Waterlooville Events Team

Another fabulous film at the Waterlooville monthly cinema.  See you there??

Who are the 'low life' who hate Waterlooville so much that they don't want festive lighting in the precinct? The volunteers from the Events team have spent a lot of money and time to try and make Waterlooville look festive but having seen what some 'people' think about it makes you wonder why we bother. Today we went to change the batteries in the tree lights as some were not working. The reason was that the battery casings had been torn/cut off so the lights no longer worked. Councillor Mike Sceal went into the tree by Nat West to locate a connection further up and managed to connect another casing in the tree, but the lights in the tree by Lloyds bank could not be fixed. If you see something untoward or if you see the lights not working let us know. We had hoped to put battery lights in all the trees in Waterlooville precinct next year but if they are to be vandalised is it worth it??

Christmas is really coming and excitement is mounting!  The Events Team have again built a grotto in the library.  Bring the children and experience the winter wonderland and visit Father Xmas in his house.  £2 a child and they receive a wrapped gift and chocolate.  BIG BIG thank you to volunteers, library staff and men's shed for building this magical kingdom!

TIME TO MAKE YOUR VIEWS KNOWN!   For a few years there has been talk of redeveloping Wellington Way.  There is going to be a consultation in Waterlooville library on some of the proposals.  So if you do not want a 9 storey block (height of church!) to be built consisting of studio flats with little parking then this is the time to make your views known!  The following was posted on facebook by Havant Borough Council, so just in case you missed it here it is again. In May of this year a Development Consultation Forum was held at the council in relation to the partial re-development of Wellington Way Shopping Centre We have been informed that the development team are now carrying out their own additional Public Consultation at the Waterlooville Library from Wednesday 29 November to 3 December inclusive. It is understood that members of the applicant’s development team will be available to discuss the proposals on the afternoons of 29-30 Novembe...

What a fantastic effort from the staff at J Edwards and Co-operative Funeral care, who raffled 2 luxury hampers, a bottle hamper and a sweet hamper, as well as selling mulled wine and mince pies to all  at the Xmas event.. They managed to raise an enormous £197 which goes back into the Events Team, allowing us to put on more FREE events for the local community. Well done everyone! Were you the lucky winner???

The Christmas Event may be over but there is lots more happening in Waterlooville. Thursday is the monthly cinema 'Viceroys House' 7.30 in the St Georges Hall. Then it will be the monthly Car Boot sale in the Precinct on Sunday 3 December and then the Christmas Grotto in the library. Keep looking for more information. All these put on by the volunteers of the Events team.

While some towns moan that council cuts mean they have no Christmas Lights – Waterlooville came together this weekend to create a great event to switch theirs on. So many people gave their time for nothing: ·          10 acts performed on stage in the cold (and rain at the start of the day) ·          TS Tenacity led the lantern parade and the police and air cadets provided the marshalls ·          The Rotary club sent Santa and his fantastic light up sleigh (and the donkeys came!)         Princesses from Princess Party Entertainment and Friends provided photo opportunities ·         And, of course, the volunteers from the Waterlooville Events team were on their feet for 9 hours (in addition to the months of work planning the event) to make sure it went as smoothly as possible. Local Bus...

Do you want free children's activities at the 2018 Waterlooville Summer Fete? If so the Waterlooville Events Team needs your help!  It will not cost you a penny just 5 minutes of your time. We estimate over 2000 of you attended our Summer Fete this year (hopefully you all enjoyed it), many of you will have taken advantage of our free children's activities. We provided Samba and Circus workshops, a mobile farm, giant bubbles and laser quest - all completely free of charge, allowing you to entertain your children without breaking the bank.  We managed to do this with a grant of £1000 from Hampshire Country Council and the support of other organisations such as the Peter Ashley Activity Centre. We would like to provide something similar for 2018 so we have applied for £1000 from the Aviva Community fund.  When voting ends Tuesday (21st November) lunchtime the 180 'projects' with the highest number of votes will be awarded £1000. It is impossible to t...

Look out for the blue sticker in Waterlooville shops to show that they have supported the Events Team, Waterlooville and community by contributing towards the cost of the installation of the lights. Come and enjoy the event tomorrow (18th) from 11am in the morning when the stage bursts into life.  Entertainment right though till 6pm. Also the craft stalls, hog roast, lantern making, donkeys, dressing up and of course the lantern procession led by the marching band of HMS Tenacity.  Then the big switch on at 5.30pm (after the carol singing!!). Support all the efforts by the volunteers to bring the community together.  See you there.

