On 25 March, the Government announced its decision on the arrangements for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Havant Borough Council (HBC) has updated its LGR web page (Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)) in a cursory and rather unhelpful way, so this article draws on the more informative Hampshire … Continue reading Local Government Reorganisation Update
New Town Centre Business Group Established
A recent meeting held at St. Faiths Church with town centre businesses, agreed to Havant Civic Society establishing the group within its Placemaking and Public Realm role. The Civic Society has an effective working relationship with Havant Borough Council and the general public, as well as other organisations, and has a credible reputation to co-ordinate … Continue reading New Town Centre Business Group Established
Havant Banking Hub Announcement
Following the recent closure of the Lloyds and Halifax branches in Havant precinct, a Banking Hub has recently been announced (HBC website 19 February ). I am surprised and delighted about this as I had been told by two Lloyds Bank employees (from very different parts of the company) that there will not be a … Continue reading Havant Banking Hub Announcement
HBC’s ‘Strategic Commissioning Programme’ comes under scrutiny
Why does this post matter? It matters because Havant Borough’s planning record has been compromised. The HBC Strategic Commissioning Programme appeared to have left the Borough's planning archive so damaged at the point of the cutover in September 2025 that officers were forced into a series of reactive database 'fixes', almost certainly without a coherent … Continue reading HBC’s ‘Strategic Commissioning Programme’ comes under scrutiny
HCS report of the Southleigh Development Consultation Forum, 27 Jan 2026
Press to send DCF feedback to Bloor Homes IntroductionSummary report of the meetingOverviewPurpose and Format Bloor Homes Presentation Community Group Contributions (5 minutes each)Councillor Questions Bloor responsesKey ObservationsFull record of the meeting - Video and text transcriptHCS Editorial comment Introduction This post contains a summary report of the Bloor Homes Southleigh Development Consultation Forum held … Continue reading HCS report of the Southleigh Development Consultation Forum, 27 Jan 2026
Deep joy. A new nail bar is coming to West Street
In this week's planning list, the former charity shop on the western side of the former NatWest bank in West Street brings further competition to the local nail bar market market. Surely a good thing? Want to look inside, here's the floor plan. Click to zoom If you want to raise a comment on this … Continue reading Deep joy. A new nail bar is coming to West Street
Southleigh Development Consultation Forum – 27 January – Tickets now closed
Please noteThe venue for this meeting has now been changed to the Civic Plaza and all tickets for the event have now been fully allocated. Havant Borough Council has decided to hold a Development Consultation Forum (DCF) to consider the following Bloor Homes development proposals for Southleigh: Southleigh Strategic SiteUp to 1,800 new homes, a … Continue reading Southleigh Development Consultation Forum – 27 January – Tickets now closed
Havant MP weighs in on the Bloor Homes Southleigh development proposal
HCS has been made aware of the following letter from Alan Mak MP which signals a welcome and timely intervention in local planning matters: Southleigh Development - Use of residential roads for construction accessDear ResidentI am writing to you in my capacity as your local Member of Parliament about the proposed housing development at Southleigh, … Continue reading Havant MP weighs in on the Bloor Homes Southleigh development proposal
Just how late will HBC’s new Arcus planning system be?
According to the schedule that we disclosed in November, the original planned 'Go live' date for the new system was 1 April 2025. According to the latest disclosure from Havant Borough Council's Information Governance Officer, the actual implementation date was 6 August 2025. What we now know is that 11 December 2025 is the date … Continue reading Just how late will HBC’s new Arcus planning system be?
Corruption of the HBC planning data continues
Havant Borough Council remains silent on its glaring failure to migrate over fifteen years of planning data, while administrative staff - apparently assisted by Arcus Global - compound the problem through ad‑hoc, unmanaged and inconsistent manual update activity. Over the last couple of months, HCS has tracked a steady stream of issues. The evidence from … Continue reading Corruption of the HBC planning data continues
Havant Civic Society 