Vice Chair's Introduction
Some readers of this newsletter will already know that in October Lisa Thomas demitted office as Chairman of the Parish Council when she commenced the process to undertake her ordination as a priest.
On behalf of all those involved with the Parish Council I would like to express our sincere thanks to Lisa for her very significant contribution to the Parish Council and particularly for her time 'in the chair'.
Lisa will remain a member of the Parish Council until the elections in May, which provides a perfect excuse for me to make everyone within Sway Civil Parish aware that the elections are coming, really quite soon, and to encourage residents to consider if they might stand for election.
The current crop of parish councillors, in my personal opinion, are possessed of a remarkable and diverse range of experience, skills and aptitudes which, collectively, make Sway Parish Council (unlike some others) an effective and dynamic organisation which does much good for the residents of Sway Civil Parish in many different aspects of village life. But, like any similar organisation, a regular process of change and renewal is a healthy thing. More information about the role of a parish councillor and how you can get involved will be set out in our next Newsletter.
One of our main focuses recently has been the creation of the Sway Warm Space, our response to the very challenging circumstances, particularly energy costs, consequent upon the war in Ukraine. Following the closure of Robin Nursery in the summer, it has been wonderful to re-purpose the Youth Centre over the winter to become a community hub for warmth - both physical and emotional - and we are seeing increasing numbers of visitors each week. Huge thanks are due to all volunteers who have enabled us to provide opening hours every weekday, and special thanks to our Coordinator Colin Denman, without whom we could never have got the Warm Space operational in such a short time. Also thanks to the Sway Co-op who are providing light refreshments, and to NFDC who granted £1000 towards the costs. This is a real example of what our community and council can achieve when we all work together.
We have now completed our budget setting for 2023-24 and despite a very challenging economic climate we are pleased that we were able to balance our budget, primarily due to the increased income we are forecasting. This means that Sway taxpayers will not see an increase to the proportion of their Council Tax collected for Sway over the next year.
Best wishes,
Cllr James Willis
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Your Tax Bill for 2023-24
One of the most significant decisions any Parish Council makes is what it needs to spend money on, and how much of taxpayers' money will need to be collected to cover those costs. Our budget is lengthy and comprehensive and covers everything from our legal responsibilities to the provision of all the various services and facilities we manage for Sway.
You can see our current, future and past budgets at: https://www.sway-pc.gov.uk/docs under the section "Financial" . Those without the internet are welcome to request a paper copy from the Clerk. Once the Budget for the following financial year is set (in the Autumn for the following year April-March) then we are able to calculate the impact on each tax-paying Council Tax Band D equivalent household (known as Precept).
In November, the Council approved its budget for 2023-24 and was pleased to note that no major increase in costs is expected. This is due to a number of factors, including:
- fixed price contracts on utilities until summer 2024
- an increase in forecast income, predominantly from hall hire at the Jubilee Field Pavilion
- low risk investment of our funds with a healthy return
- solid reserves to support any unexpected emergency expenditure
This has resulted in no increase to the Precept, meaning that Sway residents will not pay more tax next year, and in fact the Band D equivalent will decrease by 45p over the year, from £49.94 to £49.49 for the year, equating to less than £1 per week.
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Important changes to the Cango Bus Service
At the Decision Meeting on Monday 7th November, the decision was taken by Hampshire County Council to cut back various passenger transport services, as cost saving measures, in light of their increasingly tightened budget for 2023-24.
Sadly, the Cango bus service - which currently is a life line to so many in Sway - is one victim of these cuts. From 1st June 2023, the Cango bus will no longer provide the bespoke booking service and collection/drop off facility from individual addresses. Instead it will become a fixed route, fixed timetable service. Further, the Saturday service will be stopped.
Sway and Hordle Parish Councils, and New Milton Town Council, supported by District and County Councillors have been working tirelessly behind the scenes alongside the Cango Users' Forum to try and influence these decisions, but sadly has not been successful.
We have swiftly changed our focus to negotiate and hopefully input to the new route and timetable, as best we can, so that some semblance of the service can continue to support at least some of our residents. Inevitably the impact will be greater on those in the outlying areas of the parish which cannot be included on a fixed route service, but we are working hard with HCC to design a route through the village which - based on the figures and information from the booking service - will pass as many users as possible.
We are also in discussion with Community First, who already offer a Call And Go service to Sway and other parts of the New Forest, about the feasibility of expanding their service. Details of the current offer are on their website and we'll supplement with more information if and as it becomes available.
Whilst we are all hugely disappointed at this major decision, we are not giving up hope or the fight for a service to continue to support our village, albeit in a different capacity going forwards. Follow the Council website and meetings, as well as this newsletter, for updates.
