Reply to THIS thread
Start a NEW Talkback Thread
Talkback Home

Radford parks water ways - jenny (13th Aug 2023 - 11:55:57) Why is there no water running into the ponds at Radford Park ?

Re: Radford parks water ways - C (13th Aug 2023 - 17:59:17) You’re right. Just been round the park and the water levels are extremely low. Can’t be due to lack of rainfall as we’ve had o plenty! Duck pond looking particularly stagnant.

Re: Radford parks water ways - Dave (13th Aug 2023 - 18:14:35) Being drained for maintenance I would expect although others are saying being drained for H&S and cost cutting??? No doubt there will be lots of speculation and fake news on this topic

Re: Radford parks water ways - Duckling (14th Aug 2023 - 11:04:01) I heard that Bramshott & Liphook Parish Council invited the Environment Agency to have a look at the waterways (pre lack of water) - don't know why. Apparently the EA advised the Parish Council to close the sluice, thus shutting off the water supply to the stream at the back that feeds the pond. Shame, it's a right mess.

Re: Radford parks water ways - Sam (14th Aug 2023 - 17:31:37) Maybe the water in the main river has been recently polluted so shutting it off stops the polluted water entering the ponds as a temp measure? This is just a guess

Re: Radford parks water ways - Editor (14th Aug 2023 - 17:57:37) From Parish Council ... 🦆🦆 POND AT RADFORD PARK🦆🦆 We know there has been some concern about the pond at Radford Park and we would like to provide an update and some background information. The pond at Radford Park was created some years ago and is therefore a man-made pond. This means that there is no natural flow of water and this can lead to silting over time. The pond was dredged over 25 years ago but over the last few years there has been some silt build up which we have been monitoring. We asked the Environment Agency to visit us earlier this year to give us advice about the best way to manage, not just the pond, but the flow of water through the park. The Environment Agency advised that the pond did not necessarily need to be dredged and we could, instead, plant reeds on the silted areas. We understand that dredging can be carried out every 20 years or so but it can cause considerable disturbance to a pond so the Council will need to seek further advice on this from experts. The Environment Agency also suggested that we should open the sluice gate in the Park to allow the river to flow naturally. The effect of this would be to ultimately create a much more natural waterway but it would mean that the pond could, and probably would, become defunct or, at the very least, considerably smaller. At last week’s Recreation Committee meeting, councillors decided to take the advice of the Environment Agency and raise the sluice gate to see what effect this would have on the pond. We are monitoring this over the week with the intention of closing the sluice gate again at the end of the week. The water level should then quickly return to previous levels. Water levels and waterways throughout the park will be monitored over this period. Please be assured that no decisions about the future of the pond have been made and much more work will need to be undertaken which will include talking to experts and to residents. What is clear, though, is that maintaining any artificial pond is costly and we will need to weigh up the benefits and the costs over time to our residents. If you would like to share your views with the Council please email clerk@bramshottandliphook-pc.gov.uk

Re: Radford parks water ways - D (14th Aug 2023 - 19:03:55) It is worth remembering that when this pond was dug out the parish council didn't have other expensive liabilities such as the Millennium Hall. On the other hand, with the thousands of new homes that have been built in the forty years since then, where is all that extra council tax going?

Re: Radford parks water ways - S (14th Aug 2023 - 19:27:25) You can see exactly where council tax is going, it’s open and transparent. There’s no conspiracy. Councils have been chronically underfunded for years.

Re: Radford parks water ways - Bob Cocker (14th Aug 2023 - 20:35:42) What on earth has the Millennium Hall got to do with a pond naturally silting over time? Oh that's right, it's the same person that would be foaming at the mouth if the council dared to spend ratepayers money on dredging a pond.... Some people on this site need to give their head a wobble ... Bob.

Re: Radford parks water ways - D (14th Aug 2023 - 23:44:20) My point is, Bob Cock er, that more money may be available for pond maintenance if there weren't things such as the Millennium Hall to maintain. I could have chosen many other things to illustrate the point that any parish council have more important things to spend their money on than dredging a pond, I just happened to choose the Millennium Hall because it was the first thing that came to mind. It's the old issue of limited income and having to prioritise what that limited income is spent on. Maintaining an artificial pond that never existed forty years ago anyway is not a priority.

Re: Radford parks water ways - John (15th Aug 2023 - 09:34:59) The additional council tax is a bit of a moot point when you consider the amount of money coming into EHDC and HCC (and filtering down to the local council) from the Community Infrastructure Levy also known as the CIL charge. This charge is levied on new housing built in the area and will easily add up to hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not a few million. This is the money that should be invested back in to our community on things like Radford park, the skate park, local sports facilities, new children's play areas and other worthwhile projects. Try doing a freedom of information request to the council to ask how much has been contributed just from the builders of the new development off the Longmoor Road. The money is definitely around to fund lots of projects, it is just not being spent.

Re: Radford parks water ways - dave (15th Aug 2023 - 14:25:10) The CIL money probably is being spent....but in other parts of Hampshire!

Re: Radford parks water ways - S (15th Aug 2023 - 18:03:12) D- Maintaining an artificial pond may not be a priority to you but it is to local biodiversity if looked after properly. Perhaps we could come together as a volunteer community to restore and maintain it?

