Home
Wed May 23 (7.45pm):
Horticultural Society Talk
Ellisfield Memorial Hall
Talk by Steve Peach, entitled “The Ugandan Connection Community -
Tue May 29 (7.30pm for 8pm start):
Ellisfield Ladies Club
Book Presentation by Jenny
Mallin
Memorial Hall, Church Lane
Members, husbands/partners or friends are invited to hear Jenny Mallin give a 45
minutes presentation and book talk, entitled 'A Grandmother's Legacy'.
Jenny runs
her book talks for many people from all walks of life, who enjoy hearing about the
grandmothers and their families, the food they ate and the history that links them
to the British Raj and its infrastructure. She will have her book on sale on the
night at a substantial discount.
There will be cheese and wine too. Cost per head
will be £5. Please let Diana Sandeman know if you would like to book a place/places
at this event.
Thu June 7 (from 7.30pm):
Social & Entertainment Club
Millennium Hall, Cliddesden
Film: To Kill A Mocking Bird (1962) ****
T
o Kill A Mockingbird is a 1962 American drama film directed by Robert Mulligan.
The screenplay is based on Harper Lee's 1960 Pulitzer Prize-
T
he story is loosely based on real events that happened in Monroeville, Alabama,
in 1936.
The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from the critics and was
a box-
The primary themes of the film are racial injustice and the
destruction of innocence.
The bar opens at 7.30pm and the film (which is 120 minutes
long) starts at 8pm. There is an intermission half-
Fri June 8 (from 7.00pm)
Ellisfield Wine Walk
This year, the hosts (and wine country) are as follows:
Zani Robinson (Chile)
Coopers Farm, Bell Lane
Bev Staunton (Italy)
Southgate, Green Lane
Gordon Dunse (South Africa)
The Thatched Cottage, Green Lane
Click HERE to display an event poster which includes a map showing each location.
Each
host will have flags outside their house, so you’ll know you’re at the right location!
All proceeds in aid of the Memorial Hall.
Thu July 5 (from 7.30pm):
Social & Entertainment Club
Millennium Hall, Cliddesden
Film: Manchester By The Sea (2016) ****
A drama set in Manchester, Massachusetts (not to be confused with Manchester, England).
It stars Gregory Peck, Mary Badham and features Robert Duvall in his debut role.
W
ritten
and directed by Kenneth Lonergan, and starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams,
Kyle Chandler, and Lucas Hedges.
The film tells the story of a man (Casey Affleck)
who unexpectedly becomes the guardian of his nephew following the death of his brother.
He is forced to deal with a past that separated him from his wife, and the community
where he was born and raised.
Manchester by the Sea was nominated in six categories
at the Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best
Actor (Affleck). The film was counted among the best films of 2016. It grossed $77
million worldwide against an $8.5 million budget.
The bar opens at 7.30pm and the
film (which is 137 minutes long) starts at 8pm. There is an intermission half-
NEW Thu May 10, 2018:
Latest Horticultural Society Report
This month’s report is by Claire Cook from Ellisfield. It can be found (naturally!) on the Society’s webpage.
Tue May 1, 2018:
"In The Fields" Article
The latest Seumas Foster’s "In The Fields" article can be found HERE.
Tue April 17, 2018:
“Fast” Broadband Now Available To Ellisfield Residents Living
In The
North Of The Village
The heading says it all.
Residents whose telephone is connected to the BT Cabinet
at the top of College Lane can now upgrade to “fast” broadband. The connection to
the house will still be via the existing copper wires, so the further away from the
cabinet you are, the slower the speed will be.
For further information (including
a map showing which houses can now upgrade) click HERE.
NOTE: BT Openreach / Hampshire
County Council have provided a quote to provide superfast broadband to Ellisfield
South. £22,500 will need to be raised to order this service.
Fri April 13, 2018:
Neighbourhood Watch Report
This month’s report can be viewed on the Neighbourhood Watch page.
Fri March 23, 2018:
Neighbourhood Watch Report
This month, PC Andrew Reid has written the report which can be viewed on the Neighbourhood Watch page.
Sat March 10, 2018:
PC Andrew Reid
House Burglary in College Lane
Tel: 01256 389050
Mobile: 07768 776844
Email:
andrew.reid@hampshire.pnn.police.uk
Between 5.00pm and 7.00m on Friday (March 9) evening a burglary took place to a detached
house in the lower part of College Lane,
We are aware that a small white car was seen
facing towards Axford on the Axford Road at 7.00pm, but we don’t know if this vehicle
was connected.
I am appealing for information from anyone who walked or drove up or
down the lower part of College Lane between these times. Did you see anything suspicious,
a car, person, etc. prior to 5.00pm, parked up or looking about?
It is unusual for
this type of crime to occur in our area and I wish to reassure residents of this.
However, as always, please make sure your home is protected with good locks, CCTV
to be considered along with alarms. I am happy to call to provide home security advice
if required, just call.
Wed January 18, 2018:
Busheywarren Lane Road Closure
Ellisfield’s parish clerk, Sylvia Raine, yesterday sent out an email giving notice
of a road closure, commencing Monday, January 29.
Bushywarren Lane (College Lane)
will be closed from the junction with Church Lane to the side of Widmoor Cottages
-
“The closure is to allow the
installation of a street cabinet and power cables through new ducting.”
Could this
be for installation of fibre broadband?
Wed January 18, 2018:
Horticultural Society’s 2018 Events
All the 2018 scheduled events have now been added to the Society’s webpage.
Mon December 18, 2017:
High Speed Broadband in Ellisfield
(continued …)
A second leaflet (click link to display PDF) was emailed out to residents today.
A
quote is being prepared by Hampshire County Council (HCC) for BT to install fibre
to the bottom of the village. This quote (hopefully subsidised by a Government voucher
scheme) will be available some time in January.
At a recent meeting with HCC and BT,
it was stated that the north of the village is scheduled to have fibre to the cabinet
installed before the end of 2018.
EDITOR (Tue December 19): I’ve just received a completely
updated version (click link to display PDF) of the above “second leaflet”. Apparently,
the one received yesterday was a draft and should not have been released …
Fri December 1, 2017:
This Website's Fifth Birthday!
"My thanks to all the residents who contribute to making sure that the individual
sections are kept interesting and informative."
Paul Turner, Editor
Wed November 22, 2017:
High Speed Broadband in Ellisfield
A leaflet (click link to display PDF) was distributed around the village over the
weekend, providing information on the current options for residents living in the
south of the village to obtain fast broadband (the north are scheduled to have fibre
to the cabinet installed next year -
Thu October 12, 2017:
Latest Horticultural Society Report
This report, by Eddie Rapley, can be found (naturally!) on the Society’s webpage.
It’s worth reading to find out how to get a catalogue and to order seeds from Sutton
Seeds for half-
Wed October 11, 2017:
Macmillan Big Coffee Morning
This event, held on Saturday, September 30, was a great success with the total amount being sent to Macmillan Nurses being £601.
Thu October 5, 2017:
Fibre Broadband
Our MP, Ranil Jayawardena, asked the following question of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport:
“What steps are being taken to meet the Universal Service Obligation and provide broadband to the final five per cent of properties in Hampshire?”
The answer given yesterday was:
“The roll out of publicly funded superfast broadband in Hampshire is ongoing. Currently
over 92% of premises have access to superfast broadband.
“Current contracts will ensure
that superfast broadband services will be available to more than 97% of premises
by 2019.
“For premises not covered by superfast broadband, the Government will ensure
universal broadband access of at least 10Mbps by 2020, so that no home or business
is left behind.
“We are currently considering two options for delivering this: a regulatory
USO and a voluntary offer from BT and Openreach. A consultation on the design of
the regulatory USO was published on 30 July and closes on 9 October.
A decision on
which route offers the best deal for consumers will be taken once we have considered
the responses to the regulatory USO consultation.”
Thu September 21, 2017:
PC Andrew Reid
A Series Of Reported Incidents
Tel: 01256 389050
Mobile: 07768 776844
Email:
andrew.reid@hampshire.pnn.police.uk
Between Thursday 7 and Wednesday 20, there’s been a series of incidents in our area.
A full report has been put onto the Neighbourhood Watch page.
EDITOR: It’s well worth
your time to have a quick look at the incidents reported by Andrew. It’s more than
possible that the individuals will appear in Ellisfield in the near future.
Fri September 8, 2017:
PC Andrew Reid - Important Message
Tel: 01256 389050
Mobile: 07768 776844
Email:
andrew.reid@hampshire.pnn.police.uk
“In the past month I have had to contact three people on my area to make enquiries about them being subject to theft and criminal damage as none had reported being a victim of crime but I had heard from other sources. This is totally wrong; I should not be calling people and telling them they are a victim of crime because they are not telling me.
“I fully accept there is a belief that the “Police aren’t interested” and/or “They don’t do anything anyway”’ and/or “Can’t get through on 101” and/or “What’s the point?”.
“Well, the point is this, you and I know that rural crime is on the increase and police resources are stretched – BUT (and it is a big BUT) how are rural areas such as ours ever going to keep a strong Police presence if people simply cannot be bothered to report crime on their land or property? If you have an area where no crime is reported, people outside that area look and see no crime records so assume there is no crime, because on paper there is not, and if there is no crime why, when resources are tight, have a Police presence?
“You are lucky you can report crime to me on my numbers direct and, yes, I too may not be able to do anything, but at least I can record that it has happened and show that crime does happen in our area. I am interested in all crime on my patch so, please, if you are a victim of crime ring it in – report ALL crime as often it may well link in with similar crime patterns or your neighbour may have seen something or have CCTV. So again, please, if you are a victim of crime – report it. We may not detect the offender but we need to know what is happening in all our communities.”
Tue June 27, 2017:
Memorial Hall Article In The BazGaz
The Basingstoke Gazette has also picked on the £17,000 grant received by the Memorial
Hall (also reported below on June 12). The article is on their website HERE, I’m
not sure if it also got into the paper itself.
The BazGaz did a good job of sharpening
up the picture of Susie Deane, Tracey Gilvear and Rose Taplin outside the H
all.
Tue June 20, 2017:
Theft and Destruction At St Leonard’s Church, Church Lane, Cliddesden
Vandals/Thieves caused considerable damage to the church some time between 3.00pm
Monday and 11.00am Tuesday.
They forced open the safe stealing item of church property
AND despicably broke two stained-
Police are appealing for witnesses
who saw a blue car, possibly the size of a Vauxhall Astra, which was seen parked
outside the church and are looking to talk to a woman with blond hair and wearing
a white top and sun glasses who was sat on the wall facing towards the road at around
3.45pm on Monday.
If anyone has any information about the incident they are asked
to contact the police on
Sun June 18, 2017:
Horticultural Society’s June Report
Eddie Rapley’s latest report can be found on the Horticultural Society’s page.
Sat June 17, 2017:
National Neighbourhood Watch Week
Saturday 17 (today!) to Friday 23 is Neighbourhood Watch Week. A bumper edition of
the organisation’s newsletter has been produced with information on scams, security,
cyber awareness, etc.
To view a copy, just click on the image (above).
Did you know that 8.7 million households identify as being a member of a Neighbourhood
Watch scheme? There is a very useful Member’s Guide and, if you’ve not been given
a copy, you can view it by clicking on the image (right).
Wed June 14, 2017:
Reporting Of Parish Council Meetings
EDITOR: I’ve put up an explanation (updated on Monday, June 19) on this website’s Parish Council page as to why there have been no reports published since January.
Mon June 12, 2017:
Memorial Hall Revamp Article
The latest edition of the Basingstoke & Deane Today magazine has an article on the
recent £17,000 Local Infrastructure Fund grant.
There is an excellent picture of Susie
Deane, Tracey Gilvear and Rose Taplin.
To view the article, click on the picture belo
w.
Fri June 9, 2017:
Our Area’s General Election Result
Our sitting Conservative MP, Ranil Jayawardena, has been returned with a 27,772 majorit
y.
Mon June 5, 2017:
Hampshire Constabulary Publishes Their Latest “Rural Times” Magazine
The Spring 2017 edition of the Rural Times magazine has just been produced as a PDF
document.
There’s quite a lot of interesting information on rural policing.
Thu May 18, 2017:
Manifestos Available To Read
Please note that as they get released, all the 2017 General Election Manifestos will be available to view on THIS site.
See the JUNE 8 entry in the Events column.
Thu May 11, 2017:
Useful Information To Help Protect Your Property Against Thieves
Hampshire Constabulary have issued a useful checklist to help protect your property, specially angled to rural residents.
Mon April 24, 2017:
Ellisfield Featured On the BBC And In Today’s Daily Telegraph
If you were awake at 5.30am AND you were tuned into Radio 2’s Vanessa Feltz’s show,
you will have been bemused to hear her quoting from a newspaper article (click HERE
and go to 24:24) about the statue of Archimedes on de Ferranti land.
A copy of the
actual Daily Telegraph article can be viewed by clicking HERE.
EDITOR: I was telephoned
by BBC South this morning just after 9.00am and asked if I would be available to
comment.
I declined …
Mon March 20, 2017:
Parish Council Meeting
The draft Minutes of this meeting have been published.
Sat February 4, 2017:
Hampshire Police Precept Rise
Following the results of a Residents’ Survey, Hampshire’s Police & Crime Commissioner
(Michael Lane) has decided to increase their precept by 3.12%, which works out at
an extra £5 per annum for a Band D household.
Normally, an increase over 1.99% would
have necessitated a referendum (which would have cost up to £1 Million!) but Hampshire
is one of ten police forces which have been given dispensation because their cost
controls have been proven to be robust.
There is a News Item on the PCC’s website
which provides a more detailed explanation.
Mon January 23, 2017:
Tonight’s Parish Council Meeting
Before the meeting started, there was a minute’s silence in memory of the parish clerk, Mick Walker, who very sadly died on January 6.
As to the meeting … The “highlights” were:
The chairman, Cllr Guinness, was appointed unpaid parish clerk.
Mrs Jacqui Matthews
(who was taking notes for this meeting) is going to create a Newsletter regarding
the position of Clerk, the “Flood Resilience Project” and a few other things.
Cllr
Guinness has obtained promises from Highways that they are going to clear out the
drains from the bus shelter down to the pond.
Cllr Park-
Cllr Richards is going to repair the bus
shelter at the bottom of Green Lane.
Cllr Park-
There is no commitment to bring fibre to the bottom of the village.
Cllr
Cazenove told the council that she and Mr Ray Reed had not yet reviewed the “potential
to make EVG’s task of maintaining the burial ground easier”.
Resident April Brown
has offered to maintain the telephone box “library”.
The precept for 2017/18 stays
the same.
and finally …
There was once again much discussion about a replacement notice
board for Lower Common and (guess what?) after months of discussions, the councillors
are still wondering whether to have a two or three pane version. Aghhhhh …
There may have been more, but I left at this point.
Mon January 23, 2017:
Police Warning: Cold Callers
PC Andrew Reid has sent out a warning about Cold Callers. You can read this warning by clicking HERE.
Mon January 2, 2017:
Green Lane Flooding
The section of Green Lane between the telephone box and Brocas’s driveway was completely
flooded this morning, caused by a blocked drain.
The Parish Council has been notified
and has been requested to deal with this problem.
UPDATE on Monday, Jan 16:
Nothing
has been done and it’s flooded again today. In addition, the drains at the bus shelter
and at the pond are also now blocked.
The chairman of the Parish Council has again
been informed.
NEW The chairman has responded as follows:
“Highways have had photos
of the flooding and have confirmed it is on their to do list.”
Thu December 22, 2016:
Memorial Hall Refurbishment
Good news. The Memorial Hall's bid for a grant to improve the heaters, electrics and kitchen has been successful. It’s reported that the Committee is delighted with being able to use the £17,000 to properly update the hall’s facilities.
Thu December 1, 2016:
This Website's Fourth Birthday!
"My thanks to all the residents who contribute to making sure that the individual sections are kept interesting and informative."
Paul Turner, Editor
Tue November 29, 2016:
Saturday’s Christmas Fayre
Susie Deane reports:
The Christmas Fayre on Saturday was a success, with over £2,000 raised, and with
a visit from Father Christmas too.
The Hamper was won by P.C. Andrew Reid's sister
in law and the fantastic cake baked by Celia Lunn was won by April Carroll, who guessed
the weight of 9lb exactly.
Sun November 13, 2016:
Last Monday’s Ellisfield Parish Council Meeting “Highlights”
EDITOR: I spent much of the last week watching and reading about the US Presidential
Election run-
Reading
last Monday’s parish council meeting notes, everything looked so inconsequential,
petty, banal and even (in some cases) comical. However, what our parish council does
(or perhaps more accurately does NOT do) affects this small community and so I still
think it worthwhile me spending time reporting on their meetings.
Q1: A number of trees have been felled in High Wood (near the bottom of Green Lane).
Are these within the parish council’s “Lower Allotments” and, if so, does the council
know anything about it?
Answer to Q1: We don’t know but will look into it.
Q2: Has the parish council had a look at the Burial Ground as promised at the last
meeting, following the comment by Ellisfield resident Mr Ray Reed of Green Lane that,
in his opinion, the Burial Ground was “a mess” and was very difficult to maintain?
Answer
to Q2: No. Cllr Cazenove agreed to look at the Burial Ground with Mr Ray Reed and
to report back to the council.
EDITOR: Mr Ray Reed admitted that he had not mowed
the Burial Ground this year, so it’s not too clear how he can help in this matter.
Surely it would be better for the council to liaise with Paul Brown, the Volunteer
Group’s coordinator for the Burial Ground?
Q3: Why are the Parish Council Meeting Agendas now not being displayed on the village’s
notice boards?
Answer to Q3: The new parish clerk, Mick Walker, stated that he understood
that putting up just a “Notice of Meeting” on the Lower Common notice board, plus
the actual agenda on the parish council website, was perfectly acceptable and fulfilled
the council’s legal obligations.
It was pointed out that Agendas had been put up on
ALL village notice boards for at least the last 25 years and that that practice should
continue. Mr Walker agreed to put up the Agenda on the Lower Common notice board
only.
EDITOR: I informed the council that I would, from now on, print out Agendas
(obtained from the parish council website) and put them up on the three other village
notice boards.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE ACTUAL MEETING
£250 grant to Preston Candover’s new Community Store:
The parish clerk, as requested
by Paul Turner, had asked HALC (Hampshire Association of Local Council) for their
advice and that they had responded that:
“They consider that making a donation to
an appeal for a project that may not reach fruition is not an acceptable use of public
funds.”
EDITOR: Luckily, the £250 had not actually been paid out, otherwise it would
have been a real embarrassment …
Lower Common Swings:
Basingstoke & Deane’s weekly inspection has declared that the
known faults with the baby seat and with the chains are still regarded as “High Risk”.
The parish council agreed to make the necessary repairs.
EDITOR: Good. An accident
would be bad for those concerned. There would also then be the risk of litigation
if the parish council was seen to have been negligent.
Sandbags:
Despite this matter having been raised a number of times, the council has
still not organised the ordering sandbags. At this meeting, it was agreed that this
should be done and that the sandbags will be stored in the parish council’s lockup.
EDITOR:
Would it not be more logical to ensure that the actual households known to be at
risk be provided with enough sandbags for their own needs, with perhaps only an emergency
supply being held by the council?
Flood Plans and “Lengthsman” recruitment:
Still talking.
The chairman expressed concern
about the flood pit behind Lower Common which has “not been cleared in his memory”.
EDITOR:
I was permitted to explain that this had been cleared by Steve Brabbin with his digger
whilst village volunteers worked on the Green Lane drainage channel back in March
2016. I also pointed out that the flood pit was in a natural dip.
However, I also
did stress that the two flood pits on the other side of Furzen Lane did quickly fill
up and overflow and they should definitely be cleared out (but then the council already
has known this since the January and February 2016 flash floods).
EDITOR: After yesterday’s
rain, the bend at the Green Lane / Church Lane bus stop was again flooded. I formally
warned the parish council at their April 2016 meeting that “… this was dangerous
and could lead to an accident.when cars coming from the north move out -
2015/2016 Accounts:
The external auditor repeated an earlier warning that the parish
council had failed to have a Risk Assessment.
EDITOR: Pathetic …
New Lower Common Notice Board:
The months go by and there’s still no action. The parish
council, despite Cllr Park Weir’s recommendation, are now talking about a two-
Speed Monitoring on the Axford Road:
Nothing …
EDITOR: Whilst our council has been
prevaricating, other nearby parish councils have purchased monitoring and/or electronic
speed signs.
Mon November 7, 2016:
Ellisfield Parish Council Meeting
There was a meeting. It went on for two hours. Five members of the public attended
(then, as the meeting progressed, there were three and then two).
Highlights(!) of
the meeting will be posted here soon(ish) …
Tue November 1, 2016:
"In The Fields" Article
The latest Seumas Foster’s "In The Fields" article can be found HERE.
Thu October 13, 2016:
Horticultural Society Report
Eddie Rapley’s October report has been posted to the Horticultural Society page.
The last meeting of the year is the Annual General Meeting at Cliddesden on Thursday,
November 24 at 7.45pm.
Some committee members are retiring and volunteers are needed
to fill those posts.
Sun October 2, 2016:
Photos Of Scarecrows
All this year’s scarecrows were photographed this afternoon and have now been published on the Ellisfield Ladies Club page (if you see last year’s images, just refresh the page).
Sat October 1, 2016:
2016 Scarecrow Winner
This year, the winner -
Their creation of “Shaun The Sheep and Farmer” was excelle
nt.
Mandy Lunn and Susie Deane were “Highly Commended” for their scarecrows.
EDITOR: All
the scarecrows will be photographed tomorrow afternoon once the runners have left
the village. Hopefully, the weather will be better than today!
Wed September 21, 2016:
Memorial Hall’s New Heaters
An image of the new infra red heater that is currently on trial in the Hall has been added to the Memorial Hall page. If their grant application is successful, the Hall will be able to replace all the old heaters that everyone hates.
Mon September 19, 2016:
Parish Council Meeting
The parish council meeting lasted two hours with the Open Forum taking up 45 minutes
of that time (it did, however, include PC Reid’s 5 minute statement to the council).
This
is despite the rule, brought in by the Chairman some time ago and stated clearly
on the formal Agenda, that:
“An Open Forum of 15 minutes will be held immediately
before the meeting at which residents may ask questions. The Council will go into
session at 8.15 or when the Open Forum finishes whichever is the earlier”.
Items raised by the public in the Open Forum included:
A statement by Julian Wright
of Bell Lane about broadband at Lasham, about BT’s timescale for installing fibre
to the top of the village and about what will possibly happen regarding the lower
half of the village.
Mr Wright also brought up for the council’s consideration that
a local landowner and, on a separate occasion, the landowner’s gamekeeper had both
stopped him when walking on a village Right of Way and had insisted that his dog
be put on a lead. Mr Wright wanted the council to note that the law states that a
dog has to be “under control” and that the law does not say that the dog has to be
on a lead.
Ray Reed of Green Lane informed the council that, in his opinion, the Burial
Ground was “a mess” and was very difficult to maintain. He asked the council to inspect
the Burial Ground. When asked by another resident, who had mowed the Burial Ground
just a week ago and saw nothing wrong, what he meant by “a mess”, Mr Reed replied
that he’d already made himself clear and refrained from providing further details!
EDITOR:
<joke> I don't see why we cannot just get rid of all the graves and headstones, it
would be sooooo much easier to mow. </joke>
There was also some general discussion
with PC Reid about asking Hampshire County Council to install some “speed pipes”
on the Axford Road to monitor traffic for a week or two. If it is found that the
30 mile per hour limit is being regularly exceeded, the Chairman suggested that ”traffic
calming” measures could be considered.
Then, at 8.45pm, the meeting finally started. Points of interest were:
Replacement
Lower Common notice board
Two quotes had been received for a 3-
Cllr Reed informed the council that she was in discussions with
Hampshire County Council to erect some kind of barrier.
Council Bank Accounts
Mick
Walker, the parish clerk, reported that he still did not have direct access to the
bank accounts and, indeed, did not have a cheque book.
Meeting Agendas
The clerk confirmed
that he did not put up this Meeting’s Agenda on the Parish Council notice board,
because he considered that it was sufficient to post it onto the Parish Council website.
He promised to check with HALC (Hampshire Association of Local Councils) that this
was satisfactory.
£250 Grant to Preston Candover
The clerk agreed to check with HALC
that having, at the last parish council meeting, just two councillors voting for
this grant and the other three councillors present abstaining was acceptable and
legal for this (somewhat controversial?) grant to be agreed.
EDITOR: Ellisfield residents
may (should?) feel that it is perhaps “questionable” for a grant to be made from
our parish council funds to another village’s project (especially with the money
apparently going towards a planning application that might be rejected), no matter
how laudable.
Also, although the Ellisfield Parish Council 2016/17 Budget has a “Grant
for community needs” section (presumably intended for our needs?), the amount allocated
to that budget heading was, it is believed, ZERO.
Lower Common Swing
The “baby seat”
has failed a safety check carried out by Basingstoke & Deane.
Wed September 14, 2016:
Memorial Hall Improvements
The Memorial Hall Committee is applying for a Local Infrastructure Fund grant. This
comes from the Government but is handled locally by Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council.
The
application will cover improvements to the hall: an upgrade of electrics, lighting
and heaters, renewal of the fire safety exit door, renewal of glass panes between
kitchen and hall (to be safety glass but will look very similar) and a new kitchen.
The
last grant received was in 1999 and it is becoming a ‘Cinderella’ hall compared to
our neighbouring villages. The heaters, now 26 years old, make cracking noises as
the metal cools or heats and the kitchen is rather dilapidated and in need of an
up-
It is also proposed to purchase a defibrillator to be sited at the Memorial
Hall in the same way as those that can be seen at Preston Candover and Upton Grey.
The Parish Council has stated that it is fully supportive of the grant application.
Fri September 2, 2016:
Warning - Cold Calling In Ellisfield
Residents are warned of a potential rouge trader selling tarmac in the Ellisfield area.
It’s been reported that a man driving a black Land Rover around the village yesterday
was offering so-
PC Andrew Reid is urging residents NOT TO CONSIDER purchasing ANY items from cold
calling door-
He is also encouraging residents to use trading standards' Buy With Confidence booklet, which is a national register of approved businesses run independently by local authority trading standards departments.
Sat August 13, 2016:
Neighbourhood Watch Report
Jane Hannah, our Neighbourhood Watch coordinator, has posted her "Jane's Watch" report,
viewable on the Neighbourhood Watch page.
EDITOR: This report has an important message
from PC Andrew Reid. He is getting concerned that Ellisfield has had a number of
robberies from unlocked sheds, garages and vehicles in the last few months and he
urges all residents to ensure that everything is securely locked at all times. He
worries that we may be seen as an “easy target” and these criminals may start breaking
into houses as well …
He also urges anyone who has been robbed or has seen something
suspicious to always contact him, either directly (contact details are below) or
via the 101 police service.
Also, if you feel a robbery is actually taking place,
don’t hesitate to ring 999 -
Tel: 01256 389050
Mobile: 07768 776844
Email:
andrew.reid@hampshire.pnn.police.uk
Thu August 11, 2016:
Hampshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Launches Consultation
Michael Lane, the Police & Crime Commissioner elected in May of this year, would like to hear residents’ views regarding the development of the Police and Crime Plan for Hampshire & the Isle of Wight for the next five years.