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Church Lane Development – little new news
Following on from the previous Sway Parish Council Newsletter and as detailed in Sway News (Dec2022/Jan2023 edition) the relevant details for those of the 20 or so conditions that are part of the Section 106 agreement are being negotiated – including the requirement to agree sustainability measures with the NFNPA, including for charging electric vehicles; and to now also specifically include details of energy efficiency – as suggested by Sway Parish Council and EcoSway.
Please note that the NFNPA Planning web site is still having teething problems with transferring older planning applications. The previous software system was at the end of its life and no longer supported so NFNPA went through a careful procurement procedure and selected a newer system popular with other similar-sized Local Planning Authorities, but the provider has had difficulties – particularly with transfers from the previous system – under which the Church Lane application was processed as number 21/00743.
So please note, contrary to what might still be indicated on the NFNPA website (at the time of typing on 15 Dec 2022). This application is decided, it is not awaiting an NFNPA Planning Committee decision. There is noappeal (although some might wish that Mr. Hopwood’s comments were an appeal decision!). The good news is that all new applications are appearing as they should – the problem is mainly some glitches in the classification of various documents when they are transferred from the old to the new system.
There is a modest £1,000 in the Section 106 monies for the Parish Council to use towards a path from Jubilee Field car park to the corner of the new development; and the Parish Council will be trying to work out how we might be able to increase that into a sum which would be sufficient to do that work, to a standard agreed by all parties.
One incidental item I’d note is that when the NFNPA Planning Committee recently toured sites where permission had been granted and development completed, the committee were impressed by the quality of the finish of the new housing on the old Redmayne site adjacent to Brockenhurst railway station - and I note that was also a Hurst & Hurst development, so we would hope for the same quality of finish in Church Lane.
Cllr Stephen Tarling
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UPDATE: Sway Village Hall
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The Parish Council would like to put its spotlight in this issue on the Sway Village Hall (SVH).
As the Parish Council representative on the management committee, along with other user group representatives I am indebted to the time and commitment of my colleagues some of whom also act as Trustees. The current chair is Ian Gale who, like his predecessors Graham Turner and Barry Gough, is dedicated to all things SVH, from ripping down over zealous ivy on the external walls to opening up the village hall for parties, and taking rubbish to the recycling centre. The trustees and committee give their time voluntarily to ensure that we have a hall fit for purpose to meet the needs of the village. If you would like to be part of the committee do please put up your hand.
THE SVH is home to Little Flyers Pre-School, which offers places for up to 14 children per session. On their website they rightly acknowledge that pre-schools act as a bridge between home and school and allow children to develop many skills. At the last OFSTED report they were graded good and we are proud of the hard work of all the staff.
Before the Pandemic there was an aspiration to extend the Hall to provide better facilities for the pre-school users during the day, and beavers and scouts during the evening. However, having shut the hall during lockdown and been forced to face large utilities bills, this plan is currently on hold.
A planning application was submitted prior to the pandemic, with the backing of this Parish Council and a commitment to support them to raise the necessary funds for the project to go ahead – the Parish Council has already started to accumulate funds which are currently held in reserves. At this stage we fully support the committee’s decision to leave the development plan on hold until a clearer picture about the community space needs of the village as a whole are considered.
Currently SVH is home to so many thriving groups. On the website you can see the full range of activities on offer, but to give you a flavour: we have a fabulous and award winning drama club, the Women’s Institute meet regularly in the WI room, the cinema club regularly hosts evenings in the hall, allowing locals to see popular films on our doorstep, and to catch up with friends. Younger children can attend children’s dance classes. The fitter members of the community can go to badminton, disco fitness, Taekwondo, table tennis and gardening club (lots of digging makes you fit!). Please do go to the Clubs and Groups section on the Website.
In addition, SVH can be booked for private functions and has a full licence and kitchen amenities.
Please do continue to use and support this facility. If you are interested in the history of the SVH there is also a potted history on the website which shows the links with the WI and the initial bequest of the land to them and how the hall came to be the hall we now know and love.
Cllr Nicky Bowler
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This timetable shows regular activities available in the three main venues: Village Hall (green), Jubilee Field (blue) and Youth Centre (orange).
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  Making Space For Nature – This began in Phase 2 of the Greening Campaign in summer 2022. It is a very large project, looking at public green spaces throughout the lived-in village to introduce as much new biodiversity into our community as possible. [We hope also to encourage new planting in residents’ private gardens]. We are currently working with HIWWT to seek permissions for planting on those public green spaces administered by HCC and NFDC. We are also talking to SPC about tree planting plans as these will come into the Parish Tree Plan. Our first small plan is to explore planting an Orchard Trail through the village of about 12–15 trees.