Re: Radford parks water ways - D (15th Aug 2023 - 19:38:41) S, it could be argued that much of the local "biodiversity" was disrupted and destroyed to create this pond in the first place. Before this pond and surrounding water meadows were dug out (I was one of the teenagers working on the project as a £25 a week youth opportunities scheme employee in the early eighties) the river ran straight through with woodland either side. It may have helped Donald Duck but Squirrel Nutkin had to find a new home.

Re: Radford parks water ways - Si (16th Aug 2023 - 13:19:20) Is there, or has there ever been a volunteer work group in Radford Park? I, like many locals I am sure, really enjoy this little piece of nature on my doorstep. I would be prepared to give some time to helping maintain it for us all. Are there others on this site that would be similarly interested and ready to get involved?… Sadly, councils will continue to struggle to prioritise the natural world until it is far too late. There will always be other demands on the funding, and if history is a guide, the general population will be slow to realise what they are losing until it is lost. Action on the environment is needed now. Radford Park maintenance is undoubtedly challenging - significant footfall/pawfall; and many different users of the space both locally, and from further afield, using the space for a variety of activities. The challenges can be met with a little thought and organisation. Some things are hard because they are worth doing?…

Re: Radford parks water ways - Sam (16th Aug 2023 - 13:35:48) Skate park, good shout, lets burn £120000 (this was the quote 10 years ago, bigger now) of our money on a facility that isn't used by more than a dozen people and never was, in fact it highest use was in the beginning when they destroyed it and everything around it. No to the skate park, take it down, and if it has to happen it needs to go to a more visible location with CCTV to get rid of its current and always primary users the dope smokers, or at least lock it up at night

Re: Radford parks water ways - er (16th Aug 2023 - 15:18:04) How uncool Sam! Skateparks are urban and trendy and when it comes to being taken seriously and receiving big government grants, councils need to show they are catering for the oppressed minority, in this case long haired youths on BMX's! Things like looking after nature will only get you so far in trendy circles, you've got to be spending most of your money on the few that shout the loudest, not sure duck lovers are much of a modern day pressure group😂

Re: Radford parks water ways - D (16th Aug 2023 - 15:41:52) In the interests of the environment, Radford Park would have been better left as it was previously, a rubbish tip. By now it would be a recycling center and we wouldn't all be polluting the environment with our cars in having to trapse to Bordon and back. Having said that, Radford Park was an excellent achievement on the part of Wing Commander Archie Derry, all those under paid teenagers, and of course my good self. Am I proud of my involvement with this project? Yes. Do I think it would have served a better purpose for the community an environment as a recycling centre? Yes.

Re: Radford parks water ways - Penny Williamson (16th Aug 2023 - 16:57:19) D I rather think you must be joking ie suggesting the suitability of a re-cycling area rather than the wonderful amenity Liphook has with Radford Park. I won't extoll it's many and diverse qualities - it would take too long! A re-cycling tip would be lovely for the neighbours - not - and the access would be terrible.

Re: Radford parks water ways - D (16th Aug 2023 - 17:40:51) Explanation necessary:- My point is it would prevent all the pollution from all the cars in Liphook who drive to Bordon to use the tip every weekend. It wasn't a problem for the neighbours when it really WAS a tip, which then extended all the way back to what is now the rear entrance to Radford Park, access wasn't a problem then neither and that was when the A3 ran through Liphook. Had it remained a tip and later evolved into a modern, clean recycling centre we would never have known any different anyway. The neighbours of Bordon tip have never complained about theirs, other than the amount of "out of town" traffic using it.

Re: Radford parks water ways - Penny Williamson (17th Aug 2023 - 20:39:07) D I think if you actually asked all the neighbouring properties to Radford Park what they would prefer, tip or park I think the answer would be the park. In addition to that I think that if any resident of Liphook was asked the same question, their answer would also be the park. I am at a complete loss as to why you think people would prefer a tip. I take your point about cars driving to Bordon, pollution etc, etc, but don't you think that people from areas around Liphook who didn't have a local tip would do the same if Liphook had one.

Re: Radford parks water ways - D (17th Aug 2023 - 22:34:22) Penny Williamson, I have not once claimed anyone would prefer a recycling centre to a park. Maybe you should read my posts again, slowly.

Re: Radford parks water ways - Gr (17th Aug 2023 - 22:35:28) We need more green spaces NOT less

Re: Radford parks water ways - Penny Williamson (17th Aug 2023 - 23:21:18) D I never said you did. I just stated that if the residents were asked for their preference it would be for the park. It's called democracy. Perhaps you could read my posts more slowly.

Re: Radford parks water ways - D (18th Aug 2023 - 09:21:19) I don't remember nothing about a vote, Penny Williamson. The tip was there long before the adjoining Meadow Way was built, maybe that's why the tip closed. But the selling of these houses does prove that people didn't mind living in a house next to a tip.

Re: Radford parks water ways - Penny Williamson (18th Aug 2023 - 13:38:53) D You really don't read my posts. I never mentioned that you had posted about a vote! I said in my latest post that if the residents of Liphook including Meadow Way were asked which they would prefer my guess would be they would vote overwhelming for the park.

Re: Radford parks water ways - D (19th Aug 2023 - 16:42:04) I'm sure they would, Penny Williamson. I am merely hypothesising what the current situation might be had the tip stayed open. I am not for one minute suggesting it should be made a tip again. That's one for carnival night. 😄

Reply to THIS thread
Talkback Home