Littleton & Harestock Community Governance Review 2018
In November 2017, Winchester City Council received a request from Littleton & Harestock Parish Council to review governance arrangements in the area, with a view to two separate Parish Councils being formed.
The questionnaire responses showed no clear preference from respondents across the whole parish. 51% opted for change (by selecting one of the change options), while 49% of respondents opted for no change. Likewise, there was no clear preference between the two change options to either establish a separate Parish Council for Harestock or include Harestock in the WinchesterTown area.
The most important factor in determining the way forward was the need to gain the consent of the Local Government Boundary Commission, because the community governance review is within 5 years of the last Boundary Commission review of the Winchester District in 2015. There has been no change since that time.
Given the lack of clear majority of local support for change or a specific change option arising for the consultation and the issue of gaining the permission of the LGBCE, it was not felt that there was a case to progress further at this stage. The Council's Licensing & Regulation Committee on 13 September 2018 resolved to terminate the review.
Further work will be undertaken in 2020 to review how the new electoral and working arrangements are operating in the parish. At that point in time a decision whether to initiate a further CGR can also consider whether there are opportunities to combine any future considerations with other possible parish changes in neighbouring areas and assess the progress and projection of completions and projected completions at Barton Farm.
If you have any questions or requests for additional information please email us at communitygovernancereview@winchester.gov.uk.