Harefield Community Centre Disgrace (Update) NOW Being Sold for DEVELOPMENT (time to badger our council) #SO18 #Southampton #WestItchenCommunityTrust

Pls. see playlist #WolfsHeadVideo

Quote; "A dilapidated community centre site has gone on the market for £300,000.

Harefield Community Centre was transferred to West Itchen Community Trust (WICT) by Southampton City Council for £1 in 2020. The site in Yeovil Chase is overgrown, with the building itself, which has been closed for more than 10 years, subject to graffiti and vandalism. Earlier this year, it was heard at a council meeting that there was no clause to buy the site back for £1. The local authority has confirmed it has no plans to purchase Harefield Community Centre. It is understood WICT is permitted to sell the site provided the proceeds are reinvested in other facilities. The 1.27-acre community centre site is being listed by property consultancy Vail Williams, with is described as suitable for development, subject to planning or community use. The listing says the property is a “derelict former single storey community centre, which is likely to be of interest to mixed use developers or for community or education use. Harefield ward Conservative councillor Peter Baillie, who raised the site’s future in the council chamber in July, said: “It is utterly outrageous the council sold it for £1 several years ago but does not have a clause to by it back for £1. Instead, it has to buy it as the free market value of around £300,000. Had the council been able to buy it back we would not be in this position. It is a disastrous legal state for the council to have got itself in. It is a warning that it must be sharper on its legal clauses because this has led to unintended consequences.” Cllr Baillie said he would like to see some sort of community centre available for residents to use to return to the site. He added: “Whether that is going to be possible, we do not know.”: https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/25459740.community-centre-council-transferred-1-market-300-000/

Also councillors had the community known that the centre would be put on the market for development there would have been greater interest shown in protecting it as a resource. When SO18 Big Local was running it was thought that the provisos given regarding possible future use of the site precluded it from falling into public hands. This is far from surprising as the landlord was titled a "community trust", neither is it surprising that the narrative concerning the administration and future use of the site espoused by the (financially) interested parties involved is (to say the least) inconsistent, quote; "Dear Gerald, 

Thank you for your email about Harefield Community Centre and for sharing your concerns about the future of the site. I appreciate how strongly local people feel about this issue.

By way of background, the centre had not been in use for many years when, in 2017, it was transferred to West Itchen Community Trust (WICT) along with six other community centres. As part of that transfer, WICT were permitted to dispose of the Harefield site*, but any resources raised are legally required to be reinvested into the six remaining centres. The Leader of the Council is due to meet with WICT shortly to remind them of this obligation and to ensure it is fulfilled.

Since the centre closed in 2010 when there was no alternative group to run it, the site has unfortunately fallen into disrepair and become subject to vandalism. But I know there are different views locally on what should now happen. Some residents are keen to see a new community use, while others, particularly those living nearby, simply want the site redeveloped. It is also a difficult site to work with, given the number of tree preservation orders, although WICT did purchase an adjacent piece of land which could potentially be used as a woodland play area.

I understand how frustrating this situation is for residents who feel Harefield has been left behind. I am seeking assurance from the Council that they will be holding WICT to account for their legal obligations, and I am following this matter closely. I will also ask colleagues to update me following the upcoming meeting with WICT so I can provide you with clarity on the next steps." Thursday, 25 September 2025 at 16:22:44 BST, Darren Paffey MP <darren.paffey.mp@parliament.uk

*Italics mine. Nb. quote; "West Itchen Community Trust took ownership of the building in February 2020 from Southampton City Council.

The trust, which runs other community hubs in Northam and St Mary’s, has been forced to halt investment in the site due to "financial pressures caused by the pandemic".

Chief Executive Rick Harwood said: “When we took on the centre in February 2020, it had been empty and in a state of dilapidation for possibly five years or more when it was owned by the council.

“Unfortunately, the impact of COVID decimated our business, being a charity and a social enterprise with a number of commercial buildings, and our income was decimated.

“Our team ended up, over the last year or two going down from seven full-time equivalents to almost just myself, trying to run things and get us through it.": https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/23353437.harefield-community-centre-left-state-neglect-decade/

The Echo had already covered this story and were well aware that the suspicion was that the site had been deliberately neglected in order to facilitate its sale for private development also, quote: "Further to Darren..having spoken with residents it is clear that it was private parties and the permanent alcohol license to which they most objected...I sat on the Environment Forum as a City Farm Rep. the city farm only uses an event license..I would encourage greater community use and the same policy for Harefield.

Gerard"

I voiced such two years ago.

Not only are there tree preservation orders in force regarding a number of the trees on the site only a week or so ago a badger ran in front of me across Yeovil Chase on my return from the swimming pool (the very first time I've actually seen a wild badger) and disappeared under the fence onto the community centre site. If there are setts (& this shouldn't surprise anyone the site covers 1.2 acres a lot of which is overgrown woodland) on the site the owner is subject to certain legal obligations, quote; "Badgers and their setts (tunnels and chambers where they live) are protected by law.

