Dear Grayshott residents,

Here is my newsletter for week commencing 7th. March. It's my fault that it is posted a little late in the week. I will post the next update of this newsletter during week commencing 18th April.

You may have noticed that I have been occupied with general District Council matters over the past few weeks and so, unusually, I have included a short update on those matters as well.

Police Changes

Hampshire Constabulary have been reorganising their resources over the past few months and as I have said in previous newsletters, I feel this has generally benefited Grayshott. The main benefits, apart from retaining a substantial allocation of a beat officer to village policing, is that we now also get more time from our sector sergeant because Grayshott has been allocated to a smaller area than before. On top of that, patrol cars in our division have been asked to drive through local villages when they are not assigned to an incident in order to raise the profile of policing locally.

Our divisional commander, Insp. Gerry Thorne, has introduced to me to the new sector sergeant, Sgt. Nickson and he was kind enough to meet with me at my home recently. I found him to be understanding of our issues and genuinely concerned about the policing matters that trouble us here in Grayshott. With a background in Avon and Somerset Police, he seems to understand these problems well. We discussed police visibility, problems at pub turning out time, parking and vandalism.

Sgt. Nickson hopes to attend the Grayshott Parish Assembly on Friday, 8th. April along with our beat officer. I do suggest that if you are free that evening and concerned about village policing, please come along and ask him some questions.

You can always contact Sgt. Nickson at Whitehill Police Station, although given the essential mobility of his job, he is finding it convenient to correspond by fax. If you have one, the fax number is 01962-871440.

Grayshott Skatepark

Following great news about the District Council's £15,000 grant to the project in my previous newsletter, another obstacle has arisen. The skatepark, of course, will be a Parish Council owned and operated facility and because of that it was assumed that the VAT would be reclaimed by the Parish Council. However, a VAT Inspector has ruled that the portion of any purchase funded from government and local authority grants is not VAT deductible. In effect this adds about £5,200 to the money the Youth Group have to find - a shattering blow. I have taken up the challenge of trying to sort this out using my combined knowledge as a professional accountant and local government councillor. Initially I am going to try to get the ruling reversed as the guidelines for VAT actually seem to allow grant funded purchases to be VAT deductible. Failing that I have a number of other avenues to try before we have to fall back on yet more fundraising.

The volunteers on Grayshott Youth Group have put in so much effort on this, as well as other projects for Grayshott's young people, I feel we have to find a way of fighting back against these occasional bursts of heartbreaking news. Sometimes I find the resistance to helping our younger villagers intensely frustrating.

Grayshott Community Partnership

In the last newsletter I told you that I was going to float this idea at a meeting of relevant village organisers. Despite considerable support from some quarters, I failed to convince a couple of important delegates and so the idea is dead.

I must be unequivocal with you. I fear that without better co-ordination, better and longer term planning and more effective fund raising, the village will not retain its charm and distinctiveness. This idea was my attempt to start work on all of these aims because I love Grayshott and as far as is reasonable I want to protect it from the forces that have ruined so many other villages in Hampshire.

We won the Hampshire Village of the Year award 2002, because we were a survivor of a breed of community that is disappearing rapidly. In 2002 we stood out because of the sheer range and quality of our volunteer resources. Those who did not support my idea a few weeks ago felt that the network we had then and have today, is sufficient. It is not.

These networks and the way they are organised, planned and funded, must evolve rapidly; at least as rapidly as the threats to our way of life are developing. Just look at car parking in the village. What will that be like in five years time, or ten years time? Luckily, the facilities we have had and which have been unaltered for many years, have kept us going up to now. But already the car parks and roadside bays are completely full on one or two days every week. There are moves to introduce charging. There are complaints about irresponsible parking. We can't find a place for the Tesco trucks. Then we will have the traffic magnet of the Hazel Grove A3 roundabout in about ten years. I feel that a cross-village group has to look at this and start some serious and far reaching planning to avoid the village being ruined.

In my list of issues, this is just one, there are many more. I am very upset that the idea did not get the support I thought it deserved. I will carry on doing my best for the village but, without a more focussed approach by the whole community, I think that slowly but surely more and more issues will end up being unresolved due to lack of money, lack of planning or lack of vision.

Grayshott Public Conveniences

Many of you complain to me about the state of Grayshott's public conveniences and I have mentioned the reasons why little has been done about them in previous newsletters. In early February I reassessed the situation and concluded that these reasons for doing nothing were no longer valid. About the same time I attended a meeting of the District Council at which a very smart new public convenience was proposed for Petersfield. It was of classic design and included an attendant. Amazingly it was very cost effective compared to what is there now.

I wrote to the relevant senior manager at the District Council and I'm delighted to tell you that he has promised to include a full refurbishment of the Grayshott toilets in the spending plan for 2006-7 with survey and planning work scheduled for the financial year 2005-6.

Although the toilets are owned and operated by the District Council, the land on which they are built is owned by the Parish Council and leased to the District. As a result I have kept the Parish Council fully informed of these developments.

Tesco Trucks

There's not a lot that's new to report. If you saw the Surrey Messenger last week, you will have read that I am waiting for the new regime to be implemented before taking further action. The new regime being a combination of the special unloading designation for the parking bay and alterations to the shop front, which have enabled Tesco's management to promise me that, when these are implemented, they will only deliver between 07.00 and 09.00 in the morning and 19.00 and 21.00 in the evening, thus reducing the problem substantially.

I did say in the article, (and despite causing some concern to the Grayshott Tesco Site Manager I'll repeat this), that if they do not fulfil their side of the agreement when these facilities are implemented I will take part in and organise, if necessary, direct action against the store. I envisage demonstrations and placards with lots of media coverage including national press and TV. Let's hope that this does not become necessary.

Planning Applications

As a rule this aspect of my job as Councillor is restricted to dealing with issues between neighbours and so I never report it here. Sometimes a planning application comes up which could affect the village as whole and you may be interested to note two proposed developments in the area of Applegarth Farm. The Farm Shop is requesting permission to develop a garden centre retail area and also a cafe. The golf driving range wishes to install night time floodlights. Please note that I am prevented by the rules of conduct from expressing, or even forming, a view about any planning application until it comes before the council's planning committee for determination.

If you want to know more about these, get in touch with me, or the Planning Reception at Penns Place, Petersfield.

District Council Matters

There has been coverage in the local newspapers of incidents of officers misreporting the council performance when processing planning applications. I am a member of the council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee and I have taken a very prominent role in getting to the bottom of this situation. It is almost resolved now and the various solutions will be announced through approved council press releases. All improper reporting practices have been stopped and system controls installed to prevent a recurrence.

I want you to be absolutely certain that at no stage has the quality or probity of the District Council's decision making been challenged. As far as Grayshott is concerned, as many of you know I involve myself in all village planning applications and I am certain from personal experience that no local decision has been compromised in any way whatsoever. The issue relates to the preparation of performance data for submission to a government department, (the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister) and is used to determine the level of grant the District Council receives.

Finally....

I attended the Grayshott Primary School open event to learn about their ambitious and exciting expansion plans and I also visited the fete they held with the kind support of the showmen from Fairlands. I am helping the headmaster to submit an application to the District Council's Community Initiatives Fund for £15,000 and I'll keep you updated on how that progresses.

Don't forget to come along to the Annual Parish Assembly in the village hall on Friday, 8th. April at 8.00 pm. There is always plenty of opportunity to ask questions.

As ever, if you agree, disagree or have a point of view, please contact me on 01428-609858 or on Fcowper@aol.com.

Best wishes and Happy Easter,

Cllr. Ferris Cowper
EHDC Councillor for the ward of Grayshott