News: CDC announces two Village meetings
Chilbolton’s Community Development Committee has announced two meetings which will cover the crucial issues of infrastructure within the Village.
On 29 Jan 2026, at 7pm in the Village Hall, the CDC working groups on water and sewage, heating and power, and broadband will cover work to date and potential future activities, then seek community views.
On 26 Feb 2026, also at 7pm in the Village Hall, Energise South Downs will present the type and scale of renewable energy that could meet the village needs.
29 Jan 2026
The first meeting will bring residents up to speed on topics including:
- Southern Water’s plans to bring more water to the area, while reducing abstraction from the river
- Root causes of the sewage problems in the village, and some potential solutions
- Measuring pollution levels in the river
- What the Parish Council’s Flood Advisory Group does
- A pan-parish grouping to persuade Southern Water to act in villages’ common interests
- Broadband, and the withdrawal of the traditional landlines in 2027
Importantly CDC wants to hear residents’ experiences and ideas and use them to make a case to TVBC. Alisdair Campbell, who is involved in both streams of work says that Chilbolton is “quite low in the priorities of people like Southern Water and SSE.”
On the best tactics for addressing this problem he says, “We will get nowhere by writing rude letters to them. We need to help them to help us without investing huge amounts of money - which they will never do. Engagement and collaboration are the key, as the river keepers have proved on measuring pollution levels in the river.”
26 Feb 2026
Energise South Downs are a charity supported by East Hampshire District Council, Winchester City Council and South Downs National Park Authority. They will run a workshop which will discuss the types and scale of renewable energy that could meet needs within the Village.
This will include workshops to develop a community energy scheme using solar panels. More detail will be available closer to the meeting.
Helping out
Alisdair Campbell says that both working groups - Heating and Power, and Water and Sewage both need volunteers to help. In work that is extremely important for Chilbolton’s future, current team members are also busy with other responsibilities within the Parish Council.
If you have experience, or if you have the time to contribute, contact Cllr David Hall, or Cllr Martin Watson. They would be most grateful to hear from you.