This is an excellent opportunity for you to have your say in local policing. Click on THIS LINK to directly access the survey (which will be available up to September 14).
Wed August 3, 2016:
The Kit Lane Right of Way Byway
.jpg "Click image to display larger version ...")
The lower half of the Kit Lane byway (which runs from Bell Lane down to the Axford
Road) has become very rutted (click on picture to display a larger image) and in
a number of places it’s very hard to walk on, and impossible for two people to walk
side by side.
It looks as though there were two causes.
The first is that because it is a byway
(strictly speaking it’s a “BOAT”, that is a Byway Open to All Traffic) motorbikes
and 4x4s have churned up the top layer of soil, exposing the flint core. Then, secondly,
rainwater has carried flints and large stones downhill, thus creating the deep ruts.
Andrew Aitken, our area’s Senior Countryside Access Ranger of the Hampshire Countryside Service, last week walked Kit Lane and agreed that the condition of this byway deserved further investigation, especially as Kit Lane is an important section of the “3 Castles Path” (see News Item below).
Tue August 2, 2016:
The “3 Castles Path” via Ellisfield
A new edition of the 3 Castles Path booklet has just been published and is available
from Amazon UK for £7.99. This booklet uses maps, text and photos to fully describe
a 60 mile route from Windsor to Winchester, via Odiham and Ellisfield, using mainly
Rights of Way paths and byways. There is also a new 3 Castles Path website.
The Ellisfield section starts at the A339, down the “Alley Lane” path which comes out beside the Memorial Hall. It then takes the path from the corner of Furzen Lane to College Lane, then down Bell Lane and then turns right down the Kit Lane byway (see NEWS ITEM above) to the Axford Road. It then leaves Ellisfield, taking the permissive path on the opposite side of the road and then on to Bradley.
Wed July 20, 2016:
A Few Other “Gems” from Monday Evening’s Parish Council Meeting
Footpaths -
It was declared that getting these gates
installed, after it having been discussed for so many years, was a “triumph” for
the parish council and Cllr Vicky Reed was congratulated for her efforts.
New notice
board for Lower Common
Cllr Park Weir has been unable to obtain a quote, although
he did estimate that it would cost circa £2,000. The meeting chairman insisted that
this matter be dealt with at the next meeting (which Cllr Weir and two other councillors
will be unable to attend).
New notice boards for Bus Shelters
Not discussed (despite
these being internally in a bad state of repair, especially the one at the top of
Green Lane).
Flood Plans -
Cllr Park Weir told the council that
he had been unable to contact the person responsible at Basingstoke Council to arrange
for these to be delivered.
Broadband Speed
Cllr Park Weir had no new information from
Hampshire Council Council regarding fibre installation in the village.
He also said
that, although fibre was due to be installed at Farleigh Wallop on June 27, he had
no news about the possibility of some in Ellisfield being able to “piggy back” off
the proposed Farleigh to Wield broadband link by RedRaw Internet.
Village Defibrillator
Ray
Reed, the chairman of the Memorial Hall committee, told the council that the committee
was considering the purchase of a defibrillator to be mounted on the outside of the
Hall and would possibly be putting a funding proposal to the council in due course.
Home
Farm Pond
This pond (which was renovated with a £10,000 lottery grant) is now invisible
from the road due to high nettles. The council agreed to look into this.
Mon July 18, 2016:
Ellisfield Parish Council Donates £250 To Preston Candover
At this evening’s parish council meeting, it was decided that the council would donate
£250 to the appeal for the new Candover Valley Community Store in Preston Candover.
There
were five councillors present, two voted for the £250 donation and the other three
abstained.
The donation request and amount were not on the meeting’s Agenda and nor
was the £250 budgeted for in the 2016/17 financial year.
EDITOR: Deciding to spend
unbudgeted parish council funds on another village’s project, without Ellisfield
residents being given advance notice and with the majority of councillor’s present
abstaining, is a very unusual occurrence and may even be ultra vires (ie, beyond
the council’s legal power or authority).
UPDATE (Monday, July 25): Apparently, our
£250 has gone towards offsetting the costs of their planning application.
Fri July 15, 2016:
Overnight Burglaries In The Village
Overnight, between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, there were four burglaries in Ellisfield. There were thefts from garages and sheds of chainsaws. a strimmer and petrol cans, a tack room was broken into (although nothing was taken) and a “Tom Tom” satnav was taken from a vehicle.
Additionally, in the early hours of Wednesday or Thursday mornings, a man was seen
in Green Lane, walking towards Cliddesden. He was wearing a hi-
If any resident has been subject to crime or witnessed people acting suspiciously
we ask you to please give PC Andrew Reid a call directly (details below) as soon
as you are able. He will then be able to collate the information, identify any linkages
and investigate the crimes holistically.
If PC Reid is out, please just leave a message
on the Beat House telephone and he will then call you back or visit you as soon as
he is able.
Obviously, if you believe that it’s something very urgent, then dial 999
first.
Tel: 01256 389050
Mobile: 07768 776844
Email:
andrew.reid@hampshire.pnn.police.uk
Thu July 14, 2016:
Gates Installed On The ZigZag Path
Two kissing gates are being installed today and tomorrow on the ZigZag path, to replace
the existing stiles. From Saturday, walkers who find stiles difficult to climb or
those with dogs can now cross the fenced College Farm paddock with ease.
Many thanks
to Adrian de Ferranti for giving his permission. Also a grateful thanks to Andrew
Aitkken (Senior Countryside Access Ranger of Hampshire County Council’s “Countryside
Service”) for arranging the supply of the two gates.
The picture below is of the gate being installed at the College Lane end by Mitch
Webb and Beth Webber of the Countryside Service’s installation team
.
Wed June 15, 2016:
Horticultural Society Report
Eddie Rapley’s latest report can be found HERE.
Sun June 12, 2016:
Response To “In The Fields” Article
EDITOR: Seumas Foster, in his recent “In The Fields” article, published in June’s
Hill & Dale, gave his reasons for wanting to Remain in the EU.
As it is now impossible
for another resident to offer an alternative viewpoint in Hill & Dale prior to the
Referendum on June 23, I have responded to a number of points in Seumas’s article.
You
can read those responses on this website’s In The Fields page.
Wed June 1, 2016:
Important Request For Information From PC Andrew Reid.
At 3.55pm this afternoon (Wednesday) a Gold Nissan Pathfinder (GL13 MPV) was in Bagmore
Lane at Herriard offering power washers for sale.
This vehicle is linked and was doing
the same in various other parts of the county. It went off towards Ellisfield.
Beware
if you wish to buy. Any sightings please call me.
Andrew REID, Police Constable 3746
Rural
Beat Officer
Police Office, Preston Candover
DD: 01256:389050
HQ: 101
Mob: 07768:776844
Email:
andrew.reid@hampshire.pnn.police.uk
Fri May 6, 2016:
Election Results for Hampshire’s
Police & Crime Commissioner
Michael Lane (Conservative) is the new Police & Crime Commissioner, after he and
Robin Price (Labour) went through to the second round (because neither candidate
gained 50% or more of the votes in the first round).
The votes were as follows:
Richard Adair (Liberal Democrat) 55,266
Simon Hayes (Independent) 60,743
Don Jerrard
(Independent) 14,976
Michael Lane (Conservative) 153,990 *
Robin Price (Labour) 87,774
*
Roy Swales (UKIP) 54,115
Steve Watts (Zero Tolerance Policing) 35,989
* including
second preference votes:
Michael Lane had 40,273 and Robin Price had 23,997.
The priorities in Mr Lane’s manifesto include protecting and improving front line
policing, tackling domestic abuse, putting victims at the heart of the criminal justice
system and creating strong partnerships.
He will take the oath of office and then
formally start his role on Thursday, May 12.
Fri May 6, 2016:
Borough Council Elections
The Conservatives have held on to Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council. They gained
one seat, while Labour gained two. The Lib Dems and UKIP both lost a seat.
After the
vote, the make up of the authority is:
Conservative: 33
Labour: 19
Liberal Democrats: 6
Independent: 2
Tue May 3, 2016:
Residents' Public Meeting on Rural Policing and Community Funding
The church was almost full. The five candidates present were given five minutes each
to present themselves and then answered questions from the floor.
The views on Community
Funding of the two candidates who were absent, Roy Swales (UKIP) who had a previous
engagement and Robin Price (Labour) who had a family emergency this morning, were
read out to the meeting.
We now have to wait until Friday to find out which one of
the candidates has won Thursday’s election. Whoever that is, he will no doubt be
quickly contacted by representatives of this community in order to discuss returning
us back to before the April 2015 restructuring, namely where we have a dedicated
local beat policeman, living within the beat and having his own police 4x4.
Wed April 27, 2016:
Residents' Public Meeting on Rural Policing and Community Funding
next
Tuesday, May 3, 7.30pm for 8.00pm
St Mary's Church, Herriard RG25 2PL
Residents will remember that, back in March of last year, sufficient pledges were made (by parish councils, landowners, businesses and residents) for PC Andrew Reid to be reallocated back to his local beat and to be supplied with his own 4x4. However, this "Community Funding" proposal, after much discussion, was turned down by the current Police & Crime Commissioner (Simon Hayes) in October of last year.
Now, with the election coming up next Thursday for the post of Police & Crime Commissioner
(PCC) in the Hampshire & Isle of Wight area, a number of residents thought that it
would be a good idea to ask all the candidates to come to a meeting to make statements
and answer questions on this specific subject of Community Funding.Six of the seven
candidates have agreed to attend a Public Meeting next Tuesday evening, 7.30pm for
an 8.00pm start, at St Mary's Church in Herriard RG25 2PL (on the A339 opposite the
Timber Fencing yard). They are:
Richard Adair, Liberal Democrat
Simon Hayes, Independent
Don
Jerrard, Independent
Michael Lane, Conservative Party
Robin Price, Labour Party
Steve
Watts, Independent
Roy Swales (UKIP) has sent his apologies as he had a pre-
Also, a representative of the NFU (National Farmers
Union) will be there.
This is our chance to persuade all the above
candidates that we, the residents, should have the right to pay into a fund which
would enable us to have a rural beat policeman (with his own 4x4) who can use his
unique knowledge of our community to help keep us safe.
NOTE: The only candidate to
be unable to attend the meeting (Roy Swales of UKIP) has already stated that Community
Funding of rural policing is a concept that he agrees with.
Thu April 14, 2016:
Important Request For Information From PC Andrew Reid.
At 1:30am on Wednesday April 13, a silver Subaru old style possibly a 'Y' registration
was seen in Tunworth being driven into private wooden gates. The gates thankfully
held and the criminals did not managed to get into the grounds of the house.
The same
night metal containers were broken into at a farm in Newnham Lane, Old Basing with
£1,400 worth of tools stolen. In the same area another three outbuildings were broken
into and a tile cutter stolen. A detached garage in Blackstocks Lane at Nately Scures
was also opened but no property stolen from within.
If anyone can help in any way,
please do not hesitate to contact PC Reid directly (details HERE).
Wed April 13, 2016:
Garage Break-in Attempt at Northgate Cottage, Northgate Lane
This morning (13th April), at approximately 2:00am, two men broke into a garage at
Northgate Cottage (Seumas and Debbie Foster’s house at the top of the village) and
were disturbed by the alarm. They drove off in a vehicle towards Cliddesden village.
PC
Andrew Reid would like to ask if anyone saw or heard anything unusual last night
to please contact him directly (details HERE).
ALSO, if anyone has any CCTV that may
overlook the roads to see if there was any movement last night in the early hours.
Tue April 12, 2016:
Monday’s Parish Council Meeting
This meeting was held in the Church due to a mix up (not the fault of the council) with Memorial Hall bookings.
Open Forum:
PC Andrew Reid reported on the thefts at Cannon Close garages.
Paul Turner
requested that the council carefully analyse the efficacy of each and every one of
Green Lane’s road verge drainage channels. Then, to arrange the filling in of those
that either serve no purpose or (worse) actually exacerbate the situation by allowing
mud and stones to be carried away down Green Lane by flood water.
Formal Meeting:
Once again, the Minutes of the previous meeting were gone through,
with each original action point being discussed.
EDITOR: For the last fifteen years
or so, this agenda item was actually “Matters arising from the Minutes (for which
no relevant Agenda Item is listed below)”. This was so that the actual meeting could
get quickly underway and any “matters arising” could be properly discussed within
the appropriate Agenda Item.
This new process (which last night went on for half an
hour!) was started by the Chairman four or five meetings ago and is especially frustrating
for members of the public to have to sit through, especially if they’ve come to listen
to a particular agenda item which is high up on the itinerary.
New Parish Clerk? …
Mr
Mick Walker was introduced as Ellisfield’s prospective new Clerk. Mr Walker moved
from Sherfield Park into The Acorns on the Axford Road (the Hopwood’s house) last
August. He originates from Reading and served in the Navy up until 1996. After spells
at Harwell and AWE, since 2004 he has been an independent Nuclear Radiation Detection
Advisor, working from home. It is unknown whether or not he has any experience of
the workings of a Parish Council.
Implications of Recent Flooding …
The parish council
will be attending a meeting at the offices of the Highways Department in Hook on
Thursday morning.
EDITOR: It was now after 9.00pm and I left them to continue their meeting. However,
before I left I urged them to address the issue of the flooding that regularly occurs
at the Bus Shelter at the top of Green Lane. I emphasised that I found it astonishing
that a serious accident had not happened there, when cars coming from the north move
out -
Tue April 5, 2016:
"In The Fields" Article
The latest "In The Fields" article can be found HERE.
Mon March 29, 2016:
Green Lane Drainage Channel
After last night’s storm, most of the “cuttings” made by Hampshire County’s Highway Department have been filled in (by a concerned resident).
Thu March 24, 2016:
Ladies Club’s New Committee
A brand new Committee was voted in at the Ladies Club’s AGM.
Diane Sandeman is now the Chairwoman, Kim Evans becomes the Treasurer and the other committee members are April Carroll and Sue Self. There is still one committee place to fill.
There is a full write-
Mon March 14, 2016:
New Chief Constable
Hampshire Police has just appointed its new Chief Constable. Olivia Pinkney was Deputy
Chief Constable of Sussex Police.
Chairman of the Police and Crime Panel, Councillor
David Stewart, said: “The Panel has unanimously agreed that Olivia Pinkney was an
outstanding candidate for this position. The way in which she answered each of the
questions posed by the Panel has demonstrated her suitability for the role, meaning
that Hampshire and the Isle of Wight now have a new Chief Constable of exceptionally
high calibre.”
Olivia Pinkney (right) said: “I’m absolutely delighted to hear the
Panel’s decision and I look forward to leading the professionals within Hampshire
Constabulary and serving the communities across the county and the Isle of Wight.”
Wed March 9, 2016:
Green Lane Drainage Channel Breach
Light Rain Proves That The
Cuttings Made By Highways Need Restoring
 800x600.jpg "The start of the Green Lane drainage channel (160309) - click for larger image ...")
Pleasingly, the overnight rain showed that the Drainage Channel takes ALL of the
water going down Green Lane (see image right).
However, the parish council had been
warned that the dozen of so cuttings made by the County Council Highways workmen
to “take water off the road” in fact would probably do the opposite, in other words
TAKE WATER FROM THE DRAINAGE CHANNEL ONTO THE ROAD. 800x600.jpg "Breach in the Green Lane drainage channel (160309) - click for larger image ...")
As you can see from the image
on the right, that is exactly what has happened.
Because further down the road it
cambers to the right, flood water is then carried down Green Lane and on to Cannon
Close and beyond.
The parish council has been made aware of the above.
EDITOR: To view
larger versions of the above photos, click on either image.
Other than this breach,
the drainage channel is now performing very well, with rainwater carrying on to the
Lower Common flood pit.
Mon March 7, 2016:
Parish Council Draft Minutes
Last Monday’s Parish Council meeting’s Draft Minutes have been released.
EDITOR:
In the Any Other Business section of the Minutes, it states that the “Councillors
signed off the news letter” (see News Item below).
Mon March 7, 2016:
Parish Council March Newsletter
The March 2016 Newsletter was delivered to all residents over the weekend.
EDITOR:
Warning. Warning. Warning.
The blood pressure of the village’s pedants will be dangerously
raised if they read this newsletter.
Mon March 7, 2016:
Report to Parish Council regarding
Lower Common Working Party To
Clear
Green Lane Drainage Channel
As promised, Paul Turner emailed a report to the Parish Council on Saturday evening. Further to a response from Cllr Guinness, Paul Turner emailed an explanation of why (and how) the council should communicate more with all residents regarding Ellisfield’s drainage.
A PDF document of both emails is available for residents to read.
Sat March 5, 2016:
Lower Common Working Party To
Clear Green Lane Drainage Channel
More than thirty Ellisfield residents turned up at 10.00am, armed with spades, saws
(a couple on 10 foot poles!) and a variety of loppers.
One group went up Green Lane
and cleared from the start of the Drainage Channel and another group tackled all
the overhanging branches in the stretch from the road to the Flood Pit behind Lower
Common.
Steve Brabbin, in his digger, managed to get into the Flood Pit from Lower
Common itself and started to clear the ditch. Once all the overhanging branches had
been cut and removed, Steve was then able to move down towards the road.
At around
11.30am, everyone broke off to have tea and coffee kindly supplied by Jacqui Matthews
(Mayfield) and Alix Taylor (Lower Farm) with more coffee and biscuits supplied by
Sheila Brabbin. The photo below shows most of the volunteers (some were still up
the road working and one was behind the camera …).
After the break a group of a dozen or so then tackled the trees along the roadside,
including one large tree which was pushing down the overhead telephone cable. Great
care was taken here and, once the overhanging branches were cut, Steve Gould removed
the stumps with a chainsaw.
Meanwhile, Steve Brabbin continued with the digger and
then, finally, pulled a lot of the top soil down to the road edge and filled in the
gap between the Drainage Channel and the road which had breached in the February
flash flood and which had then been recently widened (in error!) by the Highways
workmen
.
(click on photo to see enlarged image.)
Many thanks to everyone involved and a very special thanks to Steve Brabbin for all his skilled work with the digger.
Wed March 2, 2016:
Request for Volunteers
Following a request by the Parish Council, Ellisfield residents are being asked to
gather at Lower Common on Saturday morning at 10.00am in order to clear out the Green
Lane drainage channel.
Please bring work gloves, loppers (five pairs will be provided),
saws and shovels/spades.
Once the channel is cleared, recommendations will be made
to the parish council for any further work that may be needed to improve this essential
defence to avoid Flash Flooding from going on to Cannon Close and beyond..
EDITOR:
See March 5 News Item above.
Wed March 2, 2016:
New "Ellisfield Drainage” Web Page
This new Ellisfield Drainage web page has been created so that all the information
on the two Flash Floods in January and February and on the remedial work that is
ongoing can be found in one place.
There is a new “Ellisfield Drainage” link at the
top of the Home Page and all its sub-
Wed March 2, 2016:
Green Lane Pond’s Verge Restored
See the update below (within the February 25 News Item).
Mon February 29, 2016:
Drainage Work In Green Lane Last Week Was Carried Out By Hampshire
County Council’s Highways Dept!
Following on from last Thursday’s news item (see below), we now know that it was
HCC’s Highways Department who were responsible!
They were asked, by the Parish Council,
to survey Ellisfield and to report back with their findings. With perhaps what could
charitably be called “excessive enthusiasm” they decided to also do all the digging
explained below rather than let the parish council look at their proposals first.
(After all, it’s the Ellisfield residents who know the village and who witnessed
the January and February flash floods.)
The Highways “Drainage Map” was produced at
this evening’s Parish Council meeting and it’s available to display by clicking HERE.
(Note that the work done above Hill Farm is not shown.).
Thu February 25, 2016:
“Interesting” Drainage Work
Carried Out In Green Lane
You can click on any of the images below to view them full sized.
 800x600.jpg "Squares dug out between the Postbox and the Pond (click to enlarge)")
At the top of Green Lane, between the bus shelter and Hill Farm Pond, squares of
earth have been dug out of the verge. 800x600).jpg "Square dug out above road drain between the Postbox and the Pond (click to enlarge)")
It is presumed that it’s hoped that the rainwater
will soak away into them. However, all the top soil has been cut away, leaving a
clay base at road level (including one dug just before a road drain!).
 800x600).jpg "Cutting to left of Pond (click to enlarge)")
The 800x600).jpg "Cutting to middle of Pond (click to enlarge)")
re has also been work done at the Pond itself, with run- 800x600).jpg "Cutting to right of Pond (click to enlarge)")
The reason
is unknown, as the two existing road drains installed during pond renovation work
well (providing they are kept cleared of detritus).
These three new run-
Further down Green Lane, 12 or 13 cuttings have been made between the tarmac and
the existing drainage channel. 800x600).jpg "Start of Drainage Channel (click to enlarge)")
Because of the camber of the road, flood water from
the field above Farrier’s Field has always naturally run into this channel (see image
right) and on to the flood pit behind Lower Common. It worked successfully during
the January flash flood. 800x600).jpg "One of 12 Cuttings between road and Drainage Channel (click to enlarge)")
So, these new cuttings (which are only inches higher than
the channel itself) will fulfil no other purpose but to allow water running down
the channel to go back onto the road, especially if there is a minor blockage in
the channel.
 800x600).jpg "Cutting which will result in all water leaving the Drainage Channel (click to enlarge)")
Lastly, just before Lower Common itself, where the water broke out of the drainage
channel during the last flash flood in February, no attempt has been made to repair
the breach (it’s actually been massively widened !!!) so flood water will still continue
on to Cannon Close.
EDITOR (Mon, Feb 29): Village drainage was discussed at the Parish
Council meeting on Monday evening. See Feb 29 News Item for more information).
Tue February 23, 2016:
Ranil Jayawardena, Our Member Of Parliament, Has Decided To
Vote To Leave The European Union
Mr Jayawardena today issued a Statement in which he said:
“I am drawn to consider the constitutional arguments over the economic arguments
and I am minded that the deal before the country today is not good enough.
“Accordingly,
I intend to vote to leave the EU.”
However, he did also say:
“… should a better deal be put forward now or in the future, I would consider such
a proposal on its merits to determine whether I believe it is in the best interests
of Britain and the British people. For me, that's what this is about -
Here is a PDF of his detailed Statement.
EDITOR: Maria Miller, our Member of Parliament before the electoral boundary was changed last year, has decided to vote to REMAIN in the EU …
Mon February 22, 2016:
Hare Coursers Convicted
John and Edwin Gregory, both from the Surrey area, were spotted trespassing on private
land south of Cliddesden in July 2015. Police quickly attended the area and stopped
the two as they returned to their vehicle.
This stop resulted in their vehicle and
four lurcher dogs being seized.
The pair were later summoned to appear at court where
last Friday they pleaded guilty to an offence under the Hunting Act 2004. They were
ordered to pay compensation in excess of £2,200.
EDITOR: An expensive so-
Thu February 18, 2016:
Bradley Road Closure Next Monday
(February 22) From 9.00am To
(approx.) 2.00pm
The road to Moundsmere and Bradley will be closed at the junction with the Axford
Road next Monday (February 22) from 9.00am in order for tree felling work to take
place.
It will reopen as soon after 2.00pm as possible (or earlier if the work is
completed quicker than expected).
Mon February 8, 2016:
Flash Flood Number 2
The heavy rain last night resulted in the bottom of Green Lane and the Axford Road having deeper flood water than that experienced five weeks ago.
Despite all the work that was commissioned by the parish council, this new field
runoff showed that there are still weaknesses in our road drainage .
For example,
the water flowing from above Farrier’s Field fed very successfully into the channel
running alongside Green Lane but, where the water should have turned left to go to
the pit behind Lower Common, it instead broke back into the road.
Also, gullies cut
into the side of Green Lane simply filled up and the water, now carrying mud, gravel,
etc., carried on to the triangle to join up with the flood water which had came down
College Lane and onto the Axford Road.
No doubt there will be another postmortem and, hopefully, further action taken before the next downpour.
EDITOR: Unhappily, in Axford, a number of houses were flooded and our thoughts are
with the residents affected.
PC Andrew Reid was out at 10.00pm when alerted by Portsmouth
Estates’ security officer. As Andrew no longer has a police 4x4 at his disposal in
Preston Candover, the security officer took him around.
At 4.39am he sent out an email,
detailing the night’s events, to the Ellisfield and Preston Candover parish council
chairmen.
We are SO lucky to have such a good “local bobby”…
Update: The runoff from
the “ZigZag field” has seriously damaged the surface of Fuzzy Lane.
Update 2: There’s
an article on the Basingstoke Gazette website about this event.
Tue January 26, 2016:
Ellisfield Volunteers Group’s AGM
Monday evening’s AGM took 23 minutes to complete the formal business, thus failing
to beat last year’s record of 18 minutes
There were a few committee changes. Margaret
Evans stepped down as co-
Paul Brown has joined
the committee and will be taking over the running of the Burial Ground from Graham.
Andy
Swanston today released a copy of his Chairman’s Report of 2015 and the latest version
of the 2016 Mowing Schedule is also now available.
For further information on the
group’s activities, go to the Ellisfield Volunteer Group web page.
Tue January 26, 2016:
Parish Council’s 2016/17 Precept
It has been confirmed today by the parish council chairman, Cllr Tim Guinness, that
the Parish Council precept (the total amount of money required for the running of
the council) for the April 2016 to March 2017 financial year will be £5,521, this
being the same as the previous four years.
Although the actual amount charged per
property will depend upon its rateable value, it means that the average cost per
Ellisfield household will be £46.40.
Mon January 11, 2016:
Ellisfield Parish Council Meeting
The open forum commenced with the Chairman, Cllr Tim Guinness, providing a highly
detailed explanation of last Sunday’s flash flood, what has been done since and also
what is being planned to do in the future.
The main action has been that many of the
grips and drainage channels were cleared out today using a digger operated by a contractor
paid for out of parish funds and another couple of hours of this work is planned
for tomorrow.
Hampshire County Council’s Highways Department have been requested to
clear the debris still remaining on the Axford Road and to repair the damage to the
tarmac. They did not provide a timescale for this work (but they did state that it
would be within the next two months!).
In the Open Forum, a resident asked PC Andrew
Reid if he would alert the Highways Department to the dangers of the debris and he
agreed to do so the following morning. It was pointed out that the area in question
is on an official Cycle Route and another resident made it known that he had witnessed
a cyclist falling off his bike because of this debris.
All this and the formal discussion
on the flash flood when the council went back into session took just under an hour.
Editor:
As has happened in the last few meetings, the chairman then proceeded to review the
previous meeting’s minutes in detail rather than wait until the relevant Agenda Items
came up later in the meeting.
Being in great danger of falling asleep, I decided to
leave the meeting rather than embarrass myself …
UPDATE (Jan 31): A second version
of the meeting’s Draft Minutes has been released.
Thu January 7, 2016:
Article in the Basingstoke Gazette
reports on Ellisfield’s Flash
Flood
A report (with photos by Glen Horgan) of Sunday’s Green Lane and Axford Road flash
flood was on the front and second pages of today’s Basingstoke Gazette .
You can also
see it on the Gazette’s website.
Mon January 4, 2016:
Volunteers Needed To Help Clear
The Village’s Drainage Channels
The Ellisfield Volunteer Group has put a call out for residents to help clear the
drainage channels around the village, following the localised road flooding which
took place on Sunday.
