Community Organisations Merge
Community First East Hampshire and the Havant Council for Community Service merged on 1 September 2012, creating a new body which will trade as Community First HEH (Havant and East Hampshire).
These two local councils for voluntary service joined services to ensure that the new body is in a robust position for future generations. For the time being, Community First HEH will maintain two operational bases, one at Petersfield and one at Havant.
The services currently provided include Meals-on-Wheels, Community Transport, Shopmobility, Volunteering Centres, Training, Community Development, Payroll, Day Services, Equipment Hire, Circulations and Information services.
Estee Lauder tickets
Estee Lauder shop tickets can now be obtained from Dan Lucking, in the Council Tax department.
The tickets allow you to visit the Estee Lauder shop, on Bedford Road, Petersfield, on Saturday mornings, between 8.30am and 1pm and buy goods at reduced rate. The offer is open to EHDC staff and to councillors.
There are some conditions, though, so please make sure you look at the back of the tickets for those.
Contact Dan Lucking on 01730 234143
Body Matters - Massage service
A company called Body Matters offers massage treatments for sports injuries, aches and pains, and for general relaxation, as well as foot health treatments, head massage and reflexology - all delivered in the workplace.
This service has been operating at Penns Place for eight years and has proved to be very popular. Staff and councillors are able to have a treatment on site during the day at a very competitive price, avoiding the need for travel/treatment costs associated with seeking a private practitioner outside of office hours. The Healthy Workplace Whole Body Health service from Body Matters will be offered across both authorities from September, sessions (lasting for 30 minutes) will be available on the following dates:
EHDC Penns Place:
Thursday 27th September - 11am - 3pm
Friday 28th September - 11.30am - 3pm
Thursday 25th October - 11am - 3pm
Friday 26th October - 11.30am - 3pm
Thursday 22nd November - 11am - 3pm
Friday 23rd November - 11.30am - 3pm
Wednesday 19th December - 12 noon - 4pm
To celebrate the extension of the service to cover both authorities, all new appointments will be offered at £10 for September only (usual price = £16 per 30 minute session). All appointments need to be booked in advance by contacting the practitioner, Val, at bodymatters1@yahoo.co.uk, on 07742 634266, or via the website www.bodymatterscowplain.co.uk. Val is also very happy to answer any queries you may have and to provide any further information you may require.
Autism Conference
Councillors and staff can gain an insight and better understanding of Autism through two forthcoming sessions.
Mark Housten will be presenting - he has Autism. He is a fascinating speaker and will offer an insight into this disability to raise awareness to enhance our customer service both internally and externally.
Sessions are open to everyone and will be based on a first-come, first-served basis. Numbers will be monitored in case more sessions are required. If you would like to attend please send names and preferred date/learning location directly back to servicesupport@havant.gov.uk by October 3rd.
Disability - an insight into autism will be held on October 9, 9.30am - 11.30am, at EHDC Council Chamber and October 15, 1.30-3.30pm, at HBC Council Chamber.
Contact: Caren Ransom, Equalities & Access Officer, Havant Borough Council and East Hampshire District Council. 023 9244 6007 or 07776 010945.
Planning Progress Update
Planning Development
Despite the economic downturn both Development Management teams and the Technical support teams are extremely busy with a number of major applications.
The planning teams work very closely with planning policy, housing and economic development to deliver both council’s strategic priorities of jobs and homes for local people.
This update is provided by Julia Potter, Executive Head, Planning and Built Environment 01730 234376 or 023 92446501
Major applications in East Hampshire
A number of major housing applications have recently been approved. Some schemes that had stalled are now progressing – for example, Gales Brewery in Horndean and Chandos Lodge in Alton. This is all very encouraging since not only does it provide much needed homes but the Council also received New Homes Bonus money from the Government. This amounted to £885K in 2012/13
A number of retail schemes are also progressing – Tesco in Alton and a new Waitrose in Alton opened in August. This all provides much needed jobs in the district.
The team works very closely with the South Downs National Park Authority since they are the planning authority for the area of the district within the Park. We provide a full Development Management service on their behalf (including Planning Compliance, Tree and Heritage services) and they pay us for this work through an SLA, Service Level Agreement. The team has been working hard assisting in the implementation and development of the Park Authority’s IT system that will run parallel to the council’s system.
The Building Control teams
Both teams now have a shared Team Leader (Robin Seamer) and they will be working on improvements to the way we deliver the service in the coming months. Income at both Councils appears to be increasing.
The Planning Enforcement and Tree services
Both councils have heavy workloads, generated in part by the recent growth in major development proposals, both planned and under construction. At East Hampshire the Planning Compliance and Tree Service has been reorganised and relocated in the north block at Penns Place.
The Land Charges and Address Management teams
We continue to provide an excellent service that is paid for by the income generated from search fees.
Planning Policy
The key focus for both Havant and East Hampshire has been to ensure we have robust plans in place to provide the right balance of certainty and flexibility about new development for investors and local communities. Central Government believes that new development can boost the economy. The Councils' planning policy approach is therefore changing to provide more flexibility, adapt to development viability concerns and give a high profile to economic development. This highlights the highly political nature of planning.
In East Hampshire it is hoped that the Local Plan will be in place by March 2013. The Plan, which runs until 2028, has been developed by the Policy Team in partnership with the South Downs National Park and the Whitehill and Bordon Eco Town team. An Inspector will consider the proposals at a public examination that starts on 23 October. In East Hampshire there is perhaps more potential for Neighbourhood Planning to develop as a means of identifying sites for the future, although the challenge is for local people to make very difficult development decisions.
Key projects for both teams will be the introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) by 2014. CIL will largely replace developer contributions from Section 106 agreements and will have a financial impact on many aspects of the Councils' work. The Havant Policy Team are front runners for CIL, with the charging schedule currently being considered by an examination inspector.
The Heritage Team is working across both Councils and is developing their web presence to provide a consistent and enhanced service
Daphne Gardner announces impending retirement
Daphne Gardner, Director of the Whitehill Bordon Project, has announced her intention to retire and has asked for this to be included in the Cllr Briefing in her own words.
I am writing to advise you that I have been discussing internally the possibility of my retiring from EHDC in the not-too-distant future. You will probably know that I have been working on the Whitehill & Bordon Opportunity project (as it then was - it later became the eco-town project), since its inception in 2003, originally in my role as Deputy CE and then, from 2010, as Project Director. I took up the post of Project Director on a part-time basis and since then have attempted to play a leading role in this complex partnership project part-time.
The District Council remains firmly committed to the Whitehill & Bordon Eco-town project which continues to be a key Council priority. It has become increasingly clear over recent months that ideally the Project Director post should be full-time. My retirement will enable the recruitment of a replacement, full-time member of staff to take the project forward into delivery. I want to stay with the Council for as long as it takes to recruit the new Director and give them a proper induction and handover. This will probably take some time to achieve so I am expecting to be around for several more months!
As for me, I am - and will always remain - immensely committed to this excellent project which is a superb opportunity for the town, district and area. I am both honoured and proud to have played a small part in making it happen. But I hope by next spring/early summer to be in a position to do a little travelling and to see a bit more of the world beyond Bordon!
We aim to advertise for the new director in September; we will keep you posted on progress of the recruitment and we intend to involve relevant partners in the process. In the meantime if you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me,
Daphne
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