencing “55406/002 Land to the rear of 191 – 211 Lovedean Lane”. You can do this by post to EHDC by email on info@easthants.gov.uk but please do so well in advance of the deadline of 25th October EHDC have to submit their comments.

The details of the inquiry will be blogged when they are published.

Freaky Fun Friday at Merchistoun Hall – as Halloween draws near!

There could be no better a backdrop than Merchistoun Hall and its grounds at night  for a Halloween Celebration!

And that’s just what it will be on Friday October 27^th as it opens its doors at 6pm (if you dare enter) – for a family & children Halloween Extravaganza.

The halls team of volunteers are working hard to add the finishing touches to this evening that will include:

• Storytelling
• Arts & Crafts,
• Games and prizes
• Music
• Prizes for the best dressed children & adults!
• Refreshments with a witches punch, pumpkin soup, hot dogs (with plenty of red sauce!) …and Halloween decorated cakes on the menu
• And an organised trick or treat

A professional photographer will also be there to capture guests in their finest fancy dress to capture the fun (optional extra)

Brendan Charles – event organiser – said ‘We have had just the greatest fun pulling this event together! – between us we have pooled our ideas, offers of help and support and we wanted to make this event special for Horndean families’

One of the craft activities will be decorating the trick or treat bags that the children will take with them on their organised walk around the immediate neighbourhood.

The team are now busy making and collecting decorations to adorn the hall and look forward to seeing families on the evening itself.

‘We are so pleased to be working again with the wonderful team that made our Summer Fayre the huge success it was earlier this year’ – said Brendan

Tickets are on sale now at £8.00 per child (adults free – the bar will be open!) in advance and include a hot dog, the trick or treat back and all the spooky freaky fun that is on offer. The event is aimed at children 5 upwards – young children are welcome at parents discretion

Tickets can also be purchased on the door of the night itself at £10 (again adults free)

To purchase a ticket either call into the hall Monday – Friday – proceeds from tickets sales go to Horndean Community Association (Registered Charity No 301854)

For more details call them on 023 9259 7114

On the Saturday Merchistoun Hall’s good friends Now That’s Jive will be hosting their annual Halloween Party for the grown ups! – for more details on this call NTJ directly on 07957495570 or 07766761650 – visit their website www.nowthatsjive.com

Over the last 3 years the possibility of a large new incoming power supply from France has been in the press. It has been known as ‘The Aquind Interconnector’ project and linked in the past to private investors and Oligarchs.

National Grid advise projects like this are required to solve our growing energy crisis with coal and gas power stations being shut down and too little progress being made on opening new facilities.

Locally if this is to proceed then the infrastructure at the Lovedean power station will grow considerably. Major infrastructure projects such as utilities and telecommunications can be very difficult to refuse planning permission for so we will need to see how this develops.

In the last week EHDC has received an EIA Screening application for the “proposed development of the installation of two energy storage systems with a total capacity of 49.95MW on land to the west of Broadway Lane, Lovedean”. This does not look like it is related to the Aquind project but a large capacity battery to help cope with peaks in power demand. It is however on an area of land 1Ha in size.

The application describes a total of 40 energy storage units. They typically look like these:

An EIA is ‘Environmental Impact Assessment’ and a screening opinion is where the local authority are asked if they feel a full application would need an Environmental Impact Assessment or not with the application in order to consider it. Depending on the size and impact of the development it may or may not be required and there are criteria for this. More information on EIA Screening can be found HERE

This is not the submission of a planning application, but it is inevitable one will follow. mysteriously though, this is not an application by Aquind, it is a separate application for the infrastructure at the sub station and the EIA Screening information is on this link HERE

The proposed development comprises the installation of two energy storage systems with a total capacity of 49.95MW. This will include:

• 40 energy storage container units, built in 2 phases (20 containers per phase);

• A single 132kV substation compound, up to a height of 5.5m;

• Two customer substations, up to a height of 2.9m;

• One Distribution Network Operator (DNO) substation, up to a height of 3.4m;

• A 3.5m wide access track off Broadway Lane;

• A perimeter security fence, up to height of 2.1m; and

• Internal fencing to protect equipment, up to a height of 2.4m.

The applicant are Anesco Ltd and their website is http://anesco.co.uk/

You can also comment on the application

The proposed location is on the map below:

The Neighbourhood Policing Team have their next beat surgery on the 29th September at the library from 4pm to 56pm. As always all are welcome.