Hampshire County Council planners have shared draft plans for possible road layouts that would allow for social distancing in Petersfield town centre.
As we reported in the Morning Report earlier this week, the plans show barriers in several roads between pedestrians and traffic, a loss of free parking on the High Street, in the Square and on Lavant Street.
The draft proposals include making the 48-space Castle Yard car park, opposite the telephone exchange on Swan Street, free of charge for one hour at a time.
We have yet to receive confirmation from Hampshire County Council that these plans are approved and will be implemented, however, signs have already appeared on the High Street warning of parking restrictions for the installation of barriers.
Councillor Rob Mocatta has promised us an interview which we will share in our daily Morning Report and we hope to also share the views of Petersfield shopkeepers who have privately expressed fears the town could look “like a war zone” with all the barriers.
See the draft plans
Here’s what the draft plans show. Click to go large.
Restrictions around the Lloyds, HSBC and Nationwide banking cornerParking suspended in the Square and on the High StreetBarriers all along Lavant Street on one side and parking banned Signed diversions encourage you to use alternative parking
We respect the copyright in the plans and mapping which is reproduced here in the public interest.
Signs of our times
Under the proposals, yellow signs like this will help you find your way to the alternative free parking.
The arrows take you to Castle Yard, on Swan Street, where free spaces will be made available
Pedestrians and drivers will be alerted to the new arrangements and social distancing rules with red signs like these.
A run-down farm and nearly 15 acres of open land between Sheet and Petersfield is on the market.
Lords Farm is being sold in up to four lots by agents Savills.
The property includes around three acres of land opposite Sheet Primary School and a seven-acre field off Kingsfernsden Lane, adjacent to the railway line.
The agent says the property and its land has significant potential for residential and commercial development, but any plans to build on the land are likely to be met with stiff local opposition.
The plots are on the edge of the Petersfield settlement boundary, as set out in the town’s Neighbourhood Development Plan.
There’s an open day on 25 June.
What does the South Downs National Park Authority say?
In response to concerns raised by Petersfield Community Radio listeners, the planning authority has issued us with this statement:
Lords Farm has not been assessed in our SHLAA to date, nor are we aware of it being submitted for a future SHLAA update.
According to the South Downs Local Plan, the location is outside the settlement boundaries for Petersfield and Sheet. As it is classed as open countryside, the presumption would be against development, although no planning application has been received by the Authority.
SHLAA site EA116 Land North of Reservoir Lane, between Petersfield and Sheet, was assessed and rejected due to the landscape assessment, which concluded that large-scale development at this location would have a significant detrimental impact on the landscape.
South Downs National Park Authority, 4 June 2020
Lords Farm cottage. Picture: SavillsThe field off School Lane could be yours for £60,000. Picture: SavillsSeveral unloved farm buildings are on the land. Picture: Savills
What do you think?
Do you live on Waterworks Road, School Lane or the area near Kingsfernsden Lane? What do you think about the sale, and would you want to see housing built on the green spaces between Petersfield and Sheet?
Two men have been charged with attempted murder following an incident in Petersfield in the early hours of 20 May, Hampshire Constabulary has confirmed.
Shaun Hanson, 49, of Fern Close, Petersfield, and Anthony Seymour, 22, of Rival Moor Road, Petersfield, will both appear before Basingstoke Magistrates Court today.
The victim, a man in his 30s, also from Petersfield, sustained a number of wounds during the incident, which occurred at a property in Durford Road, but he remains stable in hospital.
If you have any information about this incident, please call 101 and quote Operation Sash.
A 49-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following an incident at an address in Durford Road, Petersfield, overnight.
A man in his 30s was taken to hospital after sustaining a number of wounds in the incident which occurred in the early hours of Wednesday, 20 May. His condition is described as stable.
Hampshire Constabulary officers are in the area carrying out house-to-house enquiries. Please don’t hesitate to speak to them if you have any concerns.
If you have any information about this incident, please call 101 and quote reference 44200178220.
