The arrogance of Havant Borough Council. They are even ignoring their own MP!
It’s now 3 months since the woods and pathways at Hurstwood were closed due to Ash Dieback, and there has been zero work done on site other than a ridiculously comical attempt to prevent all access to the area.
As I’ve stated previously I’m no fan of Suella Braverman’s politics but she’s willing to stand up to these draconian council authoritarians and has proved herself interested and committed to local issues. I find the level of arrogance from Havant Borough Council (HBC) breathtaking.. They won’t even give a straight answer to why the woods are closed indefinitely, to their own MP, let alone residents. Suella has taken to Facebook to update residents and refresh the call to sign her petition here to get it reopened. I would urge you all to sign it..
Comedy Fencing
In attempt to stop people using the woods, HBC have now partially installed more ‘heavy duty’ permanent looking fencing on at least three of the access pathways to the restricted zone. Only they have completely left out two of the major entrances, leaving the temporary barrier fencing which has been repeatedly pulled aside or thrown over by angry and frustrated residents.
This has lead to a ridiculous situation where the public can enter the woods from one direction, but then find themselves trapped at the other end when they run into one of the permanent fences closing their exit.
The reasons for this are unsure but my guess is they realised just how costly and impossible it would be to secure the entire area. Securing just one of the entrances at the Tempest Av/ Crystal Way junction would require a 30m run of fencing and similar for the main entrance in Harkness Drive..
They are also now probably aware following many complaints from residents including myself, that closing both of these entrances would seriously hamper any attempt to tackle a wildfire from The Fire Service. Following months of no rain the whole area is like a tinderbox. As ever with these things, in their attempt to solve one small problem, they’ve created a much larger one.
The net result is we have a comedic limbo, as I experienced the other day where I had a conversation with another resident who had wandered through the open fencing and couldn’t exit to the pathway. We were stuck chatting like a visitor meeting a prisoner. He couldn’t exit and I couldn’t get in!
Meanwhile, there’s been no work done to resolve the issue, no progress report, no end date…
When will the madness end?
At the back of my mind, is the nagging thought that there is a more sinister motive at work. At this point I would not be surprised if HBC announce that they’ve decided to not to proceed with the works on cost grounds, and the entire area will be sold off to developers…
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