Basingstoke’s New Local Plan - Have Your Say
As of Friday November 28th, residents will be able to have their say on council plans to allocate hundreds more homes to rural land across North Hampshire, including the addition of a 500-home site at Oakley Farm in the North of Highclere Parish. This site is directly on the opposite side of the A343 to the 260-home site at Watermill Bridge. The Borough Council is responding to increased Government housebuilding targets. Late last year it was informed that the ongoing Local Plan Update would not pass inspection unless it accommodated those targets. This increased the Council target to 1127 new homes per annum, up from 828, an increase of 36% ! As a result the local authority has had to redraft its Local Plan and in particular the Spatial Strategy which earmarks where future development takes place, adding in more land which it suggests could accept new housing from now until 2042. It is also required to re-run an additional consultation on the revised Plan. They do this through their “consultation portal” which can be found at https://consult.basingstoke.gov.uk/ Registration is straightforward. The Council announced the consultation on November 21st with the following statement: “The consultation, which starts on Friday 28 November and runs for eight weeks, is your chance to give your views on the draft plan that will guide development and planning decisions in the area until 2042. The consultation focuses on an updated spatial strategy, which meets additional needs required through new national planning guidance published late last year. This is your opportunity to be involved in deciding where new homes, employment and infrastructure will be built. When the consultation starts next Friday the council will send an email with further information on how and where to get more information. The consultation will run through our online consultation portal, enabling everyone to get to the parts of the Plan that are the most important to them, and make comments quickly and easily. A number of events are also being arranged for January and venues, dates and times will be provided when the consultation launches. Please do not submit comments before the consultation begins on Friday 28 November as they can’t be taken into account. Also, if you made comments on the last Regulation 18 consultation in early 2024 you don’t need to repeat those comments as they remain valid.” The Society will be examining the consultation in detail and will hope to give useful feedback to members as the consultation progresses and well before it closes on January 23rd 2026. We will also be watching for the “events” mentioned to decide whether we should attend on your behalf.
Thank you from Highclere Society
On Thursday 12th February 74 people braved the weather and came along to the Village Hall for a quiz and ploughmans. Jez Spikins did a brilliant job of Quiz Master throughout the evening, keeping us all in order. There was a great range of questions to suit everyone there. I would like to thank everyone that came along, Jez and the Society committee for making the evening such a success. I would also like to thank the individuals who paid for the hall, the alcohol license and the food. We raised £1,275 for our charity, which is AMMF – the only Cholangiocarcinoma Charity which deals with the bile duct. This will be donated to the Charity in November in the name of Tracy Sharp who was one of our own committee. Thank you again. Sally Wrigley
Highclere Seasonal Walk
The beautiful grounds around Milford and Duns Mere Lakes, Highclere will be open again this Spring/Summer. People are welcome to enjoy the marked circular walk during the May bank holiday weekends, and then from the 1st July to 31st August. Walkers are kindly asked to keep to the marked path and to always keep dogs on a lead. Fox's Lane Highclere Newbury Hampshire RG20 9LA
Highclere Church Fete - Saturday the 13th June 2026.
Highclere Village Fete has been accepted onto the Greenham Trust’s Good Exchange platform, which helps raise funds for charities and local community projects. As you know, the fete is a much-loved event in our community. Each year, the fete is a great success thanks to the wonderful support of local people and the fantastic attractions on offer. However, there are significant costs involved in organising the event, including toilets, musicians, marquees, and more. To maximise the funds raised for charitable causes and to help support the ongoing work of our church, we are aiming to cover as many of these costs as possible through donations. With the support of Greenham Trust, every donation made through the platform is matched—effectively doubling your contribution—up to a total of £4,747. If you are able to donate, we would be extremely grateful for your support. You can contribute via the following link: https://app.thegoodexchange.com/project/19946/parochial-church-council-highclere/highclere-village-fete-2026 Thank you for helping to make the Highclere Village Fete 2026 another wonderful success.