Autumn Meeting – A very well attended meeting took place on the 12^th October and we are grateful to the presenters and society members for making it a success.

The winners of the 2022 front garden awards and 2022 photo competition were announced and full information follows below. Our thanks go to everyone involved in helping with these activities.

Victorian Heritage of Elvetham –The Society is delighted to promote committee member Andy Morris’s latest book which is available to purchase at £8.00 per copy. It is a companion publication to the previous book on the Victorian Heritage of Hartley Wintney. Andy has again made use of the tithe map for Elvetham, published in 1839, together with the seven census returns between 1841 and 1901 to document and provide a picture of Victorian life in the old ecclesiastical parish of Elvetham before it was incorporated into the present-day civil parish of Hartley Wintney. A series of maps have been drawn and compared with post Victorian Ordnance Survey maps to illustrate how surprisingly little Elvetham has changed since the Victorian period. We are sure that this will be an interesting read and perhaps a suitable Christmas present! To order your copy this can be done via the website.

Front Garden Awards Winners

John Sage

27 October 2022

Autumn Members’ meeting – Wednesday, 12^th October at 7.30 pm at the Victoria Hall. Following our successful and well attended AGM and Spring meeting, we look forward to welcoming you to hear a presentation on the Royal British Legion by RBL committee member, Ali Grant. The meeting provides an opportunity to join the Society on the night and to hear updates on current Heritage Society and other village activities. Doors will open at 7.00 pm.

We will be announcing the winners of our annual Front Garden Awards and Photo Competition at the Autumn meeting and our thanks go to everyone who has helped with these events.  

We are also delighted to announce that a new book, A Victorian Heritage of Elvetham, has recently been written by HWHS committee member Andy Morris and will be published in the near future. Further details will be available soon.

 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 the Contact Us section of the web site.

John Sage

02 October 2022

Autumn Meeting – Wednesday, 12 October – Victoria Hall at 7.30 pm where we will have a presentationfrom on the history of the Royal British Legion from RBL Hartley Wintney committee member, Ali Grant.

Front Garden Awards - Judging for this annual award has now concluded and the overall winners will be announced in our Autumn meeting. We very much appreciate the help of everyone who has been involved in the judging over the last few months.

 Photo Competition – We will also be announcing the winner for this in our Autumn meeting.

The Heritage Society 2022 Journal is full of interesting articles and if you would like a printed copy these are still available and requests for this and our other Society publications can be made from our website.

John Sage

30 August 2022

The following has been taken from the Hart District Council Web Site relating to a recent audit undertaken following the curtailment of the Shapley Heath project in November 2021.

"Shapley Heath Audit Review

On 26 July 2022, Hart District Council’s (HDC) Audit Committee met to consider the internal report commissioned to review the procedures and governance of the Shapley Heath Project, which explored one of the potential options to meet future housing demand in the district.

This project had been undertaken with the encouragement of the then Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), who promised Hart substantial funding to look at a possible Garden Village in central Hart.

The Shapley Heath project was curtailed in November 2021, when government funding failed to meet the levels that MHCLG had advised HDC to expect. It has however delivered ten informed and evidenced baseline reports which can underpin any future Local Plan Review and help advise the council of the viable options for meeting future housing need. This evidence base has a real value and will benefit the people of Hart should the government allocate the area a substantially increased housing target.

The Audit report did identify a number of deficiencies in the way the project had been managed. These did not have a material influence on the outcome of contract tendering, nor in the quality of the material produced. However, the failure to meticulously follow Hart’s own internal processes is recognised. Hart District Council sincerely apologise for these deficiencies and promise to take the audit report findings on board. A review of the report’s findings and recommendations shall be undertaken and will involve a number of the council’s committees.

Cllr. David Neighbour, Leader of the Council, said “Hart District Council will learn from the mistakes made regarding the governance and procurement of this project. I welcome the work done by the Audit Committee and apologise to the people of Hart for these failings. We will provide appropriate training to ensure that this doesn't happen again.”

Deputy Council Leader, Cllr. James Radley, added “The residents of Hart deserve and should expect full transparency in the operation of the council. That this did not happen on this particular project is a grave concern. I can only apologise on behalf of all those involved and to state my determination that lessons shall be learnt. “

Meanwhile the project's ten baseline reports are saved ready for the Local Plan Review, where they will join output from other housing option studies."

This summary and the full audit report is available here

and the We Heart Hart website provides further information and evaluation at Shapley Heath Audit

John Sage

31 July 2022