Hayling Parish Council is close!
The Rook Farm Planning Inquiry for 300 more Barratt Homes Homes reminds us how badly we will need a Hayling Parish Council when Havant Borough Council disappears, to be absorbed in less than 2 years into a bigger, more remote Unitary Authority.
87% of us voted FOR a Hayling Parish (or Town) Council in Havant's Phase 1 consultation. Thank you!
Now in Phase 2, Havant has given us more detail on the exact proposals, which HIRA supports, and now we need ONE FINAL STEP to CONFIRM it in the very short Phase 2 survey HERE. If you're short of time and you AGREE, you can finish it in as little as 1 minute!
The deadline is Thursday 2nd JULY.
Malicious misinformation has been spread on Facebook encouraging votes against, and mainland councillors, who are less keen, could still vote it down at the Full Council meeting in July, so PLEASE do it now to show that it's the democratic will of the island.
More details below. This might be our last chance for at least 5 years!!! So please tell Havant you agree.
What is proposed?
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Create "Hayling Island Parish Council”.
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With 20 elected councillors.
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Elected as a whole island, not by Ward.
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Havant will calculate the first year's Council Tax precept, estimated at under £50 p.a. for Band D.
HIRA supports these proposals, with the following comments:
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THE NAME. Many people think of Hayling as a Town more than a Parish, so wanted "Town Council", but this can be easily changed once it's formed (the others can't).
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20 COUNCILLORS. That's the recommended size for our population. Some have said finding 20 willing candidates would be a challenge, but so long as we can find 8 or more, we'd be able to run, and they can co-opt more members as necessary. But fewer could be an issue, and the number CAN'T BE CHANGED easily in future without a boundary review. And if we get less than 21 candidates, we save the high cost of an election.
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WHOLE ISLAND ELECTION. This is MUCH simpler than warding, and makes finding good, keen councillors much easier. Some worry that areas such as North Hayling might be outvoted and under represented, but they can be co-opted, and Warding has such big disadvantages, that it's not recommended.
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COUNCIL TAX PRECEPT. This is the most controversial area, as some are worried that the a Parish Council could raise Council Tax unreasonably.
But Council taxes are only raised by elected councillors, so there is huge public pressure to keep them down. And Parish Councils are notoriously good at that, by using volunteers, by being local and creative, and by applying for grants and revenue that higher councils could never get.
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Since the initial transfer will just be allotments, we hope to see the initial precept far below £50 p.a., as there will be very few costs until it gets established.
We'd like to see future election candidates pledge to put significant tax increases to a referendum.
What happens next?
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On July 20th, full council will vote a final YES/NO. Many mainland councillors are not in favour, so this is by no means certain.
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If passed, Havant will write the legal Structural Change Order to make it happen.
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1 April 2027 the Community Governance Review Order takes effect, and the Parish Council comes into existence.
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May 2027 is the earliest possible date for elections for any new parish council, probably with the Shadow Unitary elections.
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Havant will organise the first Parish Council meeting, at which point councillors will elect a leader and start to take over the services handed over, probably only allotments to begin with, and consider whether to change its name.
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Over the coming years, the Parish Council will negotiate with the higher Council, probably the new Unitary, to take on other services and assets.