The Waterlooville Christmas Event has some amazing entertainment.  A whole programme on the stage from 11.15am till 6pm.  One of the acts is the Nick Chandler Band.  They really will get your feet tapping.  Come and see them at midday.  Nick Chandler Band But don't miss the Rock Project, Bloke Zone and all the others.  Watch for details.

The Christmas event on Saturday (18th) is going to be so exciting. It all kicks off from 11.15 in the morning when the entertainment starts on the stage. Bands, singers, dancers it will all be happening. Plus the lantern making, bubbles, hog roast, craft stalls and of course SANTA and don't forget the Donkeys!! Watch for more details of the acts. Come and support your favourites.on Saturday

At last full approval has been received from Scottish and Southern Electric (SSE)  and also from Hampshire County Council.  There will be lights in Waterlooville.  The motifs will be on the lamp posts, or lighting columns as they are now known, and lights in the Christmas tree with the star on the top and battery powered lights in many of the trees.  Many businesses are contributing to the cost of the installation of the lights - £1900!!!  Also a big thank you to our county councillors and ward councillors who have also contributed to the cost. The volunteers of the Events team are working hard to make the switch on special at the Christmas event. Make sure you come to the Christmas Event - Saturday 18 November.  Lots happening throughout the day.  Watch for more information. See you then!!

A really big thank you to everyone who turned up to the Friends of Park Wood (FoPW) Special Meeting last Thursday or who sent in emails with their comments beforehand. It was an amazing show of interest in, and concern about, Park Wood. The consensus was that the current proposed Third Party Agreement cannot be signed by the FOPW in its present state as elements are missing, including policies (which have to be followed) and actual (as opposed to potential) permitted activities. The outcome was an overwhelming mandate by members for the committee to work on an amended Third Party Agreement with the Woodland Trust. Once the outstanding policies, plans and information on processes are received and activities confirmed, then the FOPW will sign the agreement. Please watch for more updates on this blog or on the Park Wood website.     Park Wood

Remember to come to the meeting about the future of this pretty wood on THURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER7.30PM  in the Baptist Church, London Road, Waterlooville. Want more information then check out the web site  PARK WOOD

Business meetings every 2 months have been held in Waterlooville for the last year.  At the last meeting in September it was decided to open up the meetings to the local residents as well as businesses as it was an opportunity for the people who live in Waterlooville to find out more about what is going on...BAE site and leisure facilites;  Wellington Way; cycle paths; shops closing; improve pavillion in the Jubilee park  etc etc.  All those things people talk about.  Come along to the next meeting and ask those questions and push for answers.  For too long Waterlooville has been very quiet perhaps this is the time to push the council.  Your local ward councillors will be there as well as council officers and cabinet members.  The next meeting is on: MONDAY 27 NOVEMBER 6pm St Georges Church Hall  Tell your friends and bring them along

Christmas Event Saturday 18 November Join the lantern procession which starts outside Dominoes Pizza at 4.45pm Children can bring a lantern with them or attend one of the free sessions organised by Caterpillar Crafts to make one.  See Poster for details.  OR they can make on on the day at the table that will be in the precinct from about 1pm.  Come and have fun!!

CAR BOOT SALE this Sunday 5 November in Waterlooville Precinct. Always first Sunday in the month. No need to book. Just turn up. See poster for more details

Today was spent going around the businesses in Waterlooville to ask them to contribute £20 towards the cost of the installation of the lights in Waterlooville Town centre. It is hard work and sometimes not very rewarding.  Some gave us contributions.  Many have to check with Head Office or owners or managers.  The cost of installation is over £1900.  We have raised some funding so we need some contribution from businesses. Every business who contributes gets a window sticker like the one above, which was used last year.  So when you are shopping look out for the sticker and then you will know that business supports  Christmas in Waterlooville.

I have just heard from SSE that they have kindly agreed to let us use the contractor Clinton Electrics to put up the Festive lighting in Waterlooville. They feel that it is so close to Xmas that they will allow him to plug in and flick the switch without the G39. I wonder if the response from the AMAZING COMMUNIY of Waterlooville may have helped in their decision. A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE.  Waterlooville can come together!!!

