Botley Parish News – March 2025
Thanks go to Cllr Chris Cooper – Chair of Botley Parish Council for this month’s update.
The Botley community received some good news in early February with the confirmation from Hampshire County Council that Botley Bypass was given the formal go ahead. Some may say this decision has been 70 years in the making. I know from my parish colleagues this has been a long campaign.
To keep abreast of what is going on with the bypass please go to the Hampshire County dedicated web page that is the go-to place for the latest updates. Find it here: Botley Bypass
The bypass when finished is going to mean Botley High Street will no longer be the A334. To ensure the bypass is used as the primary route, the High Street is going to be reconfigured to slow traffic down, plus make it more attractive as a destination. This work is likely to commence in a few years (after the bypass opens). The current public consultation on how the High Street will look is open now until the 23rd of March. To view the proposals, go here: Botley Village Improvements
The bypass comes with a new roundabout at Pinkmead, a new viaduct over the River Hamble and a new dedicated cycle path from Pinkmead to Botley High Street. This is a once in a generation opportunity to have a positive impact on our village. I urge all readers to participate in the public engagement sessions.
Mock up image of the new Pinkmead Roundabout (courtesy of HCC)
The other news to share is the Botley Neighbourhood Plan is close to being voted on in a referendum. At the time of writing this is expected to be by late April / early May. For details on the Neighbourhood Plan go to this page on the council website: Neighbourhood Plan
Better yet, come and meet one of the council team at our public engagement sessions:
The Parish team will also be out on the High Street (weather dependent) in the run up to the referendum date in addition to the dates above. Come and speak to us about why it is important the Neighbourhood Plan is approved by our local community.
Botley Parish Council is hosting an event not held since Covid. This is the Annual Parish Assembly on the 8th April. Botley Parish is hosting the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Police & Crime Commissioner Donna Jones Police and Crime Commissioner
This is a public event which we encourage as many of the community to attend. Donna will be giving an overview of policing in our patch, the challenges and priorities her team are facing. Audience question time will be a feature of this evening’s event too.
In addition to Donna, Cllr Stephen Wildin from Botley parish Council will be giving the audience an overview of the Botley Neighbourhood Plan too.
We welcome the return of this annual gathering. Please check out the Parish website for more details. Revels
Finally, a date for your diaries. June 21st is Botley’s Revels on the Rec. Learning from and improving on previous years, the 2025 event has a number of changes. Including more stall holders selling local products, more things to do with Fairthorne Manor joining us this year. With an earlier start time of midday too.
Check out the poster below and keep abreast of our plans as we add more to the event schedule over the next few months.
Please note this article contains links to external websites.