Energy – Following our Energy Day at the Village Hall in October, we now have a thermal imaging camera on loan and will initially undertake thermal surveys for key buildings in the village. This could be extended through the rest of the winter to households. If this is of interest to you as you read this report, please get in touch with ECO SWAY via the Parish Office & Clerk.
Water-Saving Project – funded by South West Water
Begun in September 2022, this project aims in part to create learning for children at St Luke’s School as we will work with the School’s Gardening Club to assess how many water butts could be used and how planting of more drought-tolerant plants could be planned. The Gardening Club will receive a portion of our grant. More broadly we will create awareness among Sway residents of the need to reduce consumption of water from approximately 143 litres per day per household to 128 litres per day. Since we feel the need to better understand water usage & management in our village, in January we turn our attention to waste water issues and in February we hope to welcome a representative of South West Water to talk to us about their water management plans across our area.
Climate & Wellbeing – ECO SWAY will undertake a small exhibition at spudWORKS in 2023 during the last week of June. This will merge with Carnival Week (30 June to 9 July) and, on Sunday 2 July, outdoor family wellbeing workshops on the Carnival theme will be held on the spudWORKS lawns.
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SWAY WARM SPACE
Following the very sad closure of Robin Nursery in the summer, the village found itself with a lovely big hall, a kitchen and two cosy side rooms, sitting empty during the day. As autumn drew in, and the cost of living started to really bite, particularly with people’s fuel bills, the Parish Council and the Youth Centre Trustees decided to put that space to good use by opening up a “Warm Space” for the residents of Sway to use during the day, when they may not be able to, or may prefer not to heat their own houses.
Thanks to a grant from New Forest District Council, and the wonderful Colin Denman whisking up a willing band of volunteers, we were able to open our doors on Monday 21st November.
With all the volunteer support we have, Sway is the only place locally, as far as we know, that has a Warm space open every weekday from 9am until 4pm (with the exception of Tuesdays when we open at 11.30am so as not to clash with the Community Cafe in the Church Rooms).
The Co-Op next door very kindly offered to supply us with all the tea, coffee, and milk, along with regular donations of biscuits, donuts, and sweets, meaning all the refreshments are free.
Whether you fancy a cuppa and a chat to get you out of the house, want a change of scene and feel like watching Homes Under the Hammer on a nice comfy sofa with a big telly, want to do a bit of work from somewhere other than your home office, or you don’t fancy cleaning your house but want to meet some friends for a coffee, we are there for you. Whether you are young, old, or somewhere in between, whether you come alone, with friends, with kids or grandkids, you’re all welcome.
We have jigsaw puzzles (no one seems to want to tackle the sky on the current one!), puzzle books, table tennis, a card table, books, blankets, radio, TV, and lots of games and toys for the little ones.
As the weather has got chillier and word has spread, we have gone from 40 visitors in the first week to 27 visitors in just one day! We are getting people returning regularly, sometimes for an hour, sometimes all day. The mix of ages from toddlers to the octogenarians, sitting together, chatting, getting to know each other is so lovely.
We’ve received some great feedback from our volunteers;
“One of the attractions has been seeing Chris play table tennis with a four year old. Prior to that the youngster had three of the men in a team kicking a table tennis ball back to him!”
“It’s been great to meet people from the village I have never met before”
“I’ve loved the mixture of generations the hub has attracted, as I would not normally sit for hours doing a jigsaw, chatting and learning from a new friend.” (I can personally concur with this – I spent a lovely Tuesday afternoon drinking tea working on a jigsaw catching up with an old friend and making new ones!)
We have also recently become the drop off point for donations for Ukraine, which is bringing in even more people, who stop off for a cup of tea while they’re there.
Just 6 weeks in and we are all justifiably proud of the warm space we have created at the Youth Centre in the heart of Sway, both in terms of temperature AND atmosphere!
We would love to see you there sometime over the coming months. We are open to all, whether you need it, want it, or you simply want to put us out of our jigsaw misery and want to help us finish the sky!
Cllr Emma Monk
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TRACE YOUR ANCESTRY
In the Sway Parish Council Warm Space we have an informal family history drop-in – typically 2:15 - 4:15pm on a Monday. Do please pop along whatever stage you might be at in your family history. Here’s a brief overview for beginners.
More and more records are online, search engines and big data artificial intelligence are always improving, and more and more people are getting DNA tests (which have been getting cheaper and/or better).