< Read the blog about the future of park Wood.  Planning to come to the meeting on Thursday 2 November in the Baptist Church to find out more?  Or can't make the meeting and still want to know more? Whichever it is, why not come to the next Workday?  The Friends meet on the last Sunday of every month.  So why not join them this Sunday  29 October any time from 10am, but if you pop in at 11am you can have a cup of coffee and learn about the wood.  Have a walk around and realise what a fantastic amenity it is and find the feet!!! See you on Sunday 29 October in the Wood.  Don't worry you will find the Friends!!  Enjoy the coffee, the people and of course the wood.  Bring the family and the dog!

Some of you may have read previous blogs as I have tried to work my way through the bureaucracy of licensing and installation for festive lights in the town centre.  In fairness the paperwork has been easier (was started in JUNE!) mainly because a lovely lady called Katie in Havant Borough Council has been helping me. So why am I saying there will be no festive lights in Waterlooville this year?  Scottish and Southern Electrics SSE!!   We have to get permission to hang the motifs from their lighting columns (also know as lamp posts!)  To do that we have to get an installer approved by them!! Our installer from last year retired and we had to find a new one.  To hang, plug in and flick a switch on  8 motifs, put the lights in the Xmas tree, plug in and flick a switch, and also hang some battery powered lights in the trees (and remove)   Our first quote COST £3500  Which we felt was excessive. We did find a local installer, Cl...

Not to be missed.  This film based on fact, really shows how far we have come against racism and equality for women.  See you there. Enjoy the film and support your local monthly cinema.

 This wood could be lost to the community if the Woodland Trust get their way! Many people know of Park Wood.  A small wood which is found on the London Road between Wallis Road and Queens Road, opposite Queens Enclosure.  It is a Woodland Trust Wood.  They took it over nearly 30 years ago and for the first 10 years they virtually ignored it.  It became shadowed with Sycamore and laurel.  It became waterlogged.  It became dark and dangerous with litter,  junkies, used needles, fires and in fact people were attacked in there.  Not a place you wanted to enter.  Then the Friends of Park Wood were formed and for nearly 20 years the friends (consisting of local residents) have maintained the wood always following a management plan as written by the Woodland Trust.  The wood was transformed to what it is today.  A place where you can walk.  Schools use it to teach children about the environment.  The blue...

Christmas is coming and everyone will be running round in December doing their shopping for the big day.    Havant Borough Council are allowing 3 Hours FREE parking every Saturday till Christmas Day starting 2 December.  So Shop locally!

What a super evening last night at the Waterlooville monthly cinema in St Georges Hall.  'Time of their Lives' was a fabulous film.  The laughter that went around the hall proved what a great hit it was.   It was also the first time the Events Team had used their new cinema equipment.  A little hiccup in the middle but otherwise pain free, so well done to Petra for her hard work in obtaining and using the new equipment.  The new larger screen also made the evening more enjoyable.  Over 50 people attended.  Did you miss it?  Well come and support the next film, Hidden Figures. The story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program.  Very thought provoking showing how bad racism and the treatment of women was at that time.  Put Thursday 26 October, 7pm in your diaries now

Well one company has come back with a quote to install, and take down, the lights in Waterlooville Town centre. Putting the lights in the Xmas Tree, putting up 8 motifs on 8 lamp posts and putting battery powered lights in 6 trees.  Go on Guess how much!  You may have to sit down.. £2425  + VAT  so the cost would be nearly £3000 Is it good value for money?  Did you know how expensive it is to put lights on trees?  Lets hope we get some more reasonable quotes.  Still waiting to hear from SSE, and a couple of small local firms. Fingers crossed.  

SUNDAY 1 OCTOBER Sellers access from 9.15am See poster for full details Support Waterlooville by coming along to the car boot sale held in Waterlooville Precinct.  Grab a bargain and have a wander around the shops and stop for a coffee.  Held every first Sunday in the month.

Now we hit the next problem.  The person who installed the Christmas lights in Waterlooville Town centre last year has retired and we have to find someone to put up the xmas tree lights and the motifs on the lamp posts.  Any ideas?  They must be a qualified electrician (approved by SSE)  I have contacted SSE for quote but would imagine it will be  well over £2000 as in 2014 it was £1800ex VAT just for the motifs and not the Xmas tree! We also need someone to install the battery operated lights into the trees.  So a cherry picker??  Any suggestions/ideas gratefully received.  Or Waterlooville will remain in darkness over Christmas

Want to know what is happening in Waterlooville?  Why not come along to the next business meeting.  Tell your friends. MONDAY 25 SEPTEMBER- 6.30pm St Georges Church Hall  This meeting is led by ward  Cllrs Peter Wade and Mike Sceal.  Cllr Tim Pike is HBC cabinet lead for infrastructure/business. Bring your questions.  The Waterlooville community needs to be heard. The following are some of the questions posed at the last meeting Leisure at BAE site?? Leisure at extension of Horizon Leisure?? Use of Pavilion in Jubilee park?? Rapid Transport Waterlooville - Havant?? Future of Wellington Pub?? ????? Your questions??

