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This page was updated on
08.11.2009 18:03
News Flash
Visitors since November 2006
December 12th 2008
The Portchester Society won the runner-up prize in The News’s annual We-can-do-it awards competition.
Of the six short-listed nominees in the Care of the Environment category the Portchester Society was judged to be second for their efforts to reduce the amount of litter deposited on the streets and in the public open spaces in the village. The winner was Birdham CofE Primary School for an innovative eco toilet.
Part of the Portchester Society’s campaign through the autumn was the invitation to the pupils in Portchester Schools to design a poster which encouraged people to avoid dropping litter carelessly, and to use the litter bins. The intension being that the posters would be displayed in Pubs, Schools, Medical Centres, and shops, etc. and these can be seen around the village.
The next hurdle is to persuade shop owners that the whole point of a poster is lost if it is not displayed. Many shops said that they would display the posters that the Society has produced but not all have displayed them.
The Portchester Society is grateful for the support of Fareham Borough Council in this poster competition and CCA Marketing who also lent of their time and facilities. The Society will be continuing their campaign through 2009.
December 6th 2008
Residents of Castle street are delighted to have an old fashioned lamp post back in the place of the one that was demolished 6 months ago. We understand why this matter took so long. We are very grateful to Hampshire Highways for their efforts in getting a suitable replacement.
On of our Litter Pickers
Picking up
litter in Portchester is not an exciting pastime but the weather was
again kind for this our second litter-picking exercise.
About twelve volunteers from The Society set about collecting litter on
Friday 25th April 2008. This time they cleared East
Street, Station Road, Castle Street as far as the junction with
White Hart Lane, White Hart Lane, Myrtle Avenue, Castle Grove,
Sunningdale Road, King John Avenue, Kenya Road, Jubilee Road, and A27
between the Castle Street roundabout and the roundabout near the
library.
In all 16 bags of litter were collected.
Once again the volunteer members of the Society received many
appreciative comments from members of the public which indicates that
there are many residents of Portchester village who share the view of
The Society with regard to the poor standard of street cleaning that we
receive from our council.
THE HAPPY LITTER PICKERS TUES MARCH 18TH
PORTCHESTER SHOPPING PRECINCT
Clean and tidy streets - Litter picking in Portchester on Tuesday 18th. March 2008 10-12pm
The Portchester Society has been urging Fareham Borough Council to fulfil its duty to Council Tax Payers and to take a more responsible attitude toward clearing our streets of litter.
In January 2007, the Society submitted a selection of photographs to the Council depicting the appalling state of some of our streets and public spaces. Regrettably the Council has done little to even recognise the problem and still less to acknowledge that it has a duty to clear litter from the streets.
In September 2007 the Council introduced Community Action Teams (CAT) and ear-marked a fund of £100,000 which would be available for communities to bid for in respect of capital projects. Immediately £30,000 was reserved for borough-wide cleaning schemes. There is presently no evidence of how any of that money has been spent.
In January of the current year the Society again presented a series of photographs to the Council illustrating the unacceptable amounts of litter in our streets. The amounts of litter shown by this second set of photographs was indistinguishable from the first set thus illustrating quite clearly that there has been no discernable improvement in litter-clearing activities in the past 12 months.
Members of the Portchester Society are organising a litter-picking day to be held on Tuesday 18th. March 2008. If you are interested in helping, contact 02392 381539. The starting place will be in the car park behind the shopping precinct and we will assemble there at 10.00 a.m.
PORTCHESTER SCHOOL'S 'STOP LITTER' POSTER COMPETITION
The winners of the 'STOP LITTER' posters are,
Under
8 years: Ellie Boucher, Northern Junior School.
Runner-up was Freya Wiseman, Castle Primary School.
Eight to 14 years: Laura Berryman, Castle Primary School.
Runner-up was Emily Fletcher, Castle Primary School.
The prizes will be presented to
the winners at the Portchester Society’s monthly meeting on Tuesday 4th.
November, starting at 7.30 p.m. at The Methodist Church Hall in Castle
Street, Portchester.
Getting ready for the 'Stop Litter' competition. (see below)
THE THREE JUDGES
Councillor Brian Bayford of
Fareham Borough Council, Mr Ken Howkins of The Portchester Society and
Mr Roger Aspin managing director of CCA Marketing, Fareham, judging the
Portchester Schools Poster Competition on October 28th 2008 in the foyer of
Portchester Health Centre/Library.