Ideally, the work needs to be done during the week but there
may still be a need for volunteers over the weekend.
Anyone who has not received the
Volunteer Group’s email can volunteer by emailing editor@ellisfield.org.uk and your
name will be forwarded on to Andy Swanston, the Group’s chairman.
Mon January 4, 2016:
Flash Road Flooding in Ellisfield
As most residents already know, the flash flooding on Sunday turned Green Lane and
College Lane into “rivers”. It was made a lot worse by the runoff from the surrounding
fields.
The bottom of Green Lane and the Axford Road suffered the most, with two cars
being seriously damaged with water getting into their air intakes (picture below
was taken by Glen Horgan).
Tue December 29, 2015:
Local Policing Priorities Survey
In Basingstoke District, the Local Community Policing Priorities for each area are
set by gathering the views of local residents.
You are urged to spare 5 minutes to
complete the online survey and have your say about what issues matter to you.
EDITOR:
Interestingly, most of the listed concerns (except speeding and theft from outbuildings)
are far more relevant to Basingstoke’s urban areas.
By selecting the Basingstoke Rural
South area and then adding those concerns more affecting us (for example, the need
to have a visible police presence, unlicensed door-
Mon December 7, 2015:
Dramatic Planning Application for
Demolishing the Majority of
The Old Manor in Church Lane
A planning application has been lodged with Basingstoke & Deane requesting permission
to demolish everything but the original 16c section of the Grade 2 listed The Old
Manor. It is then proposed to build a totally new “extension” (that’s what it’s called
in the planning application!) in its place.
All the planning documents can be viewed
on the B&DBC website.
The standard consultancy expiry date is Friday, December 18.
EDITOR:
If you’d like to have a quick look at what’s involved, I have created a viewable
PDF document which shows the South Elevation (existing and proposed) and the North
Elevation (again, existing and proposed). You’ll quickly see why I used the word
“dramatic” in this News Item’s title!
Tue December 1, 2015:
This 
Website's Third Birthday!
"My thanks to all the residents who contribute to making sure that the individual sections are made interesting and informative."
Paul Turner, Editor.
Mon November 30, 2015:
3 Farrier’s Field Available Soon
Under the rules for Ellisfield of section 106 housing, this house is being advertised
by Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council on their Homebid website (click to view).
This
page gives full details of the property but please note that although the advert
runs out today the house will be advertised again from THIS Thursday (December 3).
There
are four remaining bidding cycles and families with a connection with Ellisfield
have priority. If no such individual or family comes forward, it will then be advertised
for another six weeks to those individuals or families with connections to neighbouring
parishes.
Please pass this information on to anyone you are aware of who might be
interested in this opportunity.
Thu November 12, 2015:
John Lewis At Home and Waitrose
Stores Both Opened Today
The new John Lewis at Home and Waitrose stores opened in Basing View this morning.
Hundreds
of shoppers queued outside from 8.00am to be the first to explore the 46,000 square
foot John Lewis and 26,000 square foot Waitrose.
The John Lewis store becomes the
retailer’s 12th ‘at home’ shop and Basingstoke’s is the largest co-
The opening times Monday to Saturday are 9.00am
to 8.00pm (John Lewis) and 7.30am to 9.00pm (Waitrose). On Sundays they're both open
from 11.00am to 5.00pm. (On all days, John Lewis actually opens from 10.30am for
"browsing time").
The café is open Monday to Saturday 7.30am to 8.00pm and 10.30am
to 4.30pm on Sundays.
Cllr John Izett, cabinet member for finance and resources at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, said: “We know the company has made the right decision in choosing Basingstoke as the destination to open its largest combined store and we are delighted it has resulted in 369 new jobs for the borough as well as providing more choice for our residents and attracting new visitors to the town centre. This is a significant step forward in the regeneration of Basing View and will no doubt be the catalyst to more exciting developments in the town centre business district.".
Fri November 6, 2015:
No Village Carol Singing This Year!
Following a committee meeting held yesterday evening, the Ellisfield Ladies Club has announced that "there will, unfortunately, be no Carols around the Village this year in December due to pressure of commitments".
Sun November 1, 2015:
"In The Fields" Article
Seumas Foster's latest "In The Fields" article can be found HERE.
Sat October 31, 2015:
Draft Minutes of the Ellisfield Parish Council's October 20
Meeting
True to her word, Wendy Simson, the new Interim Parish Clerk, has posted Draft Minutes
of the council's meeting on October 20.
EDITOR: This is really EXCELLENT. No longer
do residents have to wait until after the next meeting (normally at least six weeks)
before they can find out what was discussed.
Fri October 30, 2015:
An Invasion of "Night Runners", Late Evening on Tuesday, November
10
Hatchwarren Runners are planning a few evening trail runs around the Farleigh Wallop
& Ellisfield 10k route over the next few months.
The next evening will be Tuesday,
November 10.
Don't be alarmed by the sudden appearance of about 25+ runners with head-
Here
is their planned route.
They plan to run the same route, this time starting and ending
at The Fox, in a month or so.
EDITOR: Thanks go to Susie Deane for forwarding on this
information.
Wed October 21, 2015:
Superfast Broadband in Ellisfield
At Tuesday's parish council meeting, Cllr Park-
EDITOR:
The current situation is that properties in the north of the village (those
served from the cabinet at the junction of College Lane and Church Lane) ARE scheduled
to be upgraded in Hampshire County Council's "Phase 2". The currently proposed installation
date (taken from HCC's website) is: Coming soon -
Properties linked to the cabinet
in Herriard are too far away to make use of that cabinet's Superfast Broadband connection
and they are not scheduled to be looked at until all the Phase 2 installations have
been completed (currently September 2018).
It should be noted that because the north
of the village IS scheduled in Phase 2, a privately funded installation is now not
possible.
However, the southern properties ARE still permitted to enter into a community
funded installation because they are not included in Phase 2 AND because the Herriard
Exchange itself DOES now have fibre connections ...
Wed October 21, 2015:
Ellisfield Parish Council Meeting
Changes, changes ...
The meeting, on a Tuesday because of the hall being pre-
Also, the chairman
decided to go through the last meeting's Minutes, item by item, at the start of the
meeting rather than the traditional method of discussing outstanding issues in the
relevant sections of the Agenda. This new session lasted half an hour whereas the
"Matters Arising from the Minutes (for which no relevant Agenda Item is listed below)"
item which has been in place for at least the last ten years usually took up just
a couple of minutes at most.
What didn't change was that there was (again) much discussion
about retrieving parish council property from the previous Clerk who resigned, with
immediate effect, over three months ago. Hope was expressed that the previous Clerk
had actually completed the Minutes of the May 18 parish council meeting and the May
29 Annual Parish Meeting.
The chairman explained what was happening about finding
a tenant for the recently vacated Housing Association house in Farrier's Field and
the Clerk presented a Financial Report which, because all the accounting records
(and cheque book!) are still with the previous Clerk, understandably had a number
of gaps in it.
Finally, the previously proposed next meeting date of Tuesday, December
1 was changed to Wednesday, December 2 because the chairman would be celebrating
his 25,000th day on earth on the Tuesday ...
The meeting ended at 9.30pm.
Thu October 15, 2015:
Community's Offer to Fund Local Police Officer for the Upton
Grey & The Candover Beat REFUSED
EDITOR (4.55pm): The heading says it all. Here is the text of a Basingstoke Gazette article which was posted to their website at 4.30pm this afternoon.
Sat October 10, 2015:
Hampshire Country Watch Alert
Mick Ames, Hampshire Country Watch police officer, has sent out the following alert:
"Seen
in the Farleigh Wallop area in the early hours of the morning of Friday 9th, a dark
coloured Jeep 4x4 driving over fields. Dogs were heard with the vehicle but when
seen it made off at speed and no registration number was taken.
"Bear this type of
vehicle in mind when seen in rural locations and if in any doubt call Police on 101
to report it, including the registration number or even a part number."
Fri October 9, 2015:
Letter From Destination Basingstoke
Theresa Lunn has received a letter from Felicity Edwards, Managing Director of Destination Basingstoke, the organisers of the Half Marathon.
It said:
"I wanted to write to thank you and all your members at the Ellisfield Ladies
Club for your magnificent efforts in creating the wonderful array of scarecrows that
entertained all the runners on Sunday. It was an unexpected but very welcome addition
to the atmosphere of the race and we are so pleased that the people of Ellisfield
have so embraced the spirit of the half marathon.
"... We would be very grateful if
you could help get the message out to everyone in your area about our gratitude for
both their patience with the road closures and (their) enthusiastic support."
Fri October 9, 2015:
Ellisfield Scarecrow Slideshow
All the scarecrows were photographed and these images have now been incorporated
into a slideshow which you'll find at the top of the Ladies Club page.
Below is a
picture of this year's winner, Pat Gould.
Wed October 7, 2015:
2016 Ellisfield Calendar
"Scenes Around Ellisfield". Our own village calendar, showing some of the beauty
in and around Ellisfield, will be on sale from October 22 for £5.
The calendar is
A4 in size and has 12 pages with a different view on each page.
It promotes CPRE (Campaign
to Protect Rural England) but proceeds are going to a village charity (which one
is currently unknown!).
To purchase a copy, please contact Caroline on 381279 or Hannah
on 381863.
Tue October 6, 2015:
Update Regarding Upton Grey and The Candovers Police Beat Area
Neil Taylor, the Chairman of Tunworth Parish Council, has sent out an update regarding
our Beat Officer, PC Andrew Reid.
This update has been converted to a PDF document
which can be displayed by clicking HERE.
Sat October 3, 2015:
Scarecrow Competition Results
1st Place: Worzel Gummidge & Aunt Sally
Pat Gould
2 Park View, Green Lane
Judge's comment:
"Well done Pat. Yours stood out. Lots of work, with so much additional decoration
with flowers, etc."
2nd Place: The Landscape Architect
Dee and Laura Haas
The Walled Garden, College Lane
3rd Place: The Old Man
Terry Gilvear
4 Cannon Close, Green Lane
The following were also judged to be of very high quality:
Pointing The Way, Woodside
118-
The Fox and Companion, The Fox
Boris the
Cyclist, Fair Views
The Shooter, 1 Widmoor Cottages
It’s Your Move & Bear Gould, 3
Park View
Thanks go to Rev. Stephen Mourant for judging this competition. He said:
"Really everyone
deserves a prize for taking part, with some incredibly imaginative scarecrows -
"Well done everyone. Thanks for participating and I hope
you enjoyed it. The hardest role of all? Trying to make a fair judgement on such
great wit, creativity and imagination."
Tue September 22, 2015
Scarecrow Competition Being Held Over The 3rd/4th October Weekend
If you've not received the Entry Form or you've mislaid it, it's been converted to
a PDF and can be displayed and printed by clicking HERE.
Completed forms, together
with a £1 entry fee, need to be dropped into the roadside letterbox of Dragon's Holt
(near the bottom of Green Lane) by Monday, September 28.
PS: All of last year's scarecrows
can be viewed at the top of the Ellisfield Ladies Club page.
Mon September 21, 2015:
Message From PC Andrew Reid
Some time between 5.00pm Saturday (19th) and 1:30pm Sunday (20th), thieves stole
a large amount of hens, cockerels, feeders and drinkers along with a complete chicken
cage from a site in Bagmore Lane, Herriard, having both entered and left the field
from the A339 by the old school entrance and the track leading to the old cricket
field.
I ask if anyone was in Bagmore Lane between these times, but more so about 9:30pm on Saturday evening when a 'commotion' was heard, or if anyone saw a vehicle going into or out off the entrance (I suspect that it was a large vehicle pulling a trailer). If you can provide any information please call me directly and in strictest confidence.
Andrew REID
Police Constable 3746, Rural Beat Officer
Police Office, Preston Candover
DD:
01256:389050
HQ: 101
Mob: 07768:776844
Email: andrew.reid@hampshire.pnn.police.uk
Wed September 16, 2015:
Parish Council Minutes Published
The minutes of the July 27 parish council meeting, approved at last week's meeting, have been published today.
Wed September 16, 2015:
Ladies Club Naomi House Donation
At the Ladies Club annual general meeting back in March, it was proposed and agreed
to donate £100 to Naomi House and Jacks Place (based in Sutton Scotney), the respite
and hospice for sick children and young adults.
Maggie and Celia recently visited
Naomi House to see the "Giving Tree" and the leaf commemorating the Ladies Club donation.
Wed September 9, 2015:
Long May She Reign ...
Today, Queen Elizabeth II’s reign reached its 23,226th day, surpassing the record set by her great great grandmother Queen Victoria.
Tue September 8, 2015:
Monday's Parish Council Meeting
Monday evening's meeting of the Ellisfield Parish Council started at 8.00pm (this
change from the traditional 7.30pm time is now permanent) and lasted for two hours.
The
new Interim Parish Clerk, Wendy Simson (see news item below), and the new co-
Quite
a lot of time was spent discussing the council's progress (or non-
The rest of the council
meeting was a lot less interesting and there was nothing memorable to report.
The
dates of the next two meetings were agreed and (in another break with tradition)
they are both going to be held on a Tuesday (October 20 and December 1).
Thu September 3, 2015:
New Interim Parish Clerk
.jpg "Click for larger image ...")
Wendy Simson (see right), Clerk to Preston Candover & Nutley parish council and Candovers
parish council, will start work as Ellisfield's Parish Clerk as from next Monday
evening's meeting.
Wendy will remain in post until a permanent Clerk has been recruited
and, if necessary, trained.
(Click picture for larger image display.)
Mon August 25, 2015:
New Neighbourhood Watch Area
Coordinator For Scheme 090
Charlie (Charlotte) Hellewell, of Woodside on the Axford Road, has agreed to take
over from Peter Hopwood as the Area Coordinator for Scheme 090 (lower Green Lane,
Axford Road & lower College Lane).
Her contact details can be found on the Neighbourhood
Watch page (her phone number is awaited).
Mon August 17, 2015:
New Neighbourhood Watch Area
Coordinator For Scheme 300
Keith Galbraith, of The Old Stables on College Lane, has agreed to be the new Area
Coordinator for Scheme 300 (upper College Lane, Bell Lane & Church Lane).
His contact
details can be found on the Neighbourhood Watch page.
Thu August 13, 2015:
Police "Rural Times" Publication
Hampshire Constabulary has launched a new on-
"Rural Times" will
be published every quarter to provide an update on the work that the police and partner
organisations are undertaking to deal with rural issues.
The magazine will contain
topical information influenced by seasonal trends, as well as crime prevention advice,
recent prosecutions and good news stories.
Please click here to view the first edition.
Fri August 7, 2015:
Jane Hannah Takes Over From
Hannah Houstin-Lacey As Ellisfield's
Neighbourhood
Watch Coordinator
Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator
Jane Hannah of Hill Farm Cottage in Green Lane is now our Neighbourhood Watch coordinator.
If
you need to get in touch, her contact details are at the top of the Neighbourhood
Watch page.
EDITOR: Thanks and gratitude to Hannah Houstin-
Hannah and Jane have emailed out a notice explaining the
handover.
I have reformatted it and converted it from a Word document to a PDF for
this website. To display this PDF, please click HERE.
Wed August 5, 2015:
Parish Council's Missing Minutes
The minutes of the parish council's May 18 meeting have still not been published. These minutes were to have been produced by Christina Veasey who resigned just before the next scheduled meeting.
Then, as the July 13 meeting's Agenda was published too late for the meeting to be legal, the record of that meeting were deemed to be "Notes" and not "Minutes". These "Notes" were approved at the July 27 meeting BUT they also have not (at the time of this News Item) been published on the council's Official Website.
Sat August 1, 2015:
Horticultural Society's Summer Show
A report has been added to the Horticultural Society's page.
Congratulations go to
the following Ellisfield residents: Adam & Tracey Gilvear, Seumas & Debbie Foster,
Fletcher Cooke and Genna Cooke.
Thu July 30, 2015:
Ranil Jayawardena, MP
Our MP, Ranil Jayawardena, has been appointed as a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee.
Wed July 29, 2015:
Residents' Meeting With Simon Hayes, The Hampshire Police & Crime
Commissioner, Reported On In This Evening's BBC "South Today"
This meeting, with Edward Belcher (of Tunworth) and our Borough Councillor Mark Ruffell, to discuss the proposal for the Community Funding of our local beat officer, was reported on by the South Today news programme this evening.
In the programme, Simon Hayes (see right) said "What we have been talking about,
and we haven't concluded this afternoon and we will meet again, is how communities
perhaps can support policing in different and more innovative ways, and we need to
think about that in more detail".
The programme also quoted a statement by the Hampshire Police Federation, as follows:
"The
idea of communities funding policing privately could create an unfair two tier system
of the haves and the have nots".
EDITOR: The BBC Red Button's "Around the UK" text news channel has an article headed
up (rather stupidly, I'd say) "Residents try to buy their own bobby". It contained
the statement "Residents have offered to pay £60,000 a year to keep him".
There is
also an article on the BBC website which mistakenly talks about "Upton Grey and Candovers
Parish Council". No such council exists! There are actually 14 parish councils and
parish meetings within the Upton Grey and Candovers beat area but, it must be said,
most pledges are from individual residents.
UPDATE (Thu, July 30):
Basingstoke Gazette
posted an article too.
Wed July 29, 2015:
Lower Common Swings Are Still Out of Action ...
The swings on Lower Common have been out of action for six weeks now (see June 9
News Item below). It was reported at Monday's parish council meeting that parts have
now arrived BUT they are the wrong parts.
Cllr Richards is chasing the suppliers and
hopes that the situation can be resolved soon.
Tue July 28, 2015:
Parish Council Meeting
This meeting took place on Monday evening. Unusually, it is just two weeks since
the Parish Council last met, on July 13 (see News item below).
Despite the Agenda
stating that the Open Forum would take place before the meeting started (see July
21 News Item below), it was actually held within the meeting ...
OPEN FORUM
- Cllr Park-
Weir asked, on behalf of his wife, if it was possible for Green Lane to be included within the bottom of the village's 30 mile per hour speed limit.
Cllr Guinness explained to him that Ellisfield residents had voted against this proposal. - Hannah Houstin-
Lacey passed on information that our MP (Ranil Jayawardena) and our Borough Councillor (Mark Ruffell) are investigating "Matched Funding" whereby the government will match monies pledged for the installation of fast broadband.
Cllr Park-Weir (who has taken on this issue from Cllr Wright who recently resigned) promised to look into this. - Hannah also informed the Council that she was meeting with Jane Hannah soon to hand over the role of Neighbourhood Watch coordinator.
- Jane Evans asked (through Paul Turner as she could not make the meeting) when the
Council was going to replace the netting of Lower Common's goalposts.
Cllr Park-Weir thought that the nets could just be repaired but that he would look into this. - Paul Turner asked about the Council's plans regarding the Open Forum's format. He
was concerned that it had not been formally discussed by councillors and also wanted
to know, if the Open Forum was going to be held outside of the actual meeting, whether
or not it would be included in the meeting's minutes.
Cllr Guinness replied that it was an "experiment" over the next two meetings only. Mrs Chilton, standing in as Clerk, said that she would always include what was discussed in the Open Forum within the minutes. - Paul Turner asked if the nettles, brambles, etc. at the Church end of the Church
to Pub right of way had been cleared (as had been agreed at the last meeting).
Cllr Guinness said that they had not been cleared. He had looked into this and he felt that the right of way was passable.
- Paul Turner asked if the council had a date when Adrian de Ferranti was going to
move his gate/fence so as to provide a clear pathway on the Zig Zag's right of way.
Cllr Guinness replied that he did not know when the gate/fence would be moved.
Paul Turner then asked, when the gate/fence has been moved, whether a kissing gate could replace the current stile at College Lane.
Cllr Guinness said that he felt that the stile could simply be removed.
Wendy Simson (Clerk to both Preston Candover & Nutley and Candovers parish councils,
was introduced to councillors. Wendy has offered to become a locum Clerk to Ellisfield
until a suitable replacement for Mrs Veasey can be found.
After Wendy had left, the
Council agreed to ask her to start her temporary role as from the September meeting.
They then discussed what to do about getting back all the Council property (including
the cheque book!) from Mrs Veasey.
A replacement for Cllr Wright was then discussed and it was agreed to co-
EDITOR: I then left so cannot comment on the rest of the meeting. There were no other residents present.
Tue July 21, 2015:
Parish Council Meeting's Open Forum To Change Its Format
The parish council have decided to alter the format of the Open Forum.
It is now going
to be held before the meeting starts and is going to be limited to a maximum of 15
minutes, irrespective of how many residents wish to speak, irrespective of the urgency
of the matter that they wish discussed and irrespective of the time it takes for
an answer to be provided by the council.
Tue July 14, 2015:
Parish Council Meeting
There was an Ellisfield Parish Council meeting on Monday evening. Because Christina
Veasey had resigned (see News Item dated July 11 below), Edna Chilton (who retired
as Parish Clerk in 2003) attended the meeting and took the notes.
The minutes of the
previous meeting on May 19 were not in the parish council's possession and so (obviously!)
they could not be signed or discussed.
It was agreed that another meeting will be
held in two weeks time (Monday, July 27 at 8.00pm, not 7.30pm as is usual).
EDITOR:
Based on my experiences of being a parish clerk, councillor and chairman, in the
Open Forum I asked questions and offered my advice on a number of matters, some of
which I felt were serious and needed addressing. My warnings were ignored.
As for
the meeting itself, I'm going to refrain from reporting what happened.
The meeting
was held in the church and I could not stop images of parish meetings in episodes
of The Vicar of Dibley from going through my mind. I didn't know whether to laugh
or cry ...
Sun July 12, 2015:
Community Funding for PC Reid
Despite the lack of formal announcements, negotiations to strike an acceptable deal
to allow us in the Upton Grey & The Candovers area to keep our own beat officer are
still ongoing.
Holidays have caused a few delays but it is hoped that we will hear
something positive by the end of the month.
In the meantime, of course, PC Andrew
Reid remains in post and is as active as ever on our behalf.
Sat July 11, 2015:
Parish Council Clerk Resigns
Mrs Christina Veasey, who was appointed Parish Clerk just six months ago (on January
26), has tendered her resignation.
Monday meeting's Agenda went up today on the Parish
Council's village notice board and on the Parish Council website.
Editor: I don't
know who created the Agenda, it certainly was not Mrs Veasey. Anyway, item 4 is "Actions
required following resignation of Clerk" and item 13 is "Closed Session to agree
outstanding issues, if any, arising from resignation of Clerk".
UPDATE: The following has appeared on the Parish Council website today:
“Sadly Christina
Veasey resigned as Clerk on Monday. We are now urgently considering how best to replace
her.
"IF THERE IS ANYONE IN THE VILLAGE INTERESTED IN STEPPING FORWARD PLEASE CONTACT
ANY OF THE COUNCILLORS”
Tim Guinness, Ellisfield Parish Council
Sat July 11, 2015:
Parish Council 2014/15 Accounts
At the beginning of this week, all the various accounts documents for the 2014/15
year were uploaded to a new Audit and Accounts page on the Parish Council website.
EDITOR:
Congratulations go to Christina Veasey, the new Parish Clerk, for all the hard work
getting all the documentation ready for auditing and then uploading everything onto
the council website.
Ellisfield residents should especially read the Auditors' Report
which contains a list of matters arising from the audit. For example, I'm certain
that the comment that:
"The reserves of the council are significantly higher than
best practice. Parish Councils do not have the power to hold savings."
and:
"Projects
that will benefit all of the residents of the parish should be brought forward to
bring the reserves to a more appropriate level."
will invoke some interesting discussion
between councillors and amongst Ellisfield residents.
Sat July 4, 2015:
Horticultural Society's "Best Garden Competition" Results
Congratulations to the following Ellisfield residents:
Debbie and Seumas Foster for gaining a 1st place in the Combined class, a 2nd in
the Vegetable class and a 3rd in the Flower Class.
Adam Gilvear for gaining a 1st
place in the Flower class.
Jacqui and Tony Matthews for gaining a 2nd place in the
Flower class and a 3rd place in the Pots & Baskets class.
All results can be found on the Horticultural Society's page.
Wed July 1, 2015:
"In The Fields" Article
The latest "In The Fields" article can be found HERE. This month, it is written by
a guest contributor, David Miller, who is the Farm Manager for Wheatsheaf Farming
Company at Folly Farm, North Waltham.
David has been putting much effort into improving
the soils that they farm, and the article is an insight into the work and philosophy
of his drive towards sustainability.
Thu June 25, 2015:
Ellisfield's MP Meets BT Director
Ranil Jayawardena (right), our Member of Parliament, met with BT director Tim O’Sullivan
last Wednesday to discuss ways to improve better access to fast broadband for the
almost 30,000 homes and businesses across north east Hampshire that do not have access
to superfast broadband
As reported in the Basingstoke Gazette, Mr Jayawardena said:
“In the 21st century, all residents should be able to access fast broadband, even
in rural areas such as Mattingley, Stratfield Turgis and Ellisfield."
EDITOR: It's good to hear that our MP is aware that Ellisfield needs superfast broadband.
Mon June 22, 2015:
Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust Are Looking for "Befriending" Volunteers
As a volunteer befriender your role will be to provide social companionship to patients
who have a chronic or life limiting illness and who are isolated or lonely. Becoming
a friend and visiting a patient in their own homes will help to restore emotional
well-
Committing to just 2 hours a week
(or even less), you can make a real difference to a patient living in your local
community.
All relevant training will be given, as well as regular and on-
For
further information please contact Caroline Nash, Befriending Coordinator, by phone
on 01264 835293 or email her at caroline.nash@hhft.nhs.uk.
Mon June 22, 2015:
Ellisfield's Wine Walk
From Joanne Thomas and Susie Deane:
This year, we had a beautiful summer's evening and there was a great mix of residents
walking around the village.
Each host had made a huge (and generous) effort to bring
to life the country associated with their wine.
Ali & Andy (South Africa) had Simba
napkins (from the Jungle Book), Caroline & Bernard had books, paintings and played
music from New Zealand and Dee & Richard (Argentina) h
ad the music and spicy food.
Sue
& Phil Self (hosting for Australia) had a crocodile in their pond (!) and visitors
were serenaded by Phil playing the didgeridoo ...
EDITOR: Joanne will be announcing the takings soon.
Tue June 9, 2015:
Lower Common Swings Out of Action
Whilst awaiting some replacement parts, the swings cannot be used.
Fri June 5, 2015:
Parish Council Endorses The Fox
Ellisfield Parish Council has decided to formally endorse The Fox public house and its new landlord. The official council website says:
"Be assured of a warm welcome, often with a crackling open fire, at The Fox by its
new landlord; Lucy Tuffs ..."
"With over 15 years experience in the ‘pub and catering’
world, Lucy has extended the opening hours creating great freshly cooked menus."
"All
are assured of a well-
Wed June 3, 2015:
PC Andrew Reid's Alerts
I'd like to make you aware of nearby crimes.
First, the theft of a spare wheel from
a vehicle parked in Little Hoddington at Upton Grey. Then, between 1.00pm and 6.30pm
yesterday (June 2), a hand bag was stolen from a parked car in Glebe Close, Dummer.
Lastly,
there's been an increase in burglary to outhouses and sheds across the Basingstoke
rural area, predominately in the border area with Berkshire. However we know that
criminals will travel and no doubt will pass through our area. Please photograph
and record serial numbers of garden equipment and tools and please make sure sheds
and outbuildings are kept secure.
