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Contract Issued to Rebuild the Monxton & Amport Village Hall
Monxton & Amport Parish Councillors met with our Architect (Luke Rose) and the MD of Huttons (Gil Hutton) a local builder based in Andover.
At the meeting we reviewed the final proposal from Huttons and agreed to go ahead with a turnkey contract to demolish the current hall down to the current foundations and build a new Oak framed building as per the design provided by Luke Rose. Luke Rose will also be project managing the build.
As most people may be aware, we were able to fund this project having won a £345,000 grant for the Community Infrastructure Levy fund and £25,000 from the Community Asset Fund, plus funds raised over the last five years from village events.
The work on the demolition will start in January and the building works are expected to take approximately 30 weeks taking us to September/October 2023 for completion.
We will need to store the current tables/chairs and some kitchen equipment so if anyone has some spare storage space, please contact either Mike Cleugh 01264 710276 or Chris Harris 01264 772240.
Until the demolition starts, the village hall will be open as usual for meetings and for hire.
Mike Cleugh Chris Harris
Chairman Chairman
Hampshire County Council is seeking the views of residents about 20 mph limits within Hampshire.
The County Council is keen to hear from as many residents, businesses and other stakeholders as possible, to find out their views on the implementation of 20mph limits in the context of other highways priorities and the County Council's statutory duties to maintain the highway in a safe condition within a limited budget.
The findings from the survey, together with data about use of the highway, speed enforcement, road safety and environmental impacts will be important in helping to shape future policy relating to 20mph speed limits in Hampshire and, in turn, future decision-making around 20mph speed limits.
The survey is available at: https://www.hants.gov.uk/transport/transportschemes/20mph-speed-limits-consultation and should take just 15 minutes to complete.
It is open until midnight on Monday 12 September 2022.
AMPORT FULL FIBRE UPDATE JUN 2022
In February 2021 a group of Amport residents initiated the process to apply for a Fibre Community Partnership (FCP) to bring Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) to give Amport homes and businesses modern internet speeds. Under this scheme the Government provided a voucher worth £1500 per home or £3500 per business to offset the cost of installation.
We leafleted properties and had initial indications of interest from about 80 houses in Amport and East Cholderton. In May 2021 Openreach gave us an initial rough estimate of £223,000 for 180 premises (i.e. £1,238 per property, if all signed up). However, many of the premises included in that estimate were in Penton and Fyfield, and we asked Openreach to refine the proposal to focus on Amport and East Cholderton.
In October 2021 we advised Amport residents whose houses are on the Abbotts Ann exchange (i.e. those which are to the East of Sarson Lane) to enrol onto the Abbotts Ann scheme, which most of them did.
In January 2022, Hampshire was amongst those included in the Government’s latest Project Gigabit Procurement Process, which is an alternative to the Government subsidy of Openreach schemes. This procurement process was expected to last about 8-9 weeks, i.e. to conclude around March this year; and the Gigabit Voucher scheme was suspended for those areas included in the procurement process, including Hampshire (Phase 1b, Lot 27). However, at the time of writing in late June that process has still not concluded.
Also in January 2022, Openreach undertook a detailed survey of Amport and East Cholderton lines, visiting individual houses in order to provide a more accurate estimate of what it would cost to deliver their FTTP scheme.
In June 2022 we received a second proposal from Openreach which offered to provide fibre to 139 properties for £391,000 (i.e. £2,816 per property if every property signed up). This offer from Openreach is not likely to be affordable to the majority of residents, especially as the Gigabit Vouchers are not currently available.
The Parish Council discussed the latest Openreach proposal at their meeting on 20 June 2022, and agreed that the best course of action was to wait for the outcome of the Gigabit Procurement Process, and then to take a view on which route to pursue. The Parish Council also agreed to engage with Test Valley, Hampshire County Council, and potentially also our MP, to ensure that our concerns with the failure to conclude the Gigabit Procurement Process are understood.
Planning Application
A planning application has been made by Novus Renewable Services Ltd for permission to erect a solar farm and battery storage etc on land at Lains Farm, Cholderton Road, Quarley. The land is in Amport Parish. A plan of the proposed development is attached [to find on website], and full details can be seen on the TVBC planning website under reference 21/03760/FULLN.
Amport Parish Council, together with the Councils of Thruxton and Quarley, was consulted by the developers at earlier stages of the proposed development. The Council now needs to spend time considering the application in detail, but must present comments by 4 February 2022. Comments from parishioners can also be submitted directly to TVBC via the planning portal