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The former OSU site - sparkey (20th Apr 2006 - 23:21:01) According to the local rag it looks like the local councillors have agreed on the plans for the undeveloped portion of the former OSU land , I have looked at the plans which are online At EHDC online Looks like we are to get a collection of garages for light industrial and warehousing , if you look closely they have made provision for over night truck accommodation , so we are to have a truck stop in the middle of Liphook. Apparently this is the last industrial area available in Liphook, My question is are the local council so detached from the economics of the region and the country, manufacturing is on the decline as cheaper labour is available else where in the ECC. So most of the UK is moving more to the services sector where the remuneration is better . Last time there was a plan to build an office complex this could have accommodated the services sector as well as attracting higher income local employment, looks like the local council feel that our sons and daughters are only capable of attaining the minimum wage. Sorry for the rant but I think we have missed a huge opportunity here, I am all for Liphook prospering but turning it into Bordon in my mind is not the answer, surely there is a better answer. Sparkey

Re: The former OSU site - Chris (21st Apr 2006 - 05:51:09) ...there is a better answer; the former OSU site was also supposed to have been used for a few more shops and cheapish accomodation for first time buyers. It makes me wonder how much Sainsburies have objected to any likely competition. Liphook doesn't need a lorry park or warehouse storage space; where are the employment opportunities there? This proposal will only encourage more heavy industry traffic to our already busy local roads. As there are now plans afoot to turn the former hospital site into a "retirement village", wouldn't it make more sense to use this opportunity for the improvement of retail services? How did this get through without local consultation, especially from those who live near the area concerned?

Re: The former OSU site - liz (21st Apr 2006 - 12:25:18) We fought to retain a modicum of the village feel when the OSU site was initially developed, with mixed results. Now, if comments on this page are correct the remaining site, in the centre of the village and adjacent to local housing and our 'village green' is to be turned into a warehousing/light industrial complex with associated truck parking. Great planning guys!!! I understood this site was for mixed use including some retail, housing, offices etc. I can't access the EHDC site at the moment so I can only hope 'Sparkey' has got it wrong.

Re: The former OSU site - Chris (21st Apr 2006 - 15:14:26) Its good to know that the applicant is someone that lives in Hertfordshire: Applicant and Contact Details: Applicant Name: Applicant Address: Yeomans Court, Ware Road, Hertford, Agent Name: GML Architects Ltd Contact: Mr D Sharp, GML Architects Ltd Contact Address: 40 Featherstone Street, London "Latest Date for Representations: 18 Apr 2006" Doesn't it make you feel good when someone does this and no-one gets a chance to object!

Re: The former OSU site - Steve Read (21st Apr 2006 - 17:52:21) The OSU Site or whats left of it was always earmarked for light industrial useage as more or less an extension of the Beaver Estate. This has not been dropped in at the last minute by the planners. This might come as a shock to Sparkey but there are plenty of us out there still manufacturing today and trying to run a business all from premises in the immediate Liphook area and would relish the chance to move onto a more central location at reasonable costs. There a 17 small businesses located where I'am no more than half a mile from the Beaver. I've lost count of the number of telephone calls I've taken from young lads wanting to do an apprenticeship in engineering, and the lads I've taken from Bohunt on work experience. From a selfish point of view I think its great everybody today seems to want to sit in front of a screen pushing and twiddling with a keyboard and bemoaning the fact that the 7.45 did not stop at Liphook so they could trot off into town get paid a silly salary plus the extra for working there in the first place quick couple of drinks in the wine bar on the way home (claim the expenses) and then cram themselves back in the 6.15 and find themselves at Portsmouth Harbour cause it didn't stop on the way home either. My point being there seems to be a great number in this country making an obscene amount of money out of money and fewer actually producing it in the first place, but thats ok with me because those of us left still trying are finding more and more work because the skills and industry today are reclining dramatically. If you remove or force out small business in this country and the single man working for himself who would find a small industrial unit ideal for his needs I dread the final number claiming the dole. As for lorries getting through the village, never a problem prior to the silly pavement widening scheme in the square, extra crossing points, hundreds of more houses built, more cars getting into Bohunt and the Avenue and using Liphook as a cut through to get on the A3. The parish and district council missed the boat when the OSU site got sold to Sainsburys, the whole site could have been used to really give the place an uplift, proper shops and retail outlets combined with an extension to the industrial park, businesses which could have brought extra employment to many people. These points were raised at the first public meeting on the site, but no the usual greed took over houses, houses and more house were built. It would have helped somewhat if the houses were built at affordable cost for local people to stand a chance of getting on the property ladder but no yet again get the best price possible and I would expect now the majority of people expressing concerns on this development actually live in those same houses. In the words of Sparkey rant over