As always, please report any suspicious activity,
people, vehicles etc.
Tue June 2, 2015
Parish Council Vacancy
The following notice has been posted on the Ellisfield Parish Council website:
The Council has just been notified by Julian Wright that he has decided to step down.
This leaves a casual vacancy and, if 10 members of the electorate call for an election,
one will be held. Otherwise the vacancy will be filled by co-
Any resident
who would like to be considered for co-
Julian was on the Council
for three years and the Chairman, Councillor Tim Guinness, comments;
“Julian’s decision
will leave a big hole. He worked tirelessly on your Council’s behalf on several important
issues; most recently on trying to get BT to bring superfast broadband to Ellisfield.”
UPDATE: The official notification, dated June 4, has just been released.
EDITOR: Of course, it's always best for a parish councillor to be elected by the
residents of the village, rather than be co-
So, if you want to put yourself forward to be a parish councillor, you've two choices:
- Let the parish clerk know that you are willing to be co-
opted. the FIVE COUNCILLORS still in office will decide who they want on the council.
If you are the only one to do so, then you are automatically co-opted.
If one or more other residents also come forward, - Or, you can send a letter in to Electoral Services at Basingstoke Council signed
by 10 residents (who all must be on the electoral register) requesting an election.
Then, when the notice of election is announced, you can put yourself forward.
If you are the only one to do so, then you are automatically elected.
If one or more other residents also put themselves forward, then there WILL be an election and the RESIDENTS will decide who they want on the council.
Fri May 29, 2015
Residents' Annual Parish Meeting
Although the Parish Council has still not elected its chairman, Cllr Tim Guinness chaired Friday evening's Ellisfield Residents' Annual Parish Meeting. He outlined the work of the parish council and that was followed by reports from:
Bernard Casenove, Educational Trust
PC Andrew Reid, Local Beat Officer
Dee Haas, Village
Association
Bernard Casenove, St Martin's Church
Ray Reid, Memorial Hall
Edna Chilton,
Hill & Dale Magazine
Celia Lunn, Ladies Club
Theresa Webb, Belles of St Martin's
Andy
Swanston, Volunteer Group
Meg Freeman, Horticultural Society
There were also written reports on the Neighbourhood Watch (from Hannah Houstin-
The meeting was followed by food and wine.
EDITOR: The meeting chairman seemed to be a little confused whether this website was the "Ellisfield Community Website" or "Paul Turner's Website". For the avoidance of doubt, it IS our Community Website, with all village organisations (except St Martin's Church and the Parish Council) being fully active in contributing to the News and Events columns and, of course, providing material for their own sections of this website. I, Paul Turner, am merely the (sometimes opinionated) Editor.
Thu May 28, 2015
Latest Broadband Update from Hampshire County Council
Those residents who have signed up for email updates from Hampshire County Council
in regards to the roll-
There's nothing new to report, except the following paragraph:
"The Government has set out plans to offer improved services to all of those currently experiencing under 2 Mbps of broadband. BT is working on this solution at the moment and we will be able to offer this by the end of 2015."
EDITOR: Note the words "we will" ...
Wed May 27, 2015:
National Rural Crime Survey
In response to concerns from people living and working in rural areas, the National Rural Crime Network is launching the biggest ever survey of rural policing and crime.
In the face of shrinking budgets, it is important for the National Rural Crime Network to better understand your experiences of policing and crime in your area. Have you suffered financial loss, been concerned or worried about safety or feel the focus is generally on urban areas? You can complete this survey anonymously.
The aim is for the National Rural Crime Network to use the results of the survey to improve awareness of crime in rural areas and encourage crime prevention, inform government policy and help ensure funding is not disproportionately lost from rural areas.
The results from the survey will inform the police and their partners in their work, helping to ensure the right services and resources are available to rural communities.
For the 10-
Tue May 26, 2015:
Farleigh Church Vandalised
Some time between Sunday (24th) and Monday (25th), windows at St Andrew's Church
in Farleigh Wallop were broken.
If you have any information please contact the police
on 101 quoting reference number 44150176115.
Sat May 23, 2015:
College Lane Notice Board Moved
The parish council contracted Timberwise Fencing to move the new notice board in College Lane (near the Bell Lane junction) to a new position.
Tue May 19, 2015:
Parish Council Meeting
The parish council met yesterday evening. If they followed their Meeting Agenda, a Parish Council Chairman has not been elected.
Thu May 14, 2015:
Allotments Available for Residents
If you are interested in taking one or more allotment plots, contact the Parish Clerk, Christina Veasey, on 01256 397125 or email her.
Tue May 12, 2015:
Recording of Parish Council Meetings
A notice has gone up in the village informing us all that future Ellisfield Parish Council meetings may be "recorded".
Sun May 10, 2015:
Parish Council Election Results
4.40pm:
Here are the number of votes cast on Thursday, May 7, for each of the seven
Ellisfield residents who were nominated to stand for election to Ellisfield Parish
Council:
Caroline J. CAZENOVE ........ 166 (elected)
Timothy W. N. GUINNESS ... 148 (elected)
Gavin
J. PARK WEIR ............ 148 (elected)
David G. RICHARDS ............ 129 (elected)
Rosemary
A. TAPLIN ........... 156 (elected)
Paul T. M. TURNER .............. 71
Julian
P. WRIGHT ................. 113 (elected)
EDITOR (Monday, May 11):
"I would like to thank all the 71 residents who voted for
me." (Thursday, May 14: "Having got something off my chest, I've removed the remainder
of my statement ...")
Paul.
Fri May 8, 2015:
Election Results
As was expected, the Conservative candidate, Ranil Jayawardena, won the Hampshire North East parliamentary seat (with 35,573 votes, 65.9% of all votes cast).
The other party's votes were as follows:
Liberal Democrats -
Labour -
UKIP -
Green -
Monster Raving Loony Party -
There was a 72.9% turnout.
In Basingstoke, Maria Miller (Conservative) won with 25,769 votes (48.6%). The turnout was 66.6%.
Mark Ruffell, Conservative, won the Upton Grey & The Candovers seat on Basingstoke Borough Council with 1,565 votes. Labour's Alice James had 217 votes. The turnout was 1,803 (there were 21 spoilt votes) which was 77% of an electorate of 2,331.
The Ellisfield Parish Council result will not be available until Sunday afternoon (the count starts at 2.00pm).
Tue May 5, 2015:
Busheywarren Lane Deer Poaching
Last Friday evening (May 1), at about 9.00pm, a deer was shot and killed on land
off of Bushywarren Lane. The deer was shot from the road and a vehicle was heard
to leave the scene. It is suspected that this was poaching activity.
If anyone has
information regarding this incident, please telephone the police on 101.
Tue May 5, 2015:
Green Lane Congregational Chapel
Do you have any memories and/or photographs of the Congregational Chapel that was
built opposite Pullens Cottage in 1912 and which was pulled down in the early 60s
and replaced by the present Foxhill House?
If you do, please email Paul Turner (this
website's editor) or phone him on 381269.
Thu April 30, 2015:
Funding for Dedicated Beat Officer Draft Agreement
IMPORTANT: It must be emphasised that this Agreement is a DRAFT document for discussion only. It has NOT been agreed or signed by either party.
From Daphne Taylor
Chairman, Tunworth Parish Meeting
"Cllr Mark Ruffell and Edward Belcher have been in discussions with Hampshire Constabulary
and an Agreement has been drafted for submission to the Police and Crime Commissioner.
Both parties wished for all pledged donors (individuals and Parish Councils) and
potential donors to see the wording prior to its submission.
"Please can you respond
to me individually by 5.00pm on Tuesday 5 May, 2015 if you have any comment to make.
If you would like to speak directly with Mark or Edward, then please can you email
me your telephone number.
"As you will know, there has been a three stage process
in these discussions.
"The first stage was whether an agreement could be reached in
principle. The answer was ‘yes’ and PC Reid has continued as the dedicated beat officer
past the initial deadline of 1 April whilst the detail of the agreement is discussed.
"The
second stage has been discussing the detail which is now at an end and we are hopefully
moving to the third stage which is implementation. We will be discussing with Hampshire
Constabulary the best method for payment and this may include setting up a charitable
trust.
"There will be a renewed request for funding once these matters have been resolved.
The detail of the agreement proposal is set out below.
"Thank you for your continued
support."
Daphne Taylor
Chairman, Tunworth Parish Meeting
EDITOR: Here is the Draft Agreement.
Thu April 23, 2015:
Police Search For Man Who Escaped From Winchfield Hospital
UPDATE: Mr Munden contacted police in the Milton Keynes area in the early hours of Sunday, April 26. He was detained and transferred to hospital.
Police are still searching for missing man Stephen Munden and are continuing to appeal
for your help.
The 54-
Officers have
been carrying out extensive searches, including using the police helicopter, and
making other enquiries. They have also been following up on many calls from members
of the public.
Mr Munden is described as about 5ft 8ins tall, of a heavy build, and
has dark hair. He did have a very full beard, but it is believed he may have shaved
it off prior to leaving the hospital.
Mr Munden was detained at the facility under
a hospital order after being sentenced for sexual offences in 2014. These were possessing,
making, and attempting to make indecent images of children and sexual assault on
child under 13.
Detective Chief Inspector Tim Rowlandson said: “We would like to
say a huge thank you to those people who have already phoned in with possible sightings
and information in relation to this investigation. Please be reassured that we’re
following up on all lines of enquiry.
"If you see him, know where he is or have any
information which could help us locate him, please call us on 101."
Fri April 17, 2015:
Message From Sue Dove
"I would like to thank all customers and friends who came into The Fox on Thursday
and Friday evenings to say goodbye to us.
"Both Graham and I were deeply touched by
their kindness."
Sun April 11, 2015:
1953 Commemorative Plaque
 800w.jpg "Commemorative Plaque (click to view larger image)")
When a new seat was installed at the Gravel Pits a week ago, a plaque was transferred
from the old seat. To view a larger version of this plaque, just click on the image
above.
Fri April 10, 2015:
Ellisfield To Have An Election For Parish Councillors on May 7
The following Ellisfield residents have been nominated to stand for election to the Parish Council on May 7.
Caroline J. CAZENOVE
Timothy W. N. GUINNESS
Gavin J. PARK WEIR
David G. RICHARDS
Rosemary
A. TAPLIN
Paul T. M. TURNER
Julian P. WRIGHT
(Full details are on the Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll document, issued by Basingstoke & Deane's Returning Officer.)
An election is taking place in Ellisfield because there are 7 nominations for the
6 places on the Council.
Of the 36 parish councils in the Basingstoke & Deane area,
30 had the same number of nominations as there were places to fill and so an election
will not be taking place.
Surprisingly, 2 parishes (Newfound and Nutley) had no nominations
for the two places each had to fill.
As well as Ellisfield, 3 other parishes (Chineham,
Steventon and Upton Grey) will be having elections.
Fri April 10, 2015:
Ellisfield Parish Council Releases
Draft Minutes for March 16 Meeting
During the council's last meeting on March 16, the Parish Clerk proposed "that draft
parish council minutes be posted on our new website as soon as possible after each
meeting".
Here are those promised Draft Minutes.
These minutes will be formally approved
at the parish council's next meeting on Monday, May 18.
EDITOR: As previously stated
by me, what an excellent idea.
Wed April 8, 2015:
New Tenant for The Fox as From
Next Tuesday, April 14 at 5.30pm
Graham and Sue Dove have released the following statement:
“A new Tenant is taking over at The Fox and the official hand-
"Graham and Sue wish Lucy every success in her venture
and hope she will be very happy here for many years ahead.
"In order to prepare for
stocktaking, brokerage, hand over procedures and maintenance checks, The Fox will
be open Thursday (9th April) and Friday (10th April) evenings only, from 5.30pm (no
food). It will then be necessary to close until Lucy re-
"Once again Graham and Sue thank all friends and customers for
their continued support and loyalty. We have greatly enjoyed being part of this lovely
village.”
Wed April 8, 2015:
Volunteer Required To Become New
Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator
Cllr Caroline Cazenove recently emailed out the responsibilities of the Village Coordinator
of Ellisfield's Neighbourhood Watch, asking if any Ellisfield resident is willing
to take over from Hannah Houstin-
Wed April 8, 2015:
Tarmac Scam Alert
A group of people are visiting farms pretending to be from the Highways Agency and
offering a load of tarmac for an agreed price of £20/£30.
They then state that their
truck is damaged and they need to off load it before it goes off. Once the tarmac
is laid they then charge the resident/farmer in the region of £10,000, stating that
it was £20/£30 a square metre. When challenged they have become threatening and intimidating.
Please
contact the police immediately should you have any such callers to your property.
Fri April 3, 2015:
New Seat at the Gravel Pits
Congratulations to Cllr David Richards for treating and then trolleying a new seat
to the Gravel Pits at the bottom of Green Lane, fixing a new lock and then hauling
the old seat (which was falling apart) off for disposal.
The old seat was originally
at the Burial Ground and its commemorative plaque was removed by David who then installed
it onto the new seat.
Thu April 2, 2015
College Lane Notice Board
Councillor Gavin Park-
New hand-
Wed April 1, 2015:
Proposal To Retain Our Beat Officer Through Community Funding
------
LATEST UPDATE ------
A proposal for a dedicated beat officer for the existing Upton Grey and Candovers
beat, paid for through voluntary contributions amounting to £60,000 per annum for
the next 3 years, is being seriously considered by the Police.
The deadline of 1 April
2015 for the imposition of the previous proposed changes to the Upton Grey and Candovers
beat has been extended. Time has been allowed for the details to be agreed and for
the funding to be pledged. The existing Police structure for the beat will remain
in place until these matters are resolved. An indicative deadline of 1 May 2015 for
agreement has been suggested.
PC Reid has been briefed about the proposal and revised
timescales.
EDITOR: Here is the original email (sent out by Zani Roseveare and Joanne
Thomas at the request of Basingstoke Cllr Mark Ruffell) asking residents to pledge
an annual contribution towards the cost of retaining our Beat Officer.
Wed April 1, 2015:
"In The Fields" Article
The latest "In The Fields" article by Seumas Foster can be found HERE.
Thu March 26, 2015:
Hampshire Constabulary Launches Rural Crime Initiative
Hampshire police have issued a press release about Operation Falcon, a new initiative
to target criminals operating in rural areas.
To receive the latest information about
crime in their area, rural residents can sign up to Hampshire Alert.
Thu March 26, 2015:
Message from PC Andrew Reid -
Stolen Land Rover Defenders
Stolen Land Rover Defenders
"May I make you aware of a continued increase in the theft of Land Rover Defenders
from all across the northern and central Hampshire area. Recently in the Alresford
area alone two were stolen in one day.
"They are also being stolen from Railway Stations
and at Micheldever one was stolen from a man from Northington, and at Winchester
Railway Station one was stolen. This is not the first L/R Defender to have been stolen
from Micheldever Railway Station.
"I urge all Land Rover Defender owners to please
increase their security for their vehicles or park them (if possible) in locations
where it is extremely difficult for thieves to drive them away."
Tue March 24, 2015:
Community Funding for Beat Officer?
Ellisfield residents Zani Roseveare and Joanne Thomas (at the request of Basingstoke
Cllr Mark Ruffell) have forwarded an email from Daphne Taylor, Chairman of Tunworth
Parish Meeting, asking if Ellisfield residents are prepared to pledge an annual amount
towards community funding of a dedicated beat officer.
Here is the email, in PDF format.
EDITOR:
Hampshire Constabulary has faced £55m cuts since 2010 and further reductions of £25m
between 2015/16 and 2016/17.
In the past five years, Hampshire Constabulary has lost
647 officers, a reduction from 3,748 to 3,101. It is expected that by 2017 we will
have lost almost 1,000 police officers.
Tue March 24, 2015:
Letter from the Chairman of Tunworth Parish Meeting, sent to all
Parish Councils in PC Reid's Current Beat
Daphne Taylor, Chairman of Tunworth Parish Meeting, has sent a letter to Ellisfield
Parish Council asking if they would help provide funding of a dedicated beat officer.
Here
is the letter, in PDF format.
EDITOR: Ellisfield Parish Council was asked to comment.
Their
response (from Christina Veasey, Parish Clerk) was:
"Today’s email on local Hampshire
policing currently has, quote, ‘no answer'. Cllr Guinness is/has been involved with
on-
Mon March 23, 2015:
Ellisfield Parish Council Releases Estimated Fibre Broadband Speeds
Last week's posting on Ellisfield Parish Council's website has been added to this
website's Fast Broadband? page.
The sequence in which houses have been listed has
been changed from the table released by Ellisfield Parish Council. This amended list
gives households who did not request estimated speeds the ability to "guess" at what
THEIR speed may be.
EDITOR: In his posting, Cllr Wright mentioned that "BT have at
last now supplied indicative speeds for most of the selected Ellisfield North properties".
Ellisfield
Parish Council was asked which households in the Ellisfield North area were calculated
by Cllr Wright, not by BT.
Their response (from Christina Veasey, Parish Clerk) was:
"Understandably
the email regarding Broadband needed forwarding for advice and/or any specialist
comments which, if forthcoming, will be relayed to you, and/or published, as appropriate."
Fri March 20, 2015:
Parish Council Minutes (Jan 26)
The minutes for the Parish Council's January 26 meeting are now available to view.
Thu March 19, 2015:
Planning Application to Double Vehicle Movements for Anaerobic
Digester
Hampshire County Council’s Regulatory Committee voted to accept Barfoot Energy’s
planning application to double HGV traffic and increase input to the AD site on Bushywarren
Lane. The vote was close, seven Councillors for and seven Councillors against. The
decision depended upon the Chairman’s casting vote.
EDITOR: Further details can be
found on the Ellisfield Village Association page.
Thu March 19, 2015:
PC Andrew Reid's Report
PC Reid's latest report has been added to the Neighbourhood Watch page.
Mon March 16, 2015:
Parish Council Meeting Highlights
This meeting was the last to be held before the Parish Council elections on May 7.
In
the Open Forum:
- A resident's request for parish councillors to state whether or not they intend to
stand for re-
election was refused by the meeting chairman, Cllr Julian Wright. EDITOR: This is a perennial problem.
In 2003, four councillors decided not to re-stand but no- one knew of their decision.
Consequently, only two councillors handed in nomination papers (Sally Adams and Paul Turner) and the village had the embarrassment of having to have a Basingstoke & Deane officer seconded to us in order for the first meeting to be quorate. - There was discussion on the upcoming County Council Hearing (this Wednesday, March 18) in respect of the planning application by Barfoots, the operator of the Busheywarren Lane anaerobic digester, to increase the number of vehicle movements and to widen Busheywarren Lane. County Cllr Anna McNair Scott was present and stated that she would be speaking against this application.
- The parish council were asked what progress had been made in regards to providing additional Low Cost Housing in the village. The meeting chairman, Cllr Julian Wright (Cllr Guinness could not make the meeting) stated that there would be no further progress on this matter until Basingstoke & Deane's Local Plan was published (hopefully in September).
- There was discussion about road drainage, specifically in Bell Lane.
Highlights of the formal meeting (which recommenced at 8.15pm) are as follows:
- The new Parish Council website was discussed and it was stated that this will be expanded in the near future to include parish council documents (such as the Code of Conduct, Standing Orders and Freedom of Information requirements). A poster will be displayed on village notice boards advertising this website.
- It was proposed by the Parish Clerk (Mrs Christina Veasey) that draft parish council
minutes be posted on their new website as soon as possible after each meeting. Currently,
minutes are not published until they have been approved at the next meeting, which
can be up to eight weeks later.
EDITOR: An excellent idea. - The upcoming parish council election was discussed. It was agreed to let residents know where they can obtain information of how they can put themselves forward for nomination. (Basically, this will be by pointing them to the relevant section of the Basingstoke & Deane website).
- Cllr Wright stated that he was looking into the possibility of getting the Kit Lane byway repaired.
- Cllr Wright stated that BT have put in a reduced quote for installing fibre broadband into the village (he did not provide the new figures), that estimated speeds would be announced soon to those residents who had requested this information (EDITOR: Over four months ago!) and that investigations were proceeding regarding the possibility of setting up a "vehicle" whereby residents' contributions could be made tax efficient.
- The "Review of change from double Open Forum to one session only" Agenda Item was not discussed.
Thu March 12, 2015:
Ladies Club 2015/16 Programme
Following their AGM, the 2015/16 Programme of Events can now be found on the Ladies
Club page.
EDITOR: It was a stroke of genius to have come up with the idea of repeating
last year's highly successful Scarecrow Festival and having it coincide with the
Half Marathon on Saturday, October 3. Great publicity for the village.
Tue March 10, 2015:
"New Look" Parish Council Website
The contents (text, images, Minutes, Newsletters, etc.) of the original Parish Council
website, created by Paul Turner, have been ported to a new "skin". The layout and
look of the new Parish Council website is so different from the original that there
will now no longer be confusion between it and THIS Community Website.
EDITOR: The
theme of this WordPress site has a very clean, bright and uncluttered design. I like
that it's variable width and "responsive". It will allow the Parish Clerk to amend
and update content without having to deal with the complexities of the coding.
Well
done Charlie Hellewell, a great job.
Tue March 10, 2015:
Recruitment Poster for Ellisfield Bell Ringers
Notices have been put up on all Ellisfield notice boards stating that "An Ellisfield
tradition for over 100 years needs your support to survive".
It asks:
"Could you spare
some time to keep this village soundscape alive for future generations?"
To view the
notice, click on the above image. Further information and contact details can be
found on the Ellisfield Bellringers web page.
Mon March 2, 2015:
The Fox - Sue and Graham Dove's
Message to all their Customers
Message to all their Customers
“After 18 very happy months running The Fox, we have decided to retire. We have really
enjoyed our time in Ellisfield and have met and made friends with some truly lovely
people.
"It has been a great privilege to be part of this community but the time has come to hand over to perhaps some younger Tenants with more energy! Sadly the last of our popular Quiz Nights was held yesterday evening. However, we are hopeful that new Tenants will carry on this format.
"Currently there are two younger candidates who have shown interest in The Fox. Also, the Landlord has asked whether the Ellisfield community may wish to buy the Freehold as a community led venture, the price would be around £500k.
"We would like to thank all customers and friends for their most valued and loyal support. We are going to Malaysia on holiday for two months and then will be doing as little as possible!!! (On a serious note we both intend doing charity/voluntary work.)”
Mon March 2, 2015:
The Fox - Sue and Graham Dove to Relinquish their Tenancy
Sue and Graham Dove announced yesterday evening, during the Monthly Quiz Night, that
they will be leaving Ellisfield by the end of April (earlier if a new tenant is found
by the owners, Mentor Inns).
The Dove's took on the tenancy in July 2013 and brought
stability back to The Fox, after a number of "roller coaster" years.
Mon March 2, 2015:
Ellisfield Village Association (EVA) -
Email Regarding
Application
for Anaerobic Digester
Email Regarding
This email was sent out on Sunday urging Ellisfield residents to object by THURSDAY (March 5).
Many residents objected to the original planning application to increase lorry movements to/from the Anaerobic Digester in Bushywarren Lane. This application to increase daily permitted vehicle movements from 16 (8 in and 8 out) to 40 (20 in and 20 out) per day was refused.
Another (revised) application is coming before the County Council soon. The maximum
number of vehicle movements has been amended from 40 (20 in and 20 out) to 32 (16
in and 16 out). However, the maximum requested tonnage of deliveries has NOT been
altered (it's still 40,000 tonnes of food waste and 12,500 tonnes of crop feedstock).
Also,
they now want to widen Bushywarren Lane near the entrance to the plant.
EVA's email explains who to send objections to but THIS EMAIL TEMPLATE can also be
used (the text can be modified and/or added to -
Sun March 1, 2015:
"In The Fields" Article
The latest "In The Fields" article can be found HERE. This month, the article is
mainly about the "Gout Fly" and a little about "2015 -
Thu February 26, 2015:
New Notice Board Still Locked
T
he "shiny-
Tue February 17, 2015:
Axford Road Fingerpost (at College Lane junction) Restored!
.jpg "click on image to view a larger version ...")
It is really pleasing to see the fingerpost restored and back in place at the junction
of Axford Road and College Lane. Thanks go to Cllr David Richards for storing the
fingerpost safely in his garage prior to it being picked up by the Highways Department's
contractor who replaced the damaged pole and cleaned everything before reinstalling
it in its original position.
(Click on the above image to view a larger version.)
Mon February 16, 2015:
Message from PC Andrew Reid
Yesterday at 4:45 pm in Up Nately, a blue VW Golf SE 5 door saloon registration RV13
JYC was seen on a private driveway and made off at speed when spotted. The owner
is a convicted rural thief from Surrey who stole property from an Upton Grey farm
in 2013 and was sent to Prison.
He is an opportunist and will visit homes as well
as farms, please be vigilant as he has a good knowledge of all parts of our area.
Any sightings please call.
Andrew REID, Police Constable 3746
Rural Beat Officer
Police Office, Preston Candover
DD:
01256:389050
HQ: 101
Mobile: 07768 776844
andrew.reid@hampshire.pnn.police.uk
Fri February 6, 2015:
Memorial Hall £5,000 Bequest
Susie Deane reports:
"The Memorial Hall has received a generous bequest of £5,000
from the estate of Sally Adams. The committee is very grateful for her kindness and
will use the bequest in a way to reflect Sal's great contribution to and love of
Ellisfield."
EDITOR: For the interest of newcomers to the village, Sally (who died
last May) lived at her parents' house Wyckens, an original Ellisfield bungalow, now
redeveloped, on the corner of the Axford Road and College Lane.
Although she spent
time at her house in Clapham, Sally was always in Ellisfield as much as possible
and was one of the prominent residents of this village. If a village event did not
have Sally present, her absence was always felt and remarked upon!
Tue February 2, 2015:
Missing Cat Still Missing
Posters have been up in the village and flyers delivered to residents about a cat
which went missing from North Waltham and which was last sighted in Dummer in the
middle of November.
The owner says that the cat, which looks Persian but isn't, is
still missing. Unusually, It's chipped so if taken to a vet or the RSPCA then it
can be reunited with its family.
Their contact number is 01256 391363.
Thu January 29, 2015:
Tunworth Lurcher Found
Z
ani Robinson reports that the missing 12 month old Lurcher pup from Tunworth was
found by a postman and has since been returned to its owners. The dog is showing
signs of having been stolen and was either no use for coursing or most likely, as
she was a bit nervy, simply ran away when released from the thieves' vehicle.
GOOD
NEWS ...
Wed January 28, 2015:
Parish Council Meeting Highlights
After the Open Forum, all but 4 residents left the Hall. Highlights of the formal meeting (which recommenced at 9.05pm) are as follows:
- It was agreed to set the Parish Council precept (the total amount of money required for the running of the council) at £5,521, this being the same as the previous three years. Although the actual amount charged per property will depend upon its rateable value, it means that the average cost per Ellisfield household will be £46.40.
- There have been complaints that the Parish Council Website and the Ellisfield Community
Website look alike and that that has caused confusion.
EDITOR: Not surprising considering they were both created by me (Paul Turner) as one site and then separated by me when the Parish Council wanted total control of the entire website. It's now up to the Parish Council to get rid of my design and stamp its own identity on its own website. - Councillors decided to not discuss the planning application for The Old Manor until they had seen the plans. (However, documentation on the B&DBC website appears to show a consultation expiry date of January 23.)
