Osborne View Special

Osborne View

As promised, John Lewthwaite’s very interesting history of the Osborne View is on the website www.hhra.org.uk Local History.   Please feel free to share it with family, friends and neighbours.  You will see that John will be very happy to receive further information and to publish an updated edition in future if appropriate.  We are extremely grateful to John for preparing something that will be enjoyed by so many people.

McColls’ closure

The delayed closure of McColls in Stubbington and work to change it to a fully fledged small branch of Morrisons will now take place from 5pm Monday 25 March to 6am Friday 12 April

Scams

A possibly familiar one: Apple Pay was suspended on your device!  We noticed the card you’re using on your device is associated with multiple devices.  As a security measure we have temporarily blocked Apple Pay service until we confirm that you are the rightful owner of the card.  Confirm Now. Your Apple ID cannot be used to make payments with Apple Pay until you re-activate your ID. 

Please don’t!

Consultation on town centre redevelopment

As we heard from Councillor Woodward last Monday, work to develop plans to rejuvenate the town centre are very active and the latest consultation is advertised below:

We are inviting residents to have their say on options for the regeneration of the town centre at two upcoming Community Action Team (CAT) meetings:

1.      13 March at 7pm, Gateway Church, 171-173 West Street, PO16 0EF

2.      19 March at 7pm, Waypoint Church, 255 Hunts Pond Road, PO14 4PG

Previous activities have helped to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the town centre currently, alongside opportunities for improvement.  These will be presented to attendees at the CAT meetings, alongside options under consideration. There will then be time for attendees to tell us their favoured options as well as to ask any questions they may have'.  

You do not have to book – simply turn up.

Dates for members’ meetings

Monday 24 June and Monday 4 November – do put them in your calendars.

HHRA Update 29 February 2024

AGM and members’ meeting 26 February

We were very pleased to see about 70 members on Monday evening.  Councillor Woodward’s presentation is on the website www.hhra.org.uk Gallery and notes of both the AGM and the Councillors’ Q & A session are also on the website under About Us: Notes of meetings.  You will see that the issues that you raised prior to the meeting were discussed and in some cases, further action is planned.  The committee will keep in touch with the councillors about that action.

Osborne View

As most of you will know, owners Hall & Woodhouse have stated that they intend to rebuild and re-open the Osborne View as a pub, although that will inevitably take considerable time.

Our local historian John Lewthwaite is very kindly putting together a history of the building and we will circulate that to you as a single item Update shortly and put it on the website.

If you wish to vote….

As we are now only two months from the Fareham Borough Council elections on 2 May, we shall include in all our Updates the important reminder that, if you are voting in person, you will need photo ID to enable you to vote. You can use any of the following:

Passport; driving licence; older person’s bus pass; disabled person’s bus pass; Defence Identity Card.  There are others, but unlikely to be relevant in this area. 

If you do not have any of these, you can apply for a Voter Authority Certificate via www.gov.uk/apply-for-photo-id-voter-authority-certificate or ring FBC on 01329 824588 to make an appointment at the Civic Centre.

The card you receive with polling station details is not valid for ID purposes.

The easy alternative is to apply for a postal vote: the deadline for applications is 17 April via www.gov.uk/apply-postal-vote or ring FBC on 01329 824588.

toob poles

Broadband firm toob have been putting up poles in the area during the last week. Many members have expressed their frustration with the arrival of more poles, though we know that others will welcome further broadband options. Fareham Borough Council as the planning authority tell us there is nothing they can do, as the poles are ‘permitted development’.  We have written to Caroline Dinenage MP but her office tell us she has had no success making representations to Ofcom or seeking a meeting with toob (which is a Portsmouth based firm, incidentally).  We have continued to quote the Code of Practice which we included in an earlier update:   https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2023-05-15/debates/23051516000024/PlanningPermissionForTelecommunicationTelegraphPoleInstallation. Objections sent by individual residents to complaints@toob.co.uk, 023 9300 9300 or X (Twitter) @toobbroadband may well succeed, even in getting them taken down after they have been erected, so do try.  The website www.one.network may show the planned locations.

Latest new - an email from toob's complaints manager on Friday afternoon saying  'Our poling programme was completed in this area 2 days ago. There has only been one pole installed along Cliff Road.   Along the seafront we are not looking to introduce poles in areas where there weren't any before. When the time comes for us to install our network for residents between Knights Bank Road and Old Street, we will be installing a ducting system and plan to keep our network here underground'.

Portsmouth Water: Knights Bank Road, Haven Crescent and Great Gays

In case you have not seen the notices and if it is relevant to you, Portsmouth Water will be doing major work to replace the water main from 25 March. Road restrictions and traffic lights will be in place for up to eleven weeks.

Consultation on HCC budget for 2024.

