Langstone Seawalls - Save our Footpath and Mill Pond

19/03/2024

Hi All - an Update has been posted on the petition confirming we are still moving ahead with the proposed solution. I wanted to share it here with you also:-

"Since the last update on this petition back in January, the Statement of Common Ground established the need to maintain the sea wall around the Mill Pond while seeking the installation of a new footbridge where the sea defences have failed near Wade Lane. Partners are currently considering the design of the proposed footbridge. The ambition remains to move forward with the project as soon as possible"

Good news I think.

14/02/2024

Since we made this post it has come to our attention that the position for Havant Council as stated in the February Edition of the Hayling Herald does not reflect the current position of the council after the recent events where support was gained from Natural England and other agencies for the solution including the foot bridge. The current position can be found on the Havant Council Web Site here :- https://www.havant.gov.uk/news/2024/partnership-secures-langstone-mill-pond-and-local-sea-defences-quarter-century

Given the effort to get to the compromise position, and the fact it both protects the Mill Pond and maintains the costal footpath, we still feel this is in the circumstances maybe the best solution here, and the old adage of "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" might well apply.

This is our opinion, but your opinion are as always just as valid and very welcome below.

For clarity the original post here asked people for their opinion on a Full Rebuild, which is preferred but not agreed by Natural England etc. Vs. the compromise with a Bridge that has full support.

Partnership secures Langstone Mill Pond and local sea defences for a quarter of a century of maintenance Image Consensus has been reached, leading to a statement of common ground on the medium-term future for the sea defences between the Mill Pond and Wade Lane at Langstone, ensuring critical mainte...

31/01/2024

Following on from our post sharing the great news that with the help of Alan Mak, a compromise agreement has been reached, a formal press release was issues this week.

You can find the press release statement here:-

https://www.havant.gov.uk/news/2024/partnership-secures-langstone-mill-pond-and-local-sea-defences-quarter-century

And you can find the full statement on common ground on the Coastal Partners website here:-

https://coastalpartners.org.uk/static/media/resources/statement-of-common-ground-january-2024.pdf

We believe that this solution is a good compromise position as it achieves the main goals of this campaign which were:-

1) Protect the Mill Pond. Commitment is now secured to repair the retaining walls for at least the next 25 years

2) Retain the coastal footpath. This will be achieved by building a new Bridge over the walls that have failed between Wade Lane and the start of the walls retaining the mill pond

The walls that are failing under the new bridge will be allowed to fail, and in the fullness of time the field behind these will return to salt marsh.

We would like to thank everyone who has supported this campaign. Without you we would almost certainly have lost the Mill Pond and Footpath!

We will continue to share updates we get them but is it hoped that repairs will take place and the new bridge be put in place this year.

04/01/2024

We have some very good news to share with you. Alan Mak, our local MP met with Natural England who have now given support for "appropriate work to protect the Langstone Mill Pond and surrounding area". Coupling this with some of the options shared at the drop in session for boardwalks and such we have taken a big step closer to having an agreed solution that will maintain both the foot path and the Mill Pond, which is fantastic news.

From the Portsmouth "The News" website - "Senior Natural England official Graham Horton said: “If local decision-makers can formally agree on an appropriate scheme of engineering works that recognises the environmental sensitivities in this area, Natural England will support appropriate works to protect Langstone Mill Pond and nearby sea defences whilst maintaining an access route for walkers.”

You can find out more on this on the Portsmouth "The news" web site here:-

https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/natural-england-well-support-appropriate-langstone-mill-pond-works-4464275

The local decision maker key players who now have to agree the plans are Chichester Harbour Conservancy, Hampshire County Council, Havant Borough Council and Costal Partners. This is where we now have to keep up pressure to ensure we get the best solution. Alan Mak has secured agreement from all decision makers to attend a meeting, which he will chair, in the first quarter to 2024 to move this forward.

You can also read more about this on Alan Mak's web site.

https://www.alanmak.org.uk/news/local-mp-alan-mak-secures-natural-england-support-appropriate-works-langstone-mill-pond-and

Thanks again for all your support, without it we would not have made the progress we have. If we keep up the pressure a little longer we should get a good sultion.

Local MP Alan Mak has met with Natural England who have given support for appropriate work to protect the Langstone Mill Pond and surrounding area. The MP also praised the environmental advisor’s commitment to our area following a visit to Langstone from a top official from the agency.

