HIRA Report - January 2004
- Tue 6th Jan 2004
 This month's report from Hayling Island Residents Association covers the following topics:
Hayling Billy Trail
Havant Vision
Football Ground
Council TaxJanuary Open Meeting – The Billy Trail
First, our Public Meeting on Thursday, 15th January, at the URC Hall will make a number of presentations on the state of the Billy Trail. We hope to discuss the likelihood of improved bridge access, the link-up from the bridge to the existing trail, the surfacing issues and the fact that English Nature is unlikely to permit repair of those parts of the trail in imminent danger of being washed away by the sea. So, come to our meeting to hear the various points of view and to make your contributions to the matter.
The Havant Vision
‘Towards a Vision for Havant’ has been published by the Borough Council and a presentation of its contents has been made to interested parties. These included Councillors, Business Organisations and groups such as Residents’ Associations.
The presentations took the form of talks by various Council Officers who contributed little and the author of the document who did not have time to cover all the issues. Various points were made and there were several contributions from the floor by people representing Hayling, including myself. Having now that time I have had time to read the document provided, there are many items which will interest residents.
Generally, Havant Borough was presented as an area with many attractions, primarily the coastline, but of considerable deprivation, compared to other parts of Hampshire.
Industry was held to be backward and still dependent on a declining manufacturing base. There was not enough incentive to ensure that those who would revitalise the economy would wish to invest and live here (30% commuting outflow).
The major town centres were held to be boring and unimaginative, with the exception of Emsworth, whose ‘character and attractions provide an inspiration for what leads to success.’
On the other hand ‘Hayling is not pulling its weight as a tourist attraction.’ I, yet again, made the point that, without a sandy beach, Hayling has little pulling power and that the Council MUST give more thought to the matter. Other resorts import sand and gain accordingly.
The report suggests that there is insufficient quality housing in the area to attract the type of people who will provide the economic improvements demanded. For instance; ‘few managers live in the Borough…. due to lack of attractive neighbourhoods’, there are ‘boring uniformity of housing styles’, ‘masses of street furniture’ and ‘few opportunities to live overlooking water’.
In terms of issues which could affect Hayling the document comments: the Council should ‘commission a study of developing new housing along the coastline’, there should be ‘a broader range of …. housing with moorings close by’, ‘new housing on the Borough edges’, ‘an assessment of the creeks and inlets as at Hayling’, (this last not necessarily only for housing) ‘there are probably sites on Hayling where well designed housing would add to the attraction’, ‘waterside housing can create attractive places to live’, ’housing overlooking water commands a premium …which could be ploughed back to provide access to the coast’ etc.
The document covers many other issues such as transport, industrial start-up units, and the general integration of Havant into a prosperous member of a wider modern hi-tech community.
A few throw-away comments are made, such as ‘well located wind turbines could provide Havant with the equivalent of the Angel of the North’ (perhaps they could power the traffic lights at Langstone?)
Copies of the document should be available from the HBC Communications Team. All in all, the document is quite positive and many of its contents need to be taken seriously, but the above points might raise some concerns in the Island as a whole.
Football Ground
As I am sure many people will know, this matter has now risen to such a contentious state that considerable flexibility of thought needs to be achieved. At the request of the objectors to the scheme, the Committee of HIRA received a delegation that presented its views. It is a shame these points were not raised at the public meeting that we held earlier.
As people will know if they read this column, HIRA provided support to this application after our AGM in October, as a result of a presentation by the Football Club and a subsequent vote to support the application. No objectors to the proposal turned up at the meeting, in spite our giving as much publicity as we reasonably can to such matters.
Inevitably, one part of the community now feels that HIRA did not protest enough and we were asked why we did not. When WE ask if the people concerned are members of HIRA and have paid their subscriptions, the vast majority say they have not.
This illustrates the problem we have. People expect us to act in a way which supports their position, without being members of the organisation. People say there is no point in joining if we do not agree with their views.
The only way round this difficulty is for people to join HIRA and then participate in our activities. If we had more members we could be more effective on their behalf.
In previous discussions of the Football ground issue in this column, we HAVE referred to the concerns that we believe should be addressed in dealing with the matter.
The position now seems to be that the main objections to the ground are not the physical issues of location etc, but the fact that the ground will be used by adults rather than by the pupils at the school.
The main problem therefore seems to be in the conditions that should be imposed by the school on the users, rather than on the actual planning application itself. If the application had been for the school for its own use, it would seem that the matter would be opposed far less.
The way forward now seems to be in the hands of the school, as the providers of any lease that might be agreed and of the Council in terms of whether Planning Approval should be given. We hope that the various parties can be reconciled.
Council Budgets
Last month I referred to my attendance at the HCC budget discussions held in Winchester. Since then I have also attended similar meetings with HBC and with Hampshire Police authority. This is the first year that the Police Service has submitted its own independent figures. Similarly, the Fire and Rescue service will submit its own budget, independent of HCC, which in the past managed both on our behalf.
This independence now means that HCC has no direct control over either Authority, though clearly is still able to exert some pressure in terms of a limited degree of political influence
From our point of view, the Council Tax is going to go up whether we like it or not. Public authorities can demand money in ways which are not open to private industry or individuals. The only power we have is to vote out the party in power at any elections that may be available, but this seems not to make much difference in the longer run.
The Government has taken fright to an extent and is supposed to be providing more money, but whether that comes from local or central resources again makes little difference.
Last month I had a comment that my view on such issues sound like a party political manifesto. Fortunately the Audit Commission published its latest report a couple of days after the last Hayling Islander was distributed, making essentially the same point. Phew!!!.
HIRA now wishes its members all the best in the New Year. Please join us and pay your subscriptions. If you respond, we can do our best to support the interests of all Islanders and ensure that the problem that arose over the football ground does not occur again. If people do not join we cannot be expected automatically to know all your thoughts and to act accordingly.
Main contacts:
Chairman: Paul Fisher 9246-1412
Membership: Fred Gibson 9246-6995
Notice Board: Lois Neale 9246-9339
Reporter: Tony Higham 9246-4723
By forum user, Mat
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