Newtown Parish Assembly

Monday 23rd May

Newtown Village Hall

Drinks and nibbles from 7 pm

Meet fellow residents

Meet your parish, borough and county councillors

Raise any concerns on local matters

Newtown Parish Council:

Parish Clerk:       Rebecca Cloke

Email: clerk@newtown-pc.org.uk

Chairman:           Tony Webb

Councillors:         Sean Curry, Tom Reseigh, Jo Exelby, Bob Ward

As we slowly emerge from the perils of Covid, we are faced with the terrible invasion of Ukraine and all the associated worries about when and how it might end. Since the referendum of 2016 our lives have been affected by events over which we have little or no control. This makes the role of small communities, like ours, more important and we very much hope that your support for the jubilee celebration on 5th June will underline how we remain a unified and interdependent parish.

Planning: Many of you will be only too familiar with the seven approved planning applications for a relatively small area of the village. The parish council has tried hard to support the concerns of local residents, but the current guidance, based on Case Law, does not adequately provide protection for rural communities. Your Parish Council has engaged with many other rural parishes within Hampshire and is currently campaigning for a change in the rules that work against our best interests.

Fallen Trees: Following successful lobbying by your Parish Council, supported by Basingstoke & Deane, Hampshire County Council has now accepted responsibility for fallen trees on the Common. The system is working well and several incidents have been dealt with swiftly.

Recycling: The temporary pass system expired last July despite Basingstoke and Deane offering to contribute to a further extension. The previous extension was 50% funded by Basingstoke and Deane, although responsibility for recycling rests with Hampshire County Council. HCC has stated that it intends to identify and build a new recycling site in northwest Hampshire, but a site has not been identified.

Common Management: The Parish Council successfully applied to renew the Countryside Stewardship agreement with Defra, which will pay for much of the management on the Common for the next 10 years.  Thanks must go to Simon Melville and Rebecca Cloke for their tireless effort to achieve this milestone.

Contractor and volunteer work has continued on spraying bracken and management of areas of heather and scrub.  The forestry students from Sparsholt College returned for a few days for the first time since the start of the pandemic.  SSE carried out work along the southern and eastern power lines, managing vegetation and replacing a number of poles.

Jubilee Village Tea Party: Sun 5th June – 3pm in the Village Hall

We are delighted that so many parishioners have accepted our invitation to the village tea party to celebrate HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.  If you have accepted, we will be in touch shortly with further details of the arrangements. If you missed the RSVP deadline but wish to come, please contact the parish clerk or Jo Exelby by return to be added to the guest list.

Speed Awareness Initiative: The Parish Council has invested in a new Speed Indication Device (SID) which will be deployed regularly on both the C45 and the B4640 from May 2022. The aim is to reduce the number of vehicles travelling above the speed limits of 30 mph (C45) and 50 mph (B4640) and the new device will also enable data analysis to support the Parish Council’s ongoing lobby for safer roads in the parish.

Communication:  Keep up to date with all the parish news via our notice boards, website (www.newtown-pc.org.uk) and Facebook page (can be accessed from the website).

Newtown Village Hall: The call for adequate parking at Newtown Village Hall has long been voiced by both local residents and users of the hall. Newtown Parish Council has raised sufficient funds over the past 3 years to enable work to finally start on creating parking spaces for 15 to 20 cars.

Overgrown shrubs and some small trees have now been removed and the area has been marked out for the ground works and track improvements which will now follow over the coming months.

Sandleford: The latest planning application for the Sandleford development has now been “called in” by the Secretary of State. This means that he will take the final decision on this appeal because it is a sizeable development that has a significant impact on the housing targets the Government has set.  The decision has been delayed but is expected later this year.

Agenda for Parish Assembly

Welcome by the Chairman

Apologies for absence

Approval of minutes of the 2021 Parish Assembly

Matters arising from the 2021 Parish Assembly

Report on 2021-22 by the Chairman

Report from Borough Councillor, Samuel Carr

Report from County Councillor, Tom Thacker

Open Forum

Close