October 27th 2008 PORTCHESTER SCHOOL'S POSTER COMPETITION
Starting today, Mon. 27th. October, over 200 paintings, produced by local school children, are on display in Portchester Public Library. These are the entries in a poster competition organised by The Portchester Society in co-operation with Fareham Borough Council. The aim of the poster designs is to STOP LITTER in Portchester.
There is a prize of £50 cash for the winning entry in each of two age categories and a runner-up prize of a £15 book token. The judging will take place at 2.30 p.m. tomorrow, Tuesday 28th. October, by a panel of three comprising Mr. Ken Howkins of the Portchester Society, Councillor Brian Bayford of Fareham Borough Council and Mr. Roger Aspin managing director of CCA Marketing, a marketing and communications company in Fareham.
This is another initiative of The Portchester Society to try to encourage cleaner streets in the village.
Further information can be obtained from Ken Howkins at 02392 381539.
More litter picking in Portchester, April 25th 2008
July
5th 2008
In support of the Fareham in Bloom effort to again be rewarded by the
Britain in Bloom organisation for their excellent floral and arboreal
efforts throughout the year, a group of members of The Portchester
Society turned out on Thursday 3rd. July and combed through
the route of the inspectors and removed 10 bags of litter from the
streets.
PORTCHESTER CAT MEETING OCTOBER 20TH 2008
In a packed meeting at the Methodist Church Hall in Castle Street the principal item on the agenda was the Fareham Borough Council’s capital expenditure and on-going maintenance and of existing and projected community buildings, such as swimming pools, sports centres etc. This was of particular relevance to residents of Portchester as the very popular Community Centre has been partially closed because of its poor condition and is due to be demolished in 2012.
The audience listened to a detailed analysis of the need for funds to replace the Community Centre and refurbish the changing facilities at the Wicor Recreation Ground, both of which are at the top of Fareham Borough Council’s priority list.
It was notable that the consideration being given to these projects by the Fareham Borough Council was wholly biased toward financial considerations and there was very little evidence of the requirements of the community being taken into account.
In response to questions from the floor it was revealed that the Council were considering three possible sites for the new Community Centre; one at Wicor Recreation ground, another at the current site and a third at the car park behind the shopping precinct.
The Council have set up a steering group to consider the capital investment and the projected income flows from a new Community Centre and have employed consultants, at a cost of £10,000, to carry out a feasibility study of the three sites.
A questioner from the audience forcefully suggested that the site at Wicor was entirely unsuitable as the narrow road into the recreation ground is frequently congested, it is away from the centre of the village and there is no public transport to the site. Another questioner said the construction of a Community Centre on the precinct car park would inevitably reduce the capacity for parking in the centre of Portchester and be detrimental to maintaining the viability of the shopping precinct. The same questioner said that he could not believe that anyone who had the interests of Portchester at heart could possibly put their weight behind a proposal such as this.
The meeting adjourned at about 8.45 p.m. with the promise that further information about the provision of the new community centre would be given at the next CAT meeting in January 2009.
February 12th
2008
Portchester Community Association has
been awarded Children Centre
status,
the centre will provide a sign post to all services for families in
Portchester.
Building on existing good practice with the successful Andy Pandy
Pre-school and Parent/Carer and Toddler Group and Westlands Youth Club,
we will be enhancing these services and extending the benefits. In
addition we will be developing family learning and providing an outreach
service to those families who do not attend the centres activities.
All current activities are to continue and will be
enhanced by general increased usage of the centre.
Portchester Community Association is pleased working in partnership with
Hampshire County Council, Sure Start and Fareham Borough Council.
Press release from Portchester Community
Association August 26th 2008
Staff and Trustees, assisted by friends, families, and other local
residents gave up their Saturday recently to help make Portchester
Community and Children’s Centre “ready for the builders”. Stopping only
for a picnic lunch to which everyone had contributed, the volunteers
worked all day to fill skips, clean and paint, fix and mend in
preparation for the builders currently undertaking essential work before
full activities resume in September.
Sarah Moss, Centre Manager said “We had a fantastic day with everyone working hard to ensure the builders could move in and get cracking without too much hassle.” The Centre, built in 1963 has been the subject of recent speculation since inspectors identified necessary building works were needed to keep it open. “We have had to modify the interior arrangement of rooms and rearrange some of our activities to ensure we meet regulations,” said Sarah. “But thanks to a funding allocation by Fareham Borough Council, these essential building works will enable use to maintain a full programme of Children’s Centre and Association activities for the foreseeable future. We have tried to keep disruption to a minimum and our user-groups have generally been very understanding as they know the Association has their interests at heart.”
