News: Duncan Revolta joins Parish Council

At his first meeting as a Parish Councillor, Duncan Revolta heard yet more on declarations of interest, learned of parking problems in one Village street and the prospects for fine wines from Chilbolton.

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Duncan Revolta co-opted

Cllr Debbie Collis said that the period for applying for co-option to the Parish Council had now closed. Only one candidate had submitted an application before the deadline - Duncan Revolta, who had been a candidate in the by-election. Another resident had expressed interest after the deadline, but hadn’t pursued the matter.

Councillors agreed that “hard deadlines are hard deadlines” and that there was only one candidate for the councillor vacancy.

Cllr David Griffiths proposed Duncan Revolta for co-option, and Cllr Tony Ewer seconded. The proposal was unanimously agreed.

Cllr Revolta has already been busy as part of the heating and power working group for the Community Development Committee. During the meeting he expanded his portfolio by agreeing to be the Parish Council representative on the Flood Advisory Group.

Declarations of interest

Cllr Tony Ewer repeated his usual interest in a self-build and a downsize property. He emphasised that this declaration should only affect discussions concerning the James Painter proposed 75-home development from which he would recuse himself.

He added that the Parish Council could not refuse to copy him on documents.

Cllr David Hall said that Cllr Ewer had requested information on the Parish Council’s traffic survey conducted in connection with the 75-home proposal. Cllr Ewer had also written to the Parish Council asking that his recusal be changed. The Parish Council would consult Test Valley Borough Council’s Monitoring Officer for advice on the request.

Later in the meeting, during Questions from the Public, a resident said “Given your comments, Cllr Ewer, on the TVBC website, I see your position as untenable and I think you should resign.”

Cllr Ewer responded “I will not resign, I support the 20 to 25 homes.” He then asked “Why have you asked this? What is your concern?”

The resident replied “You’ve shown bias in your comments and beforehand. You don’t represent the community view.”

Cllr Ewer reiterated “I won’t resign over this matter.”

Update on 75-home development

TVBC Cllr David Drew gave an update to the meeting on the status of the 75-home planning application. He had been in contact with Emma Jones, the planning Case Officer. He reminded the meeting that the application deals only with matters related to access and that considering reserved matters was the next stage of the process.

All official consultees had now responded, including:

  • Ecology: Biodiversity Net Gain calculation should be re-done
  • Environmental protection: Noise and odours
  • Highways: Transport assessment does not provide sufficient evidence
  • Housing: Tenure split does not meet the policy requirement
  • Flood Authority: Winter groundwater data is required
  • Trees: Arboricultural impact assessment and tree planting detail will be required
  • Southern Water: Identified capacity issues and recommended that conditions be placed on the application

Cllr David Hall requested that the response from Chilbolton Observatory be brought to the attention of TVBC planners.

Cllr Drew said that, given the responses from the consultees, his view was that the application would be refused.

The next steps would depend on what the applicant decided: he could address the points that had been made and request a delay; he could accept the refusal; or he could withdraw the application, spend time making changes and then reapply without having to pay more fees.

Cllr Drew added that the Planning Officer would probably need an extension to the determination date which is currently 11 Feb 2026.

Parking on Branksome Close

Cllr Martin Watson reported on how the Highways Safety working group has prioritised its work. Parking congestion in Branksome Close had been raised at the previous Council meeting by a resident who lives there. The group had made this their fourth priority after three pedestrian and traffic safety issues.

An email, included in “Correspondence”, from a resident of Branksome Close said

In the 4 years that myself and my husband have lived in Chilbolton, the number of cars in Branksome Close has easily doubled. When we bought our property, we don’t remember there being such an overflow from the car park. It seems that the maisonettes in particular have not been provided with adequate parking. Some households have 3 vehicles and nowhere to put them other than on the pavements or blocking easy access to the far ends of the street.

Cllr Watson said he proposed holding an open meeting for Branksome Close residents to discuss the issue. One possibility would be to turn front gardens into parking spaces. Aster, who manage properties there, would be unlikely to pay.

A resident, present at the meeting, added that there are only three gardens not already used for parking. At its worst, he noted, there could be 20 cars parked on the pavement. When residents of the Close parked on Branksome Avenue, notes were placed on their windscreens. He added “We’ve almost had fights over ‘You’ve taken my spot’.”

Cllr Watson said that he aimed to hold the residents’ meeting next week, at the Village Hall.

Test Valley Farm wine-making

The meeting considered an application at Test Valley Farm to convert a garage into a wine processing facility, and to construct a three-walled, open garage to house a tractor.

The owner, Andrew Gibson, who is a former Hampshire County Councillor, was on hand to explain his planning application.

He said that his vineyard had provided 100 bottles of wine this year. He currently processes the grapes in his kitchen. He expects his crop to grow to between 500 and 1,000 bottles. He is applying to convert what is currently a garage into a facility that will provide a hygienic environment for processing that volume of wine, and to contain several 1,000 litre vats.

He also needed a covered area in which to store his tractor and ride-on mower used for cultivation of the vines.

He said that he already had an order from a customer in Dubai for 200 bottles a year, and hoped to establish a business producing fine wines in Chilbolton.

Cllr Debbie Collis asked if the tractor port, which in the current plan was close to the site of five new homes on adjacent land, could be moved. Mr Gibson said that he would be happy to do that.

Councillors agreed not to object to the development, but to make a comment about the location of the tractor port.