District Council Reports

WINCHESTER CITY COUNCIL – UPPER MEON VALLEY WARD
PARISHES UPDATE FOR SEPTEMBER 2023

Road Schemes
Two potentially disruptive sets of works are scheduled for this month:

• Morestead Road: scheduled to be closed 24/7 for up to 6 weeks from 18 Sep 23 from its
  junction with Hazeley Road to Bar End. This is likely to result in significant increases in
  traffic on Hazeley Road, and potentially also through Owslebury, and the Lane End/Wheely
  Down route from the A32 to the A31, affecting Warnford, Beauworth, Cheriton and
  Tichborne parishes.
• M27 Jct 10: Preparatory works for the improvements to Jct 10 to serve the Welbornedevelopment will cause partial overnight closures of the A32 and the junction sliproads on various dates in Sep and Oct 23. Details are here.
• South Downs Local Plan Review: Parishes have been asked to complete a Parish Priority Statement to support the Local Plan. Whilst the deadline given is in Oct 23, the Planning Policy Team has indicated that extensions will likely be granted, particularly if that would permit full consultation with Parishioners. It is emphasised that, whilst a valuable opportunity for communities to state their preferences for development and amenities, the statements will not form part of the future Local Plan but will certainly inform its compilation. Demonstration of effective community consultation will be an important factor in the weight given to the preferencesexpressed and will also serve to support CIL and other grant applications.

WeCAN Parish Councillor Climate Info Event
Sat 16 Sep – 1000-1200 – hosted by Winchester City Council at their Colebrook St offices, for
parish councillors and clerks. An opportunity for parish councillors to find out more about
the climate crisis – the science behind it, the impact and how carbon emissions can be
reduced. Taster sessions on Carbon Literacy Training and Climate Fresk – both are engaging,
collabora]ve and interac]ve methods of exploring climate crisis issues. More information and
booking here.

WEST MEON
Storey’s Meadow Steps

The Land Registry plan (attached) for the Storey’s Meadow site, when compared to the WCC
interactive map, clearly shows that the larger part of the steps fall within the red line of the
Housing Association’s ownership. The maintenance of the steps is therefore likely to rest
with Hyde Housing. Should that prove insufficient to ‘nudge’ the Association into action the
Public Sector Housing Team at Winchester CC could be engaged to assist.

OWSLEBURY & MORESTEAD
Accessibility and parking at Beech Grove

A review of parking for the older persons’ bungalows at Beech Grove has shown that there
is no space for further spaces. It would, however, be useful to know how many, if any, of
the residents are Blue Badge holders, which may allow exceptional work to be undertaken.

KILMESTON, BEAUWORTH
Community Transport

It is becoming clear that, unfortunately, nationally no Party sees many votes in pursuing
initiatives for improving rural bus services. Within Hampshire, the County Council has no
funding to improve the situa]on as costs escalate and is doing its best to maintain the status
quo. It is therefore likely that any improvement will have to come from the voluntary sector.
We are fortunate to have the Meon Valley Community Bus Associa]on (MVCBA) and its
recent annual mee]ng demonstrated that there may be some room for manoeuvre in
expanding its offer. A major change in its opera]on during the past year saw it taking on an
HCC contract for the scheduled Wednesday (market day) run to Petersfield. It might be
possible for its Winchester runs (currently the first Friday of each month) to become a fixed
weekly run; similarly, it might be possible for these runs to be routed through Kilmeston
and/or Beauworth to replace a link lost many years ago. But there is clearly no point in
pursuing these ideas if there is no demand to be served. It would therefore be useful if
those parishes were able to poll the needs and wishes of their residents.

UPHAM
Land to the south-west of the Alma Inn

The 2023 update to the SHELAA was taken by the Winchester Cabinet 18 Jul 23 and the map
attached shows the sites that have been put forward by developers in Upham, and includes
a sizeable swathe of land around Alma Lane/Sciviers Lane, although not all in the ownership
of developers. Of course, it is only that area of the parish outside the SDNPA boundary that
is included within the search area for the Winchester SHELAA so not too surprising that
Alma Lane/Sciviers Lane become targets. The SDNPA equivalent of the SHELAA has yet to
be published. A Land Registry search shows that the freehold of the Alma and its car park is
still held by the brewery (Mitchells & Butler) but the land beyond to the south-west was
transferred a couple of years ago to Chiswell Properties. Copies of the Land Registry Title
and Plan are attached.

Resurgence of ADD to address Eastleigh Local Plan Review
It is assumed that ADD would wish to build on (apologies!) the existing agreed position
statement with the SDNPA achieved for the current Eastleigh local plan with a view to
ensuring something similar is in place at the end of the review. It is suggested that there
needs to be some audit of whether the aims of this statement have been achieved, albeit
that the current spate of construction on land to the east of Fair Oak is yet to complete. The
Parish Council may be best placed to lead this work.

Neil Bolton                                    email: NBolton@Winchester.gov.uk
Jerry Pett                                       email:  JPett@Winchester.gov,uk

Winchester City Council Ward Members for Upper Meon Valley