This page is run by Hayling's Havant Borough Councillors to make the case for Hayling to have its own local Town Council before Havant Borough Council gets absorbed into a bigger, more remote Unitary Council in 2027/2028 Hayling's Havant Borough Councillors believe Hayling will need its own local Town Council to speak up for us when that happens, supported by many others on Hayling, including Hayl
ing Residents Association (HIRA). Our petition asks Havant Borough Council to investigate the options, and let Hayling voters make the final decision. Why?
• To speak up for Hayling and give us a louder voice.
• To manage and protect Hayling’s precious assets - our open spaces, our beach, our allotments, perhaps our community centres.
• To protect those assets from being run-down or even sold off to pay off Hampshire's deficit. How?
• A Town Council can ask Havant Borough Council to hand over assets such as land, allotments, car parks, community centres.
• Havant Borough Council wants them protected for the long term, and is currently likely to agree.
• A Town Council is effectively the same as a Parish Council, but with 18,000 residents, Hayling Island easily qualifies as a Town, and we think this better represents who we are. Why so urgent?
• Setting up a Town Council is a complex issue, and will take time.
• If 7.5% of Hayling’s voters sign a petition, Havant MUST, by law, report within 12 months, and potentially offer Hayling the chance to decide.
• If Havant starts that process on it’s own, there is no time limit, and with all the other priorities, it could get delayed.
• If the Government sees valuable assets being taken away from the new Unitary Councils, it may put a stop to it, which is why this is urgent NOW. What’s the downside?
• Cost? In principle, any extra Local Council Tax should be compensated by a reduction in the Unitary Council Tax, but this may be hard to measure, and even harder to achieve.
• But local services can take advantage of local cost savings and volunteers that a remote council could not.
• And it’s vital that truly local services and open spaces are ring-fenced and protected, and not swallowed up or sold off to maintain social services, as is happening to Hampshire. This is not about party politics. Most or all political parties support this, and being independent of the party or parties in power makes it easier to hold them to account. Please sign the Petition Today! You can contact us through this page, or via any of your local Havant Borough Councillors below, or via HIRA (Hayling Island Residents Association).
• Cllr Jonathan Hulls, [email protected]
• Cllr Mark Coates, [email protected]
• Cllr Netty Shepherd, [email protected]
• Cllr Paul Gray, [email protected]
• Cllr Peter Oliver, [email protected]
• Cllr Wilf Forrow, [email protected]
• HIRA, [email protected]
