Council elections and cabinet 
At Council last night (May 14) a number of changes were made within the Cabinet. Cllr George Beckett remains Leader and Chairman of the Cabinet, with Cllr John Cooper elected as Vice Chairman of the Cabinet.

Other changes to portfolio holders and responsibilities can be found on our website.

• The full results from the May 1st City Council elections can be found on our election webpages.
  
• The 809th Mayor of Winchester will be Cllr Mike Read (Denmead) who has taken over from Cllr Chris Pines (St John & All Saints). The new Deputy Mayor is Dominic Hiscock (St Bartholomew).
  
• A by-election will be held for New Alresford Town Council on Thursday 26th June

Bringing our services closer to you
In the coming months, residents who live outside of Winchester town should find it much easier to access the Council’s services.

A number of the Council’s most popular services will be available in Bishops Waltham, New Alresford and Whiteley through new arrangements that will see Council officers working in places such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, Police Station, Library or Leisure Centre.

In each area there will be a Customer Service Advisor one day a week, to help you report issues such as graffiti to be removed, damaged pavements, faulty street lights, as well as to provide information on subjects such as planning applications and bin collections. There will also be alternate weekly visits from Housing and Benefits Officers, who will be available for appointments or for you to just drop-in and see if you prefer.

This initiative is part of the Council’s push to provide a better service to residents in the more rural parts of the district. It reflects the emerging findings of the new Local Development Framework, which identifies settlements such as Bishops Waltham, New Alresford and Whiteley as important locations for key services.

It is hoped that these services will start by July. Further details will be available soon.



New grants for you
There has been a minor shake-up to Winchester City Council’s grants, with a few new funding streams now available. Most of these are particularly appropriate for parish or town councils, not-for-profit or community groups.

NEW: Community Planning Grants
Grants of up to £500 are available towards projects that support the process of community planning. Examples include parish plans, neighbourhood plans, market town health checks and community ‘greening’ campaigns.
Details of who can apply, what the money might be spent on, and when the application deadlines are, can be found on the community planning grants webpages.

NEW: Carbon Reduction Grants
Grants of up to £500 are available for projects that promote/support Carbon reduction initiatives or support carbon reduction and/or recycling champions.
Examples of projects include:
• Installation of cavity wall or roof insulation in a community building
• Research into the feasibility of installing solar panels on a community building
• Cost of venue for group discussions on carbon reduction
Further details, including application deadlines, can be found on the carbon reduction grants webpages.

Community Chest Scheme
These grants have been available since 2004 and aim to make small grants more accessible to local voluntary and community groups.
Grants of up to £500 are available for one-off pieces of expenditure if projects or activities meet the council’s priorities.
Examples of groups and projects funded in 2007/08 include:

• Prime Theatre was awarded £500 to enable this theatre group to take entertainment into day centres and similar establishments for seniors in Winchester.
• £500 was awarded to a new support group for sufferers of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
• A playgroup received £310 towards the cost of storage facilities.

More details can be found on the community chest webpages.

As well as providing funding for certain projects the City Council’s Partnership and External Funding Officer Bernice Heller can offer advice and support on other local or national funding streams. Contact Bernice on 01962 848 582.

Rural Transport Grants
Money is available for 2008/09 for setting up new rural (community) transport schemes or for new or replacement vehicles.
Please contact Sara Kendall on skendall@winchester.gov.uk for further details.

Hampshire County Councillor Grants
It looks likely that Hampshire County Council will continue their Councillor grant scheme - where each HCC councillor has £10,000 to give to voluntary groups - for 2008/9. Applications will open on June 1st.

You must make personal contact with the HCC councillor first and discuss your project ideas. Grants in the range £500 - £2,000 should be available. 

Find out who your HCC councillor is 



Children’s Centres – phase 3
Children’s Centres aim to deliver better outcomes for children by bringing together a range of services for the under 5s and their families – centres may also offer services to a wider age range where possible.

In the first two phases of the programme 60 centres have been created in Hampshire, four of which are in the Winchester District

• Lanterns in Bereweeke Road serving St Barnabas, Littleton & Harestock and St Pauls
• Winnall Community Centre serving St Bartholomew, St John & All Saints
• Carroll Centre serving St Luke, Olivers Battery & Badger Farm and St Michaels,
• Wickham Primary School serving children and families in Wickham, Shedfield and Whiteley.

To meet the Government target for each community to be served by a Children’s Centre by 31st March 2010, a further 23 centres will have to be developed across Hampshire in phase 3 of the programme - three of these will be in the Winchester District.

Hampshire County Council is now undertaking consultation on phase 3. Consultation is central to the development of children’s centres in Hampshire; and a range of consultation activities will take place to inform the development.

A consultation website has been developed which provides access to all of the consultation documents, which set out the vision for delivering phase 3 of the children’s centre programme within Hampshire. A questionnaire is available, which seeks views and feedback from all stakeholders on the draft proposals, and can be downloaded in hard copy or completed online. 

The deadline for consultation responses is 31 July 2008.

Further background information on Children’s Centres 



Health and Safety Advice
Anyone involved in carrying out risk assessments might be interested in this example for a village hall