Portchester Community Association, the charity which manages the Centre is not resting on its laurels. Welcome though they are, the current works are not viewed as a permanent solution to a building which is not sustainable in the long-term. Portchester needs a brand new Centre, fit for purpose, environmentally friendly and which reflects current and anticipated social, educational and leisure activities” said Sarah, meeting the needs of children and families a one end of the age spectrum, senior citizens at the other, and everyone in-between.” The challenge is over the next three years to work with the statutory authorities and other partner agencies in designing, commissioning and fundraising for a new Community Centre fit for the 21st Century”.
Residents do not have to be a member to use the Centre except for those subsidised activities run directly by the Association for which membership is £5 a year. Members can elect representatives to the Management Committee, as well as supporting a local charity operating in the interests of local residents. The Association is shortly to set up a Steering Group in preparation for the countdown to a new centre so any new members interested in this are very welcome to join. Meanwhile, everything is back in action from September and residents are encouraged to contact the Centre on 023 9221 0070 for further information.
Community Wins... Press release Portchester Community Association reported by Sarah Moss Manager
“An excellent outcome for all concerned” commented Sarah Moss, when Portchester Community Centre of which she is manager, took delivery of a portakabin on Wednesday. A fine example of partnership working between Portchester Community Association (PCA) - the local charity which runs the centre - and national companies Costain Group and Elliott Hire resulted in the donation of the portakabin to solve a critical space problem. “Costains and Elliotts have been wonderful”, said Sarah. This all came about when Costains who had been using our premises for community consultation on the M27 road works came to know centre users well. We were concerned as to how we could be financially sustainable with the closure of the first floor, and said to them jokingly - how about a portakabin?” The next thing we knew, plans were in place, planning permission agreed by the Borough Council, and a portakabin arrives!
Now located at the rear of the centre the new “community room” will be used by Westlands Youth Club, V young volunteers, and the new Community and Family Learning which is being developed by PCA under the Keepsake Children’s Centre. The room will also provide much needed additional community space.
The Trustees and staff have been bowled over by the support from Costains. In these days when all talk is of recession it has been great to see multinational companies supporting small local community-based charities. Sarah observed: “We can bring back onsite activities we’ve been unable to accommodate following the closure of our first floor to the public, and develop new activities too.”
Meanwhile discussions have begun on plans
for a brand new Centre, An Advisory Group has been established with
representatives from Fareham Borough Council (Portchester Ward Councillors
and FBC officers); Hampshire County Council (member and officer), and
Trustees and other representatives from Portchester Community Association.
The Group is chaired by Councillor Mrs Hockley, FBC Executive Member for
Community. The initial task of the Group is to explore the options for
funding the building of a new community centre.
A new Centre will mean much more than money! Location, environmental
standards, type of construction and design, and most importantly a centre
which meets the needs of local people. The first Public Consultation
event is on 19th January 2009 10.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m. to assess
the needs and wishes of local residents, further events will follow, this
one will set the tone and is an early chance for you, as Portchester people,
to influence the plan and functions of the new Centre from the start.
October 8th 2008
NEWS RELEASE NUMBER 2
Disable access to Portchester Railway station
As part of its campaign to achieve a cleaner community, The Portchester Society has asked South West Trains to clean up Portchester Railway Station. We have enlisted the help of Fareham M.P. Mr. Mark Hoban and through his good offices we have achieved an assurance that from the Customer Relations Officer at South West trains that thing will be better in future than they have been in the past. The Portchester Society will be monitoring the situation at the railway station in order to see that this promise is kept.
Whilst engaged in this correspondence it became evident that the access to the railway station for disabled passengers is not very good. On the south side there is no access at all for the disabled and on the north side, though there is a long ramp, there is no facility to purchase a ticket.
The Portchester Society wrote to the Managing Director of South West Trains, Mr. Stewart Palmer, about this and he has said that for westbound disabled passengers wanting to start their journey at Portchester, a phone call to SW trains will ensure a taxi will take them to Fareham. This, of course, does not cater for eastbound disabled passengers who want to start their journey at Portchester, but Mr. Palmer says that a phone call to South West Trains will result in a taxi to carry disabled passengers to Cosham.
Ken Howkins.
NEWS RELEASE 08-10-08