- The new notice board (see NEWS Item dated January 24 below) in College Lane is locked, so residents cannot put up notices. Cllr Park Weir agreed to sort this out (and to correct the notice board's "lean" towards the road).
- A quote of £1,231 has been received for parts required to make Lower Common's swing totally compliant with the Safety Inspector's report. It was agreed to review what was needed to comply with anything deemed medium and higher risks.
- Cllr Richards recommended that the council purchase a mahogany seat from Avenue Nurseries for c£300. This is to replace the dilapidated seat in the Gravel Pits. A decision was not made.
- Cllr Richards has removed and stored the old Axford Road finger post which fell over (see NEWS Item dated January 22 below), awaiting a decision on its repair.
- Cllr Wright reported that the surface of Duck's Alley byway has been part repaired but that Kit Lane is still in a bad state.
- A decision to agree on all future 2015 meeting dates was deferred. (Not even the next meeting's date was agreed upon although it probably will be Monday, February 23.)
- It was stated that there is no long-
term strategy for the £10,000+ held in the council's Reserve Account.
- Councillors were asked to let the Chairman know if they intended to stand for re-
election on May 7.
The formal meeting closed at 10.20pm.
Tue January 27, 2015:
Parish Council Minutes For The
November 24, 2014 Meeting
The minutes for the above meeting were approved and signed last night.
To display
the Minutes PDF, click here.
Mon January 26, 2015:
Parish Council Meeting
This meeting, which went on until 10.20pm, was dominated by the Open Forum (more information below). In fact, the main council business didn't start until 9.05pm.
.jpg "click for larger version ...")
First thing to report is the appointment of the new Parish Clerk who is Mrs Christina
Veasey (the "s" is pronounced as a "z"). Mrs Veasey (see right -
.jpg "click for larger version ...")
Jacqui Matthews, retiring Parish Clerk, was thanked for her ten and a half years
service and presented with a shrub for her garden (see right -
The Open Forum, after some discussions about the planning application for the Anaerobic
Digester site (see NEWS item below) and problems with lorries delivering to the Viola
site, was -
After the Open Forum, all but 4 residents left the Hall. Highlights of the formal meeting can be found in the January 28 NEWS Item above.
Mon January 26, 2015:
Planning Application for an Increase in Vehicle Movements and
Waste Tonnage at the Anaerobic Digester site in Bushywarren Lane
UPDATE: Both Basingstoke Council and the Highways Department of Hampshire Council
Council have recommended that this Planning Application be refused. The history of
this application is as follows:
Herriard Bio Power Ltd, the operator of the Bushywarren
Lane Anaerobic Digester, filed a planning application with Hampshire County Council
for "amendment to condition 8 (vehicle movements) and condition 12 (annual throughput)
to planning permission BDB/76332".
This application was for a net increase of 23,000
tonnes of food waste (from 17,000 tonnes to 40,000 tonnes) and an increase in vehicle
movements from 16 per day to 40 a day (20 in and 20 out).
EDITOR: Quite a lot of Ellisfield
residents formally objected and this must have helped.
Zani Robinson has stated "Barfoots
are doing a re-
Mon January 26, 2015:
Lurcher Lost/Stolen from Tunworth
A grey brindle lurcher bitch who is 12 months old has been reported as missing from
the Tunworth area between 11.30am and 2.10pm yesterday (Sunday January 25th).
If
you have seen this dog or anyone acting suspiciously in Tunworth between these times
on this date, or have any information that you feel may be able to assist, please
call:
Constable Andrew REID
01256 389050 or 07768 776844
andrew.reid@hampshire.pnn.police.uk
Sun January 25, 2015:
Ellisfield's Postman Retires
Michael Leonard, our postman who went part-
His efficiency and good humour will
be missed by those of us living and/or working from home during the week.
Sat January 24, 2015:
New Notice Board in College Lane
A very "shiny-
This replaces the old metal one that was suffering badly from
damp. This new one looks as though it's been installed on the existing posts and
has a distinct "lean" towards the road, giving it an amusingly aggressive look!
It
is very grandly topped with engraved "Ellisfield Parish Council" lettering. Currently
unknown is its cost and whether or not that cost has been offset by a grant.
If VAT
was included in that sum, then that can be claimed back.
Thu January 22, 2015:
Axford Road Fingerpost (at College Lane junction) Collapsed!
Luckily, this fingerpost has fallen backwards and not into the road! The bottom of
the post has rusted through.
The parish council has been informed (Ellisfield Parish
Council took over formal responsibility for the maintenance of this fingerpost from
the Highways Department at least twelve years ago).
Fri January 16, 2015:
Ellisfield Volunteer Group's AGM
Another record broken!
EVG's well attended annual general meeting lasted just 18 minutes.
(Perhaps if the committee hid the wine and food during the meeting it might last
longer?)
As expected, the group voted to continue the maintenance of the Lower Common,
Burial Ground and Gravel Pit for another year. It was also decided to not increase
the charge made to the Parish Council for the work. The committee members remain
unchanged.
The revised 2015 Cutting Schedule can be found at the top of EVG's web
page.
Sat January 11, 2015:
"Fast" Broadband in Ellisfield
Hampshire County Council Update
from
Ellisfield Parish Council
Hampshire County Council has signed a contract with BT Openreach for the second stage
of their Superfast Broadband programme.
The northern section of Ellisfield (all houses
served by the cabinet at the top of College Lane) IS "included in the later stages
of this programme". However, the bottom half of the village (houses served by the
cabinet at Herriard) is NOT included.
For the full statement by Ellisfield Parish
Council, see the News item at the top of the Fast Broadband? Page.
EDITOR: It'll be
good to find out the timescale for the installation of fibre to the top of the village
and to hear what the parish council proposes for the rest of Ellisfield.
Thu January 8, 2015:
Basingstoke Hospital Crisis
As reported in the Basingstoke Gazette:
Staff at Basingstoke hospital are battling
to keep on top of a crisis situation as they face “unprecedented challenges”.
The
Emergency Department at the hospital has been flooded with record numbers of patients
over recent weeks, while beds are blocked by those who cannot be discharged from
hospital.
Some planned operations have had to be cancelled and there has been a huge
increase in patients waiting on trolleys after arriving by ambulance.
Wed January 7, 2015:
Parish Council Clerk - Announcement
Tim Guinness, chairman of the Ellisfield Parish Council, has announced the following:
“As reported in the September Newsletter Jacqui Matthews indicated she would like to step down by the end of 2014 after 10 years of unstinting effort on your behalf. We have since then been operating a process to identify a suitable successor.
"I am pleased to report that the process of advertising the vacancy has resulted in an excellent successor being identified.
"Currently a handover plan is being worked on and resolutions approving that and the appointment of the potential successor to Jacqui will be put to the Parish Council at the next Ellisfield Parish Council meeting on 26th January 2015.
"I have received some queries as to whether Jacqui Matthews is still today your clerk. I am pleased to report that Jacqui has agreed to continue in that capacity until her successor and the exact handover day is formally approved.“
Tim Guinness, Chairman.
Sun January 4, 2015:
"Fast" Broadband in Ellisfield
It is now exactly two months since the Parish Council emailed residents regarding
the "pledges" made (and required) to raise the money for fibre cable to be installed
in Ellisfield.
In the Q&A PDF document attached to that email it was stated that BT
had been asked to provide estimated speeds to the 12 households that had requested
this information.
Those 12 Ellisfield households are still waiting ...
Sun December 21, 2014:
The Fox
Message from Graham and Sue Dove
“We would like to wish all Customers, Guests and Friends a Very Happy Christmas and
Healthy and Happy New Year.
"Thanks to everyone for their continued support of this
little pub and it has been our pleasure to be part of this fabulous community.”
EDITOR:
Christmas and New Year opening times can be found on The Fox web page and in the
Events column opposite.
Sun December 21, 2014:
The Fox
The Fox has been granted a 5 star rating (the highest possible) from the Environmental Health Services, for cleanliness, hygiene and food safety standards.
Sat December 20, 2014:
Statement Following Meeting of Parish Councils in Herriard
to discuss Police Operational Changes
"The 'Chairs' of the 13 Parish Councils/Meetings within Upton Grey & Candovers Beat
met on Mon 15 Dec to consider several proposals and how they may be resourced; it
was agreed that more analysis was required and this will be carried out in the New
Year."
EDITOR: Oh, that's OK then ...
Sat December 20, 2014:
The 2015/16 Police Precept
Simon Hayes, Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire, is inviting members of the public across Hampshire and Isle of Wight to have their say on the level of council tax precept for the policing budget in 2015/16. The Commissioner is proposing a nominal increase of 1.99 percent. For an average Band D household, this equates to a rise of just £3.07 per annum (or 26p per month, or 6p per week) from £154.26 to £157.33. This increase would generate an additional £2 million for 2015/16, which is the cost of employing 43 police officers.
The increase proposed is within the 2% cap that has been placed on precept rises by central Government. To exceed this cap would require the conduct of a referendum, the costs of which would divert funding from front line policing, and this is not therefore something that the Commissioner is proposing. However, the Commissioner is still interested to hear from the people of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight as to whether, in principle, you would support an increase which was greater than the 2% cap, in the event that it were to be possible to invest all of this in front line policing. For example, if the precept was increased by 2.99%, the additional £1m generated would equate to around an additional 20 police officers. The Government cap on precept rises in recent years has left a significant shortfall in funding. With 33 percent of the total policing budget coming from the council tax precept, and with Government continuing to dramatically reduce police funding, the proposed increase will help to partially address that shortfall.
Mr Hayes comments: “With Hampshire Constabulary currently making significant changes
to the way it operates, to enable it to make £80m in savings, due to Government imposed
cuts that have already been imposed, it has never been more important to consult
with the public over the policing element of the council tax precept.
“HMIC (Her Majesty's
Inspectorate of Constabulary for England and Wales) recently announced that Hampshire
Constabulary remains a low cost, well performing force and I question whether the
Constabulary can-
"I
am inviting the residents of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to play their part in
this decision-
EDITOR: If you want to have your say, here is the link to the Commissioner's Survey.
Thu December 18, 2014:
Message from PC Andrew Reid
Dear Residents,
First may I wish you all a very Happy New Year.
In January, I will provide my usual
look at crimes that have been reported in your Parish during 2014 with comparable
figures for the years previous to that.
Having had a brief look, it appears that crime
generally rose during the year across the whole beat area, certainly we had several
reports of criminal damage to growing crops where 4x4 vehicles were driven over fields
as a result of an illegal ‘Hare Coursing’ competition which brought people down from
as far as Lincolnshire and Wales to take part for a very high prize money. The object
being to course hares with dogs, an act banned under The Hunting Act.
It has to be
said that 2014 was an interesting year concerning the local policing of your area
and I can see 2015 being similar. That said, I am aware of the hard work being undertaken
by your Parish Council to ensure a dedicated regular police presence in your area
and know they will keep you updated.
I am pleased to report that (up to the time of
writing) there have been no reported crimes in this area, however slightly further
afield I am appealing for any information concerning a unit broken into in Station
Road at Cliddesden between November 28 and 30. We suspect the thieves parked a vehicle
along Hackwood Lane between the junction of Station Road and towards the school.
If anyone has any information please do give me a call direct.
Once again many thanks
for your continued support and I wish you all a prosperous and safe 2015.
Andrew REID
Police Constable 3746
Rural Beat Officer
Police Office, Preston Candover
DD:
01256:389050
HQ: 101
Mobile: 07768 776844
andrew.reid@hampshire.pnn.police.uk
Mon December 15, 2014:
Basingstoke Police Proposed Operational Changes
A meeting is taking place this evening at Herriard of all the chairmen (or their representatives) of the Parish Councils within PC Andrew Reid's beat. They will be reviewing discussions which have taken place with David Pryde (Hampshire Assistant Chief Constable) and Inspector Simon Dodds (Basingstoke District Commander) since the public meeting on November 8.
Thu December 11, 2014:
Foodbank Donations
In today's Basingstoke Gazette, Jacqui Matthews announced that there are Foodbank
collection baskets at St Martin’s Church and at The Fox.
Please donate tinned and
dried goods, sauces, biscuits, toiletries, etc.
Thu December 4, 2014:
Parish Council Minutes for the Meeting held on October 6, 2014
The October 6 Meeting Minutes (which were approved at the November 24 meeting) have
now been published.
The next meeting of the council will be on January 26, 2015. The
parish council precept for 2015/16 will be decided upon during that meeting.
Mon December 1, 2014:
This Website's Second Birthday!
"My thanks to all the residents who contribute to making sure that the individual
sections are made interesting and informative."
Paul Turner, Editor.
Mon December 1, 2014:
"In The Fields" Article
The latest article from Seumas Foster, agronomist and Ellisfield resident, can be found HERE.
Thu November 27, 2014:
Basingstoke Borough Council News
Despite reduced government funding and rising costs, the council's draft budget proposes
a freeze of the 2015/16 council tax bill at the 2010/11 level, £104.44 for a band
D property.
For us in Ellisfield, the parish council's precept will need to be added
to that. If the parish precept remains as 2014/15, then it will cost a resident in
a band D property an additional £38.02 (we will not know if this is true until the
parish council next meets on January 26).
The draft Basingstoke & Deane Local Plan has been submitted to an independent planning
inspector.
This examination is the last stage of the process for producing a local
plan, which sets out the policies on what development will or will not be permitted
and where, including homes, business space and other facilities. A public enquiry
is likely to take place in the next three months, probably in early 2015.
Our borough
councillor, Mark Ruffell, is the Cabinet Member for Planning.
The work to improve the A30 / M3 Junction 6 Roundabout in order to reduce congestion for commuters, businesses and visitors, will run until June 2015.
Hampshire Constabulary is moving some officers and civilian staff across the road from Basingstoke Police Station to the Parklands building in the Civic Offices in London Road.
Although not strictly council related, they have announced that the new combined John Lewis At Home and Waitrose 6,800 square metre store is making good progress for a Christmas 2015 opening.
Mon November 24, 2014:
Parish Council Meeting
The "highlights" of the Open Forum were:
- There was lots of discussion about the planning application to more than double the
previously agreed vehicle movements at the Busheywarren Lane Anaerobic Digester.
(See the News Item dated November 5 below for more information.) - A resident asked why the Ellisfield households who had requested BT's estimation
of what broadband speed they might expect if cable was installed in new Ellisfield
cabinets had still heard nothing. There was also some discussion about why BT were
NOT going to install ADSL2+ which would increase broadband speed for those residents
not wishing to pay the £28 per month for services such as BT's Infinity.
(See the News Item dated October 25 below for more information.) - A resident complained about the access and the state of the kissing gates on the Pub to Church footpath.
- PC Andrew Reid sent his apologies for not attending the parish council meeting.
Unexpectedly, a decision was made to defer setting the 2015/16 precept until the
next meeting which will be held in two months time on January 26, just five days
before Basingstoke Council's cut-
There have been three applications for the post of Parish Clerk to take over from Jacqui Matthews who will be retiring at the end of December. All applications are from people who reside outside of the village. The parish council held a closed meeting to discuss these applicants.
Sat November 8, 2014:
Public Meeting with Hampshire's
Police & Crime Commissioner
Over 300 residents packed St Mary's Church in Herriard on Saturday morning to hear
about the proposed changes to rural policing due to come into effect next April.
All pews were full, people were standing shoulder to shoulder at the back of the
church, and even the main aisle was full with folding chairs and people standing!
The meeting's chairman, Jonathan Moseley (Candovers Parish Council), spoke briefly and was then followed by Simon Hayes, Hampshire's Police & Crime Commissioner.
.jpg "click to view larger image ...")
Mr Hayes (right) outlined the problems that have been caused by the savings that
have been forced on police forces nationally and how Hampshire was trying to continue
to provide satisfactory policing with a reduced number of police officers and support
staff.
.jpg "click to view larger image ...")
Chief Inspector Simon Dodds, the Basingstoke District Commander, (right) then explained
that although he currently has 32 neighbourhood police officers (21 town and 11 rural)
he's faced with having to reduce those numbers to only 14 town and 8 rural, hence
the proposed reorganisation.
.jpg "click to view larger image ...")
There then followed a very intensive Question and Answer session, with questions
and comments coming from local farmers, gamekeepers, an estate security employee,
a retired Chief Superintendent of the MET, a special constable from Alton, quite
a few residents, .jpg "click to view larger image ...")
Mark Ruffell (above left), Borough Councillor for Upton Grey & The
Candovers, and Onnalee Cubitt (right), Borough Councillor for Basing and a resident
of Up Nately.
.jpg "click to view larger image ...")
Simon Hayes, CI Simon Dodds and David Pryde (right), the Assistant Chief Constable
who is responsible for the strategic management of the force's three Areas and Call
Management, responded.
The meeting ended at 11.45am with Police & Crime Commissioner Hayes promising that if a "Local Working Party" is created he would be happy to meet them to discuss this matter further.
(Click on any of the images to view a larger version.)
EDITOR: For Ellisfield residents wondering what I was doing there scribbling away and taking photos: I had been asked in advance by the Meeting Chairman to document the meeting so that the various points raised could be discussed at a later time by parish representatives and local landowners.
Thu November 6, 2014:
Public Meeting with Hampshire's
Police & Crime Commissioner
on
Saturday, November 8 (10.00am)
NEW VENUE – St Mary’s Church, Herriard, RG25 2PL
(on the A339 opposite Herriard Saw Mills)
The police officers who will also be at this meeting are Assistant Chief Constable David Pryde and Chief Inspector Simon Dodds, Basingstoke & Deane District Commander.
The proposed agenda is now as follows:
10.00 Introduction by Meeting Chairman
10.05 Presentation by Simon Hayes, Hampshire Police & Crime Commissioner: "Rural
Strategy 2013-
10.20 Presentation by Assistant Chief Constable David Pryde: "County Operational Overview"
10.30 Presentation by Chief Inspector Dodds: "Operational Change Programme as it relates to Upton Grey & The Candovers"
10.40 Questions and Answers
Wed November 5, 2014
New Planning Application for an Increase in Vehicle Movements
and Waste Tonnage at the Anaerobic Digester site in Bushywarren Lane
Herriard Bio Power Ltd, the operator of the Bushywarren Lane Anaerobic Digester,
have filed a planning application with Hampshire County Council for "amendment to
condition 8 (vehicle movements) and condition 12 (annual throughput) to planning
permission BDB/76332".
This application is for a net increase of 23,000 tonnes of
food waste (from 17,000 tonnes to 40,000 tonnes) and an increase in vehicle movements
from 16 per day to 40 a day (20 in and 20 out).
The public consultation period expires
in just 24 days time (November 28).
Tue November 4, 2014:
"Fast" Broadband - Email and PDF
of Frequently Asked Questions
of Frequently Asked Questions
Ellisfield Parish Council has sent out an email announcing that 38% of Ellisfield households (ie, approximately 45 out of 120) have "pledged" the sum of £34,136 (ie, more than half of the quoted £66,329) towards a Community Funded installation of fibre in two existing underground ducts from the Herriard exchange to cabinets at the top of Church Lane and at the bottom of College Lane. The full email text can be found on the Fast Broadband? page.
A Q&A PDF document was attached to the email. Rather surprisingly (seeing as the whole project is about attaining faster broadband), it transpires that only 12 households have asked for a formal statement from BT as to what speed they would get if they were able to upgrade to fibre to cabinet broadband. BT have still not yet provided this information.
EDITOR: Interestingly, there is a statement in the Q&A document that says that "unused
underground cable ducting" running between Herriard and College Lane has "been discovered".
However, I believe (and I'm happy to be proved wrong) that this ducting actually
carries BT's 100 core copper cable which connects all the houses in the south of
Ellisfield to the Herriard exchange. If that's true, why were BT surprised to find
it?
See the October 25 News Item below for a few other questions not addressed in
the Q&A PDF document.
Sat November 1, 2014:
"In The Fields" Article
The latest article from Seumas Foster, agronomist and Ellisfield resident, can be found HERE.
Tue October 28, 2014:
Change to The Fox's Opening Times
The Fox will now be closed Tuesday lunchtimes, as well as all day Monday. All other times are as before.
Sun October 26, 2014:
Online Petition to Register Your
Concern about the Proposed Changes
To
Ellisfield's Rural Policing
Whether or not you can make the meeting at Herriard on November 8 (see News Item
dated October 22 below), you can now sign an online petition sponsored by Herriard
Parish Council.
This petition states:
"Mr Hayes.
"Please halt the planned reorganisation
of Rural policing in our area so that proper consultation with the communities affected
can be undertaken."
Sat October 25, 2014:
Ellisfield Broadband Fundraising
Team to Meet This Weekend
The Ellisfield Broadband Fundraising team (the names of the residents on this "Team" are unknown) are meeting this weekend. An email went out from the Parish Clerk saying that "if you haven’t yet but would like to make a pledge, perhaps I could ask you to reply to this email by Saturday evening".
EDITOR: If you have "pledged" money (or plan to or are thinking about it) without knowing what speed you're likely to attain when fibre is installed, then it's strongly advised that you email your phone number to Ellisfield Parish Council as requested (see October 13 News Item below).
Comments:
- Installation of fibre to the cabinet in Herriard (the one beside the Fur and Feathers pub) is still scheduled for next month and Herriard residents who are reasonably close to that cabinet should then be able to order "Fast Broadband" before Christmas. It will then be very interesting to find out what their real speeds are!
- If Herriard goes live with fibre in the next few months, why is it going to take BT another eight months to install two fibre cables into existing ducting? (BT stated at the October 6 meeting that "if a contact can be signed by the end of October then installation will be in August 2015".)
- Cllr Julian Wright is adamant that if fibre is installed in Ellisfield cabinets then
all of us with our current ADSL broadband connection contracts will NOT see any increase
in speed!
(It should be noted that BT's website shows their "regular" broadband offering as having speeds "up to 17Mbps". This is presumably ADSL2+ which Cllr Wright says will NOT be available to us.) - If that's so, residents must factor in the cost of upgrading their service to (say)
BT Infinity2 (also known as "superfast fibre") which has speeds of up to 78Mbps and
is £26 a month (ie, £312 per annum).
(As a maximum of 80Mbps was quoted at the October 6 meeting, one presumes that we'll need Infinity2.) - There are (apocryphal?) stories flying around about communities who could not raise the money for a "community funded" installation of fibre but who had it installed anyway.
- Does BT Openreach Field Engineers' online (intranet) documentation show that Ellisfield is already scheduled for an upgrade to fibre in the first half of next year?
- The government has promised that all communities will have "at least 2Mbps in the lifetime of this Parliament" (ie, by May 2015). How can this be accomplished in Ellisfield?
Questions, questions ...
Wed October 22, 2014:
Public Meeting with Hampshire's
Police & Crime Commissioner
on
Saturday, November 8 (10.00am)
Herriard Royal British Legion Hall
As previously publicised (see News Item dated October 12 below), Hampshire Constabulary
intends, with effect April 2015, to reorganise the coverage of all Basingstoke's
rural policing.
The 10 Parish Councils within our Upton Grey & The Candovers Beat
area have made direct representation to Simon Hayes, Hampshire Police & Crime Commissioner.
As a result he has agreed to attend a Public Meeting to hear the communities concerns.
He will be accompanied by a senior Police Officer, whose details are still to be
confirmed.
This is an opportunity to hear the rationale for the reorganisation and
make your feelings known.
Mon October 20, 2014:
Installation of Fibre Broadband at the Herriard Exchange
This is still scheduled for next month.
Mon October 13, 2014:
Email From Ellisfield Parish Council Regarding "Community Funded"
Installation of BT's Fibre to Cabinet Broadband
The email sent out by Ellisfield Parish Council explaining BT's quotation for installing
fibre to the existing College/Church Lane cabinet and for installing fibre to a new
cabinet at the bottom of College Lane has been converted to a PDF document (click
on link to display).
This PDF also contains, on the last page, the map showing distances
from each cabinet to Ellisfield properties (display the PDF in Full Page mode to
view the map's details).
Estimated speeds following installation of fibre to cabinet
range from 80Mbps (for properties close to a cabinet) down to little more than 10Mbps.
EDITOR:
It is therefore important that residents who are interested in what speed they may
attain email their phone number to Ellisfield Parish Council as requested.
Sun October 12, 2014:
Email From EVA (Ellisfield Village Association) Regarding Proposed
Changes To PC Andrew Reid's Duties
The email sent out by EVA explaining proposed changes to policing in our area has
been converted to a single page PDF document (click on link to display).
In summary,
if the proposals go ahead, PC Andrew Reid (see picture above) will no longer be officially
based locally (he will, however, retain his house in Preston Candover) but will be
required to work out of Tadley, covering 4 (four!) of the Basingstoke rural beats
instead of the current 1 (one). He will also lose his police car.
There is a plan
to recruit six rural PCSOs (Police Community Support Officers) but they will also
be based out of Tadley!
Have a read of EVA's email. They are asking that residents
write to both the Hampshire Police & Crime Commissioner and to the Chief Constable.
Sat October 11 2014:
Hack, Slash, Rake, Cut, Chop, Saw, Carry, Heave, Chuck and Barrow
...
All the above (and more) took place on Saturday morning at Hill Farm Pond.
The transformation
was remarkable. Thanks go to the following Ellisfield volunteers (in first name order):
Bernard Cazenove, Gary Evans, Glen Shaw, Graham Simpson, Michael Hosford-
Thanks also to Jane Popkin for the tea, coffee and biscuits and to Jane Evans for
the very welcome Jam Doughnuts!
(Click on picture of Rose carrying away saplings to
view a larger image.)
Wed October 8, 2014:
Parish Council Minutes for the
1st of September Meeting
Here are the Parish Council's Minutes for the meeting held on September 1.
Wed October 8, 2014:
The Parish Council Website, Created by Paul Turner, Has Now Been
Ported To The "ellisfield.gov.uk" Domain
Considering what was said after Monday evening's Parish Council meeting (see NEWS
item below), Paul Turner was somewhat surprised when Mrs Charlie Hellewell informed
him this afternoon that she had successfully ported the "ellisfield-
The website is exactly as handed to the Parish
Council by Paul Turner on July 16, except that it's been updated with the 1st of
September's Minutes.
As before, you'll find the Parish Council website displayed on
THIS website's Parish Council page.
Mon October 6, 2014:
Parish Council Website
This evening's Parish Council meeting did not follow the Meeting's published Agenda and a number of Agenda items were not discussed. One of them was Agenda Item 7.iii (Web Site).
So, after the meeting had closed, Paul Turner asked the council's Chairman when the
parish council's new "ellisfield.gov.uk" website was going live. The Chairman stated
that this was unknown. When asked how long he wanted Paul Turner to continue his
free hosting of the current "ellisfield-
Mon October 6, 2014:
BT's "Fast Broadband" Presentation
at the Parish Council Meeting
The village was well represented by many Ellisfield residents eager to hear more about BT's quotation of £66,329 (excluding VAT) for providing "Fibre to Cabinet" broadband to the whole of Ellisfield (excluding 4 houses on the extreme outskirts of the parish).
Currently, there are two BT cabinets in Ellisfield, one at the junction of College Lane and Church Lane (serving the top of the village) and one at The Fox (serving the rest of the village).
BT's quotation outlines two separate costs. The first is for installing fibre to a replacement College/Church Lane cabinet. The second is to provide fibre to a brand new cabinet at the bottom of College Lane.