Petersfield’s largest school, The Petersfield School wants local people to donate unused portable computers to help children get online and study during the Coronavirus outbreak.
Ready for your digital donations in Tesco
If you have an unused iPad, Chromebook or laptop computer you can drop it off at Tesco on the Causeway.
A similar scheme is operated in Liphook for Bohunt School which shares management with TPS.
During the pandemic, children at home are able to continue learning remotely, but only if they can connect. The school has partnered with external organisations to ensure student get strong support with their digital learning.
The school says 12% of UK households do not have a computer but that many people have unused devices lying around the house.
Head teacher Mark Marande told Petersfield Community Radio:
I want to reassure parents that a laptop is not a prerequisite for accessing our remote learning package. It can be done via a tablet or even a smart phone. However, we do recognise that access to digital technology might be a challenge for some families, especially if parents are also working from home and if schools have to remain shut for an extended period of time. Therefore today across the Bohunt Education Trust we are launching a ‘donation of unused devices to support education’ drive.
Mark Marande, Head Teacher, The Petersfield School
All donated devices will be provided to local families with children at school so that they can get online and connect to their teachers.
Devices in demand
iPad 3s or higher
Chromebooks
Laptops capable of running Windows 7 or higher
It is important that any donated devices are:
Cleaned/disinfected, using ethyl or isopropyl alcohol on a soft cloth (follow manufacturers’ recommendations)
In full working order, with working leads and power adapters for laptops and Chromebooks (not essential for iPads), and completely reset.
People in Sheet have started a community support network for people who need help during the Coronavirus outbreak.
If you’re in the area and need help over the coming months because of illness or self-isolation, the village has a group of volunteers to assist with daily tasks.
The group says it is willing to do shopping, medicine collection and dog walking as well as other tasks asked of it by local residents.
To take advantage of this group, or to volunteer yourself, you can contact the Parish Clerk Jenny Hollington on Petersfield (01730) 264 336 or by mobile 07900 028 619.
Several Petersfield businesses sent their staff home for the day after this dramatic electrical fire cut off their power supply.
Electricity pole on fire in Petersfield
Flames and smoke poured from the wooden pole which was left charred by the fire at Heath Farm. It is one of a string of poles that carry live cables across the site to homes and businesses that operate on the site.
Two fire appliances and electrical safety specialists attended. SSE staff were scrambled from their local base on Bedford Road.
Emergency services deal with the blazing pole
The businesses affected all operate at the farm and include the global headquarters of online recommendations service Feefo and the PR and marketing agency Azalea.
Around one hundred Feefo staff have been sent to work from home while some company operations have transferred to their smaller London office. Other businesses on the site have also closed for the day and have invoked their contingency plans.
A total of six businesses and homes have been affected, according to SSE Networks which operates the power infrastructure in Petersfield.
The first reports of the fire came from Hampshire Fire Service and local workers at 9.15am. SSE staff were on site within fifteen minutes to isolate the pole.
SSE says it is not uncommon for fires to occur on electricity poles. Sometimes they can be caused by birds hitting the wires or by lightning.
Engineers from SSE Networks inspect the charred structure
Petersfield Town and EHDC councillor Jamie Matthews, a technical infrastructure specialist, suggested on social media that ice causing a short circuit could be to blame.
SSE says they won’t know until their detailed inspection which must wait until engineers can take the pole down but there there is no evidence of any lightning in the Petersfield area at the time.
SSE apologies for any inconvenience to customers and says its teams are working to restore the power as quickly as possible. They managed to restore power before their target time of 4pm.
Big dig
Today’s fire comes just weeks before a major electricity infrastructure upgrade starts in the Petersfield area.
The project will place new high voltage cables under several streets in the town and remove overhead cables on a route from Petersfield to Fernhurst.
SSE Networks is running two public consultation events where local people can look at the plans and raise concerns.
Emergency crews from the fire service and police attended Petersfield railway station today after passengers reported a fire on board a Northbound train.