You may be able to get a licence from Natural England if you can’t avoid disturbing badgers in their sett or damaging their sett.

What you must not do

You could be sent to prison for up to 6 months and get an unlimited fine if you’re found guilty of any of these offences:

• intentionally capture, kill or injure a badger
• damage, destroy or block access to their setts
• disturb badgers in setts
• treat a badger cruelly
• deliberately send or intentionally allow a dog into a sett
• bait or dig for badgers

You’re breaking the law and could get an unlimited fine if you:

• have or sell a badger, or offer a live badger for sale
• have or possess a dead badger or parts of a badger (if you got it illegally)
• mark or attach a marking device to a badger

Activities that can harm badgers

Activities that can affect badgers include:

• destroying or damaging their setts
• noise, additional lighting or vibration
• pile driving
• quarry blasting
• lighting fires
• using chemicals
• excavation
• ploughing and harvesting crops
• tree felling and timber extraction
• construction or repair of flood defences or watercourses

When you’ll need a licence

In most cases you should be able to avoid disturbing badgers and damaging or blocking access to their sett.

If you can’t avoid this, you can apply for a licence to interfere with a sett from Natural England. You’ll need to show you’ve tried everything else possible to avoid affecting badgers.

You’ll need expert help with your licence application if it’s for a development project. Find out what type of survey and mitigation methods will be needed to support a planning application.": https://www.gov.uk/guidance/badgers-protection-surveys-and-licences

There was another witness, a man out walking his dog saw it too.

As I mention in the previous "Arafel" article; "Having been a representative for the (former), city farm on the (former), “Environment Forum”, here in Southampton, I know full well that projects which include a measure of; horticulture, mental health promotion, community food provision, education and that offer opportunities for networking with other community groups, institutions and NGOs are a tremendous asset to any community and as such offer alternatives to delinquency for local kids and provide havens and extra resources for hard-pressed parents.

Quote; "The Farm was formed in 1992 and was the amalgamation of Southampton City Farm and Millbrook School Rural Science Unit which became Down to Earth Farm. It has been a City farm since 1976, with a horticultural route for the site dating back to 1936. In 2008, Oasis Community Learning (part of Oasis Academy Lord’s Hill), took over the running of the farm from Southampton City council. In 2020, the farm changed its name back to Southampton City Farm .

The farm now tends to Approx. 1.2 hectares of workable land alongside the community building and other buildings which facilitate the programs we run throughout the week. The land is mostly devoted to grazing areas for the animals, with a horticultural area at the western end of the site, where we grow a diverse crop to feed the animals and to provide ingredients for the kitchen.": https://www.southamptoncityfarm.com/a-brief-history.html

 The school farm and city farm amalgamated during my period of involvement (other than being a forum representative I twice held the volunteer post of “growing area supervisor”, once for the city farm and once for the amalgamated project). The project includes sustainable energy systems, organic agriculture and educational resources, quote; "We run an award-winning educational programme at the farm for children of all ages. The programme is easily accessible, and can be altered for any age or curriculum level.

We believe in offering an exciting and enjoyable learning experience, and our structured tours and lessons engage children with the animals, plants, and natural environment. Our passionate staff are experienced, knowledgeable and have huge enthusiasm towards education, and will deliver the best learning experience on a unique city farm setting.

We have found that the farm often brings out a side to young people rarely seen in the class room, offering opportunities for team work, leadership, problem solving, social development and self awareness.

Although we have been educating pupils at the farm for many years, we ensure that each educational tour is unique, perfectly tailored to your class, and easily adapted to support the National Curriculum for Nursery, Reception, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 classes*.

City Farm

 The project’s achievements speak for themselves. I, therefore, ask myself how it is that to the west of the city a community project is thriving and represents one of the jewels in Southampton’s civic crown but to the east the community infrastructure is being allowed to fall to wrack and ruin.": https://www.arafel.co.uk/2023/01/harefield-community-centre-disgrace.html

*italics mine.

https://www.southamptoncityfarm.com/events-and-workshops.html

It looks very much as if the community has at least been misinformed and misled (either deliberately or by omission -and therefore as a dereliction of duty-) by Southampton Unitary Authority.

 We the people, therefore, demand our right to be heard and suggest that SUA review/investigate the mechanisms by which this parlous state of affairs (& massive the imbalance in provision in the city as Southampton City Farm is located towards the south eastern boundary and Harefield Community Centre sits on the north western) came to be!

https://www.facebook.com/WICTSOUTHAMPTON/

"This mini-documentary introduces my viewers to Southampton City Farm a succcesful and longstanding project in the West of Southampton that exemplifies the kind of contribution such community resources can make when properly supported, especially as contrasted with the ongoing vandalism and neglect of the former community centre for Harefield Estate in Southampton" Wolf's Head Video: https://www.youtube.com/@AndreaGail42 

Integrated Transport Infrastructure "The Soft and the Hard" #SlowWays #Biodiversity #Ecology #Sustainability #Conservation #Accessibility #Disability

https://www.internationaltreefoundation.org/our-history

Infrastructure

 With the announcement today that the chancellor proposes to spend as much as £15 billion on transport infrastructure (mainly on tram systems), quote; "The money will be spent on tram, train and bus projects in mayoral authorities across the Midlands, the North and the West Country.