A further reminder that consultation remains open on Hampshire County Council’s budget plans.  Potential cuts include bus services subsidised by HCC (of which the number 21 is one); closure of some household waste recycling centres; closure of some museums including Westbury Manor and the Ashcroft Centre in Fareham; complete removal of the budget to support people who are homeless; ending of various grants to community groups….and more.  The link to the consultation, which runs until 31 March, is https://www.hants.gov.uk/aboutthecouncil/haveyoursay/consultations/future-services-consultation   Do please send in your individual comments – if you don’t respond, they don’t know what you think. 

Scams

They keep coming, even if HHRA hears about fewer of them since Peter Wason left us!        A call telling you 'Because you've recently changed providers .... your SIM card will run out...' is fraudulent.

 You may well find the following website helpful: https://stopthinkfraud.campaign.gov.uk/how-to-spot-fraud/  and a member who sent every one of the large number of scam emails he was receiving to report@phishing.gov.uk was delighted that they all stopped!

Future Members’ Meetings

 At the AGM, it was agreed to have three rather than four open meetings during the year, omitting the cold, dark months of December, January and February.  We will circulate the dates for the rest of this year shortly and they will be posted on the website.

HHRA Update 9 January 2024

Next meeting changed to Monday 26 February 7.30pm.  The next meeting was scheduled for Monday 4 March, but will now be held one week earlier.  Please put the new date in whatever form of calendar you use!

The reason is that Councillor Sean Woodward, leader of FBC, tactfully mentioned that HHRA was the only residents’ association in the borough that had never invited him to speak…. and, given his departure from the council in May, time was getting short. As you know, Councillor Woodward has been immensely supportive over our bid for Haven House and many of us also remember the very positive partnership with the council over the Old Street fields planning application and appeal.

Our own councillors, who were scheduled to do a Question & Answer session on 4 March have courteously agreed to stand aside and Councillor Woodward will join us.  He will focus at least initially on the plans for the town centre redevelopment but will doubtless be happy to answer question on a range of issues.

The reason for the changed date is that 4 March is the date of the meeting of the Executive committee, chaired by Councillor Woodward, hence going a week earlier.

We shall also hold our AGM on 26 February.  We shall be at our usual location, the church hall in Bells Lane.

Consultation on HCC budget for 2024. Many of you will have seen coverage of the proposals under consideration by HCC to try and balance their books for the coming financial year.  Potential cuts include bus services subsidised by HCC (of which the number 21 is one); closure of some household waste recycling centres; closure of some museums including Westbury Manor and the Ashcroft Centre in Fareham; complete removal of the budget to support people who are homeless; ending of various grants to community groups….and more.  The link to the consultation, which runs until 31 March, is https://www.hants.gov.uk/aboutthecouncil/haveyoursay/consultations/future-services-consultation   HHRA will certainly respond as an organisation but do please send in your individual comments as well – if you don’t respond, they don’t know what you think.  (Yes – we know the experience with Haven House consultation is not encouraging, but we have to keep trying!)

‘Cloning’ of car key codes. Further to our note sent out on 5 January about the vulnerability of car key codes if the keys are left in an accessible location - ie close to the front door/letter box/window – a number of members have reminded us that it is wise to keep coded car keys in what is, in effect, a Faraday cage.  That can be purchased from your usual online supplier as can a pouch which does the same job whilst your key is in your pocket or bag.

Haven House.  There is no definitive new news, but we are happy to include the latest communication circulated by the THCH Trustees:

We wanted to provide a brief note to add to our 21 December message, reporting the news that Councillor Oppenheimer had accepted a bid from a private purchaser for Haven House.  He did make contact later that day to draw our attention to the press release issued by Hampshire County Council and, in particular, the phrase 'We hope that the aspirations of the local community will be met by the successful bidder'. The full press release is on the website www.thcommunityhub.org.uk Latest News.   It would be marvellous if the purchaser wanted to re-open the cafe and we would be delighted to speak to them at any appropriate time.  We do appreciate that the process of moving from an offer being accepted to contracts being exchanged can be a long and sometimes difficult one, so we shall remain patient and be glad to respond if we are approached.   Indeed, should the accepted bid not come to fruition, ours will still be there on the table!

Crofton pub planning application for two houses. As many of you will have learned from the local publicity, the Planning Committee on 13 December refused planning permission, despite the officer recommendation to approve.  There were deputations from local people and Councillors Kay Mandry and Pal Hayre also spoke, opposing the plan.  The basis for the refusal recorded in the draft minutes is the permanent loss of eleven car parking spaces from the Crofton pub and the resulting effect on the surrounding roads.  It is of course possible that the applicant may appeal and we will keep you updated on that.     

Subscriptions for 2024.  Subscriptions of £3 per household are now due for membership in 2024 – our thanks to those who have already paid. It would be very helpful if as many as possible can pay by bank transfer or by standing order. HHRA's bank account details are:

Hill Head Residents’ Association; sort code 30-98-97; account number 74507262. 

For those who prefer to pay by cash, do bring your £3 to the AGM on 26 February, or drop through our new Membership Secretary Julie Taylor’s letterbox at 53 Knights Bank Road PO14 3HZ.  Cheques should be made payable to Hill Head Residents’ Association and posted to the same address.