Boundaries for the Winchester and Test Valley Parliamentary Constituencies

Boundaries for the Winchester and Test Valley Parliamentary Constituencies

Hursley Parish Council C/O 31b Main Road Hursley Hampshire SO21 2JW Dear Sir/Madam, South East Region Initial Proposals: Boundaries for the Winchester and Test Valley Parliamentary Constituencies The South-East Region Initial Proposals for the Parliamentary Constituencies propose that the Parish of Hursley will no longer be located within the Parliamentary constituency of Winchester. At their meeting held on Monday 12th November 2016 the Parish Council agreed to object to the Boundary Commission proposal and request that the Parish of Hursley remains within the Winchester Constituency. The Parish of Hursley includes the hamlet of Pitt and both are geographically close to the City of Winchester and have long standing community ties with the City. Consequently, the Parish Council on behalf of the residents of Hursley would prefer to remain within the constituency of Winchester, ideally, together with our neighbouring parishes of Otterbourne, Compton and Shawford. We respectfully request that you reconsider this aspect of your proposals based on the evidence of the close community ties with our neighbouring parishes and with the Winchester City and wider District. We do not have similar close community links with Romsey and the Test Valley. Geography Our Parish borders the City of Winchester. Some of our residents, for example live on Sarum Road situated close to the heart of the city. With the proposed changes their next-door neighbours would be allocated to a Winchester City Ward and Winchester MP whilst they would be served by a Romsey MP based 17 miles away. We share many common issues with central Winchester being located on the main traffic route into Winchester via the A3090, local housing development, secondary schools, GP surgeries, the County Hospital, Winchester railway station and bus service. We do not have this shared infrastructure with Romsey and our issues will still need to be addressed by a Winchester MP. The majority of our residents have to use Winchester or Shawford stations to commute if they work in London or Basingstoke. Ties with neighbouring Parishes: Oliver’s Battery and Badger Farm The Commission accepted our Parish Council’s response to the 2015 Local Government enquiry into Winchester District wards, i.e. that the wards of Compton & Otterbourne and Oliver’s Battery & Badger Farm should be combined into a five Parish three-member ward (now renamed Badger Farm and Oliver’s Battery). This arrangement is working very well and we are now able to work with the three District Councillors and the Winchester MP on areas of common concern such as development, transport, education, and erosion of natural settlements. Our District Councillors support the retention of Hursley within the Winchester Constituency, as the draft proposals will split the new District Ward. Our District Councillors would prefer to work with one MP rather than with two. Hursley shares natural settlement gaps with Oliver’s Battery, Compton and Otterbourne (see below) connected by Poles Lane and the rural area of Silkstead. Historically Reverend John Keble Vicar of Hursley from 1835, a near neighbour and one of the leaders of the Oxford movement linked Otterbourne with Hursley through the connection with author Charlotte Yonge. Charlotte Yonge is herself sometimes referred to as "the novelist of the Oxford Movement". Local Plan There have been many attempts to reduce the natural settlement gaps between Winchester, Oliver’s Battery and Hursley with developments such as Pitt Vale and Pitt Manor. The five Parish Councils leads meet informally and are considering the production of a Neighbourhood Plan and it would be helpful to have the support of one MP common to all parishes. Services The Sainsbury’s supermarket in Badger Farm is where many, if not most, residents do their regular shopping; many residents use the doctor’s surgery in Badger Farm. The shops in Oliver’s Battery and Hursley are a valuable resource for residents of all three parishes. Residents will use either the South Park and Ride (located in Compton) or the Pitt Park and Ride for parking and public transport into Winchester. Historic, Social and Education Hursley has had historic links with Winchester since 1138 when the Bishop of Winchester Henry de Blois built a manor house called Merdon Castle in the Parish. Hursley continued in the ownership of the Bishop of Winchester until 1552 when it was surrendered to king Edward VI. Hursley was briefly the countryseat of the Lord Protector of England in 1660 when Oliver Cromwell’s son Richard lived here. Richard lived in Hursley (following a time in exile) until he died in 1712 and is buried in All Saints’ Church. Hursley House was requisitioned by the Ministry of Aircraft Production in the 1940s and is now occupied by IBM as part of IBM Hursley Laboratories and employs over 1500 people. IBM is a key employment site for the Winchester District. The Church of England theologian and poet John Keble was appointed Vicar of Hursley in 1835. Keble was Professor of Poetry at Oxford University from 1831 to 1841, and was the originator and subsequently one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. He preached at Winchester Cathedral. Keble College, Oxford was founded in his memory. Hursley is crossed by the Monarch's Way long distance footpath (and escape route of Charles II). The path connects Hursley with Compton, Shawford and Twyford as it continues east through the hamlets of Bunstead and Silkstead, passing under the M3 and the railway station at Shawford. Here the path crosses the Itchen Way before crossing the River Itchen to Twyford. Our children attend Primary schools locally in Hursley, Otterbourne, Compton and Oliver’s Battery and the majority then go on to attend secondary schools in Winchester. Most continue their education at Winchester’s Peter Symonds Sixth Form College. Our children use the Winchester sports clubs and leisure centre for their activities including rugby, swimming, gymnastics and football. The benefice of Compton, Hursley and Otterbourne has united the three Parishes since 2007 under the spiritual guidance of the Bishop and Diocese of Winchester. Conclusion and Alternative Constituency Options Hursley Parish Council believes that there is a strong case for the Parish of Hursley to remain within the constituency of Winchester. We have an electorate of 701 (as at May 2015) so this could be accommodated within the legal upper limit for the constituency of 78,507. Raising the number of constituents from 76,083 to 76,784. While the Parish Council would prefer that its neighbouring parishes of Twyford, Colden Common, Otterbourne, Compton and Shawford (an increase of 7503 electors) should also remain within the constituency of Winchester, it recognises that to do so would require a major revisions to the current proposals. There are two possible solutions: 1. Move the mainly rural wards of Wonston, Micheldever and Sparsholt (Electorate 5701) from Winchester to Test Valley. There is one parish (Headbourne Worthy) in the 2015 Sparsholt ward which the Boundary Commission may feel projects too far into the centre of Winchester. However, this parish was detached from Sparsholt and Crawley in 2016, for good logical and geographical reasons, and joined to the Winchester ward of The Worthies. For this reason, we feel that the principle of not splitting existing wards could be overcome in this instance because the ward in question no longer exists. 2. Remove some of the new settlements to the South and East of the Winchester constituency: Some of these settlements extend up to 27 miles distance from Winchester and look to East Hampshire and Portsmouth for geographical links, services and MP’s input. By comparison all our parishes are within 1 to 5 miles of central Winchester. For example: The boundary of East Hampshire (currently 72,314) is proposed to change and include Horndean; extending this to include Denmead as well (5,757) keeps it within legal limits This move alone would enable Winchester (currently 76,083) with the addition of 7,503 and loss of 5,757 to remain within legal limits. Test Valley (currently 74,805) with the loss of 7,503 constituents to Winchester would be reduced to below legal limits. However, some of the parishes in the Dun Valley have been unnaturally carved off from Test Valley. The settlements of Awbridge, Mottisfont, East and West Tytherley, East and West Dean, Newtown and Sherfield English are currently proposed for inclusion in the new boundary of New Forest East. However they are close to Romsey Town centre (some like Mottisfont and Awbridge are in the heart of the Test Valley) and not part of the New Forest at geographical, District or National Park level. Yours sincerely John Brooks Clerk to Hursley Parish Council Cllr Eleanor Bell District Councillor and Chairman of Hursley Parish Council Cllr Jan Warwick District Councillor and Member of Hursley Parish Council Mrs Amanda Apps Member Hursley Parish Council Mr. Michael Arthur Member Hursley Parish Council Viscount James Lifford Member Hursley Parish Council Dr John O’Sullivan Member Hursley Parish Council Mr. George Rees Member Hursley Parish Council Mr. Martin Waldron Member Hursley Parish Council Mr Joe Winchester Member Hursley Parish Council .

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