After the BT presentation, the Parish Council confirmed that it would communicate with all residents (and local businesses) in regards to obtaining pledges sufficient for placing a "Community Funded Contract" with BT. If an order can then be placed with BT by the end of this month, BT have committed to having everything installed by next August.
(The Parish Council will also be talking to Hampshire County Council regarding a "per property grant" which would be used to reduce residents' contributions.)
Sat October 4, 2014:
Neighbourhood Watch News Item -
House Burglary Alert
House Burglary Alert
PC Reid: "Just to make you aware of two house burglaries not far from our area, one
North Waltham and the other not far away. Both happened as a result of a ground floor
window or door being left insecure and both between midnight and 5:30am.
"I ask all
residents to please make sure their homes and outbuildings are secured, especially
at night or when the residents are out. Sadly this may become part of a series, especially
having two in one night and within close proximity.
"The burglars may be local but
alternatively may be from Basingstoke or afar and out in the early hours just looking
to see who has left windows or doors open. Whoever they are they may well come to
visit us in due course.
"Please remain vigilant."
Thu October 2, 2014:
Ladies Club Coffee Morning
This event, held on Saturday morning, raised £610 for Macmillan Cancer Support. The
winner of the "Guess The Number Of 100s and 1000s On The Cake" was Jayne Nason and
the winner of "Spot the Double Shot" game was Jane Park-
EDITOR: Congratulations
to Celia Lunn and Pat Gould for organising this marvellous event, to Theresa Webb
and Tracey Gilvear for organising the games and raffle and to all the members of
the Ladies Club who made the cakes and helped out on the day.
Wed October 1, 2014:
"In The Fields" Article
The latest article from Seumas Foster, agronomist and Ellisfield resident, can be found HERE.
Tue September 30, 2014:
Parish Council - Meeting Agenda
Here is the Agenda for the Parish Council meeting next Monday evening (October 6).
Tue September 30, 2014:
Parish Council Email Regarding
Bringing Fast Broadband to Ellisfield
(BT
Quotation obtained by Parish Council to Install "Fibre To Cabinet" is circa £80,000
...)
EDITOR: I have highlighted in bold the items of most interest.
Also, please note that
the purpose of the working party proposed by the Parish Council is purely to "assist
with fund raising for the recommended village-
It is NOT about sharing knowledge or discussing alternatives
Cllr Wright informs
me that "we all need to act in a selfless manner in the best interests of the village
and that’s a pre-
For those Ellisfield residents not on the Parish Council email list, here is what was sent out yesterday evening:
"IF YOU:
- Are running your business affairs partly or wholly from home;
- Own a property which you are renting out;
- Want to regularly download films from the internet;
- Want to communicate with family and friends who live elsewhere using Skype;
- Want to see the value of your home increased!
.. THEN FAST BROADBAND WOULD BE OF CONSIDERABLE VALUE
"IT COULD BE ACHIEVED IN SHORT ORDER IF BT BRING “fibre to the cabinet” to the cabinet
at the College Lane/Church Lane junction and put a new cabinet at the Axford Road
end of College Lane. This would enable “superfast broadband” to be delivered by existing
copper wire to houses in the village. The resulting download speed would be dramatically
increased from the current 1.0/1.5 Mbps to 80 Mbps for those living near the new
cabinets (speed will be less for those further away). In the longer-
"Right now the EPC, thanks to Julian Wright’s considerable efforts, has obtained a design and quotation from BT Openreach to do this. The sum is quite large but we want to explore the possibility of obtaining the funds in part from residents; in part from Hampshire County Council and in part from businesses in the parish. At this stage we are anxious to ascertain the appetite among villagers for putting their hands in their pockets to support the project. The total project cost is c£80,000. For example if 25 owner occupier households (no business) were willing to contribute £500 each; If 15 owner occupiers running part/all of their business from home contributed £750 each and the owners of rental properties (approx 8) another £750 each that would raise £29,000 in total or 36% of it which might be enough to persuade Hampshire to grant us £300 per house – say £36,000 or £65,000 in total and we are a reasonable way to the total. Whether this would be possible depends on the interest within Ellisfield in trying to do this collectively.
"Whether BT Openreach would offer a discount for a period to reward those who participate is naturally another area we want to explore; as is the possibility of a discount being negotiable on the cabinet project cost if enough people sign up.
"Monday’s EPC meeting offers an opportunity for villagers to let us know their feelings and hear more from BT about their perspective. In addition if you cannot come but might be prepared to participate, it would be terrific if you could let Jacqui know that. If you would be prepared to be part of a working party to try and make it happen that would be really good to know too."
Sat September 27, 2014:
Residents' Meeting at Hill Farm Pond
There was a meeting, organised by Cllr Caroline Cazenove, on Saturday afternoon at
Hill Farm Pond for all interested Ellisfield residents to discuss what can be done
to improve this village amenity.
An action plan was agreed upon and a date fixed for
a working party of volunteers to cut and clear away saplings, fallen branches, etc.
This
working party (see Event opposite) will be on Saturday, October 11, starting at 9.30am
and finishing around 12.30pm.
Depending upon how well it goes, there may be another
working party organised for late October.
Fri September 19, 2014:
Scottish Independence Referendum
Article 1 of the Acts of Union:
"That the two Kingdoms of Scotland and England shall
upon the first day of May, 1707, and for ever after, be united into One Kingdom by
the name of Great Britain; And that the Ensigns Armorial of the said United Kingdom
be such as Her Majesty shall appoint and the Crosses of St Andrew and St George be
conjoined in such manner as Her Majesty shall think fit and used in all Flags Banners
Standards and Ensigns both at Sea and Land."
Still united, under one flag!
Mon September 8, 2014:
2014 Scarecrow Festival Slideshow
This has now been taken off this website's HOME page but can still be viewed at the top of the Ladies Club page.
Mon September 8, 2014:
Parish Council Minutes
The minutes of the Parish Council's meeting on June 30, 2014 have just been published.
Mon September 8, 2014:
Parish Council Newsletter
The parish council released its September 2014 Newsletter this morning. There are
three items:
The first is the Parish Clerk's job description and a request for interested
parties to contact the parish council chairman.
The second is an announcement that
BT will attend the next Parish Council meeting on October 6 to "present their solution
for Superfast Broadband for Ellisfield" and a request for volunteers to "help organise
and drive the fundraising process over the coming weeks" (although there is no mention
of what funding is required).
Lastly, there is a request for a resident to take on
the responsibility of Neighbourhood Watch Co-
Sun September 7, 2014:
Neighbourhood Watch News Item -
Car Theft in Herriard
Car Theft in Herriard
PC Reid: I would like to make everyone aware that a garage in Back Lane, Herriard
was broken into overnight and a black VW 'Fox' hatchback car (registration RF59 URD)
was stolen. Also taken were two petrol hedge cutters and an old metal green Jerry
can.
It is believed that this crime took place after 4.00am this morning (Sunday).
If
anyone can assist or spots this vehicle please do let us know as soon as possible.
EDITOR:
PC Andrew Reid's direct line is 01256 389050 and his mobile number is 07768 776844.
His email address is:
andrew.reid@hampshire.pnn.police.uk
Mon September 1, 2014:
Ellisfield's Parish Clerk Resigns
It has been announced that Jacqui Matthews has handed in her resignation letter to
the parish council's chairman, Cllr Tim Guinness.
Jacqui has told the council that
she will stay until the end of the year, giving the council a more than reasonable
four months to look for her replacement.
Mon September 1, 2014:
New Parish Council Website
It's been confirmed that the contract for a new parish council website will go to
E-
In the meantime, Ellisfield resident Paul Turner
continues (stupidly?) to host the council's current website (the source code of which
was handed over to the parish council on July 16) free of charge.
(Background information
can be found on the Website News page).
Mon September 1, 2014:
Changes to Policing in Ellisfield
Changes driven primarily by Hampshire Constabulary budget cuts (£25 million over
the next two years) means that from April 1st -
It is understood (and this
needs to be confirmed!) that there will be only TWO police constables covering Basingstoke's
rural parishes and when off duty they will NOT be contactable ...
PC Andrew Reid is,
everyone must agree, a superb "local bobby" and is very much part of our community.
Although he currently covers 22 parishes (78 square miles) south of the M3/A30, just
about everyone knows, respects and trusts him. It is hoped that he retains his position
as a rural policeman, a job that he has more than proved himself to excel at.
Sun August 31, 2014:
"In The Fields" Article
The latest article from Seumas Foster, agronomist and Ellisfield resident, can be found HERE.
Sat August 30, 2014:
Feedback Reports following the TAG
Farnborough Airspace Consultation
Two versions of their "Part A" report (in PDF format) have just been released. Both
provide an analysis of the numbers and types of responses to the proposed expansion
of controlled airspace.
The first report is an Overview Summary (500Kb) and the other
is a more detailed Full Version (4.8Mb).
2,669 "stakeholders" responded with 13,177
comments. 711 documents were submitted.
EDITOR: 99% of responses to the specific areas
of concern (such as Safety, Environment, etc.) were negative!
Sun August 24, 2014:
Ellisfield Scarecrow Festival
Slideshow of all Scarecrows
The slideshow is on your right. It'll stay there for a week or two and then it'll
be moved to the Ladies Club page.
EDITOR: Congratulations to all who created such
wonderful scarecrows and a big thank you to Theresa for organising this superb event.
Sat August 23, 2014:
Ellisfield Scarecrow Festival
Winner and Runners Up
At 5.00pm, residents gathered on Lower Common to hear the result of the judging performed
by PC Andrew Reid and the Rev. David Chattell. Theresa Webb (below) made the announcement
(because of PC Reid's work commitment
s):
The overall winners were Paul and April Brown of 1 Widmoor Cottages. This is their
scarecrow:
The runners up were Amanda Lunn & Sharon Rudd of Freeman's Cottage and Richard & Dee Haas of The Walled Garden.
Tue August 5, 2014:
Horticultural Society's Summer
Show Results
The winners list of all the Trophies and Cups awarded at Saturday's Summer Show has
been added to the Horticultural Society's website page.
Congratulations to Ellisfield's
Cooke family, with mother Claire Cooke (née Gould) winning two classes (Best Rose
and Best Flower Exhibit) and daughter Genna winning the Children's Challenge Cup
(Best Children's Exhibit -
Also congratulations to Oliver, son of Andy and
Theresa (née Lunn) Webb, for winning the Elsie Prince Challenge Cup (Best Children's
Exhibit -
Mon August 4, 2014:
100 Years Ago,
Britain Declared a State
of War with Germany
Following Germany's invasion of Belgium, at 11.00pm on August 4, 1914, Britain declared
a state of war with Germany.
UPDATE (Aug 18): Ellisfield's remembrance plaque, which
was displayed on this website's Home page for two weeks, can still be viewed on the
Memorial Village Hall page.
Tue July 29, 2014:
Sunday's Village Barbecue
Report by Susie Deane:
The weather was perfect and it was a happy occasion, 88 people
came! Phil Self co-
The butterfly leg of lamb seems to have been
the most popular item from the barbecue. It was blisteringly hot by the barbecue
but the cooking team were very good humoured. Meg Freeman and Tracey Gilvear were
sterling workers in the kitchen. Joanne Thomas organised a brilliant raffle which
raised £219.
Graham Simpson arrived late (after a bicycle race) and propped his fine
red racing bike rather too near the table of raffle prizes ... so the first prize
drawn from the tombola drum was A Red Racing Bike -
Tue July 29, 2014:
Saturday's Croquet and Tennis
Competition
Report by Bernard Cazenove:
Ted Dowson was the master of ceremonies at Brocas, organising
and instructing the individual croquet competitors, and Tim Guinness got together
a good group of mixed doubles players for the tennis.
Tea, excellent and high quality
cakes, provided by members of the District Church Council (DCC), were available at
Brocas, together with soft drinks and, for a donation, glasses of Pimms. The latter
was consumed in quantity as the weather heated up as the rounds of croquet were completed.
A very good number of members of the village came, either for refreshments or to
play. The swimming pool at Brocas was well used, mainly by the younger visitors.
The
winner of the croquet was Michael Courage who had won the trophy a number of years
before. Mark Duncan came a close second. The fine trophy (made by John Hamilton,
our Rector for five years up to 1999) of a miniature croquet ball, hoop and mallet,
was presented by Stephen Mourant, the assistant Rector of the Parish.
The tennis competitors
then descended on Brocas and there was a hard fought final between Phil & Sue Self
and Stephen & Mini Loftus. It was the Loftus pair that emerged as the winners and
they were presented with a bottle of champagne by Tim Guinness.
It was an enjoyable
afternoon, blessed with occasional sunshine and a gentle breeze. £200 was raised,
with half being donated to St Martin’s and half to the Memorial Hall.
Tue July 29, 2014:
Saturday's Memorial Service for
Sally Adams
Report by Susie Deane:
Sally's service was well attended, a full church.
John Hamilton
gave a thoughtful address, describing Sal's many interests and her lifelong curiosity
(My Father's House has many rooms -
Ted Dowson spoke of Sal being Madame Palmolive at the Christmas
Fair, her contributions to the community and the privilege of being her friend. Roger
Graham spoke about Sal producing the booklet There'll Always Be An Ellisfield and
Shirley Maunder spoke of their great friendship and shared love of music and also
how Shirley acted the part of an awkward, rude person to be interviewed by Sal's
journalism students.
Poignantly, Sal's great friend David Goddard who came down from
London for the service and stayed at Mapledurwell on Saturday night, died in his
sleep. They had known each other for 50 years ...
Wed July 16, 2014:
Parish Council Website Files handed
over to the Parish Council today
Now that the Minutes of the two May 12 Parish Council meetings have been received
and the Parish Council website updated, Paul Turner has handed over to the Parish
Council their website's source file and all associated folders (PDFs, images, etc.).
The
current website does not now need to be updated until the September 1 Agenda is published.
It
is presumed that the Parish Council will, at some stage, republish the website using
their original ellisfield.gov.uk domain.
In the meantime, Paul Turner has agreed to
continue to provide free hosting of their current website (which will also be available
to view via this website's Parish Council page). Apart from this, he has now ceased
his involvement with their website.
Wed July 16, 2014:
Parish Council Minutes for the Two Meetings held on May 12, 2014
These minutes, which were signed off two weeks ago at the June 30 meeting, are now available to view HERE.
Tue July 15, 2014:
Woodmancott Solar Farm Refusal
Here is B&DBC's detailed refusal letter.
Their reasons might be very useful to note
if another planning application rears its head!
Tue July 15, 2014:
Vintage Tea Party at Tanglewood
Suzanne Light reports that 60 guests attended the Tea Party yesterday afternoon and £602 was raised for Naomi House, the children's hospice in Sutton Scotney, near Winchester.
Friday July 11, 2014:
Review of Ladies Club Appearance
at the "Festival of Choirs"
Celia Lunn has written up a review of the Belles of St Martin's appearance at the
Anvil last Sunday evening. This can be found on the Ladies Club page.
Celia also sent
in a photo of the "Belles" and it's so good it's been reproduced below (click on
picture to see a larger version.jpg "Belles of St Martins, Ellisfield. (Click to see larger image ...)")
).
Sun July 6, 2014:
Parish Council Website's Hosting Reinstated This Morning
For the last five weeks, the Ellisfield Parish Council website has been unavailable
to view (either directly or via the Parish Council page on this website) because
its hosting account had been automatically suspended.
This situation could not continue
and so the free hosting has been reinstated. The parish council has been informed.
For
further information, see the latest News item on the Website News page.
Mon June 30, 2014:
Presentation by BELECTRIC Solar Ltd
at Parish Council Open Forum
Seven Ellisfield residents (and one Herriard resident) were in the audience when Raoul Tufney gave a presentation of BELECTRIC's plans for the construction of a 19 megawatt solar "farm" at Manor Farm, Farleigh Wallop. The highlights were:
- BELECTRIC is a large company, with 23 offices worldwide and over 2,000 employees. Their own people (not contractors) will handle the construction, operation and maintenance of the site.
- They are hoping to apply to B&DBC for planning permission this coming August.
- The construction period (IF they get planning permission, of course) will be 16 to 20 weeks with an average of 10 or 11 deliveries a day.
- The actual panels will be from a U.S. company, First Solar. The panels are 95% recyclable, suited to overcast conditions, frameless and 40% smaller that the typical panel currently installed in the U.K.
- They are proposing the issue of Solar Energy Bonds to local residents. The minimum investment would be £60 and the bonds will be backed by the asset value of the site (which will be approximately £18 million). The annual return is expected to be around 7% per annum for the first 5 years, at the end of which they can be sold or held for the remaining 20 years (with a lower return of around 5%) that the site will exist.
There followed a Q&A session with questions ranging from screening, noise, delivery route for construction vehicles, assurances that the site will revert to agricultural use after 25 years, etc., etc.
The meeting's Open Forum ended at 9.00pm at which time all those in the audience left and the normal business of the Parish Council continued.
EDITOR: To provide an idea of what the panels will look like, the image below is
of an installation that BELECTRIC constructed in the North Cotswolds. This site produces
3.8 megawatts so the proposed number of panels in Farleigh Wallop will be 5 times
larger. (The actual site is 23 acres, compared to the 128 acres at Farleigh
.)
Fri June 27, 2014:
Parish Council Website's Hosting Suspended since June 1, 2014
It is now four weeks that the Ellisfield Parish Council website has been unavailable to view (either directly or via the Parish Council page on this website).
For further information, see the latest News item on the Website News page.
UPDATE (Fri July 4, 2014): With the Parish Council website still being unavailable to view, Councillor and Clerk Details have been added to THIS website's Parish Council page.
Thu June 26, 2014:
Ellisfield Listed Properties for Sale
Two of the eight Grade II listed houses in Ellisfield have just come up for sale.
The
very attractive 8-
The other property for sale is the pretty 137sqm
Thatched Cottage in Ellisfield Green. For a more modest £525,000 this 4-
Thu June 26, 2014:
Woodmancott Wind "Farm" Proposal Turned Down!
After a 4 hour session last night, Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council's planning committee turned down this planning application for 6 massive 130 metre wind turbines at Woodmancott Common.
Wed June 25, 2014:
Horticultural Society's 3 Villages
Garden Competition Results
The winners of this competition are as follows:
Combined Vegetable & Flower Garden
Julia & Steve Ayscough of Farleigh Wallop
Flower
Garden
Janette Palmer of Cliddesden
Vegetable Garden
Dan Cleeve of Ellisfield
Garden
Feature
Hilda & Andy Small of Cliddesden
Pots & Baskets
Debbie & Seumas Foster of
Ellisfield
Mon June 23, 2014:
UPDATE: Woodmancott Wind "Farm"
The B&DBC Case Officer has issued her report and recommended to the Planning Committee
that the application be REFUSED.
This planning application will be discussed and decided
upon by the Planning Committee this Wednesday (June 25).
Tue June 17, 2014:
Spaniel
UPDATE: The spaniel which had been "on the loose" has now returned back to its owner (Mick Frankham of The Patches, Green Lane).
Mon June 16, 2014:
Bullington Cross Wind "Farm" Proposal Turned Down!
The planning officers at all three councils (Winchester, Basingstoke and Test Valley) had recommended refusal. This evening (6.50pm) at Winchester Guildhall the elected councillors on the planning committees agreed with their officers and turned down the planning application.
Mon June 16, 2014:
Magda Brownrigg
More sad news ...
Magda Brownrigg of Church Cottage, Church Lane has died.
Her funeral
will be at 1.30pm next Monday (June 23).
Thu June 12, 2014:
Woodmancott Wind Farm Update
Hannah Houstin-
UPDATE (Tue June 17): As the Bullington Cross proposal
has now been rejected, that may provide hope for all those (including many Ellisfield
residents) who have objected to this wind farm being built.
Tue June 10, 2014:
Bullington Cross Wind Farm Update
The planning officers at all three councils (Winchester, Basingstoke and Test Valley)
have recommended refusal. However, the final decision will be made by the elected
councillors on the planning committees. The planning hearing will be on Monday, June
16 from 10.00am at the Guildhall, Winchester.
UPDATE (Mon June 17): This evening (6.50pm)
at Winchester Guildhall the elected councillors on the planning committees agreed
with their officers and turned down the planning application.
Thu June 5, 2014:
Memorial Service for Sally Adams
.jpg "Sally, looking very quizzical (click to view larger image ...)")
Sally's memorial service at St Martin's Church, and interment of her ashes in her
parent's grave in Ellisfield's Burial Ground, will be on Saturday, July 26 at 11.00am.
Mon June 2, 2014:
Peter Chilton
It was sad to hear of the death last Thursday of Peter Chilton, Churchwarden of Ellisfield's
St Martin's Church. The funeral (at St Martin's) will be this coming Friday (June
6) at 2pm.
UPDATE (Fri, June 6):
Donations to:
St. Martin’s Church. Please make cheques
payable to FARLEIGH PCC (and mentioning that it's a donation in Memory of Peter Chilton)
and send to:
Farleigh PCC Treasurer,
4 Railway Cottages, Station Road,
Cliddesden RG25
2NL
Mon May 26, 2014:
European Election Results for the
South East Region
At 12.45am, the results of our region finally came in. The votes (of the parties that gained seats) were as follows:
751,439 -
723,571 -
342,775 -
211,706
-
187,876 -
Under the proportional system, the 10 elected MEPs are now as follows:
4 -
Diane James and Ray Finch)
3 -
and Richard Ashworth)
1 -
1 -
1
-
UKIP gained two MEPS, the Conservatives lost one and the Liberal Democrats also lost one.
Nationwide, only 34.19% of registered voters actually voted! Is it apathy, an unawareness
of the EU issues, an assumption that democracy and freedom no longer need to be fought
for? When people in some countries are risking their lives to vote, a 34.19% turnout
in the UK (just over half the 65% turnout for the 2010 General Election) is shameful.
Would
having compulsory voting (Luxemburg and Belgium had 90% turnouts), weekend voting
(making it easier for working people to get to the polls) and being able to vote
for "None of the Above" (to separate protest votes from ballot papers spoilt by accident
or ignorance) make any difference? Discuss...
Sat May 24, 2014:
"In The Fields" Article
The latest article from Seumas Foster, agronomist and Ellisfield resident, can be found HERE.
Thu May 22, 2014:
Parish Council Minutes for the Meeting held on March 24, 2014
These minutes are available to view HERE.
Mon May 19, 2014:
Parish Council Newsletter
Here is a PDF of the latest Parish Council Newsletter.
Sat May 17, 2014:
Latest Neighbourhood Watch Report
Hannah Houstin-
Wed May 14, 2014:
Woodland Trust Campaign
"Save our Ancient Woodlands"
Hannah Houstin-
Tue May 13, 2014:
Sally Adams - UPDATE
.jpg "Sally, looking very quizzical (click to view larger image ...)")
Sally's cremation will be held at Putney Vale Crematorium on Thursday, May 22 at
11.40am.
The date of the memorial service and interment in the Ellisfield Burial Ground
has not yet been finalised.
If you missed the original News item on Friday the 9th,
it is HERE.
NEW UPDATE (May 24): The memories of Sally as expressed by Edna Chilton,
Susie Deane and Shirley Maunder in the latest issue of Hill & Dale were so moving
that a PDF copy was produced and sent to Sally's friends in London.
Tue May 13, 2014:
Grammarsham Lane closed this Sunday and Monday (May 18/19)?
So far, the road has been open with traffic control.
Mon May 12, 2014:
Parish Council Vote Unanimously to
Cancel the Residents' Open Forum
held
at the End of every Meeting
At Monday evening's Parish Council meeting, ALL councillors voted to stop having
the Open Forum that, for at least the last twelve years, has been held at the end
of each meeting.
In the first Open Forum, resident Paul Turner (editor of this Community
Website) stated that the second Open Forum was the only opportunity for residents
to ask for confirmation of what was discussed and decided upon in the meeting's Closed
Session (during which residents CANNOT speak), whilst all councillors are still present.
He
went on to say that the alternative, of writing to the parish council with comments
and questions, would take up far more time, for both the resident and for the clerk
who would have to respond.
When asked if the parish council had analysed how many
comments and questions had actually been asked in the second Open Forum, the reply
was NO. Paul Turner then provided the parish council with an analysis (available
HERE) which showed that, for the last 22 meetings, there was an average of one comment
and one question per meeting. For the last 8 meetings, the average number of comments
doubled to two and the number of questions remained at one.
Paul Turner then pointed
out that the typical time spent in the second Open Forum was two or three minutes,
not much compared to the average parish council meeting taking just over two and
a half hours on average!
When the council then formally discussed this matter in session,
the chairman (Tim Guinness) stated that there had been email correspondence between
him and Paul Turner about the second Open Forum. He then proceeded to read out aloud
everything that he had said in HIS email but neglected to mention ANY of Paul Turner's
responses (which included the statement that it was a Residents' Open Forum and that
surely the matter should be discussed at the Resident's Annual Parish Meeting on
May 23 for residents to vote on it by a show of hands).
All councillors then voted
and the vote was unanimous, there would no longer be a second Open Forum.
It's ironic that the councillors discussed how they could encourage more residents to attend meetings, whilst at the same time taking away the only method for residents to provide feedback on a meeting that they'd just spent the previous two and a half hours sitting through!
Fri May 9, 2014:
Sally Adams
There will be many in the village who will be saddened to hear of the death last Friday of Sally Adams who (mentioned only for the interest of newcomers to the village) lived at her parents' house Wyckens, an original Ellisfield bungalow, now redeveloped, on the corner of the Axford Road and College Lane. Although she spent time at her house in Clapham, Sally was always in Ellisfield as much as possible and was one of the prominent residents of this village. If a village event did not have Sally present, her absence was always felt and remarked upon!
For many years Sally wrote the Ellisfield entry in the Gazette's community news,
a task that came very easily to her as journalism was her profession and indeed she
taught hundreds of "would be hacks" in London. (EDITOR: In the picture above, it
looks as though Sally is saying "what's that idiot saying about me?". Click the image
to see a larger version.)
Sally is being cremated in London but her remains are going to be interred in her parents' grave in the Burial Ground. The date and time has not been decided yet but will be publicised here as soon as it's known.
Edna Chilton will be doing a piece about Sally in the June edition of Hill & Dale and has requested that residents contact her (by Wednesday the 14th please) with any details of Sally's life that they'd like to share.
Fri May 2, 2014:
Neighbourhood Watch News Item -
Property Register Scheme
Property Register Scheme
PC Reid would like to raise awareness and encourage residents to consider using IMMOBILISE,
the Nationwide Property Register scheme, at www.immobilise.com.
Residents can register
their valuables for FREE and then the Police can check the register from anywhere
in the UK if they impound items they think might have been stolen.
Why not consider
registering your mobile phone, bicycle, computer, camera and any other valuables?
Wed April 29, 2014:
Farnborough Airport's Proposed Enlargement of Air Space to Affect
Ellisfield - Consultation Closing Date
extended by 10 Days (now May 12)
extended by 10 Days (now May 12)
The ability to send in feedback regarding the proposed enlargement to Farnborough Airport's air space (an air corridor which would be TWICE the size of Gatwick's which deals with over 34 million passengers each year!) has been extended to May 12.
As mentioned in the March 24 News item outlining the Parish Council meeting that
evening, TAG Farnborough Airport wish to extend their incoming and departure airspace
in order to handle a doubling of aircraft movements (from 23,000 per year to 50,000
per year).
