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Banking Hub Update – 16 July 2026
Following the closure of Lloyds and Halifax branches in January, the new, temporary, Banking Hub is due to open in Market Parade sometime this week, current outlook Friday. There was a representative from the organisation which sets up and manages Banking Hubs at a table in the Meridian Centre last Friday lunchtime (10 July), though…
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Who was ‘Calico John’?
As the July meeting of the Havant Local History Group drew to a close, an audience member asked the HCS Cub Reporter: “Who exactly was “J. Bulbeck”, and what right did he have to be possessive about the wall that carries his name?” That was the second time in as many days that the subject…
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New Havant Banking Hub to open in July 2026
Havant Civic Society has been informed by Cash Access UK that they have signed a Leasehold Property Agreement (LPA) with Havant Borough Council for the temporary home for Havant’s Banking Hub. The hub will will open mid/late July 2026 at 39 Market Parade. The location is the currently shuttered unit between ‘Lily Nails‘ and the…
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Havant Town Centre – A renewed focus on Placemaking
Havant Civic Society believes Placemaking to have an important role in developing Havant Town Centre into a thriving destination to visit, work and to which residents can have pride in their town. Placemaking can be viewed and defined as a collaborative, multi-stakeholder process that goes beyond urban design and planning, to foster local identity, community, and economic vitality. Effective…
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New Town Centre Business Group Established
A recent meeting held at St Faith’s 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…
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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…
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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. If you want to raise a comment on this planning application by…
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Park Road North – A Bridge Too Far?
Update – 29 November Given by the number of hits this post has already had from social media, and the typical TL;DR reaction, blaming ‘the council’, most people don’t have the time to get beyond the first photograph, missing the bigger picture. Havant Borough Council has no obvious responsibility here. The bridge itself – including…
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Waterlooville – 2, Havant – 0
Following on from our cub reporter’s last post, she’s been digging a little deeper and come up with this bizarre result. Lloyds Banking Group are closing both Havant branches in January 2026, but keeping both Waterlooville branches open! For a bank who only a few weeks ago were trumpeting the news that their two branded…
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Counting down the weeks to the last bank in town
Since our cub reporter’s original post concerning local banking in August 2024, there have been quite a few updates . . . The most significant is that BOTH the Lloyds Bank and the Halifax in Havant are set to close in January 2026. It is ironic that a poster in the Lloyds branch advertises that…
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Heritage Open Days – Looking back on Havant 2025
It has been a busy week. Havant Civic Society has been supporting the Heritage Open Days’ events; there was a wide-ranging programme in the Havant area this year. Perhaps you noticed the big pink banners near the railway station and around town? All the events are free, open to all, and advertised on the Heritage…
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Heritage Open Days – Havant now firmly on the map
In 1985 the Council of Europe set up European Heritage Days, to raise awareness and appreciation for Europe’s cultural heritage, and the need for its care and protection. Today, 50 countries take part, each running it in their own way to highlight the dazzling diversity of Europe’s heritage, and our intercultural links. Heritage Open Days (HODs) is…
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24 flats above the Park Road South / West Street shops
One notable entry in this week’s planning list is the long-anticipated redevelopment of the West Street / Park Road South corner plot. Sold earlier this year for £2,500,000, you might have spotted our reference to it in this post from March. What is being proposed in the current planning application is rather less ambitious than…
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St Faith’s heritage – A tale in two postcards
Here at HCS we take on many research challenges and it was a delight to have one that, for once, didn’t involve the murky world of local planning. Over the bank holiday weekend, we received an email from a gentleman who’d ‘never been to Havant but had a dip in the sea at Southsea during…
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New planning application puts Burger King back on the map
This week’s planning list contains a seemingly innocuous planning application submitted by BKUK Group Limited, applying for an extension of trading hours to allow for 24 hour operation of its drive in/collection operation at Burger King in Park Road South. The company is also requesting that the operating hours for its restaurant be shifted earlier…
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Easter Bank Holiday fun in Havant town centre
An excellent show put on by Havant Borough Council in collaboration with the Port Solent Car Meet on Easter bank holiday Monday in the town centre. Plenty of lovingly-polished metal on show for kids of all ages, and an Easter egg hunt with 150 chocolate eggs just waiting to be found. Check out the pictures…
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HBC takes enforcement action over the Golden Slots
We’re pleased to see that Havant Borough Council’s Lead Enforcement Officer has slapped a Temporary Stop Notice on the former White Hart on the corner of of North Street and East Street. The external state of the building has deteriorated significantly over the past year and we welcome this action by Planning Services. What is…
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HBC Public meeting, 29 August – Bulbeck Road Car Park
It’s worth posting a few thoughts about last night’s meeting at St Faith’s Church. Firstly, it was great to see that the HBC Regeneration team took a leaf out of the HCS playbook and booked the best community venue in town. Thanks, as always, to ‘Canon Tom’ for his ever-welcome commitment to the use of…
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Where has the money gone . . . and where can I get some?
In the temporary absence of the normal ‘writer of rants’ on this site, our Cub Reporter has delivered this quick (?) round-up of the banking establishments left in Havant and why cash is important: Barclays – The branch in East Street closed in August 2022. There is now a ‘presence’ in the Library in the…
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Proposal for a micro-pub in Havant park
If you’ve been wondering what could be happening at Park Lodge, the cottage at the western end of Havant Park by the crossing over Park Road North, look no further. This proposal for a new business venture by a Portchester-based family business has clearly been given a lot of thought. The business owners propose the…