Village Voice April/May 2014 | Page 7

St. Mary’s, Old Alresford OLD ALRESFORD NEWS Old Alresford Parish Council The Parish Council recently had a presentation from Mags Wylie of HARAH – Hampshire Alliance for Rural Affordable Housing. HARAH’s role is to help villages develop affordable housing projects. CHURCHYARD ‘Clear Up’ Saturday 5 April 9.30 – 12 noon ….. pruning, strimming, removing ivy & weeds from graves and walls, etc. Any OFFERS of HELP would be very welcome Many hands make light work! Enquiries: Toni Booth [735293] Gail Straker [732438] ANNUAL CHURCH MEETING in St. Mary’s Church on Sunday 27 APRIL at 10.45am The Parochial Church Council thanks all those people who, in so many different ways, have supported and assisted St. Mary’s Church throughout the past year. The first step in HARAH’s approach is to identify villages with a demand for rural housing. Winchester City Council has 36 applicants with local connections who would like to live in Old Alresford. The Parish Blueprint document (December 2010) indicated that Old Alresford residents felt that ‘the village is short of one and twobedroom accommodation and single-storey accommodation for the elderly’ and that ‘the potential for infill is limited and in many cases not desirable and that it may be necessary to identify areas for sympathetic small-scale development.’ Given the above, the Parish Council has decided it is appropriate to look for areas for small scale affordable housing development. These can be built outside of the village envelope under special planning dispensation for ‘exception sites’. The Parish Council would be pleased to hear from landowners who own land close to or within the village envelope who would be willing to consider selling suitable land for development as affordable housing. Please contact the Parish Clerk Bobbie Smith [email protected] Details about rural affordable housing can be found on HARAH’s website www.harah.org.uk 5