So the first and most important thing to do is gather things which will not last or get better. Start with the recollections of any older relatives. If you are an older relative jot down a few key details – for instance about your grandparents. Gather any old photos (add a pencil note on the back saying who, when and where), documents, mementos etc. Start a modest storage box for family history stuff.
The other priority with older relatives is to see if they might take an appropriate DNA test. That’s about it for the important and more urgent items.
If you have a particular aim, plot a path to achieve that; if you want to cover a wide family history you might start with the aim of covering all direct ancestors back to your 16 great-great-grandparents. Then you might gather as many free resources as you can. Typically starting with the free indexes for birth, marriages & deaths – particularly from FreeBMD and the GRO indexes – both of which are extensive from 01 Jul 1837 onwards. Also bear in mind the Commonwealth War Grave Commission for any war dead, and the Probate index for Wills & Probate since 1858. FreeCEN has a limited number of census records. For more guides to resources and methods try sites like GENUKI, Who do you think you are, and for chat for a try roots chat.
Then you’ll probably want to purchase some birth and marriages certificates to help you work back, fill gaps or confirm suspicions (£7 or £11 a time). If you have any doubts, do be tempted to buy the certificate – otherwise there’s a danger that you carefully study an incorrect family tree! And you might buy some Wills & Probate records (£1.50 each). That should give you a good outline back to 1837.
Then you’ll probably want to fill in details with census records, Electoral Rolls, the 1939 Register, Military records (e.g. The Great War), directories, school lists, work house records, emigration and immigration records etc.; and so you might want to consider a subscription to one of the sites that then provides millions of such records at no additional cost.
FindMyPast is strongly UK based and includes the 1921 census (for an additional item-by-item fee or subscription) and costs around £90 a year. Ancestry is more worldwide and has a larger range of resources even for England & Wales (but no 1921 census); and the UK & Ireland all records option costs around £140 a year. If you're considering a free trial I recommend that you wait until you've got as much from the free resources as you can before taking that trial.
Ancestry and many other sites will store and allow you to edit your family tree - as well as look at others who have made their trees publicly available. Warning: there can be a lot of errors in other people's family trees - some who just want to chase numbers or over-rely on suggestions from the websites are obviously wrong - and then sometime get copied by others. You may well also want to get one or two DNA tests (typically around £100 each).
For free records before 01 Jul 1837; you’ll probably want to get the paid resources, access to databases and DNA tests before you really get stuck into Parish Registers. But to start with on pre-1837 records also try the free Family Search and FreeREG, and then you’re really doing well. The Society of Genealogists also has great strength in Parish Register and older records. Many people can work back to the earliest Parish Registers in some of their direct ancestors routes.
Beyond all of the above you are into specialist areas which might involve visits to County Records Offices, membership of local family history groups, one-name study or all manner of fascinating details…
Cllr Stephen Tarling
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One thing lockdown taught me was importance of open spaces and as a mother of 5 myself I know how much I valued access to playgrounds, I don’t think it is too strong a view to say that they are an important part of a child’s development. Sway has a rather tired looking playground at Jubilee Field; one of the leading requests from the Sway Village consultation in 2020 was to improve the facilities. The most common requests were for a MUGA and a zip wire.
The Parish Council would like to work with the parents, grandparents and community members interested in taking these ideas and ensuring that some improvements are made in line with the needs of the village. Cllrs Alex Pepper, Mike Butler and I have set up a working group to look at making this happen. We have some funds - but not enough to completely revamp the whole area - and so are asking for 2 or 3 people to join us to look at fund raising and also to consult with suppliers about what is viable. If you would like to join this group please do email the Clerk and we will be in touch.
I, for one, have decided to do Dry January and February (with a free pass for a birthday weekend!) to raise funds for the playground and would ask you all to think about sponsoring me, any donation however small will be gratefully appreciated.
Cllr Nicky Bowler
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Sway Luncheon Club
Many of you will be aware of the Sway Luncheon Club, and perhaps have already attended a lunch with them. For over 50 years Sway Luncheon Club has been very active in our village, serving a tasty home cooked lunch, dessert and tea/coffee to those over 65 who live alone.
The venue is the Church Rooms, where the meals are served on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month with the exception of December when they celebrate on just the 1st Wednesday, with a full Christmas meal and plenty of extra treats as well. It starts from 11.50am and lunch is usually over by 1.30pm. Christmas lunch is a much longer session.
They do their best to cater for all dietary needs and visit all new members in their homes firstly to welcome them and then to discuss any problems of allergies, mobility etc. Sway Welfare Aid Group provides drivers if any attendees are unable to make their own way to the venue, as well as paying for the hire of the Church Rooms. Because of this they are able to keep their costs low and only charge £4 for a full two course lunch.
