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Road conditions report from Hampshire County Council Highways Team

Tuesday 17th January 2023

You will be acutely aware that we are heading into another prolonged cold snap and temperatures are expected to remain very low until at least the end of the week. This will have further implications for the Highways service, and it is highly likely we can expect to see more potholes and degradation on our roads, and especially so given the expected daily freeze-thaw cycle that caused so much damage before Christmas. The recent heavy rain has added to the service pressures with widespread surface water flooding and high groundwater still evident in many places, increasing the risk of ice. It is likely that at least two gritting runs will be required every day until the temperatures rise in order to deal with the continuous wash-off and the freeze-thaw impact – this has consequential impacts for Milestone’s resources as many of the gritter drivers are also frontline operatives.

The highways team are continuing to work flat out to keep on top of the situation, including working evenings and weekends, but these current challenges will mean a further re-prioritisation of frontline activity to ensure resources are directed to where they are most needed. The ongoing issues, together with the impacts of further wintry weather, means that it could be several months before the frontline service can return to anything like business-as-usual activity.

The team are taking urgent steps to update our highway webpages to highlight the peak demand and to inform users/residents that there may be a delay before lower priority repairs can be actioned. So you are aware, and to put the current situation into some perspective, over the weekend alone more than 700 reports/enquiries were received!

Milestone are endeavouring to scale up their resources through their supply chains to meet the heightened demand but most, if not all, of the regional authorities are trying to secure the same resources as their networks also deteriorate.

This is a significant issue, unprecedented in fact, and whilst we welcome new reports of defects using the County Council’s online reporting system at https://www.hants.gov.uk/transport/roadmaintenance/roadproblems, it is taking more time now to deal with the demand so we would be grateful for your patience and understanding.

Ice is a considerable challenge in some parts of the County this morning.  There are road closures in place and you can see the latest situation with traffic via the ROMANSE map which you can find here: https://romanse.org.uk/

The better news is that we are now less likely to see any snowfall in Hampshire, but the team will remain vigilant, monitoring forecasts so that if the weather does deteriorate, we are in the best possible shape to respond.

Littleton Village Design Statement Consultation

Winchester City Council have released the revised Littleton Village Design Statement (VDS) for public consultation which will run until midnight on 20th February 2023.

Following the public consultation, the VDS will be finalised for adoption by the City Council as a supplementary planning document. The VDS will provide design guidance for development within Littleton and it will supplement the Winchester District Local Plan Parts 1 & 2, replacing the existing VDS adopted in 2010.

The draft VDS can be viewed here or on the Parish Council website at https://lhpc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/2023-LVDS-Draft-V0.9.5.pdf

Please take this opportunity to comment on the draft via the online consultation using the following link: https://winchester.citizenspace.com/policy-and-planning/littleton-village-design-statement

If you are unable to view the draft LVDS or access the consultation form online, or need any help with these, please contact Strategic Planning for assistance on 01962 848575.