Feature

Winchester Councillors Report

The plight of the hedgehog and decline of the environment

There are plenty of reports on the increased impoverishment of our natural environment, both for flora and fauna. Twenty five year ago water voles were, if not a common sight in the River Arle, at least reasonably frequent sight. We have reached the point that according to the latest State of Britain's hedgehogs report, numbers of hedgehogs have fallen by up to 30% in urban areas and 50% in rural areas since the Millennium! Unless a change is made these little mammals will be known to our grandchildren only as the character ‘Mrs Tiggywinkle’ in Beatrix Potter.

Cheering to hear than the news that following the conversion of arable land to wildflower meadows in the South Downs National Park there has been a 72% increase in pollinator species. The SDNPA launched the ‘Bee Lines’ project three years ago to create a network of wildflower corridors. The Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust reported ‘we have seen an overall species diversity 98% of monitored species including birds, bats, reptiles invertebrates and small mammals’.

This evidence suggests that the WCC policy of reducing mowing to encourage wildflower meadows and the resulting increase in pollinating insects is a step in the right direction. Increasing biodiversity, (a required part of the Environment Act of 2021) is a long term process. It is naïve to imagine the decline of the last seven decades is going to be reversed in a year or two years, it will take much longer but a start has to be made. P.S. Help the hedgehog by cutting a hole in your garden fence! A linked corridor of domestic gardens provide a safe habitat for hedgehogs.

The Local Plan The developing local plan has been debated in the Cabinet for a full day, with a page by page discussion (no easy task as it runs to 400 pages). The task of reading and digesting it is made easier by the skill with which it has been put together by the Strategic Planning team in Winchester, with excellent graphics, photos, plans and text help to make it not only readable but understandable. The Scrutiny committee also had a very lengthy session running for some nine and a half hours. There is more feedback and suggestions to come from the public. There has been full involvement with parish and town councils in developing the plan and in the potentially highly contentious issue of allocating land for development. There is a way to go, but generally the Plan has been well received.

Margot Power 01962 734167

Russell Gordon -Smith 01962 733219 rgordon-smith@winchester.gov.uk

Margot Power

Not just any old Rotary…

Your Rotary!Not just any old Rotary… YOUR ROTARY! COMPETITION TIME With colourful trees and chill in the air, the journey towards Christmas starts! We invite you to take part in a photo competition with a chance to win a FABULOUS HAMPER in time for Christmas. Here are 6 pictures. They are places around the Alresford area villages and if you can identify them, send your entries telling us what the picture is showing and where it can be found. The competition will also be available to enter on our social media pages. https://alresford-rotary.org & https://www.facebook.com/alresford.rotary TO ENTER - Send your answers to …………@gmail or drop a line to ………address……… Please include your name and address and contact telephone number. Players must be 18 or over and entries will close on December 17th with the prize for the winning entry drawn on December 18th 2022 Contact Mr Bloggs on 07………… for any more information.

COMPETITION TIME With colourful trees and chill in the air, the journey towards Christmas starts! We invite you to take part in a photo competition with a chance to win a FABULOUS HAMPER in time for Christmas. Here are 6 pictures. They are places around the Alresford area villages and if you can identify them, send your entries telling us what the picture is showing and where it can be found. The competition will also be available to enter on our social media pages. https://alresford-rotary.org & https://www.facebook.com/alresford.rotary

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TO ENTERHow Can Alresford Rotary Help YOUR Community? At Rotary we pride ourselves in continuing community focus and with this in mind, we are reaching out to Alresford and all the Send your answers to rotaryalresford@gmail.com. Please include your name and address and contact telephone number. surrounding SO24 villages, to ask What can Alresford Rotary do for your community? We Players must be 18 or over and entries will close on December 17th with the prize for the winning entry drawn on December 18th 2022. know you are all out there, but do you know that we are here? Rotary members may not enter. Past events have seen Alresford Rotary getting involved in many ways, environmental projects Contact Kim on 0797 3747 305 for any more information. and community support, from marshalling events to picking up rubbish. We also help fund community projects and would love to see more people feeling enabled to get great ideas off the ground. All we ask is that it best serves your community, beneÞtting the people and area around

How Can Alresford Rotary Help YOUR Community? you with positive enrichment for the future strength and success of all the Alresford areas. Send us your ideas either by email to ……..@ or call ……………..

At Rotary we pride ourselves in continuing community focus and with this in mind, we are reaching out to Alresford and all the surrounding SO24 and GU34 villages, to ask What can Alresford Rotary do for your community? We know you are all out there, but do you know that we are here?

Past events have seen Alresford Rotary getting involved in many ways, environmental projects and community support, from marshalling events to picking up rubbish. We also help fund community projects and would love to see more people feeling enabled to get great ideas off the ground. All we ask is that it best serves your community, benefitting the people and area around you with positive enrichment for the future strength and success of all the Alresford areas. Send us your ideas either by email to AlresfordRotary@gmail.com or call Kim on 0797 3747 305.