South Western Railway staff stopped and evacuated the ten-carriage train at Petersfield after passengers noticed smoke and a smell of burning in the fifth carriage.
Fire crew members told us that nobody was hurt.
We spoke to these eyewitnesses and passengers affected by the incident.
The train on which the fire was reported is one of the recently-refurbished “Class 442” units which are 30-years old. They entered service on the London Waterloo to Portsmouth line this month.
The affected service was the 10.15 from Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo.
It arrived into Petersfield just one minute behind schedule at 10.48 but didn’t leave the station until 12.51 when it was driven to Haslemere. The onward service to London was then cancelled.
This is the moment hundreds of passengers on the South Western Railway service to London Waterloo were ordered to “evacuate the platform” after a suspected fire on the train. Passengers are now stranded in #Petersfield. Expect delays on London-bound services. pic.twitter.com/TTOpUoc70u
Portsmouth News journalist Tom Cottterill was in Petersfield when the train was evacuated
Control point in the car park
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service deployed four vehicles including three fire engines and established a control point for the incident in the car park off Frenchmans Road. We counted 18 fire service staff at the railway station.
South Western Railway organised replacement buses to take passengers to their destinations. Some trains started to run after one o’clock but delays and cancellations continued to show on the station boards into the afternoon.
Eyewitness tells of smoke and smell
Sarah was one of scores of passengers on the train who were caught up in the drama. The disruption meant Sarah had to reschedule a hospital appointment. She told Petersfield Community Radio what happened to her.
I was on the carriage in front of where it happened and apparently it filled with smoke and there was a smell. Most people left the train because of an electric fire smell. Then we were all told to get off, and all told to steer clear of the train and then we were all told to evacuate the platform.
What could have caused it?
We know Fire and Rescue Service personnel used heat-detecting equipment to identify an overheating brake. The brake would have caused a lot of firey smoke and heat but nobody has reported seeing flames.
Railway experts who have spoken to Petersfield Community Radio suggest that the brakes in the fifth carriage could have been locked because of a fault or even human error. We understand this train was in for overnight maintenance last night.
While modern trains will alert the driver to a locked or “dragging” brake, our experts say the only indication a driver would have of such a fault on these older ‘442’ units would be if they could feel the train not pulling properly, or if somebody raised the alarm.
Another bad day for train users
In addition to the fire scare in Petersfield, a piece of railway track was damaged between Rowlands Castle and Petersfield today. This meant that trains had to travel through that area Northbound as slow as 5 miles per hour at one time.
There is no suggestion of any connection between the damaged rail and the overheating brakes that caused today’s evacuation.
Three fire engines were in the station car parkRailway workers closed the line in both directions
Louise is pictured with her late father, in happier times
Last month saw the launch, in London, of a pressure group called the ‘5FU Test Alliance’.
Petersfield resident Louise Brown is heavily involved in this campaign after losing her father two-and-a-half years ago following the prescription of the chemotherapy drug 5FU.
Louise popped along to a recording of the P pod and discussed the campaign with presenter Joff Lacey.
Hampshire police would like to speak with this man
Hampshire police have released a CCTV image after an alleged flashing incident in which a man reportedly exposed himself to a 12-year-old girl.
Officers say a man reportedly followed the girl before approaching her and exposing himself to her. The girl quickly left the area.
The alleged incident is said to have taken place on the Causeway, near Tesco, in Petersfield, at 3.45pm on Thursday 7 November.
Officers have now
released CCTV of a man they would like to speak to following the
incident.
A spokesperson said:
“We appreciate it is not the clearest picture.
“The man is
described as being white, aged between 35 and 45, slim build, and
wearing black sweatshirt, dark blue trousers with a white stripe up
the outside of the leg and trainers
“If you recognise
this man, or witnessed anything in the area of The Causeway and
Hylton Road on 7 November, officers would like to hear from you.
“Anyone with
information can call 101, quoting 44190400985. Alternatively, you can
call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
