New East Hanney Parish Council Community Field Stewart Scott and Paul Aram

New East Hanney Parish Council Community field Stewart Scott and Paul Aram 22 January 2017 1 Introduction East Hanney Parish Council are in the process of taking out a 21 year lease on a field to the North or the Playing field. 2 Proposals ñ To establish a working group. The working group will develop the ideas, consult and implement agreed plans. ñ To advertise for help to investigate the practicalities of a possible BMX, outdoor fitness trail and larger allotments ñ Apply for change of use. Cost £385 ñ £50 to purchase soil testing kit to establish the level of nutrients. ñ Field to be called “King’s Leases” ñ A notice board to be set up which can be used to explain what is happening. 3 Existing status 3.1 Field usage The field has been used for arable crops for a considerable time. It is generally flat and level. Figure 1- Aerial view of field. The size is 6.3 Ha The soil type is unknown There are no existing public rights of way across the field, but there some are close by. There was a footpath across the field marked on older maps. There is an overhead electricity cable route crossing the field. Two poles are located in the field and one at its edge. Figure 2- Map of field showing adjacent public rights of way and electricity poles The Eastern boundary consists of a partial ditch, small trees and shrubs The north and western boundary consists of a small trees and shrubs and as adjacent to a Byeway open to all traffic called Cow Lane. Agricultural vehicle access is at the north west and south east corners. 3.2 Drainage A system of field drains are installed on the far eastern side. Figure 3- Land drainage sketch 3.3 Tree and shrubs The boundaries consist of small trees and shrubs. These may not be in good condition and it may benefit from some pruning. Advice will need to be sought. 3.4 Electricity poles The three electricity poles and the associated lines should be taken into account when deciding on a location for possible additional sports fields. 3.5 Archaeological significance The Hanney history group have been consulted, they believe that there is very unlikely to be any archaeological artefacts within the field and there is no requirement to carry out any geophysical surveys. 3.6 Biodiversity Because of its continued use for arable crops there is unlikely to be any unusual species of plants, insects or mammals in the field. 3.7 History Group infomation It is an interesting piece of land and from the Enclosure and Tithe maps is called Leases or King's Leases. Leases are grassland often combined together by mutual owners. Like all the land between the Brook and the current Parish boundary track N/S it is part of the old Tything /Manor of Phyllberts. As such it is a significant area of land between East and West Hanneys and one wonders it real age. The track edging the Leases now turns east down the Green Lane but at one stage before the Turnpike A338 was built/updated it continued due north along the parish boundary in the direction of Garford and the Frilford/Marcham complex. It was sold back to local farmers. Early known owners apart from the medieval St Phillibert family include the Crown- several different Kings such as Richard 11 and Edward 111 have passed it round royal courtiers one of whom was the notorious Alice Perrers, Edward 111's mistress. She and her husband also acquired Ardington and the Hanney Manor of Southbury so she was clearly not daft. It was her family who had the right to appoint a priest to the chapel at Poughley. After the Reformation, the Manor of Phyllberts went to the Yates family of Lyford who remained resolutely Catholic and this may have been when the chapel disappeared as the recusant families retreated into their own manors and worshipped privately. So I suppose that the Leases area could have all been part of the medieval land management of the early hamlet of Poughley or 'Poffley' on the Enclosure Map. In the 18th century the land passed into the hands of the Pusey family and Philip Pusey left parcels of land across the Vale to various villages. This included the area we are talking about to East and West Hanney as allotments to the villagers. Older maps do show footpaths crossing the field, but this may be before the definition of public rights of way became established. 4 Field Security To prevent illegal use of the field by travellers it is proposed to install short wooden posts at both entrances. This will allow tractor access but prevent access cars and caravans. Some posts will be installed on Land owned by West Hanney Parish Council and they have given permission. 5 Lease restrictions There no restrictions other than no building is permitted. 6 Neighbourhood plan consultation Question 4.4 of the Community survey asked “What would you like this field to be used for?” A tick box was provides as follows ñ Wildflower meadow ñ Sports Field (football/rugby/hockey/etc) ñ Standard sized allotments ñ Larger allotment pieces suitable for keeping chicken/bees or small animals ñ Open grassland for general use ñ Pond ñ Outdoor fitness trail ñ BMX track ñ Skateboard park ñ Other – please tell us what The results of the survey are as follows 352 surveys returned. Wildflower meadow 204 Sports Field (football/rugby/hockey/etc) 76 Standard sized allotments 30 Larger allotment pieces suitable for keeping chicken/bees or small animals 52 Open grassland for general use 232 Pond 91 Outdoor fitness trail 126 BMX track 41 Skateboard park 44 Other comments ñ Space for indoor sports ñ Sport activities for elderly ñ Club for children in evening ñ Community orchard (apples, pears, cherries) ñ Dog friendly area, Area for dogs off lead. ñ Footpaths for wheelchairs and pushchairs ñ Fruit trees, Woodland ñ Wind turbine owned by community ñ Orchard ñ Outdoor gym apparatus ñ Community Garden ñ Sculpture trail ñ Wildlife reserve ñ Netball ñ Youth zone with wall to kick ball against ñ Track for young people to use quads and motorbikes 7 Football field Hanney youth currently play on the field to the east of the line of trees, this is owned by West Hanney Parish Council. The youth football club has grown organically to six teams and over sixty players. These teams require different size pitches and a training area. As the training area is a fixed location it means that this area can’t be used for pitches. The lower NE corner of the current field is susceptible to flooding and so can’t be used for pitches. Currently we have three pitch sizes with the U14 pitch taking up so much space that we could provide the extra pitches we need if this pitch was moved. One option would be to play on the Senior pitch but two senior teams already play on this pitch and it suffers over winter. Additionally in three years time there will be a requirement for two youth teams on the same size pitch. It would therefore be beneficial to create a new pitch now which could be used for the older teams and if necessary the senior team. The area of land in the SW corner of the field would be a good location because it is adjacent to the current pitches and has land drainage channels in place. This would make the field less likely to flood with fewer games cancelled. The pitch will take about a year to mature to a condition suitable to play football so the sooner this is started the quicker it can be used. Grants may be able to be obtained from Sport England or the Football Association. 8 Rugby Field A rugby field could be created. There is no rugby club in Hanney but there is a local club in Wantage. The Wantage club are keen to set up some demonstration games and training session at Hanney should there be enough interest. The West Hanney Parish Council put a notice in the Hanney News asking if anyone was interested in establishing a rugby club, although there was some interest no one came forward to volunteer to organise it. Touch rugby is suitable for all ages and has no fixed posts so if a football field is constructed, this could also be used for touch rugby if required. 9 Pond A large pond sounds very attractive but there are some issues. Firstly there is no local water supply so it cannot be topped up to maintain a constant level. The soil is porous so to prevent drying out it may need to be sealed with clay or lined unless the water table is constantly high. It may that the water level is high enough most of the year to not need a liner. A test bore hole should be dug to establish this. Another suggestion is to produce a “Scrape” which is pond that dries out in summer. This still has significant ecological benefits. Natural England have issued a Technical Information Note called “TIN079 - Illustrated guide to ponds and scrapes” it suggests the following are ideal for a new pond ñ Locate new wildlife ponds in low input semi-natural habitats where they will be fed by clean water. Alternatively, establish a wide buffer around them. DO NOT DIG UP EXISTING WETLANDS. ñ Where possible create new ponds near existing ponds, streams or other wetlands, but do not directly link the waterbodies.

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