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Welcome to Parish Connect, Winchester City Council’s e-newsletter for Parish Councils. Please accept our apologies for the delay in sending out this month's newsletter. Any requests for information should be sent to Eleanor Hodge or Alice Ainsworth at communications@winchester.gov.uk.

Get involved and help make a difference to your community.

Every organisation, agency or individual can do something extra to benefit their community – and no matter how small it might seem it all makes a difference.

On June 28-29 the Winchester District Strategic Partnership (WDSP) is holding an action planning event at the Winchester Guildhall and wants to encourage as many people as possible to come along and commit to making a contribution.

The WDSP is made up of public, private and voluntary groups who are working together to improve the quality of life for those who live, work and visit the area. Together they have produced a community strategy which has five priorities.

They are:
- Health and Wellbeing
- Freedom from Fear
- Economic Prosperity
- High Quality Environment
- Inclusive Society

The action planning event is essential in order to set things in motion and demonstrate how things will move forward. Over the day and a half there will be five workshops, various speakers and a ‘market place’ where organisations and partnerships can promote their projects, celebrate success or find new partners to work with.

The workshops will run over three sessions and it is not necessary for people to attend all of them.

The event has been organised by Winchester City Council, with funding provided by Hampshire County Council and a new regional project called Progress through Partnership.

Leader of Winchester City Council, and representative on the WDSP Board, Cllr George Beckett said “Now it the time to move from talk to action. We have a vision for the District in place but we need everyone’s help to achieve this. The action planning event is an opportunity for people to make a contribution to this and to play a part in making sure Winchester District is a great place to live in the future”

Anyone interested is attending this event should contact Rita Hiney rhiney@winchester.gov.uk or 01962 848 100 or fill in our online form. Everyone is welcome to attend, but please let us know if you want to come by June 15th so that we accommodate everyone.

Delegates should think about what they can do to contribute to the community strategy and what resources they would be willing to commit before they arrive at the event.

To find out more about the Winchester and District Strategic Partnership go to their brand new website www.wdsp.co.uk.
 

   

Revised Model Code of Conduct – Briefing for Parish Councils

The revised Code was published on 3 May 2007 and all Councils have six months in which to consider and adopt the content.

Stephen Whetnall (Corporate Director - Governance) and Chris Ashcroft (Head of Democratic Services) will be providing a parish briefing session on Thursday 12 July 2007 at 6.30pm in the Jubilee Hall, Bishops Waltham. All Clerks, Chairmen and other interested councillors are invited to attend. The evening will cover the key revisions to the Code and how they change the way Councillors decide whether they have personal or personal and prejudicial interests.

The City Council is once again proposing to undertake the statutory advertisement about adoption of the Code on behalf of all parishes in the District. More details will be given at the briefing.

It would be greatly appreciated if Clerks would contact Katherine Pryor (Administration Officer) on 01962 848 264 or kpryor@winchester.gov.uk to register their attendance.

No Ifs no buts when it comes to benefits
Last year £558,000 of Housing and Council Tax Benefit was overpaid to residents in the Winchester District because of fraud and customers failing to report relevant changes. Winchester City Council is cracking down to reduce this figure. In the last financial year 11 successful prosecutions were carried out and more cases will be taken to court this year.

You may have seen posters around the district stating 'No ifs, No Buts' - if changes occur to you or your household you must inform the Benefits Section, there are no ifs, buts, or excuses that will do.

The Benefits Section is working hard to identify fraud and errors in the Benefits system - we have two full time investigators and our 2 visiting officers keep close checks on changes which may affect benefit. We also data match to find inconsistencies in claimants circumstances and we also receive tip offs from other agencies and the public.

If residents have changes to their circumstances or you suspect someone is claiming benefit they are not entitled to please encourage them to email benefits@winchester.gov.uk. You can also use our online form to give us anonymous information about someone you suspect is making a false claim.

If you would like to put up some of our posters in your Parish please contact Jane Petty jpetty@winchester.gov.uk and some will be sent out to you
 

 

 

 

Rural Towns Development update

market towns

Alresford
The health check steering group designed and staffed a stand to publicise their activities and goals at the Watercress festival on the 13th May. A questionnaire was prepared to gauge the feelings of local residents for a more pedestrian friendly town centre. The results have now been analysed and the results show that the overwhelming area concern of local residents is parking. The Rural Towns development Officer has begun discussions with the City Council’s transport officers to establish options to improve the future availability of parking in the town. Other areas of work under way are improving activities and facilities for young people and work with WCC housing department to identify new sites for additional affordable housing for local people.

