14/04/2008 by admin.

By trying to save Emsworth from turning into a ‘housing estate’. They are fighting plans to build hundreds of new homes on green spaces in the town. The strength of feeling was demonstrated last week when more than 160 people crammed into a public meeting to oppose the plans – which campaigners say will change the face of Emsworth forever.Havant Borough Council has been told by the government it must build 6,000 new homes over the next 20 years to meet housing demands.

Residents fears hundreds of homes to be built on green spaces in Havant borough could be in Emsworth.

Among the possible sites for development are 280 homes in the Emsworth Gap, 227 homes to the west and east of  Horndean Road

and 123 dwellings earmarked for Horse Field, south of the A259 in Emsworth.Now a protest group, called Emsworth Fights Back, has been  set up.A public consultation on the proposals finishes in less than two weeks – and campaigners are urging residents to write to the council to oppose the plans.

Penny Salter, of  Birch Tree Drive, Emsworth, said: 

 ‘This will destroy Emsworth completely if it goes through.  There is not the infrastructure and the roads won’t be able to cope with it. It will just turn Emsworth into a housing estate.’ The main concern for residents is the Emsworth Gap –17 acres of fields that separate Westbourne and the town – where 250 homes could be built. The green space is home to tawny owls, buzzards, and foxes. Residents say it would mean the death of Westbourne as a village in its own right.Emsworth councillor Brendan Gibb-Gray said: ‘To have the rate of housing building we are talking about, with no guarantees for the majority of those people, is a recipe for disaster.’ 

The News 14 April 2008  

More at: Emsworth Fights Back

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28/03/2008 by admin.

We’ve done it!!

Brook Meadow is the first nature conservation area in Emsworth to have Local Nature Reserve (LNR) status. LNR status is declared by the local authority, in this case Havant Borough Council (HBC) with advice from Natural England. The LNR designation will give additional protection to Brook Meadow and ensure that this wildlife haven in the centre of Emsworth is conserved and managed as a valuable resource for the benefit of the community and future generations.

www.brook-meadow.hampshire.org.uk/

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27/03/2008 by admin.

Emsworth Town Centre Tree Trail - There are many fine trees throughout Emsworth in recreation grounds, parks, nature conservation areas and other public spaces in addition to several tree-lined avenues such as Havant Road Horndean Road and Warblington Road.In the town centre, most of the trees of any size are in private gardens, in Church grounds, along the eastern side of the Town Mill Pond, or in the area adjoining the River Ems and Brook Meadow. The Trail takes you around the central area and identifies some fine trees which can be viewed from public paths, some of which can get very muddy in spring and winter.Many of the trees in the town centre have been pruned, crown reduced, or pollarded mainly for masons of space constraints or the proximity of roads. Tree Preservation Orders (TP0s) have been put on a number of trees throughout Emsworth because of their amenity value. The town centre area south of the A259 is designated as a Conservation Area. Any tree felling or maintenance work within this area requires Local Authority permission.This Trail has 26 different types of trees, with 3 conifers and 23 broadleaved trees. Seventeen of these trees are native to

Copies of the Booklet (£1.00) \re available from:
Emsworth Museum, Emsworth Bookshop, Bookends, Borland & Bound Estate agents and The Brookfield Hotel.

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22/03/2008 by George.

The 7 Feb 08 edition of ‘Country Life’ Magazine carried a feature article by local journalist Liz Sagues explaining the work of the Chichester Harbour Trust. 

Complemented by images from photographer David Noton, the article emphasises the importance of

Chichester
Harbour as a wildlife habitat, a beautiful landscape and a peaceful refuge to be enjoyed by the local inhabitants and the many visitors to the area alike. 

It particularly stresses the ‘people pressure’ that threatens the area through the demand for more housing and the temptations of ever increasing land prices. 

The article points to a number of projects where the Trust is helping to ease that pressure by taking over areas of land for the very long term. It also highlights the value of the charity as a mechanism whereby the local authority can set land aside as an ‘environmental corridor’ in the hands of the Trust in order to minimise the impact of necessary development.  

Country Life has a circulation of over 40,000 so such a prominent article will give the Chichester Harbour Trust some very valuable exposure throughout the Country. It will help to explain the importance of the charity’s aim to conserve Chichester Harbour both now and for generations to come.

  http://www.chichesterharbourtrust.co.uk/

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03/02/2008 by admin.

Emsworth Museum’s first special exhibition for the 2008 season will focus on initial results of this unique project the first exhibition to be held in the Rudkin Room for the museum’s 2008 summer season will feature the initial results of the research and field work undertaken for this special project. The official opening will be Saturday during Easter weekend.  The Trust in partnership with the  Chichester and District Archaeological Society has started work on a unique study into the history of Emsworth oyster beds. “This is an exciting opportunity to find out more about the oyster industry based in Emsworth over hundred  years ago” said John Tweddell, the project co-coordinator “We hope to gain a better understanding of how it changed from a successful business in the 19th century to its collapse in the early 20th century.” After winning funding from the Chichester Harbour Sustainable Development Fund, the project will cover both research into the records held by the museum and field work on the site itself. Training for the volunteers who are undertaking the field work element of the project took place in early December 2007.  In January and February this year the team are undertaking the work involved in mapping the beds and looking at evidence to help us understand their construction.

www.emsworthheritageproject.org.uk

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