The 16th March meeting of the 'full' council was particularly poorly attended considering the nature of the business on the agenda and the Cabinet's need to demonstrate progress before the May elections. With productivity inevitably waning when the Council breaks for 'the pre-election period' on 28th March, there's not much time left. If you don’t … Continue reading The March 2022 ‘Half-Full Council’ – the HBC leader’s ship sinks lower
The Cabinet celebrates its achievements on Independence, Freeport, Regeneration and more
The HBC Cabinet Meeting of March 7th was a rather smug, self-congratulatory affair, looking to start lining up the press releases that could be issued as soon as the March Council meeting rubber stamped its achievements. With a number of significant items on the agenda, it's worth listening to the meeting, or at least dipping … Continue reading The Cabinet celebrates its achievements on Independence, Freeport, Regeneration and more
HBC’s bold new strategy kicks the Regeneration can down the road again
The latest series of Regeneration Papers were considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Havant Borough Council on Tuesday, 1st March, passing 'scrutiny' with flying colours and no issues flagged. The papers passed through the Cabinet meeting on Monday 7th March with only a minor amendment and their passage through the next full Council … Continue reading HBC’s bold new strategy kicks the Regeneration can down the road again
HBC admits defeat over the Local Plan and declares open season for builders
Given the two important items on the agenda of the Planning Policy Committee on February 22, those of us in the virtual public gallery had settled in for the long haul. We needn't have bothered, the meeting closed barely an hour later. Why is this important to everybody? If you’re new to this, take … Continue reading HBC admits defeat over the Local Plan and declares open season for builders
Amazon – Analysis of the Planning Committee’s decision
Updated from original report of the meeting, February 4thUpdated , 19-2-2022, added final Conclusion The 'Amazon' disclaimer As the Planning Committee Meeting was reminded on February 3rd, there is still no official statement identifying the intended occupier for the 32 New Lane site. The two planning applications for that site have been considered "for what … Continue reading Amazon – Analysis of the Planning Committee’s decision
Amazon Havant – HCS brings you the facts that HBC considered irrelevant
Updated - 11 February 2022Updated - 17 February 2022 - Added link to Planning Committee decision analysisUpdated - 18 February 2022 - Added discussion of 'new' Amazon delivery model By the time you've finished reading this, you should be much better placed to judge whether or not the Officers and elected representatives of both Havant … Continue reading Amazon Havant – HCS brings you the facts that HBC considered irrelevant
That New Lane planning application – In the News today
There's a double bill of content in today's print edition of the News. Firstly Toby Paine's article, which has unfortunately been edited for the print edition and in the process, has lost a significant sentence from the original online edition published on 27-1-2022. (See HCS post from the same day) To read the full text, … Continue reading That New Lane planning application – In the News today
Latest update on Amazon from ‘The News’
There's a good piece by Toby Paine in Today's News - online edition. (Click the image to read) When the original planning application was approved in September 2021, regular readers will recall that HBC Planning Services attached a number of carefully worded planning conditions. The most significant of these required that traffic counters be placed … Continue reading Latest update on Amazon from ‘The News’
An Extraordinary Cabinet meeting with a lot of added boosterism
At this afternoon's brief Extraordinary Council Meeting, Cllr. Satchwell likened the split with East Hants District Council (EHDC) to "a de-coupling, a divorce, or 'other things'", but suffice to say, in less than ten minutes, we witnessed an extraordinary degree of upbeat boosterism from the Leader as the Cabinet listened attentively, debated in 'the usual … Continue reading An Extraordinary Cabinet meeting with a lot of added boosterism
Amazon’s* white vans, parking on a street near you next year
On 9 September last year, the Planning Committee approved the demolition of the Pfizer site at 32 New Lane and its replacement by an Amazon distribution centre. HCS and the New Lane Residents had argued long and hard that the traffic numbers on which the application was based were completely unsound, a fact that any … Continue reading Amazon’s* white vans, parking on a street near you next year
Havant Civic Society 