Cowplain School Band performed in Waterlooville Bandstand this weekend.  What talent and confidence.  Their music really brightened up the precinct on a chilly day!!  The music was so good it even had the 'little ones' dancing. The band members varied in age but all were good musicians and obviously enjoyed what they were doing.  A big thank you to music teacher Sue Dobyn who brought them along and also the supporting teachers and parents without who the event could not have happened. Want to hear them? Then go along to the school open evening and find them in the marquee. Thursday 21 September 6-8.30pm

  The saga of the Festive lights application continues. Now TPA also known as SSE have emailed with a list of questions. 1.  Highways approval  - I have it -hooray! 2. Structural tests of lighting column including BS EN40 calculations.  No idea what the EN 40 is???      Do we need a test?? If they columns are heavy duty don't need them, but they never replied in       August when I asked.  if we do have to get tests...where from? how much?? 3.  PLI - we have PLI for £5m so sent over schedule to prove it. 4. Copy of unmetered supply agreement.  Luckily HBC offered to sort this one 5.   Map showing location of columns.  The one I had sent not suitable, although acceptable to  HCC?!  They gave a link to an interactive map on their site.  That was fine but could not  download it, so sent them the address of it (which they should have since th...

As usual it is all happening in Waterlooville.  Charity dinner dance in aid of the Mayor's charity appeal.   The mayor is supporting Havant Homestart    Havant Homestart  and also Fitzroy Waterlooville   Fitzroy   Come along and dance the night away and know you are supporting local causes.  Mayor of Havant    Havant Mayor  

Had Cancer? Know someone who has had Cancer?  Want to support Macmillan?  Then come along to this coffee morning at Wellington Vale, Darnel Road PO7 7TY on Friday 29 September.

WATERLOOVILLE SATURDAY BANDSTAND features schools We are lucky enough to have  the talented students from Cowplain school playing for the shoppers in Waterlooville Town centre this Saturday 16th September from Midday.  It is not until you hear these youngsters perform that you realise that not all young people are the rebels that some media would have us believe.  Come and support these local youngsters brightening up the town for the community. See you there!!

2017  To keep you up to date with the license application for the festive lighting in Waterlooville. The application to SSE was sent in by their requested date 1/9/17.  I did not understand the form so had to leave much of it blank....Windage of Motifs, Eccentricity??? I will not bore you with the rest.  However a nice lady called Katie at HBC has tracked down the answers and a full form was submitted yesterday.   Also a legal letter that goes to another subcontractor, TAY was signed and sent at end of August. To date no acknowledgement of any of them.  Watch this space!!

PARK WOOD can be found opposite Queens Enclosure along the London Road in Waterlooville.   When I moved to Waterlooville nearly 30 years ago this wood, looked after by the Woodland Trust, was a mess.  Overgrown, waterlogged, full of litter.  As well as junkies leaving syringes around, it was dark and unwelcoming.  I did not like to walk through it. Twenty years ago a neighbour, John Carter, retired and his wife thought it would be good for him to have something to do and suggested he organise bringing the wood back to a typical English wood.  Little did she know what she had started!  He rallied the local residents, attracted funding and every weekend for one year  they worked in the wood, cutting down the shading sycamore, cutting back the overgrown Laurel, laid paths, dug ditches and basically transformed the wood.  The Friends of Park Wood was formed, guided by the Woodland Trust.  Now move on 20  years.  John ha...

  Want to keep up to date with what is happening in Waterlooville and especially the events that are taking place then why not follow this page.  Just put your email into the 'follow by email' box. By working together we can improve Waterlooville.  The Events team are volunteers who want to pull the community together.  Why not join?  Got any ideas? Then leave them here.  Don't want to get too involved then share this blog.  Everyone can help in some way.  The motto of the Events Team is Building Community for OUR Town.  Over to you!!