If this is allowed to go ahead, all other aircraft would be squeezed to
the side or beneath this new air corridor, which would affect Ellisfield. The primary
impact would be noise, either from airborne traffic in general or the noise from
the Lasham tugs unable to operate east of the Golden Pot and therefore biasing all
aero-
In addition,
due to the pinch points which would be created in the new airspace regime, it is
felt that there could be an increased risk of collisions.
UPDATE (May 13): The consultation period has now closed.
Mon April 28, 2014:
May 22 European Parliament Election
Parties and Candidates for
the UK's
South East Region (10 MEPs)
A list of the Parties and Candidates for the South East Region has now been published.
For
those interested in knowing how the votes are subsequently split after you've put
your ONE cross against your chosen party, HERE is an explanation (happy reading!)
(Currently,
the political split is as follows: 5 Conservative, 2 Liberal, 1 Labour, 1 UKIP and
1 Green.)
EDITOR: The outcome of this particular European Parliament Election may
be quite interesting! As soon as the South East area results are available (late
on Sunday, May 25 because other EU countries vote over the weekend!), they'll be
posted in the News column.
Thu April 24, 2014:
Notification of proposed Solar Farm
at Manor Farm, Farleigh Wallop
First reported on August 10, 2013 in this News column, Belectric Solar Ltd have now
begun developing plans for a solar "farm" on land at Manor Farm, Farleigh Lane, Farleigh
Wallop, RG25 2HR. The scheme is likely to consist of an up to 19MW solar "farm" on
a 52 hectare (128 acre) site at Manor Farm in Farleigh Wallop (click on map below
to see a larger image -.jpg "click to view larger image ...")
4.
Belectric Solar Ltd have written to Ellisfield Parish Council offering to attend the next parish council meeting. In the meantime, Ellisfield residents may wish to go to an open Public Consultation Event being held in the Hatch Warren Community Centre (Youth Wing), Longcross Lane, Hatch Warren, RG22 4XF next Wednesday (April 30) between 3.00pm and 8.00pm to learn more about this proposal.
Wed April 23, 2014:
St George's Day
Sat April 19, 2014:
Farnborough Airport's Proposed
Enlargement of Air Space to Affect Ellisfield
Following on from their meeting on March 24, the Parish Council has today released a letter sent to them on March 10 from the Lasham Gliding Society. It can be viewed HERE.
The letter outlines the proposed enlargement to Farnborough Airport's air space and highlights that Ellisfield will most probably be affected if these changes are made.
There are now only 13 days left to send in feedback before the consultation ends on May 2. More details can be found on the Farnborough Airport's website and feedback on the area relevant to Ellisfield (Part B) can be entered HERE.
Fri April 4, 2014:
Maria Miller, Basingstoke MP
EDITOR: I know that we were thrown out of the Basingstoke constituency, but here
is an article about Mrs Miller's appearance in the Commons yesterday.
The first three
paragraphs are very funny, the rest are not.
Fri April 4, 2014:
Stocks on Lower Common?
EDITOR: Following on from the March 30 News item, Andy Trotter has informed me that
Bentworth already have stocks (Wikipedia tells me that, strictly speaking, it's a
"pillory") installed on their Village Green! (Click on the picture to view larger
imag.jpg "... click to view larger image")
e.)
Thu April 3, 2014:
Basingstoke to Alton and Alresford
Cycle Route through Ellisfield
A description of this route together with a link to Hampshire County Council's route
booklet have been added to the Local Information page.
Tue April 1, 2014:
"In The Fields" Article
The latest In the Fields ... article can be found HERE.
This month there is a Guest
Report by Ben Licence entitled "From Farleigh Wallop fields to the Great Plains of
America".
Mon March 31, 2014:
Parish Council Minutes for the Meeting held on February 3, 2014
These minutes are available to view HERE.
Sun March 30, 2014:
"Your Majesty, please grant us a new Magna Carta" (Telegraph Article)
EDITOR: This article, by David Thomas (a journalist at The Telegraph), is so interesting
that I thought I'd share it.
I wonder if we could get a grant to purchase and install
stocks on Lower Common? Perhaps we could ask the Parish Council to discuss this at
their next meeting ...
Sat March 29, 2014:
Civil War Soldiers seen in Ellisfield!
On this day, 370 years ago in 1644, the Battle of Cheriton was an important Parliamentarian
victory in the English Civil War. It resulted in the defeat of a Royalist army, which
threw King Charles I onto the defensive for the remainder of the year.
Just before
mid-
They will be arriving at Cheriton to coincide with the
start of the Memorial service on Sunday at 2.15pm and will be joined by members of
the British Legion for the final approach to the Memorial Site. At 3.15pm there will
be a reenactment skirmish.jpg "click to view larger image ...")
.
(Click on a picture to view a larger image.)
Thu March 27, 2014:
The Fallen Tree in Church Lane which brought down a Telephone
Pole
Most residents who had been without their landline and broadband for at least a month
(and some for longer) have had their service restored.
Engineers were able to swop
around wires which had (presumably) been damaged when a tree in Church Lane came
down, pulling a telephone pole over and trapping the telephone cable (see picture
below).
There is some confusion as to who will remove this tree. Obviously, one presumes
that BT's Open Reach will want to restore its pole and cable but will they clear
the tree as well?
The exposed roots (right) are almost encroaching the highway, but
if the County Council clears just the root, that leaves the trunk and branches.
This
matter was discussed at Monday's parish council meeting (see March 24 News item below).
However, it's unknown whether anyone is coordinating a solution.
Thu March 27, 2014:
AGM of the Village Association (EVA)
Wednesday evening's AGM of the Ellisfield Village Association (EVA) went well, with
all the formalities being tackled at a decent speed!
Dee Haas was re-
In her report, Dee (see
right) proposed investigating the possibility of opening up the old Basingstoke to
Alton railway line as a bridleway and cycle path. She also suggested that EVA conduct
a survey of village trees lost in the recent storms with the aim of replanting where
possible.
Under "Any Other Business" there was a suggestion by Nicky Palmer that residents
still displaying Waste Not Wanted signs be asked to take them down as that campaign
had finished, with EVA now taking on a consultative role with the operator of the
Anaerobic Digester plant.
Wed March 5, 2014:
Telephone Scam Call to an Ellisfield Resident
On Wednesday evening, PC Andrew Reid received calls from an Ellisfield resident and
a Tunworth resident, reporting that they had been called by a man proclaiming to
be a Detective Constable from the Metropolitan Police who stated that he had a man
in custody who had the resident's bank details on him.
Thankfully, both residents rang off without providing their bank details to him.
PC Reid says that, with this kind on scam telephone call, the story changes as does the name of the officer, his station, etc. However what is always there is the fact that the caller will advise you to call a number that he provides.
DO NOT CALL THIS NUMBER. Also, make absolutely certain that your telephone line is still not open.
Sat March 1, 2014:
"In The Fields" Article
The latest article from Seumas Foster, agronomist and Ellisfield resident, can be found HERE.
FLASH NEWS: Seumas reports that he has just noticed, for the first time, that there
is frog spawn in Hill Farm Pond.
WARNING TO CHILDREN: Don't try to look for it as
the pond is full and the sides are steep and dangerous ...
Fri February 21, 2014:
From the Ellisfield Village Association regarding a Planning
Application for the Veolia Composting Site
UPDATE: EVA sent out an email informing residents that they were objecting to a proposal
by Veolia (the composting company at the junction of Bushywarren Lane and the A339)
to extend their remit to include animal bedding (particularly from Marwell Zoo) containing
straw and animal bi-
Now that the deadline for objections has passed, the original News Item has been moved to the Village Association page.
Thu February 20, 2014:
Latest Neighbourhood Watch Report
Hannah Houstin-
Wed February 19, 2014:
Statement by the Chairman of the
Memorial Hall Committee
"The Ellisfield Memorial Hall Management Committee would like to announce the retirement of two key members who have together served an astonishing 43 years.
"Jane Evans has served 27 years as Bookings Officer, a title which does not do justice to the many and varied tasks she undertook. The village owe her a great deal for her hard work and devoted service over all these years.
"Christine Turner has served 16 years as Treasurer. She always produced detailed accounts for each Committee Meeting, which even the numerically challenged could easily comprehend. The Hall is in good financial health, due largely to Christine's careful management of our finances.
"On behalf of all those who use and enjoy our Hall, a big thank you to Jane and Christine."
Ray Reed, Chairman
Tue February 4, 2014:
Volunteer Group's Cutting Schedule
The 2014 Cutting Schedule has been released by Andy Swanston, chairman of the Ellisfield Volunteer Group.
Tue February 4, 2014:
Parish Council Meeting in Church
The parish council meeting last night was held in St Martin's Church due to a prior
booking of the hall.
The picture above records this unusual event and shows Jacqui
Matthews (Clerk) and Cllr Tim Guinness (Chairman) facing the three other councillors
present; Cllr Gavin Park Weir, Cllr David Richards and Cllr Caroline Cazenove.
Also
at the meeting were residents Tracey Gilvear, Meg Freeman and (on the right) Dee
Haas who came to represent the Village Association. The fourth resident present,
Paul Turner, was behind the camera!
Wed January 29, 2014:
Two Resignations from the Ellisfield Memorial Hall Committee
Jane Evans and Christine Turner have resigned from the Memorial Hall Committee.
Jane
has served as the hall's Bookings Secretary for 27 years and Christine for 16 years
as Treasurer.
UPDATE:
Tony Matthews (381149) has agreed to take on the role of Bookings
Secretary.
Susie Deane (381261) will become the Treasurer, with (presumably) another
Ellisfield Village Association representative to be nominated to take her place on
the Committee.
Tue January 28, 2014:
Veolia Recycling Planning Application
Veolia Environmental Services, who run the Green Waste recycling centre at the top of Busheywarren Lane, have applied to Hampshire County Council (HCC) for permission to "allow a wider range of wastes" on the site.
Their application letter to HCC is available HERE. You'll notice that they mention "animal wastes, such (as) animal faeces, urine and manure which are often collected with animal bedding". The application can be viewed on the HCC website HERE.
This will be discussed at the Parish Council meeting next Monday (Feb 3) evening.
Tue January 28, 2014:
Borough Councillors Overruled
Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has given
Wates go-
Tue January 28, 2014:
"In The Fields" Article
The latest article from Seumas Foster, agronomist and Ellisfield resident, can be found HERE.
Sun January 26, 2014:
Ladies Club Burn's Night Supper
The supper held at The Fox last night for Ladies Club members and their partners was a resounding success.
The "Country Bar" was packed and there was even an overflow area in the raised section
of the main dinning room. Despite the power only coming back on at 6.45pm, Sue Dove
was able to serve the dinner -
Sue Self was awarded 1st Prize and Alison Swanston 2nd Prize for their Scottish themed attire.
Sat January 25, 2014:
Ellisfield Volunteer Group (EVG) AGM
The well attended (25 residents including the 5 committee members) Annual General Meeting of the Volunteer Group took place yesterday evening (Friday, January 24). As usual, it was held at the Memorial Hall, Church Lane.
The formal proceedings (including Any Other Business discussions at the end of the meeting) took just 32 minutes. An excellent example of the efficiency of the Group (and, it was pointed out, three minutes faster than last year!).
All current committee members were voted back on except for Steve Brown who had decided to stand down after a number of years of service to the Group. Graham Simpson was elected as coordinator for the Burial Ground and Ray Reed as EVG's representative on the Memorial Hall Committee.
The formal proposal that “EVG shall continue operations in 2014” was passed unanimously.
The meeting was followed by refreshments. A PDF of the Chairman’s Report is HERE.
Fri January 24, 2014:
Basingstoke Draft Local Plan
On January 30, borough councillors will be debating how many new houses are to be built between now and 2029 at a meeting of the Planning and Infrastructure Overview & Scrutiny Committee.
The maximum number now being proposed is 807 per year, up from the 748 set out in the original Draft Plan.
To put this in perspective, using the lower 748 figure, there would be at least another 13,464 houses built in the borough by 2029. Based on 2011 census data, we can therefore expect the borough population to increase from around 170,000 to over 200,000.
Mon January 20, 2014:
Horticultural Society Programme
The website page for the Horticultural Society has been updated with their 2014 Programme of Events.
Sat January 18, 2014:
Neighbourhood Watch Alert
Hannah Houstin-
Basingstoke burglaries
An increase in thefts from vans
Scam HMRC emails
Attempted horse
thefts
If you are not receiving Neighbourhood Watch emails and would like to be included on the distribution list, please phone Hannah on 381863 or email her by clicking HERE.
Fri January 17, 2014:
Ellisfield Resident Appointed Chairman of Hampshire Branch of
the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).
Dee Haas, chairman of the Ellisfield Village Association (EVA), has been appointed
as chairman of CPRE's Hampshire branch.
In a Basingstoke Gazette news article on Thursday,
Dee was reported as saying:
“I have been very taken with the wealth of expertise existing
in our voluntary and paid members and the way that they can respond quickly to help
people in their campaigns.
“The supportive, educational planning workshops are very
helpful, and I love the programme of visits and activities. The Countryside Awards
scheme is a great asset to the charity and its corporate supporters, so I would like
to see that developing in the future.”
Wed January 8, 2014:
Neighbourhood Watch Alert
From PC Andrew Reid:
May I please make you aware that we are experiencing a spate of thefts from motor
vehicles during the nights both in the town and rural areas. In Basingstoke over
30 cars were targeted in one night and, although two men have been arrested, we are
now having similar thefts from within the rural area. On Monday night four cars were
broken into Oakley and a further one in Kingsclere.
We are aware that one or two (possibly more) men are trying the door handles of parked cars in these areas and if anything such as the sat nav, laptop, etc. has been left in the vehicle it is being broken into and the items are stolen.
I ask if residents could please take ALL sat navs and other valuables out of the vehicles at night. PLEASE DO NOT JUST PUT THEM IN THE GLOVE COMPARTMENT.
Tue January 7, 2014:
The Fox
Graham & Sue Dove wish all their customers a "Very Happy and Healthy New Year” and also want to express their grateful thanks for all the support the village has shown them over the last six months.
Fri January 3, 2014:
No News Must Be Good News?
Editor: "I could blame BT for there being no new News items posted recently (my ADSL
broadband line has been dead since December 23!) but that would be untrue.
It seems
that the village is just very quiet at the moment, perhaps that's no bad thing ..."
Fri December 20, 2013:
Christmas Fayre Record Takings
Although it's been almost two weeks since the Ellisfield Christmas Fayre, monies only stopped coming in a few days ago! After a few expenses, the final sum raised (to be shared between the Memorial Hall and St Martin's Church) can be confirmed as £2,041.18. Congratulations to Caroline Cazenove and all the Ellisfield residents who worked so hard at making this event such a success.
Tue December 10, 2013:
Neighbourhood Watch Alert
Following intelligence that an illegal "rave" may have been planned for this coming
weekend at Upton Grey, PC Reid is warning all residents in his area to be on the
lookout in case the location is switched to a nearby village!
He is asking all residents to please be extra vigilant and to contact the Police
on either 101 or 999 if you see:
Large amounts of vehicles being driven around in
the early hours of either Saturday or Sunday morning, and/or
Lots of people who appear
not to know where they are going (!), and/or
Bits of torn ribbon attached to trees,
hedgerows or sign posts.
These are all signs and markers to indicate that an unlawful
gathering might be in progress.
Sat December 6, 2013:
Neighbourhood Watch Alert
On Friday afternoon at about 3.00pm a white Ford Transit van AF13 NWC was seen in the grounds of a large house in Greywell. When approached by a member of staff the vehicle drove away despite having the opportunity to stop and speak to the man.
The van comes from Slough and a person linked to it has links with rogue trading such as tarmacing of drives. If seen, please give Police or Hampshire Trading Standards a call and think very carefully before allowing them to do any work at your home.
Thu December 5, 2013:
Christmas Security Advice from the
Police and Crimestoppers
The security advice given by Hampshire Police (with additional advice from Crimestoppers)
last December in the run-
Sun December 1, 2013:
This Website's First Birthday!
"
It seems astonishing that 15 months have passed since work started on this website.
"I was asked recently what I feel is the most successful and useful element of the website and my answer was the News and Events columns which I try to keep as up to date and accurate as possible.
"My thanks go to all the residents who contribute to making sure that the individual sections are made interesting and informative."
Paul Turner, Editor.
Thu November 28, 2013:
New Parish Council Website
A separate Parish Council website has been created at www.ellisfield-
As well
as going to www.ellisfield-
Tue November 26, 2013:
Parish Council Meeting
2014/15 Precept:
At Monday evening's meeting, the Parish Council went through the
2014/15 Budget and decided to keep next year’s precept (the total amount of money
required for the running of the council) at £5,521, this being the same as the previous
two years. Although the actual amount charged per property will depend upon its rateable
value, it means that the average cost per Ellisfield household will be £46.40.
Closed Meeting:
Whilst discussing the Agenda Item 7iii (Web Site), the Parish Council
made the unusual decision to discuss the Ellisfield Community Website (ellisfield.org.uk)
in private, after the formal minuted meeting had closed and the public had left.
The reason given was that of confidentiality.
Mon November 25, 2013:
Ellisfield Neighbourhood Watch
Hannah Houstin-
Mon November 25, 2013:
Hilary de Ferranti
It is with regret that we (belatedly) announce that Hilary de Ferranti died peacefully
at home on November 16, 2013. Much loved widow of Basil de Ferranti.
A Funeral and
Thanksgiving Service will take place at St Martin's Church, Ellisfield this Saturday
(November 30), at 11am.
Donations, if desired, to St Michael's Hospice in Basingstoke.
Hilary was a director of this hospice from 1992 until October, 2011.
EDITOR: Profound
apologies for not putting this News item up on the website sooner. I was unaware
of Hilary's death until it was mentioned at this evening's Parish Council meeting.
Sun November 24, 2013:
New Neighbourhood Watch Area Co-ordinator
Caroline Cazenove has agreed to be the new area co-
Scheme 263
is one of four Neighbourhood Watch areas in Ellisfield, all described on this website's
Neighbourhood Watch page.
Sat November 23, 2013:
Neighbourhood Watch Alert
It has been reported that a white male with grey hair (approximately 6' height, in his late 50s and driving a black car) is doing the rounds in Hampshire posing as a buyer of antiques.
This man drives around scouting at properties then knocks on doors hoping the owners
have antiques to sell. He will happily come in to your property and walk around offering
cash for items such as clocks, walking sticks, books, jewellery, furniture, ivory,
pictures, etc., all well below the estimated value. The man will offer a leaflet
with an East Sussex address and contact details.
EDITOR: If he says his name is Lovejoy
be especially cautious!
UPDATE: Hannah has just informed me that he also steals things
whilst the householder is distracted ...
Fri November 15, 2013:
The Fox - Food Bank Collection Point
Graham and Sue Dove have placed a basket just inside the pub's front door where you
can donate non perishable foods for the needy in Basingstoke.
All items donated will
be collected weekly.
Fri November 15, 2013:
The Fox - £309 Raised for Charity
The "Race Night" Event held at The Fox on Wednesday evening raised £309 for the Dreams Come True national charity for terminally and seriously ill children.
Thu November 14, 2013:
Christmas Fayre Contributions
Requests have gone out for contributions for both the Produce Stall and the Tombola
Stall. Details are in the Events column (see HERE).
EDITOR: Those Ellisfield residents
running the stalls at the Christmas Fayre on Saturday, 7th December are deserving
of our support.
Wed November 13, 2013:
Latest Neighbourhood Watch Report
Hannah Houstin-
Wed November 6, 2013:
The Fox - Christmas Menu
The Fox has just released its Christmas Menu (incorporating a Booking Form). This menu starts on Tuesday, December 3 but bookings can be made now.
Wed November 6, 2013:
Fast Broadband - Statement by
Ellisfield Parish Council
Ellisfield Parish Council
On Monday, October 14, this website ran a News item (see below) regarding the Hampshire
County Council (HCC) Big Picture Map which showed the proposed roll-
Those who looked at the map will have seen that it
showed the Herriard exchange being upgraded before the end of 2015. It also showed
the southern part of Ellisfield as being in the 2015 roll-
This map was discussed
at the Ellisfield Parish Council (EPC) meeting that evening and Cllr Julian Wright
promised to investigate and report back -
"A meeting was held on the 23rd October between EPC, HCC and BT to discuss the
provision of superfast broadband in Ellisfield. The following clarification was agreed:
"BT
will be providing superfast broadband (VDSL) via the Herriard cabinet (located near
the Fur and Feathers). Regrettably the VDSL technology is currently short-
"The rest of Ellisfield is served by the cabinet at the junction
of Church Lane and College Lane and is not currently included in the 2015 superfast
programme
"All of Ellisfield is eligible for some form of broadband upgrade by
the end of 2015 owing to the slow, sub 2 Mb, download speeds. Ellisfield is also
eligible for consideration as part of the 2017 superfast roll-
"BT, HCC and
EPC are now working together on how to best address Ellisfield’s broadband needs.
The first step in the process is for BT to conduct a detailed survey to inform a
second meeting to be held in a few months’ time."
Sun October 27, 2013:
Borough Council's £500K budget for "Marketing" Basingstoke
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s decision-
Council leader Cllr Clive Sanders stated that successful marketing of the town goes hand in hand with the administration’s ambition to improve the Leisure Park, revamp the Top of The Town and regenerate the Basing View business park. It would also build on the recent successes of bringing Airkix to the Leisure Park, Network Rail’s new regional hub to Basing View, and the new combined Waitrose and John Lewis At Home store to Basing View.
Before April 2013, all business rates collected by councils were sent to Government which redistributed the money back to local authorities using an extremely complicated formula. Under the new scheme, the borough council will keep 40 per cent of business tax.
Sun October 20, 2013:
Attempted Break-In, Friday at 2pm
There was an attempted break-
(Going down Green Lane and passing Lower Common on your left, The Conifers
is the last house on your right.)
A youth wearing black clothing attempted to gain access via the back of the property. He tried to kick down the back door and, on failing, then smashed a bedroom window.
The owner disturbed the intruder who made off over the garden fence into the wood behind.
If you heard or saw anything, please contact PC Andrew Reid (right) on 07768 776844.
Note: If you’re involved in or witness this type of incident, always telephone 999 immediately.
Thu October 17, 2013:
Willis Museum Exhibitions
There are a few interesting exhibitions being held at the Willis Museum (Market Square, Basingstoke) in the coming months which appear worthy of adding to the Events column.
Tue October 15, 2013:
Memorial Hall - Lower Hourly Rates
It was decided at the meeting of the Memorial Hall Committee that the Hire Charges would be reduced to £9 per hour for Ellisfield Residents’ personal use, Village Groups and Regular Users, with all other hirers being charged £15 per hour (it was £20 per hour).
To book the Hall for a party or event, contact Jane Evans on 01256 381470.
Mon October 14, 2013:
Fast Broadband - Area Map Published
by Hampshire County Council
by Hampshire County Council
Hampshire County Council (HCC) have published what they call "The Big Picture Map" (click to display the relevant HCC page in a new tab) showing the areas in Hampshire that will benefit from superfast broadband coverage in a countywide scheme to provide a high speed network.
The map shows planned coverage by the end of 2015 and HCC will be publishing more detailed maps as each phase enters deployment.
This map was passed on to Ellisfield’s Cllr Julian Wright last Friday and, at this evening’s Parish Council Meeting, he promised to investigate the ramifications for Ellisfield residents and pass on his findings to this website.
Fri October 4, 2013:
Bushywarren Lane Traffic Disruption
From Wednesday 9 (for 3 days)
(Anaerobic
Digester Deliveries)
Deliveries of silage to the Anaerobic Digester (see News item, dated September 12, below) will take place next week, as follows:=
Wednesday, 9th: 9.30am to 9.00pm
Thursday, 10th: 7.30am to 9.00pm
Friday, 11th:
7.30am to 9.00pm
It is hoped to have completed the deliveries by the end of Friday. However, if it
runs over into Saturday then it should be for only 2-
During the operations, the mud on roads will be monitored and washing trucks brought
in as necessary
Village residents and visitors may like to take an alternative route
and avoid Bushywarren Lane during these times.
Wed October 2, 2013:
Preston Candover Shop
With the owners of the village shop in Preston Candover (pictured right) thinking
of closing down, Ellisfield residents are being asked by Preston Candover Parish
Council to complete a Survey regarding their possible use of a proposed new “community
shop”.
If you would prefer to complete the Survey online, click HERE.
For those who
are interested, the Plunkett Foundation published a very informative PDF Report in
May, entitled “A Better Form of Business; Community-
Tue September 24, 2013:
Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator
Needed
After many years of sterling service as our Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator, Hannah
Houstin-
As well
as being the village coordinator, Hannah is also the area coordinator for two of
the four village area schemes, namely “Ellisfield Green” and “Lower Common” (Roger
Graham handles the “Upper College Lane, Bell Lane & Church Lane” scheme and Peter
Hopwood handles the “Axford Road” scheme).
If you’d like to know more, have a look
at the Neighbourhood Watch page on this website.
Anyone interested should, without
obligation, have a chat with Hannah (381863) or the parish clerk, Jacqui Matthews
(381149).
Sun September 22, 2013:
£1,000 Contribution to Parish Funds
It came as a pleasant surprise to read in the Parish Council newsletter that Barfoots (the operator of the Anaerobic Digester) have offered to make an annual contribution of £1,000 to Ellisfield’s Parish Funds, starting from when the Plant is commissioned in December.
Sun September 22, 2013:
Parish Council Newsletter
The newsletter has been (or will be very soon) delivered to all Ellisfield houses.
Those
on the Parish Council email list received it this (Sunday) evening and it’s on this
website’s Parish Council Newsletter page.
Mon September 16, 2013:
Harvest Festival Supper Cancelled
Statement by Debbie Scholey:
We have had to take the decision today to cancel the
Ellisfield Harvest Supper planned for Sept 28, due unfortunately to insufficient
ticket sales so close to the event. Thank you to those who had paid (we will provide
a refund) and to those who had offered to provide food, etc.
EDITOR: I am reminded
of the time when you had to get in quick to buy tickets for this event.
This cancellation
and the recent death of Rev. Tom Kime brought back memories of his highly popular
Harvest Festival Supper poetry performances, especially the one that managed to include
every Ellisfield house and its occupants.
There was also the memorable occasion when,
dressed as a cowboy complete with stetson in hand, he hesitated for a second, looked
down and carried on with his poem. He then had to endure Chris Lonergan shouting
out “He’s reading from his hat!”. As, indeed, he was …
Thu September 12, 2013:
Bushywarren Lane traffic disruption
at end of September or
early October
(Anaerobic Digester Deliveries)
Statement by Cllr Julian Wright:
“At the end of September (or possibly early October)
there will be, over a period of 3 days, 300 deliveries of Maize crop to the new Anaerobic
Digester site.
“Approximately 5,000 tonnes of Maize (silage variety) from farms on
the Herriard Estate will be transported via farm road and track utilising tractor/trailer
combinations. When they meet the crossing point of Bushywarren Lane (opposite the
entrance to the Solar Park) they will cross the road and follow a purpose built farm
track.
“Due to ongoing construction works with site traffic and maintaining good site
safety, as a one off event for this year only, Ellisfield Parish Council have agreed
to Barfoots sending the empty tractor/trailers back off site and down Bushywarren
Lane (approximately 320 metres distance) before they re-
“Ellisfield Parish Council have requested that no farm traffic enters the
road network heading towards Ellisfield before 8:30am on working days to minimise
conflict with local traffic.”