15/12/2023

At the Drop-in session at Havant Civic Centre on Tuesday, there were pictures showing how the footpath could be retained using either a bridge or boardwalk. Whilst not all the questions have been answered, I believe CHC is committed to finding a solution.

11/12/2023

I'm pleased to say repairs have now been competed on the path between the old mill and the mill pond.

Contractors have added a solid oak kick board and backfilled with scalpings up to the level of the existing path making a wide smooth surface that is easy to pass for everyone, and re-enabling easy access for wheelchairs and pushchairs.

Included are some photo's of the work in progress as well as the end result.

This is a great example of what can be achieved with some focus and suitable pressure, let's keep pushing for our overall goal!

11/12/2023

DROP IN SESSION TOMORROW AT HAVANT CIVIC CENTER

12:00 to 19:00

This is a reminder of the drop in session to be held tomorrow, Tuesday 12th December at Havant Civic Centre.
From 12 noon until 19.00 you will have the opportunity to speak to representatives of Chichester Harbour Conservancy, and councillors from Havant Borough Council and Hampshire County Council about the options for the fast eroding footpath between Langstone Mill and Wade Lane. It is understood that some options will be presented and public feedback will be taken.

Please come along and let them know how much you care about saving the footpath and mill pond, and have your say on how you think this should happen.

05/12/2023

I have a great pleasure today of sharing some good news with you. While we are still waiting to find out what will happen to the sea walls, the path on that and the mill pond the walls form we have today some good news from Havant council.

As you probably know, and can see in the photo's , as well as the sea walls physically detreating, the footpath between the old mill and the mill pond has also been suffering. The path is now very narrow making access for Wheelchairs or Pushchairs very difficult or even impossible, not to mention limiting the space available for feeing the ducks, swans, moorhens and other birds that call the pond home.

We are pleased to be able to share that Havant council have secured the funds and permissions needed to repair this path, and work is expected to start today (5th December) and last for 2 days.

We will keep you updated with progress and photo's and look forward to the path being fully opened up for all to enjoy as well as improving the safety for all users by the pond!

It's great to see that with the right planning and focus we can get the work undertaken to preserve this area and the access to it. Let's keep the pressure on for the same for the rest of the path and walls between here and Wade Lane!

27/11/2023

Sorry things have been a little quite on here recently, we have something interesting to share with you in the next day or so which we would like your views on. For now though I wanted to share with you a couple of pictures I took on my dog walk last Weds morning at around 7:20am. I love walking this time of year as we get to harbour side around sunrise, and the migrating geese are starting to arrive back on the water. I was stopped in my tracks on this day and had to get the phone out!

19/10/2023

If you are interested in the history of this beautiful area, we have some fantastic new historical photos of the Mill and surrounding area to share with you, all thanks to our friends at Bygone. Bygone is a historic photo archive website and they made a request to there community for photo's for us. You can find Bygone on Facebook at the below link:-

https://www.facebook.com/bygoneuk

Any you can find their main web site at this link:-

https://bygone.co.uk/home/

They have a fantastic collection of historical photos focused on Portsmouth and the surrounding area and I highly recommend spending some time exploring their archive!

The photo's they have shared with us here attached to this post with their kind permission are fantastic. The "Ice Block" photo is particularly interesting as it seems to show the old mill before the tide mill and mill pond was built, the first time I have seen this.

All the photos have a link in there caption to the photo on the Bygone website where you can find out more information or even order a print.

Thanks again to our friends at Bygone for there support!

18/10/2023

Hi Everyone - if you were unable to attend the public meeting on the Seawalls, as well as the video in the below post Havant Civic Society have produced a full write up of the meeting along with some really interesting comment and thoughts. It's well worth a read.

You can find the write up at the below link:-

St Faith’s church was packed on Thursday evening for a public meeting called by the Langstone Village Association (LVA) to raise the profile of the issue of the millpond and footpath between …

09/10/2023

VIDEO AVAILABLE OF PUBLIC MEETING

28th September at St Faiths Church

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend the Public Meeting on the 28th of this month. The meeting was well attended with a series of expert presentations followed by questions and answers.

For anyone who was not able to attend a video is available on YouTube at this link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1vH3Eie3J8 .

The first hour is the 3 main presentations, followed by 45 mins of audience questions.

We would love to hear your thoughts or comments following this meeting.

A recording of the public meeting held to advance the cause of saving the Langstone Millpond from coastal erosion and 'coastal squeeze'.