Re: The former OSU site - Andrew Ellis (23rd Apr 2006 - 20:00:05) Steve , not sure if my last message got printed , but i hope you get a new site to work from as its small companies like yours that will keep liphook alive and not taken over by button pushers from london

Re: The former OSU site - liz (25th Apr 2006 - 10:52:56) Andrew I thought technology had spread beyond London? I think you'll find plenty of people earning a decent living in Liphook by 'pushing buttons'. (Hopefully they don't earn too much so as not to upset Steve who's obviously against large salaries!) As for small businesses 'keeping Liphook going', it was the proximity of London and the arrival of the railway (plus the MOD of course) that were largely responsible for the growth of Liphook. Don't get me wrong I am very much in favour of local businesses but they have not been responsible for most of Liphook's growth. Liphook may have been better before rail commuters arrived in 1892 or whenever, but even I can't remember back that far. With manufacturing now comprising just 13% of UK GDP - a 'mixed' development for the remaining OSU site recognising the growth of the service sector but including some scope for industrial use which would seem most appropriate.

Re: The former OSU site - rob (25th Apr 2006 - 22:04:05) Seems to me it's a sad lack of knowledge/imagination that concludes that every commuter from Liphook makes "an obscene amount of money out of money". Doesn't reflect my impression of most of the poor sods I see on the train every morning/evening. Sure most people in Liphook would love to regress to a rural idyll based around sleepy small businesses shoeing horses and producing local crafts. But of course the local economy would collapse if there weren't hundreds of us forced/willing to waste three or more hours a day five days a week getting from here to there. Fact is we live in a very mixed, very international economy. Get over it. Rob.

Re: The former OSU site - chris (26th Apr 2006 - 06:19:14) ...is the mixed development idea comletely lost now or is there still a chance that those who oppose the plans can do something about it? Is anyone from the PC able to comment?

Re: The former OSU site - Andrew Ellis (26th Apr 2006 - 09:41:22) Wave a magic wand and get rid of all cars and this village as well as all others would be reborn, shame this will never happen ( but as petrol is going up so much there is hope).Not a question of how much you all can earn rob , was half joking, but it would be nice to have this and other villages with all the type of shops and manufacturing skills that we all need. shame it will never happen.

Re: The former OSU site - katy (27th Apr 2006 - 08:09:34) In the hope of trying to get back to the main thread I have had a look at the plans in the council office (Midhurst Road). I am all in favour of the plot being MAINLY for business but I am a little concerned they may lie empty. At present Carpetbaggers (Station Road), Balfours Newsagent (station Road), Bibi Annas (Midhurst Road) , Chockles cafe (Station Road) are all unoccupied. It worries me that we are going to have an empty industrial site in the centre of the village which no doubt will lead to youths gathering, travellers and any other undesirables. Also, the industrial sites in Liphook at the moment (Bleach's yard by the station in particular) are hardly picturesque, in fact they are a scruffy mess and the holding companies responsible should be ashamed of themselves. God forbid if the new development were left to rack and ruin as these are, it would be such an eyesore in the centre of the village. I would be interested to know how many empty units there are in these as well as I know they are certainly not all fully occupied. Anyway, going back to my main point the overall design is poor. Does anyone really want to look at a row of garage doors from the green? Also tempting for our spray paint fans to leave their tags for all to see. What I think would be a better idea was something similar to the original plan - small shop units with flats above facing the green in keeping with the rest of the development. Industrial units behind and ideally a small business park similar to the one at Passfield in the former school. This has a good occupancy rate, is well maintained and houses many diverse businesses. I have a horrible feeling however that in continually pressing for industrial units the people of Liphook may be left with a white elephant and an eyesore, I hope I am proved wrong!

Re: The former OSU site - Steve Read (27th Apr 2006 - 20:51:49) Where in my post did I mention every commuter in Liphook is making obscene amounts of money out of money? Where in my post did I mention I was against people earning large salaries? earning being the difference. Lacking knowledge/imagination. LOL. It didn't take much of either 25 years ago to work out where I'd rather be working and who I was working for. Got to get an early night the morning commute can take me nearly 5-6 minutes especially if the wind is against. Get over it - I go over it every morning with a chuckle looking to my right, its called the railway bridge.

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