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.