In these difficult circumstances, we expect all our Councillors to pull together and put the interests of the town, the HBC Officers and their electorate ahead of their own personal interests, especially when it comes to squeezing residential homes onto clearly unsuitable sites. We've been doing a little digging in the digital archives, inspired by … Continue reading Aura House – Digging into the planning history

We should all be grateful to Phil Munday for keeping the pressure up on both Havant Borough Council and Hampshire County Council on this one. Many have complained about this for many months but at long last, we now have a bright, shiny repainted zebra crossing in Havant. (It's still in the same lethal position, … Continue reading There’s nothing like a looming election for getting some long overdue action taken!

The demise of another victim of the COVID19 pandemic occurred last week, with the sudden closure of Café Nero coffee shop in West Street, Havant. The Café Nero chain has been trying to refinance their business and unfortunately, this town’s branch was one of the casualties in this restructuring. I think it’s very sad, especially … Continue reading Café Nero, it’s more than a coffee shop closure

A contribution from Ann Buckley. "One hundred and twenty five years ago today Fairfield (the Board School ) opened its doors to the first eighty pupils. Ninety years later, l had the great pleasure working with a team of parents to publish 'Fairfield Then and Now' which compared the school during the first headship of … Continue reading Fairfield School – 125 years – 1895 -2021

Back towards the end of November, we commented on the new application for fifty homes at Lower Road, Bedhampton, which Luken Beck had submitted on behalf of Bargate Homes. Their previous application had been convincingly refused in March 2020, and while Bargate had already taken it to appeal, somebody thought it would be a bright … Continue reading Lower Road Bedhampton – ‘Same again please’

When we summed up the events of September, we wrote about the perfect storm that we find ourselves in. If you don't remember, it might be worth going back and refreshing your memory. Towards the end of that piece we noted that HBC were charging headlong into an ever closer union with East Hants District Council.  … Continue reading Two councils, one shared executive and one common lack of transparency?

With the imminent closure of their last remaining Debenhams, along with Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Topshop and Miss Selfridge, Portsmouth's Commercial Road retail offer has all but sunk without trace. The following post has been written by a friend of HCS who lives in Southsea, a regular visitor to Havant. Worth reading and considering just … Continue reading Retail in Havant – ‘A letter from Portsmouth’

Sad news in the current planning list, the two large horse chestnut trees outside Fairfield School are to be felled as part of extensive tree works taking place within the school grounds. The details of the plan can be found at this link. The trees affected are shown on this plan, with the key to … Continue reading The Fairfield School horse chestnut trees are to be felled