Much of the Parish Council’s focus over the past few years has been on the severe deterioration of Byways Open to All Traffic (BOATs), particularly those going up to Butser and Fiveways in Ramsdean.
Hampshire County Council (HCC) has spent significant amounts of public money on repairing these BOATs, only for them to be quickly damaged again by motorised vehicles such as Trail Bikes and 4X4s, exposing the BOATs to further damage by exceptionally heavy rainfall. HCC now propose to trial a permanent BOAT closure by using Traffic Regulation Orders, the first of which will be BuƩons Lane in Priors Dean. This decision is expected to be strongly opposed by the Trail Riders Fellowship and inevitably HCC expect the closure to be challenged in Court. HCC are preparing significant legal work to prepare for this.
Following reports from Parishioners, the Parish Council are concerned about the safety of the junction where the C28 meets the A272 on The Old Hop Kiln side of the Green at Langrish. Accidents and damage have been caused by large Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) taking the smaller road alongside The Green, where the narrow exit onto the A272 is clearly not suitable for HGVs. Both Cllr Blackwell and HCC Cllr Mocatta have asked HCC to consider finding ways of making the slip road safer for all users either by imposing a weight restricƟon or making a no right turn restriction from the Hop kiln junction to the A272. LPC are still waiting for a response.
The Parish Council has also approved the purchase of a new Speed Camera to replace a very old existing camera on the A272. This decision arose following a speeding vehicle trying to overtake a tractor causing an accident and damage to one of the houses on the A272 at Langrish.
LPC have also been in contact with HCC about tree subsidence on the A272 on the approach to Langrish Village on the left coming from Stroud. Again, no reply has been received from HCC.
Potholes continue to be reported for repair, especially on the C80 and on Ramsdean Lane near Harrow Way Farm. Again, no reply from HCC.
The Community Orchard at Langrish Meadow has suffered the loss of several trees after last year’s severe drought. New trees have been purchased and will be nurtured until the roots are sufficiently rigorous to withstand another drought.
Both the Old Telephone Box and the Seat on Langrish Green were restored and repainted last summer and residents have kindly volunteered to mow Langrish Green on a regular basis. The Green now looks very smart.
Concern about what will happen to the War Memorial in St John’s has been raised by the Parochial Church Council (PCC) to the Parish Council. Unfortunately, a decision has been taken by the Church Commissioners that the Memorial should not be moved until a suitable new venue is establish by St John’s PCC before the Church is to be closed. After the closure of the Church it will be more difficult
to obtain permission for the Memorial to be moved. LPC has supported an application by the PCC to remove the Memorial to storage before the Church is closed, but this option was refused. It has also been established by Cllr Heatherington, that the LPC are legally not allowed to fully fund a new War Memorial, but can support fund raising by Parishioners by donating towards any costs in the building of a new Memorial.
Sadly, Cllr Nigel Talbot Ponsonby has decided to retire after 28 years’ service on the LPC. His local knowledge and especially his expertise on trees will be very much missed. Nigel will be extremely hard to replace, and I would like to thank him on behalf of the Parish for the huge contribution he has made to the Parish after so many years.
Debbie Luff
The Squeaker 