Latest Newsletter

August 2009

Annual Parish Meeting

This took place on Friday, 24 April 2009. The formal meeting started at 8pm and was followed by short presentations (including Question & Answer sessions) from:

 Representatives of Ellisfield Village Organisations

• Anna McNair Scott (Hampshire County Councillor)

 After the meeting there was a light buffet, with wine and soft drinks and attendees had the opportunity to socialise.

 You will find a copy of the Chairman’s Report in this newsletter

Freedom of Information

From 1 January 2009, all public bodies are required to adopt a model publication scheme.  This will tell you all of the information we currently publish and how you can access it.
Details of Ellisfield Parish Council’s publication scheme can be found at www.ellisfield.gov.uk/council 

Parish Council Contact Details

The six parish councillors are (in alphabetical order): 

  Caroline Cazenove, Brocas, The Green                   381279

  Tim Guinness, Widmoor Farm, College Lane           381348

  Peter Hopwood, The Acorns, Axford Road               381321

  David Richards, September, College Lane               381771

  Ian Seagrave, Kandahar, The Green                        381278

  Rose Taplin, 2 Hill Farm Cottages, Green Lane        381417 

The parish clerk is Jacqui Matthews (Mayfield, Green Lane, Ellisfield RG25 2QL) and she can be contacted on 381149 or at clerk@ellisfield.gov.uk. 

For further information on the Parish Council (including the Meeting Minutes) visit www.ellisfield.gov.uk/council.

Traffic Calming

You will be aware that Hampshire County Council Highways Department has recently erected ‘Village Gateways’ either side of the houses along Axford Road. This seems to have had limited impact with many drivers ignoring the signage to reduce speed.  

In recent Newsletters we have advised you of the HCC Village 30 initiative to restrict traffic to 30mph through Hampshire villages.  Residents have been asked to complete a questionnaire to ascertain what degree of speed restriction would be desirable on our village roads. A significant majority indicated that a 30 mph speed restriction would be desirable, but that it would be sufficient to limit this to the Axford Road. 

HCC have now selected Ellisfield for the Village 30 initiative. All road signage must comply with road traffic legislation.  This will involve having 30 mph repeaters (only two are expected to be needed) on the Axford Road, and they will be installed for minimum intrusion to frontage.  De-restriction signs are mandatory and will be back to back with 30 signs on each side of the road above the houses on Green Lane and College Lane as well as at the gateways. 

We are advised that there will be some police enforcement.

The completion of the scheme may be this autumn, but it does depend on the availability of funds. If you need further information then please ask Cllr Peter Hopwood, Cllr David Richards or the Parish Clerk.

Hill Farm Pond

The next phase of the work is to shift the large accumulation of silt below the pond surface but before work can start, the silt must be tested for hydrocarbons/heavy metals to meet the requirements of The Environment Agency. Samples have been taken and have been sent for analysis. Once results have been received and the wildlife breeding season is finished we will be seeking a contractor to remove the silt. 

For those who were unable to attend the Annual Parish Meeting where there was a display of photographs taken at various stages of the project, with an account of how the project has progressed over recent years and months; this will shortly appear on the village website. 

The Fox Inn

Welcome: To Andre and Jenny Selwood who have taken over running The Fox Inn.  There is a new menu offering good quality pub food and traditional Sunday Lunch is available for £5.95. Several events have been planned for the summer including the Curry ‘n’ Quiz every other Sunday evening; do go along and support our village pub. 

Security

You may have noticed new Smartwater signs that have been positioned under existing Neighbourhood Watch signs as you enter the village. Smartwater is becoming a very effective tool in the fight against crime. Kits are available from Hannah Houstin-Lacey, £15.00 normally £45.00. If you would like to receive Neighbourhood Watch emails updating you on local issues as they arise, please send your email address to Hannah on laconsult@btinternet.com  

Allotments

The allotments at Upper Common are now all let and the tenants have formed the Ellisfield Allotment Gardeners Association (EAGA), they held their inaugural meeting on 25 May 2009. It is quite amazing to see what is being grown – the hard work and enthusiasm necessary to raise a crop on such long abandoned land is little short of miraculous. 

Affordable Housing

Your parish council continues to work towards meeting the needs of those with local connections and has spent considerable time working with Hyde Housing Association who drew up draft plans for a potential development on a site adjacent to Farrier’s Field. Despite your council’s request for a 4 dwelling development, Hyde submitted plans for an 8 house project to BDBC Planning Department. The plans were rejected and Hyde has subsequently declined to continue to pursue the site adjacent to Farrier’s Field as the hurdles are disproportionate to any realistic prospect of development. Whilst it is the Parish Council’s preference to pursue a scheme of 4 affordable units these are not considered viable by housing association developers given the higher costs and grant levels required to deliver rural exceptions schemes. The fact that Ellisfield does not have a settlement boundary means that new sites can only be developed for Affordable Housing and BDBC will not allow the development of any private housing alongside. 

Late Autumn Walk

This has been scheduled for Sun 20 September, leaving Lower Common at 10.00am and finishing at 1pm approximately. The walk will cover mixed farmland and woodland and will cover approximately 6 miles. 

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