Alresford have also recently completed a village design statement which sets out their plans for the future of their local environment.

Wickham
Wickham also has a new steering group which is making plans to design and produce a new leaflet to promote the wealth of attractions in the area and to encourage more people to visit for longer. The group are also investigating the need for improved facilities for young people and the future economy of the village.

Denmead
On Saturday the 26th May there was an open event in the Church Hall to hear residents’ views about improvements to the village and surrounds. Information was displayed relating to the Denmead Future Plan and fun activities aimed at involving people from around the area. The event gathered the ideas and aspirations of local residents for the future of the area.

Denmead have also recently completed a village design statement which sets out their preferred options for the future of Denmead and its surrounding environment.

Bishops Waltham
Safer Neighbourhood Panels are being established by involving people from a range of agencies including Hampshire Constabulary, Winchester City Council and local voluntary groups, to improve the safety of towns and villages in the District. As discussed at a meeting of the Tourism and Community Committee on the 15th May, the possibility of this work feeding directly into the Social and Community sub group work for the healthcheck was agreed.

In addition an Economy sub group has been established with local business people.

The volunteers needed to progress these groups have been drawn largely from the very successful open day that was held in the Jubilee Hall on the 25th March

Denmead, Bishop’s Waltham, Wickham and Alresford still need to recruit local enthusiastic people from different age groups, special interest groups, community groups, voluntary sector organisations and local businesses to help to establish the long term economic, social and environmental well-being of the area.

Join in and have your say!

A training day focusing on the recruitment of volunteers is being organised for a date in June. This will be run in conjunction with Community Action Hampshire. This will be a free event for the towns involved in the healthcheck process and anyone interested in taking part should contact Lynn on 01962 848 563

 

Alice Kettle news
The very popular exhibition by international textile artist Alice Kettle has been extended in the Guildhall Gallery until August.

Please note that Alice will not be based at the Gallery every day, please ring: 01962 848 289 if you want to see her working.

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

  Dates for your diary

 

 

Licensing Sub-Committee
Start Time: 12 June 2007 09:30
Saxon Suite, Guildhall, Winchester

 

 

Planning Development Control Committee
Start Time: 14 June 2007 09:30
Walton Room, Guildhall, Winchester

 

 

Cabinet
Start Time: 20 June 2007 10:00
Walton Room, Guildhall, Winchester

 

Council
Start Time: 27 June 2007 19:30
Conference Chamber, Guildhall, Winchester


 

 

Recent Press Releases

 

 
  

No ifs, No buts when it comes to benefits
Last year £558,000 of Housing and Council Tax Benefit was overpaid to residents in the Winchester District because of fraud and customers failing to report relevant changes. Winchester City Council is cracking down to reduce this figure.
04/06/2007

   

Winchester City Council still flying high
Winchester City Council remains a high flyer in the way that residents feel about them compared to other authorities; although there has been a national trend of lower satisfaction across the board.
04/06/2007

 

ABC Special Advisory Panel dates announced
Winchester City Council announced last week that following the launch of ABC in the first phase of the district, recycling rates in that area have increased from 18% to 40% which is a fantastic achievement. However the Council recognises that some people do have concerns about the new system.
29/05/2007

 

 

Well done to tenants and the housing team

Winchester City Council housing tenants continue to be among the best rent payers in the country.
22/05/2007

 

 

The 808th Mayor of Winchester is Chris Pines.
At the Mayor-making ceremony held last night (May 16) at Winchester Guildhall, Cllr Chris Pines announced the four charities he will support this year.
17/05/2007

  

 

Affordable housing that helps family life
Encouraging developers to create affordable housing that is right for families is at the top of Winchester City Council's agenda.
16/05/2007

 

 

This newsletter was produced by Alice Ainsworth and Eleanor Hodge in the Communications department of Winchester City Council. If you wish to contact us please email on aainsworth@winchester.gov.uk or ehodge@winchester.gov.ukor call us on 01962 848 251 or 01962 848 504. We would be happy to receive any comments. Thank you.

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