The meals are all cooked by volunteers and their food costs are paid for from the fee charged for the lunch. Any surplus money is then used to supplement the Christmas party.
If you know of anyone who would benefit from this sociable luncheon and if you, a neighbour, friend etc feels that they may be interested in joining those already enjoying delicious home cooked food, then please do let Deborah or Jane know. Their details are shown below.
They need a large team to keep the lunch club functioning. It’s a wonderful atmosphere both with the kitchen team and with the members chatting away enjoying their lunch.
Does this sound like something you may be interested in joining? Whether as an attendee or helper, then please get in touch.
Deborah Walker 01590 681014 or Jane Pitts 01590 682742
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Public Spaces Protection Orders consultation
We want to hear views from members of the public and statutory consultees on our proposal to make two Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs). The responses to this consultation will inform any final decision on whether the proposed Public Spaces Protection Orders are made.
These consultations (click to see) will run from 9am, 5 December 2022 to 5pm, 27 January 2023.
All responses received during this time will be considered by New Forest District Council when deciding whether or not to proceed with making the Public Spaces Protection Order Number 1 and/or Public Spaces Protection Order Number 2.
Please note that we will publish the results of the consultation, but that responses will remain anonymous.
If you need help completing the consultation online, please request support by telephoning our Public Spaces Protection Order consultation helpline, 02380 285917.
Paper copies of the relevant documents are also available on request.
If the decision is made to make one or both of the proposed Public Spaces Protection Orders they will be published on the NFDC website and notices will be displayed in the area(s) covered by the order(s).
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Forthcoming meetings:
- Planning & Trees Committee - next meeting Thursday 12th January from 7pm at Jubilee Field Pavilion
- Full Parish Council - next meeting Thursday 26th January from 7pm at Jubilee Field Pavilion
Meetings are normally held on 2nd Thursday (Planning & Trees Committee) and 4th Thursday (full Council) monthly.
We are pleased to be live streaming our meetings once again, having invested in technology to make this possible. Follow us on Facebook to be notified when we go live. If you wish to address the Council you will still need to attend in person as it is not legal for us to hold hybrid meetings at this time.
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Contacting the Parish Council
If you have any comments, compliments or criticisms to make about the work of the Parish Council or you would like clarification on what we do, then please contact us in one of the following ways: TELEPHONE, POST / IN PERSON or EMAIL.
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You are welcome to attend any Parish Council or Planning & Trees Committee meeting at the Jubilee Field Pavilion. See our website or noticeboard for meeting dates.
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Parish Office: Jubilee Field Pavilion, Station Road, Sway SO41 6BE
Katie Walding (Parish Clerk / RFO) clerk@sway-pc.gov.uk 01590 718116 / Emergency 07899 804083
Simon Barnes cllrbarnes@sway-pc.gov.uk 07812 338527
Nicky Bowler cllrbowler@sway-pc.gov.uk 07968 864508
Mike Butler cllrbutler@sway-pc.gov.uk 07491 142839
Peter Dance cllrdance@sway-pc.gov.uk 01590 683517
Chris Davis cllrdavis@sway-pc.gov.uk 07764 5476560
Howard Millett cllrmillett@sway-pc.gov.uk 07846 557588
Emma Monk cllrmonk@sway-pc.gov.uk 07967 114063
Alex Pepper cllrpepper@sway-pc.gov.uk 07752 388227
Vicky Ryce cllrryce@sway-pc.gov.uk 07715 698599
Stephen Tarling cllrtarling@sway-pc.gov.uk 01590 683707
Lisa Thomas cllrlisathomas@sway-pc.gov.uk 07814 139518
James Willis cllrwillis@sway-pc.gov.uk 07974 253926
Other useful contacts:
Sway Welfare Aid Group 01590 681500
SWAG Medical Transport 01590 681500 option 1
Age UK 0800 678 1602
The Silver Line (offering regular phone contact) 0800 4 70 80 90
Samaritans 116 123
New Forest Medical Group - Sway Surgery 01590 682617
Cango Booking Service (7.00 to 9.00 Mon to Fri) 07891 658769
Day Lewis Pharmacy 01590 682225
St Luke’s Church 01590 682358
Food Bank - NF Basics Bank (get referred by agency such as Citizens Advice) 0808 278 78 60
Sway Family Network - extra support for local families swayfamilyneedhelp@gmail.com
Step up, Safe space - support to vulnerable individuals and families sharon.stepupsafespace@gmail.com
Hampshire County Council Covid Helpline - 0333 370 4000
Signup
To receive this quarterly newsletter by email please sign up via our website at www.sway-pc.gov.uk/newsletter All newsletters are also available to view on our website.
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