Havant Climate Alliance was founded to push for climate action locally, but we have also been working closely with Friends of the Earth promoting their campaigns, attending national meetings, and maintaining links with existing Havant FOE members, this report covers both groups.
Public Meetings
We normally meet three times each month and one of the meetings is a public one. Over the year we have held meetings on the Warm Homes campaign. Methane, Myth-busing Hydrogen, the People’s Plan for Nature and Planetary Boundaries. We also share FOE online meetings.
Planning Group Meetings
As well as planning action and sharing information about new reports and databases like the Climate Scorecards, we respond to numerous consultations like Hampshire spending, the HCC Minerals and Waste plans, Permitted Development Rights, rooftop solar, Farlington marshes and more.
We commented on Havant’s last Local Plan which was thrown out by the National Planning Inspectors. We will be commenting on the next version, expected later this year.
Membership
We now have 103 members on our HFOE mailing list, 460 on the Havant Climate Alliance list and another 411 on the HCA Facebook group. One of our aims is to increase our membership lists and especially to encourage more people to join the planning group.
Newsletters and Social Media
We send a newsletter to HFOE supporters each month and other mailings to the full HCA mailing list. We also maintain websites for both HCA and HFOE as well as Facebook groups and on X (Formally Twitter)
National Campaigns
We have supported numerous campaigns over the year, especially the calls to stop more investment in oil and gas, make polluters pay and protecting biodiversity. We also took part in rallies and marches for the call for climate justice in London and the rally during COP 28 in Portsmouth.
Wider Networks
We are part of the Climate Coalition (a grouping of 150 plus organisations) and also the Climate Justice Coalition in SE Hants and the Hampshire Climate Action Network.
Links with Havant Borough Council
We have had several meetings over the year with councillors and HBC officers, and we are represented on the Council Climate Change and Environment Panel. We are encouraged by feedback following the recent training for staff and councillors and by their plans for public consultation in 2024. We hope that links generally will be strengthened this year.
Warm Homes Campaign
We have been pushing particularly for more money for retrofitting, for renewable energy and for help with energy bills for people on low incomes.
Apart from raising this with the council and organising a public meeting, we organized a petition and a day of action in which we created a quilt with messages about the need for this campaign.
Havant Borough Big Green Week and our EcoFair
In the summer we organized our third Green Week which was very successful. There were 30+ events plus activities in schools, libraries and churches and displays of children’s art. We encourage local groups to organize their own events but had our own public meetings.
The week was launched with a big fair at St. Albans school in which we had a stall, and we also organized our own Ecofair in September.
We very much appreciated FOE funding for our green week.
Stalls
As well as stalls at the EcoFairs, we have taken material to the Waterlooville Summer Fair, the Emsworth Eco days and the Party for the Warren. At all of these we promoted the Warm Homes Campaign and encouraged people to support our charter.
Planning And Housing Development
Responding to planning applications is an important part of what we do. Many new applications lack plans for biodiversity and low carbon design. Brownfield sites are being developed but so are too many greenfield ones. Too many homes are built close to motorways and busy roads with noise and pollution.
So, in the past year we have sent in comments to Havant Borough Council on 15 planning applications, with deputations being presented to the Planning Committee on 5 of them. This includes comments on 2 care homes, and the possibility of the landfill site at Brockhampton West being used for a Water Recycling Plant. With many others we objected to Phase 2 development of Lower Road, Bedhampton but the case was lost on appeal.
Unfortunately, our objection to Tournerbury Woods Hayling Island, an SSSI, continuing to be used as a wedding venue was not successful, and the owner threatened to sue us because of our objections. While these were well founded, considerable time and stress was expended as a result. We and others are still arguing the case against any development of Campdown, a beautiful downland landscape and specialist habitat for curlews.
With encouragement, some developers are trying to include more biodiversity in their plans e.g. keeping mature trees, enhancing connectivity for wildlife, with native planting and including bird and bat boxes. For low carbon design, standards of insulation are improving, but most developers still want to install gas central heating and are reluctant to install heat pumps, solar panels and EV charge points, which cost them more. Bike sheds and connectivity to cycle and walking paths can also be an issue.
Havant Thicket Reservoir
Work to monitor the progress of the reservoir and to challenge Southern Water’s plans to pump recycled effluent into the reservoir have been a major focus for us this year. We are represented on the Reservoir Stakeholder group, their environmental sub-group, and the effluent recycling group. We have also attended numerous other meetings to update ourselves and to plan action.
We helped promote a petition against Southern Water’s plans, presented councillors with letters outlining our objections and have attended other public meetings and responded to consultations.
Sewage in the Solent
This is another campaign we have been supporting, including taking part in Save Our South Coast Association protests.
Local Elections
We wrote all the local candidates with a series of questions. on their attitude to key questions. We were delighted that two of our members were elected to Havant Borough Council.
Plans for the Future
Most of our campaigns are ongoing. We do want to maximize the climate message during the General Election campaign and particularly support the aims of the Warm Home campaign. We are busy working our Green Week for 2024 and will be working with HBC on a revised Climate Action Plan and its new planning document.
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