NEWS

The Heritage Society is very sad to annouce that Louise Cox, one of our longest serving members of over 50 years, sadly passed away peacefully in Mayfield Nursing Home, Hook, on 16th September.

Louise moved to Hazeley Bottom with her three young children in 1970 from Kent. Her interest and keenness to be involved in environmental issues led to her joining the CPRE (Campaign for the Protection of Rural England) and becoming Secretary of the Hampshire Branch for many years as well as finding the time to be a Parish Councillor for Mattingley. She joined the Preservation Society (as the Heritage Society was then called) as a member in 1972, helping to establish the foundations of the Heritage Society as it exists today. She served as a long-term committee member until 2022 when ill-health finally stopped her from giving the involvement and commitment that she had provided for many years.

I know that her positiveness, sense of humour and overall village knowledge and history will be sadly missed by all who knew her.

John Sage

24 September 2024

Autumn Meeting – Wednesday, 23 October – Victoria Hall at 7.30 pm. Our guest speaker will be Taran Matharu from the Elvetham Hotel who will be giving an update on the changes and improvements made to the hotel since the last update to the Society in July 2021. We will also be presenting prizes at this meeting to the winners of our 2024 Front Garden Awards. Look out for more information on this on the village notice boards.

Lodge Farm - Proposed Distribution Centre - As we have previously reported a pre-application has been made (23/02242/PREAPP) to Hart District Council related to a 24hour operation of a new Warehouse Distribution Centre for circa 105,000 sqm of commercial logistics floorspace with ancillary office accommodation, associated car parking provision, plus landscaping and highway works for Land at Lodge Farm, Hook Road, North Warnborough. The site will be situated by the current M3 junction 5 with a new dedicated access from the existing junction. There have been many concerns raised on this site and a dedicated group has been established to directly oppose it (see www.villagesopposewarehouses.org) and while it is not within Hartley Wintney the site is likely to have a significant impact on traffic and pollution in the village. A public meeting was held in Hartley Wintney on June 25 where it became apparent that there was a widespread lack of knowledge of the details of the proposals. Therefore, we encourage you to review both the pre-app and above website to obtain more detail on this potential huge development which is in a pre-dominantly rural area, will adversely affect nearby residents and have a big detrimental impact on the landscape and associated Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

Hampshire County Council tree planting – You may have noticed over the last few months that there has been a number of new trees planted in the pavement highways by Hampshire CC as part of their Climate Change Strategy but did you know that the public can also request for trees to be planted on the highway outside their homes where suitable verges exist. There is a review and approval process for this but if it is something of interest more information can be found at https://www.hants.gov.uk/ (search for “tree planting”). In the first season following planting HCC will visit and water a new tree several times but even better is for the local community to help with this until the tree is sufficiently mature for it to survive by itself.

If you care about the village you live in and would like to know more about its rich history and heritage please join the Society to show your support. For more information go to our HOME page where a membership form can be found.

John Sage

01 September 2024

In case you have not already seen the recent announcement on the Parish Council website there has been a new planning application made for the former Grey House school site.

Beechcroft Developments Ltd are looking to take over ownership of the site and new plans have now been submitted to Hart District Council. These are available for public view and comment on the Hart District Council Planning website with reference 24/01435/FUL –and cover erection of 35 older persons age-restricted dwellings comprising 31 apartments and 4 cottages (all comprising 2 bedrooms) together with associated landscaping, car parking and ancillary development and alterations to site access arrangements.

The developers were invited to the Parish Council Planning Committee meeting held on Monday 12th August 2024 where they briefly presented an overview of their plans and answered questions from both the PC and a small number of members of the public who also attended. From this meeting it was communicated that

• The application generally follows the principles laid out in the previous care home application around building size and location but as the new application is for residential use only there would be no need for central food preparation or restaurant facilities.
• The planned acquisition will only go ahead if the formal planning application is approved.
• All dwellings will be age restricted (55 and over) and will be leasehold only.
• Generated traffic volumes were stated as being 39% less than the previously approved care home application.
• The development would not be viable if on-site affordable housing had to be provided.
The Society committee will be reviewing the proposed plans in detail but we also encourage you to do this and submit any comments that you have to Hart District Council via their planning portal or email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

John Sage

15 August 2024

Autumn Meeting – Wednesday, 23 October – Victoria Hall at 7.30 pm. Our guest speaker will be Taran Matharu from the Elvetham Hotel who will be giving an update on the changes and improvements made since the last update to the Society in July 2021.

 Front Garden Awards - Judging for this annual award has now taken place. Announcements of the winning gardens will be made on the village noticeboards with formal presentations of prizes at the Society’s Autumn meeting on 23 October.

The Heritage Society 2024 Journal is full of interesting articles and if you would like a professionally printed copy, these are available at £3.00 each and can be ordered (along with all other Society published books) from our website.

If you care about the village you live in and would like to know more about its rich history and heritage please join the Society to show your support. For more information go to our HOME page where a membership form can be found.

John Sage

02 August 2024