HHRA Update 11 March 2026

AGM and GAFIRS

It was good to see so many of you at the AGM last Monday. Thank you, too, for your donations to GAFIRS: we were able to contribute £95 via their website www.gafirs.org.uk 

Town centre regeneration

A reminder that you can view the plans for the town centre regeneration at the former Clarks shoe shop in the shopping mall on either Thursday 12 March 4 – 7pm or Saturday 14 March 10 – 3pm (there has been some confusion about the timing on Saturday, but FBC have now confirmed 10 – 3).

Osborne View rebuild

We met with the project team last Wednesday for our monthly update.  Much concrete still has to be poured and the installation of the crane is scheduled for 26 and 27 March, following which it should be possible to open the road by the end of the month.  The plan is that a very large crane will be taken down onto the site, where it will facilitate the building of the massive crane on site.  The massive one is called a raptor crane – you will see why when it rises from the site….

A reminder that Breezes café remains open during the period of road closure.

Next meetings

A reminder for your calendars of our next two meetings:

·       Monday 6 July 7pm (half an hour earlier than usual) at the Catholic church hall: Councillor Lulu Bowerman and colleagues from HCC and VolkerFitzPatrick  - The M27 underpass and junction 10 of the M27

·       Monday 5 October 2026 7.30pm at the Catholic church hall: Paul Edwards, project manager for the Osborne View rebuilding project.

HHRA Update 27 February 2026

Bargate Homes’ application for 62 houses on land west of Old Street P/24/1553/OA

As we told you last week, sadly, Bargate Homes have appealed to the national Planning Inspectorate against FBC’s refusal of planning consent for this application.

If you are one of the many people who submitted comments on the application last year, you will have received a formal notification of the appeal from FBC, but for those who have not, the letter is attached.

Your committee will be watching for new documentation from Bargate Homes and will make sure we submit any further comments by the deadline of 27 March.

The Planning Inspector will have all information from the earlier stage of the process so, unwelcome though it is to have to accept this, there is regrettably no point in sending representations which simply repeat what has already been said.

The hearing will be held in the council offices on 9 and 10 June.

Consultation on town centre redevelopment

The very welcome plans for the redevelopment of Fareham town centre will be available for comment at two sessions the week after next, both at the former Clarks shop in the shopping centre:

Thursday 12 March 4 – 7pm and Saturday 14 March 10 – 2.  For more detail, see the press release below.

https://www.fareham.gov.uk/latest_news/pressrelease/pr_20260220_1

Closure of Hill Head Road

You may have seen the signs alerting us to the next closure of Hill Head Road, between Old Street and Solent Road, for up to five weeks from next Monday 2 March.  This is to enable Turvey Construction Ltd to achieve the next stage of the Osborne View rebuild, including installation of the massive crane.  Turvey are hopeful that the closure period will be less than five weeks, but have had to err on the side of caution, given the many problems they have encountered.

Turvey, HHRA and our councillors have all asked HCC to make the signage and diversion routes much more sensible than last time, but who knows….?

Breezes café will remain open throughout, including discouraging the cyclists who insist on ignoring the road closure signs and in some cases speeding through, across the Breezes forecourt, in a very dangerous manner.  If you observe any cyclists doing so, please feel free to make discouraging noises!

AGM and talk from GAFIRS 7.30 Monday 2 March Catholic church hall Bells Lane

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our meeting next Monday evening. Do bring cash with you if you would like to make a donation to GAFIRS for the excellent work it does. Buckets will be provided!

HHRA Update 18 February 2026

Land west of Old Street P/24/1553/OA

I am very sorry to bring the bad news that Bargate Homes have appealed against Fareham Borough Council’s refusal of planning consent for 62 houses on the fields west of Old Street.  They appear to have left it close to the six month time limit after FBC’s 14 August decision, but clearly put their appeal into the Planning Inspectorate before the deadline.  The planning officer at FBC says they have no information yet as to the timescale or process (and I have found nothing on the Planning Inspectorate website), but everyone who commented on the application will be notified when that is known.

The Planning Inspectorate is a national body, completely independent of the local authority.  At this stage we do not know if there will be a full public hearing, as there was for the same site in 2018.  In that case, the hearing lasted a week, with hearings at the Civic Centre at which FBC, Bargate and their expert witnesses spoke to the written evidence they had submitted, and members of the public were allowed to speak (briefly).  The week concluded with a site visit by the Planning Inspector.  The Inspector subsequently dismissed Bargate’s appeal in January 2019.

Other, less formal and lengthy formats are possible and we shall hear in due course how it is going to be managed.

We will keep you posted.

Historical files from Westbury Manor

We are grateful to our member who sent us this information about the files from Westbury Manor museum, after it was closed by Hampshire County Council:

Visiting the craft shop in Westbury Square, craft shop, I discovered, alongside the craft materials, lots of files lurking at the back of the shop. Upon inspection and discussion with one of the volunteers who was there when Westbury Manor closed, I was told that HCC wanted to retain all the historical files for the area and offered them to FBC who declined. Then they offered them to the library which also declined. They are now all (lots of them!) residing in said craft shop for public viewing. The files cover Fareham, Portchester, Stubbington, Hill Head and Titchfield etc. One can simply rock up, select one's interest and sit and read. Sadly, they can't be lent out. The other part of the shop is for folk who may wish to paint pottery etc etc but it does have a coffee machine! On a dull wet day, it may interest others in our area who may wish to sit and read! I had absolutely no knowledge of all of this and just wonder how it passed me (and others?) by!

The shop trades as "Crafty Makery" at 27 Westbury Square.

Phishing fraud

Hampshire Alert have sent out the following warning:

“Which?” are warning of a fake email stating that a “subpoena” has been issued, demanding access to your email account.   This is completely untrue – it is a fraud designed to instil panic in order to harvest your personal and financial information, contact lists etc.  The warning is aimed at gmail users, but it could affect any email account.  For more details please see: https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/which-warns-gmail-users-to-watch-out-for-this-convincing-phishing-email-a9POc6M9CBmP

Please do share this important warning with friends and family and encourage them to sign up for their own Hampshire Alert: https://www.hampshirealert.co.uk/ 

Members’ meeting and AGM

A reminder that our AGM (papers circulated 8 February) and talk from the chair of GAFIRS (Gosport & Fareham Inshore Rescue Service) will be held on Monday 2 March at 7.30pm in the Catholic church hall Bells Lane.  We look forward to seeing you there if possible for you.