To summarise the above statement, 100 large
farm vehicles will (probably starting before 8.30am) be crossing over Bushywarren
Lane every day for three days. After delivering their load of Maize, the same 100
vehicles will then travel down Bushywarren Lane towards Ellisfield in order to get
back onto the same farm track. So, 200 vehicle movements per day!
How will this affect
Ellisfield residents? Well, hardly at all if (although very inconvenient for some)
we stay well away from Bushywarren Lane for the three days in question (although
there will probably be a fair amount of noise which may affect those living in Winslade
Lane, College Lane and Bell Lane).
Those residents who choose to still use Bushywarren
Lane will, obviously, need to be very careful, especially if it rains because then
one would presume that the farm vehicles will deposit a LOT of mud on the road!
Mon September 2, 2013:
Rev. Tom Kime
There will be many in the village who will be saddened to hear of the death of The
Rev. Thomas Kime, Rector of what was “Cliddesden and Ellisfield with Farleigh Wallop
and Dummer (Winchester)”, who retired at the end of November 1994.
He died, aged 85,
last Tuesday afternoon (August 27), very peacefully according to his wife Julia (her
address is 6 Morley Close, Market Street, Winchester, SO23 9LF).
The funeral is 2.15pm
on Friday, September 13 at St. Lawrence Church, Winchester.
Sun September 1, 2013:
Reviews of The Fox Required
A website for The Fox is being created and a section entitled “What our customers
say about us …” will feature on the home page.
If YOU would like to help Graham and
Sue Dove in their quest to make The Fox a success, please email your review to thefox@ellisfield.org.uk.
All
emails will be acknowledged.
It is hoped that the new website will be launched within
the next 10 days.
Thu August 22, 2013:
Bell Ringers Wanted!
A few years ago there were quite a few Ellisfield residents learning how to ring
the St. Martin’s bells. There is now only one, Steve Brown of Penny Cottage, Green
Lane.
Peter Willis (who lives in Basingstoke) is the tower master and he would very
much like to hear from anyone who is already proficient or who might be interested
in learning (practice sessions are most Fridays starting at 7:30pm, and Saturday
mornings are also being considered).
For more information, do have a look at the Ellisfield
Bell Ringers page on this website.
If YOU are interested in knowing more, without
any obligation, please contact Peter (either email him HERE or phone him on 01256
472505) or have a word with Steve Brown (381420).
Sat August 10, 2013:
Solar Farm in Farleigh Wallop?
A planning opinion request which is currently “under consideration” by Basingstoke
Council will be of interest to Ellisfield residents:
13/01246/ENS -
This
comes after another planning application, which is now closed (13/00419/ENSC), in
May requesting a “screening opinion for proposed solar park”.
Thu August 8, 2013:
Horticultural Society Summer Show
(Report by Jacqui Matthews)
HORTICULTURAL dynasties in the making:
Last Saturday’s summer show had more than 250
entries (100 more than last year) and four local families did particularly well.
Emma
Ilsley won the Elsie Price Challenge Cup for Best Entry in the children’s class for
aged seven and over, producing the most beautiful necklace made from vegetables,
and mum Michelle won first prize for the best hanging baskets in the ‘best gardens’
competition.
Oliver Webb won first prize in the under-
The
Gilvear family will be busy polishing silver trophies all winter – Adam won cups
for best vegetable garden, best large onion, longest runner bean, and highest number
of points in vegetable classes and the whole show, while sons Archie and Basil won
second prizes in the children’s classes for their age group.
Fletcher Cooke won the
Children’s Challenge Cup for his display of grasses in a jar, while sister Dariah
and granny Pat Gould must be given first prize for delicious refreshments, enjoyed
by all visitors.
Thu August 1, 2013:
New Fixed Price Lunch Menu at
The Fox Inn, Green Lane, Ellisfield
Sue Dove, landlady of The Fox public house, has announced that a Fixed Price Lunch
Menu will be introduced as from Wednesday, August 7 and will be available between
12 noon and 2.30pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
The daily changing menu will
have a choice of four starters, four main courses and four puddings. These menus
will be set at £8.50 for either a main course and pudding or a starter and main course.
To
see an example of a lunch menu, go to The Fox web page.
Sat July 27, 2013:
Cyclists on “Big Wheel 21” Event
On Sunday (July 28), cyclists on the 63 mile circular route of the Big Wheel 21 event
(raising funds for Basingstoke’s St. Michael’s Hospice) will be coming up Green Lane
from around 12.00am (riders who belt around the route) through to possibly 4.00pm
(riders who stop at every pub on the way!).
(Timings kindly provided by an Ellisfield
resident who has experience of such things.)
Sat July 27, 2013:
Planning Application for 6 x 130m Wind Turbines at Woodmancott
.png "click for larger version ...")
Objections to the proposed development of 6 x 130m wind turbines under 5 miles away
from Ellisfield at Woodmancott (click on map to see how close they’ll be) need to
be with Basingstoke Council by August 14.
Full details of how to object can be found
on the Save Our Scenic Hampshire Downs website (where there is also a very comprehensive
overview of this proposed development).
Numbers of objections are very important now
that new government planning guidance states: “opinions of local communities on proposed
windfarms should be taken into consideration”.
See the Events column for details
of meetings being held in Preston Candover (August 5), Dummer (August 7) and Lower
Wield (August 8).
Tue July 23, 2013:
The Fox - Publicity On This Page
A number of very positive reviews have been received by this website’s editor following
the re-
The pub is
a vital village amenity and it’s important that the Doves are successful.
So, to assist
them (albeit in a small way), publicity information (opening times, a link to their
menus and The Fox’s location) has now been incorporated on this Home page, above
the Events column..
Sat July 20, 2013
(and updated Mon July 22, 2013):
Another Successful Wine Walk
Jane Evans has calculated that 75 residents were on Friday evening’s Wine Walk. After expenses, the event raised £330 which will go towards the upkeep of the Memorial Hall.
Congratulations to all the hosts:
Ed and Laura (Mulberry House)
Howard and Jayne (Woodfalls)
Graham and Diane (Foxhill
House)
for making everyone feel so welcome and a big thank you to the Memorial Hall committee members for organising this event::
Jane Evans for storing the wine, laminating
notices and putting them up in the village
notice
boards, distributing the wine and soft
drinks to the hosts and picking up and
returning
the glasses to Sainsbury’s.
Christine Turner for buying the wine,
distributing (with
Jane) the wine and soft
drinks to the hosts, organising floats for the
hosts and
counting/banking the takings.
Susie Deane for creating the flyer.
Ray Reed for organising
the printing of the
flyers.
Joanne Thomas, Travey Gilvear and Meg
Freeman (also
non-
delivering the flyers
and selling tickets.
EDITOR: Events such as this strengthen the community spirit of our village, as evidenced by the number of residents “walking the Walk”, the hosts who opened their gardens (and generously supplied excellent “nibbles”) and the nine (see above) who all did their part in organising this event.
Mon July 15, 2013:
Mobile Phone Found Outside Hall
An older style Nokia phone (which is in a leather case) has been found on the grass
near to the Memorial Hall’s entrance.
Please contact Jane Evans (381470) if it’s your
phone.
Mon July 15, 2013:
Latest Neighbourhood Watch Report
Oil Tank Security Information
Hannah Houstin-
It
will be of special interest to those residents who may be concerned about the security
of their oil tank. PC Reid has provided crime prevention advice for your information
and consideration.
Sun July 14, 2013:
Horticultural Society - Seed Orders
The Horticultural Society have received the seed catalogues and they can be collected from Marilyn Smith (462584) as usual. The earlier the orders are completed the better!
Wed July 10, 2013:
Fox Inn - Opening Times & Menus
The opening and food times of the Fox Inn are as follows:
MON Closed
TUE-
5.30 to
11 (food 6 to 9pm TUE-
and to 9.30pm FRI-
SUN
12 to 8 (food 12 to 4)
There are four menus. The Board Menu consists of nine Starters & “Lite Bites”, four
Chef’s Specials, three Salad Bowls, nine Pub Favourites and three Grilled Steaks.
There are seven items on the Puddings Menu.
There is a Snack Menu of sandwiches, jacket
potatoes, salad bowls and cheeses.
Lastly, there is a Children’s Menu of five main
meals and three puddings.
To view the menus, click HERE or click on the image of the menu above.
Mon July 8, 2013:
EVA Art Exhibition - A Great Success
All credit must go to Dee Haas and the rest of the EVA (Ellisfield Village Association)
committee in putting together a three day exhibition of over 100 works of art, all
produced by Ellisfield residents..png "click for larger image ...")
The pieces displayed ranged from sculpture (including
three beautiful maquettes -.jpg "click for larger image ...")
oud), paintings (watercolours, pastels and oils), drawings (pencil and charcoal),
sugarcraft, photography, calligraphy (see Susie Deane’s brilliant watercolour booklet
displayed above), poems, embroidery, doll making and painted plates.
There was a special section displaying art produced by the children of the village..jpg "click for a larger image ...")
The
winner of the Friday evening raffle (there’s ALWAYS a raffle!) was Zani Robinson
and the prize (Celia Lunn’s sugarcraft cake) was presented to her by James Arbuthnot,
our Member of Parliament.
(Click on an image to see a larger version.)
Tue July 2, 2013 (at 11.30am):
Graham and Sue Dove are the New Licensees of the Fox
Inn
EDITOR (Wed July 10): The opening times, meal times and menus have all been received.
The website will be updated very soon.
EDITOR (Tues July 9): The pub DID open as promised.
I’m waiting to hear from the Dove’s in regards to opening times, meal times, menus,
etc., etc.
—––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
The rumour that Mr and Mrs Dove are
returning to the Fox Inn as licensees is TRUE.
They are in occupation now and talking
with suppliers.
They wish to announce that they will re-
EDITOR: I’m sure everyone will agree with me that this is VERY good
news.
I have decided that it would be correct to remove from this website all references
to the previous licensee (other than the original April announcement) so that the
Dove’s start with a clean slate.
(Graham and Sue are aware that there is a clash with
Ellisfield Village Association’s opening party of their Art Exhibition on Friday
evening in the Memorial Hall but hope that those residents attending this event will
call in at the Fox Inn afterwards.)
Tue June 18, 2013:
Horticultural Society’s “3 Villages Best Garden Competition” Results
Held yesterday (Monday, 17), the results of this competition are as follows:
Combined (Flower & Vegetable) Garden
Pat Doel, Cliddesden
Flower Garden
Hilda
Small, Cliddesden
Vegetable Garden
Adam Gilvear, Ellisfield
Feature
John Lurcock,
Cliddesden
Pots & Baskets
Michelle Ilsley and Nick Riley, Cliddesden
Congratulations to all the winners. (However, as this IS the Ellisfield site, a special round of applause for Adam Gilvear!)
Thu June 13, 2013:
The Purefoy Arms Wins “Good Food Guide” Regional Title
The Purefoy Arms in Preston Candover has been named the South East’s Readers’ Restaurant
of the Year by The Good Food Guide.
Elizabeth Carter, consultant editor of The Good
Food Guide, said: “It may be a textbook country pub – pretty village location, winter
fires, beer garden – but it’s the quirky but appealing modern cooking and genuinely
lovely hospitality which makes this pub so popular with our readers.”
The overall
winner (there are nine other UK regional winners) will be announced at a ceremony
in London on June 19.
UPDATE: Delifonseca, a restaurant, deli and food store based
on Liverpool’s dockside, has been crowned The Good Food Guide Readers' Restaurant
of the Year for 2014.
Sat June 8, 2013:
Ellisfield Road Closures
EDITOR: Well, that was fun, wasn’t it?
I have a sneaky feeling that they might be
back because there is still the bit of road opposite Hill Farm Pond which they didn’t
do (because of all the tradesmen’s vans clogging up the road?).
MAJOR BENEFIT -
Update - Wed June 5 (at 11.35am):
Ellisfield Road Closures
Ellisfield Road Closures
Guess what? They’re early and road closures are from NOW until (possibly) Friday.
Residents
will still have access, it’s just that we might have to turn around and come and
go by a more indirect route through the village.
Update - Thu May 30, 2013:
Ellisfield Road Closures - New Dates
Ellisfield Road Closures -
The road closure notices have been changed AGAIN. They now say that roads will be closed on Thursday and Friday, June 6 and 7.
Sat May 25, 2013:
Memorial Hall Committee
At Friday evening’s AGM, the following were elected and appointed to these positions:
Joanne
Thomas (Secretary)
Christine Turner (Treasurer)
Jane Evans (Bookings Secretary)
As
well as the three “ex-
Rector (Rev. Stephen Mourant)
Churchwarden
(Bernard Cazenove)
Churchwarden (Peter Chilton)
the nominated representatives of
the following village organisations were formally appointed:
Horticultural Society
(Meg Freeman)
Ladies Club (Tracey Gilvear)
Parish Council (Cllr Rose Taplin)
Village
Association (Susie Deane)
Volunteer Group (Ray Reed)
and Ray Reed agreed to take
the Chairmanship (this will be ratified formally at the Hall’s next committee meeting).
Update - Fri May 24, 2013:
Ellisfield Road Closures - New Dates
Ellisfield Road Closures -
Update: The road closure notices have been changed again!. They now say that roads
will be closed on Monday and Tuesday, June 3 and 4.
Anyone affected by the Road Surfacing
will have received a letter from Hampshire County Council describing the process
and offering householder advice. You’ll have noticed that the actual date of the
work was not given, just “in the next few days”.
Sun May 19, 2013:
Three New Website Pages
Three new Groups have been added to this website.
Following on from the Annual Parish
Meeting presentation of this website, Ted Dowson sent in copy for the Oil Syndicate
which in now live.
At the same time, pages have now been created for the Ellisfield
Allotment Gardeners Association and the Bell Ringers (which have been moved out of
Amenities/Church to have their own page in Groups). These last two pages have not
been populated yet but will be soon.
Sat May 18, 2013:
Ellisfield 3G Fast Broadband Initiative
As presented at the Annual Parish Meeting on Friday evening, Julian Wright has offered
to bring a selection of 3G devices to an Ellisfield resident’s property to discover
what kind of fast broadband speeds can be obtained.
UPDATE: The 3G equipment on loan
is being returned soon so appointments need to be made before the end of the month!
Contact Julian on 381757 or email him HERE.
The charge of £30 will be donated to the
Great Ormand Street Hospital for Children.
UPDATE (Wed May 15, 2013):
Green Lane Road Works
The road works which took place on Tuesday were, it seems, NOT to do with the road
closure (see below). They were widening and deepening all the potholes and more workmen
filled them in today (Wednesday).
The road closure (for road surfacing) is, apparently,
still planned to take place between May 29 and May 31.
Posted Fri May 10, 2013:
Green Lane Closure
The road closure notices erected recently at the top and bottom of Green Lane have
been altered -
The last two sets of notices disappeared (without
the road being closed). We will just have to wait to see if it’s for real this time!
Posted Thu May 9, 2013:
Basingstoke Home Library Service
Do you, or someone you know, love reading but can no longer get to the library due
to ill health, disability or caring responsibilities? Basingstoke Library may be
able to help by arranging for a volunteer to deliver books or audio books to your
home. This service is free.
Interested or want more information? Contact Jill or Lois
at Basingstoke Library on 01256 478670 ext 293032.
Posted Fri May 3, 2013:
County Council Election Results
With a 36.11% turnout (4,231 votes cast out of an electorate of 11,716) the results were as follows:
1. Anna McNair Scott (Con) -
2. Peter Johnson (UKIP) -
3.
Ian Tilbury (Ind) -
4. Yegor Ryazenov (Lab) -
5. Jeff Teagle
(Lib) -
In 2009, the results were:
Conservative -
Independent -
Liberal
Democrats -
Labour Party -
So, in this year’s election, it would appear that the 1,008 votes cast for the UKIP candidate came almost entirely from disaffected Conservative voters!
Posted Wed Apr 24, 2013:
Memorial Hall AGM and the Ellisfield Wine Walk - Dates Now
Confirmed
Information has been posted in the EVENTS section opposite. The hall’s AGM (see HERE) is on Friday, May 24 and the Wine Walk is on Friday, July 19.
Posted Fri Apr 19, 2013:
Ellisfield’s Fox Inn
The new licensee is Scott Standen (right), backed by his father Shaun.
The Fox Inn
is being managed by 20 year old Stuart Fraser, with the help of locally recruited
bar staff when busy.
The opening hours are 11.30am to 11pm Monday to Saturday and
11.30am to 9pm on Sundays.
Posted Fri Apr 12, 2013:
Fast Broadband Update
Statement by the Parish Council
Following on from the discussion in the Open Forum at the last Parish Council meeting
(on Monday, April 8), the council has sent out a summary of the points covered.
This
can be found via the “Fast Broadband Updates” navigation button above or by clicking
HERE.
Posted Mon Mar 25, 2013:
HCC Broadband Contract Signed
Hampshire County Council (HCC) has awarded a £13.8 million contract to BT to deliver
their broadband plans for Hampshire.
Work will start immediately on the project and
the first premises will be connected by the end of 2013.
HCC state: “Without the intervention
of the Hampshire Broadband Programme around 20% of premises in Hampshire would not
have been able to access fibre broadband services by the end of 2015.”
It is well
known that parish councillors Tim Guinness and Julian Wright are determined to ensure
that fast broadband reaches Ellisfield. Whether or not this HCC/BT contract helps
them to fulfil their wishes remains to be seen.
Posted Thu Mar 14, 2013:
Broadband Users - Read and Weep!
From late Spring 2013, Openreach (in partnership with the borough council) will be
offering “fibre to the premises” to customers in Basingstoke town. This will bring
330Mbps broadband to those who have already got “fibre to the cabinet” in their area.
Meanwhile,
we in Ellisfield don’t even get 2Mbps!
Posted Thu Mar 14, 2013:
Cango Bus Saved
The Cango rural bus service running between Basingstoke and Alresford via Ellisfield
has been saved from closure by Hampshire County Council. Doubt was cast over the
future of the Cango bus when operators RJB stopped trading in January. However, the
county council have stepped in to invest £123,000, which will see the service run
for at least another four years.
Posted Tue Mar 12, 2013:
Coffee, Tea, Cakes, Books and Cards
At the Farleigh Wallop
Club
Sue Binstead would like to thank all the contributors and helpers, everyone who attended the “Tea Party” last Friday morning and all those club members who bid for the remaining cakes at the raffle in the evening. Over £260 was raised and it has been split between the Alzheimer’s Society and the Club.
Posted Sat Mar 9, 2013:
Announcement of a “Countryside Art Exhibition” to be held
July 5 and 6
by Ellisfield Village Association (EVA)
Details can be found at the bottom of the Events section. (Click HERE to display the EVA publicity poster and click HERE to display and print out the Entry Form).
Posted Thu Mar 7, 2013:
Landlords leaving the Fox Inn
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Karen and Paul are leaving the Fox Inn. Karen made
the following announcement to this website:
“We would like to thank everyone who supported
us in our short stay here. A. special thanks to Sylven Lea for keeping the villagers
informed and running a book on us. We would love to see you all for a farewell drink
this weekend”.
Posted Fri Mar 1, 2013:
PC Reid: Suspicious Black Nissan Navara, Registration No.
AV09 AEC
This afternoon, at about 1.30pm, a black Nissan Navarra (AV09 AEC) was seen in Powntney
Copse near Upton Grey containing three white men. The vehicle comes from the Wokingham
area and we have knowledge of it and some people linked with it, usually offering
to do various “'household jobs”.
I ask if anyone sees this vehicle to give us a call
as soon as possible.
Posted Wed Feb 27, 2013:
PC Reid: Suspicious Silver/Grey Car
There have been a number of burglaries to properties in rural areas around Alton
and Basingstoke over the last month and Police are asking for members of the public
to report any suspicious activity, particularly with regards to silver coloured vehicles
at private properties during the day.
I am aware that between 8.30am and 9.00am on
Monday, February 18 in Church Street, Upton Grey, a silver car was seen parked and
two suspicious men were seen looking into a house through the windows. This may well
be the same vehicle seen at a burglary at Brown Candover in November.
I ask that if
anyone has seen any silver/grey car, most possibly a VW, in suspicious circumstances
to please give me a call on 07768 776844 or 01256 389050 as soon as possible.
Please
be extra vigilant and report (using the above phone numbers or 101) anything that
looks suspicious. For emergences, please use the 999 number.
Posted Tue Feb 26, 2013:
Anaerobic Digester (AD) Update (2)
Open Session of the Parish
Council
The first Open Session at last night’s PC meeting was, as expected, primarily about
the Anaerobic Digester. The tree work has been completed and road widening is still
scheduled to start on March 6, with Busheywarren Lane CLOSED for up to a month.
Residents
expressed extreme concern regarding the possible increase in two-
Posted Thu Feb 21, 2013:
Sainsbury’s Is “Horse Free”!
Sainsbury’s, the village’s “local” supermarket, has announced that “after around
250 tests, no horsemeat has been found in any of our products”. Their full statement
is HERE.
Posted Feb 17, 2013:
Phantom Road Works !!!
Road closure signs have appeared twice in the last fortnight at the top and bottom
of Green Lane and then, after a few days, mysteriously disappeared.
It’s now been
discovered that road works are planned in Nutley (just north of Axford), to start
on Monday 18, on the main road AND on an unnamed slip road which is known locally
as Green Lane!
It’s more than possible that the man dropping off the signs presumed
that it was OUR Green Lane that was having the work done.
Mystery solved? Perhaps!
Posted Feb 12, 2013:
Anaerobic Digester (AD) Update
A meeting was held on Friday 8th February between Barfoot Energy and village representatives (Ellisfield Parish Council supported by Ellisfield Village Association) to discuss the impending work for the new AD plant on Bushywarren Lane. In summary the work will be conducted in three phases:
1. Tree work commencing on Monday 18th February, lasting all week, prior to widening
the lane in two places. Unlikely to involve road closure but there will be caution
signs warning of men working in road.
2. Road widening of Bushywarren Lane, constructing
2 passing places, subject to a road-
3.
Road salting and attention to Bagmore Lane route to A339 will be organised via a
local farmer should we face inclement weather during the works.
Site construction
completing in December.
The next Ellisfield Parish Council meeting on 25th Feb will focus on providing as much detailed information as is available, as well as giving everyone the opportunity to ask questions and conduct an open discussion.
Posted Feb 10, 2013:
Ellisfield Reported Crimes in 2012
Nine crimes were reported in Ellisfield last year. Although this was ostensibly an
increase of four over the five reported in 2011, it did include three garage doors
broken open on the same night!
These nine reported crimes consisted of a theft of
the lightening conductor from the Church, the theft of lead from a house being renovated,
three thefts of heating oil (twice from the same house!) and (as mentioned above)
three garage doors broken open.
Lastly, PC Reid saw a car parked up in an isolated
area and, when spoken to, the driver produced some cannabis and enforcement action
was taken.
Conclusion? Make sure you have good security (locks, alarms and lights)
for your garage and oil tank!
Posted Feb 8, 2013:
Attempted theft in Northgate Lane
PC Reid would be grateful for any information which you may have about an attempt
to steal a quad bike from an alarmed garage in Northgate Lane LAST THURSDAY (February
1) between the hours of 02.15 and 02.30 hrs.
Please telephone him should you be aware
of anything -
Posted Feb 1, 2013:
GREEN LANE - ROAD CLOSURE ?????
.jpg "... click to see notice FULL SIZED")
The road closure notices (Monday 4th for four days) at the top and bottom of Green
Lane have disappeared. Contact has been made with the Highways Department and they
don’t know why!
When -
UPDATE (Feb 5): Heard nothing… So, notices possibly erected in
error?
Posted Jan 31, 2013:
New Chief Constable
Andy Marsh, currently Hampshire Constabulary’s deputy Chief Constable, will take
over from Alex Marshall next Monday, Feb 4.
Speaking after his appointment, he said
“I look forward to working with the police and crime commissioner in building and
developing a policing service that focuses on the needs of all those within our communities”.
Posted Jan 25, 2013:
Ellisfield Volunteer Group’s
2013 Cutting Schedule Released
To view the 2013 Cutting Schedule, visit the Group’s web page HERE or click HERE. Currently, there are only three slots available and residents who have not already volunteered are urged to contact one of the Area Contacts (details can be found on the Schedule).
NEW FEATURE (from Jan 25, 2013):
In The Fields … articles
The monthly articles by agronomist and Ellisfield resident Seumas Foster will now appear on this website, subsequent to their publication in Hill & Dale. This new feature can be found via the ”In The Fields …” button above.
Posted Jan 12, 2013:
Ellisfield Volunteer Group AGM
The well attended AGM was held on Friday evening, Jan 11, at the Memorial Hall. The
formal proceedings (including Any Other Business discussions at the end of the meeting)
took just 35 minutes. An excellent example of the efficiency of the Group!
All current
committee members were voted back on except for Seumas Foster who had decided to
stand down after many years of service to the Group. Two new members were then voted
onto the committee; Margaret Evans (who is already the co-
The formal proposal that “EVG shall continue operations
in 2013” was passed unanimously. The meeting was followed by refreshments.
A PDF of
the Chairman’s Report is HERE.
Posted Jan 8, 2013:
Theft from Hill Farm Cottage
AT AROUND 9PM ON MONDAY EVENING (Jan 7), Hill Farm Cottage (opposite the pond near
the top of Green Lane) was broken into and had items stolen.
A white van was seen
parked outside the cottage at that time and PC Andrew Reid urgently wants to hear
from anyone else who saw this van.
PC Reid can be contacted on 07768 776 844.
Posted Dec 18, 2012:
Horticultural Society 2013 Events
The 2013 Events Programme can be viewed HERE.
Posted Dec 18, 2012:
2013/14 Precept
Ellisfield Parish Council
At the Parish Council meeting on Dec 10, it was decided to keep next year’s precept (the total amount of money required for the running of the council) at £5,521, this being the same as the 2012/13 year. However, if the annual grant provided to Ellisfield by Basingstoke Council is drastically cut, the Parish Council retains the right to revisit the matter (but it is not expected this will be necessary).
Posted Dec 12, 2012:
Police & Crime Commissioner
Survey Form
Hannah Houstin-
Posted Dec 5, 2012:
Fast Broadband in Ellisfield?
A link to Hampshire County Council’s fast broadband update information pages has been added to this website. Just click on the navigation button above or click HERE.
Posted Dec 1, 2012:
Christmas Security Advice
from Hampshire Constabulary
To read this (common sense) advice either click on the Navigation button above or click here.
Posted Dec 1, 2012:
Ellisfield.org.uk Goes Live!
This website went “live” this morning. Thank you to all who helped with supplying
the content.
Anyone who goes to the old ellisfield.gov.uk will be automatically redirected
to this website’s Parish Council home page.
| HOME PAGE (including News & Events) |
| Ellisfield's History, People & Settlements |
| Fast Broadband Updates |
| "In The Fields ..." Articles |
| Christmas Security Advice |
| AMENITIES Overview |
| St Martin's Church and Hill & Dale Magazine |
| Memorial Village Hall |
| The Fox Public House |
| Parish Land & Assets |
| Rights of Way |
| GROUPS Overview |
| Bell Ringers |
| Horticultural Society |
| Ladies Club |
| Neighbourhood Watch |
| Oil Syndicate |
| Recycling Initiative |
| Village Association |
| Volunteer Group |