The move comes before the government's spending review next week, which will determine how much money each Whitehall department gets over the next three to four years.

Reeves has been under pressure from Labour MPs to spend money following criticism of relentless economic gloom, particularly concerning disability and benefit cuts.

Trams form the backbone of the investment plans, with Greater Manchester getting £2.5bn to extend its network to Stockport and add stops in Bury, Manchester and Oldham, and the West Midlands getting £2.4bn to extend services from Birmingham city centre to the new sports quarter.

There will also be £2.1bn to start building the West Yorkshire Mass Transit programme by 2028, and build new bus stations in Bradford and Wakefield.

Six more metro mayors will receive transport investments:

£1.5bn for South Yorkshire to renew the tram network as well as bus services across Sheffield, Doncaster and Rotherham by 2027

£1.6bn for Liverpool city region with faster connections to Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Everton stadium and Anfield, and a new bus fleet in St Helens and the Wirral next year

£1.8bn for the North East to extend the Newcastle to Sunderland Metro via Washington

£800m for West of England to improve rail infrastructure, provide more frequent trains between the Brabazon industrial estate in Bristol and the city centre, and develop mass transit between Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset

£1bn for Tees Valley including a £60m platform extension programme for Middlesbrough station

£2bn for the East Midlands to improve road, rail and bus connections between Derby and Nottingham.

The transport investment marks Reeves' first open move away from the stringent rules in the Treasury's Green Book, external, which is used by officials to calculate the value for money of major projects.

The book has been criticised for favouring London and the south-east. Labour MP Jeevun Sandher, a member of the Treasury Committee, complained of its "hardwired London bias" in April.

In a speech in Greater Manchester, the chancellor said that sticking to book's rules has meant "growth created in too few places, felt by too few people and wide gaps between regions, and between our cities and towns"*.": https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c331ln47e7ko?xtor=AL-71-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&at_campaign_type=owned&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_link_id=C3656B4C-40F1-11F0-A9D5-A217A8469EBF&at_format=link&at_ptr_name=twitter&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_medium=social&at_link_origin=BBCPolitics&at_link_type=web_link

*Italics mine.

..it is vital that the notion and nature of integrated transport infrastructure be re-examined, should we do so we may well find that this sum can be reduced and the cost ameliorated by first properly considering the type of transport ecology we wish to create. Trams are great (perhaps a monorail?) however, given that we are currently transitioning from (esp.) internal combustion engines to electric motors (and are consequently presented with the question of defining the difference between vehicles of low, medium and high capacity be they single or multi-track*) and that transition will define the changes in infrastructure they must also define the changes in rolling stock. In other words are your trams truly going to help form that link between the "hard" and "soft" transport infrastructure that will increase the diversity and hence sustainability of the system?

*Nb. What do you call a pedal-assisted single or multitrack vehicle? A "partial engagement" vehicle or "human assisted" (for instance)? Even the terminology needs a shakedown, must apply those "intersectionalities"! It's all the Al-Gore-isms dear!

There has already been huge investment in the development of new rolling stock for the railways, go to: https://news.arriva.co.uk/news/arriva-group-invests-in-new-battery-hybrid-train-fleet-in-boost-to-uk-rail-industry & https://www.rsnevents.co.uk/new-trains-on-the-horizon-for-uk-operators/ Yet technical specifications esp. regarding capacity for transporting human assisted, low/medium capacity single and multitrack, one or two person vehicles (we really are suffering from a dearth of terminology here) including accessibility, storage and charging are conspicuous by their general absence. This absence defining both the quality and scale of the debate within the general population, notable because majority consensus regarding the response to climate change and other environmental concerns is, otherwise, considered vital. 

 It should be remembered that accessibility for such vehicles would ipso facto ensure that rolling stock also be accessible for those in wheelchairs and for the disabled and partially-able generally, to, therefore, not also consider making provision for all vehicles that require such to (at least partially) charge, especially on longer journeys, is asinine (more so considering that much of the new rolling stock is itself electrified).

 For both trains and trams accessibility means platform level access (be that raised or otherwise) doors wide enough to safely deal with most requirements and staffing oversight for the general welfare of all passengers.. quote: "Rail union, RMT has welcomed the Transport Select Committee’s Access Denied: rights versus reality in disabled people’s access to transport report, following its inquiry into accessibility for disabled people on the transport network.

RMT gave oral evidence to the inquiry in September 2023 after the previous Government pushed plans to close nearly 1,000 ticket offices and cut around 2,300 station staff jobs.  

 

These controversial plans were only scrapped after a massive public backlash, led by a combination of RMT, disabled and older passengers.  

 

The Committee has now confirmed that these cuts "risked significantly damaging people’s access to the rail network."

 

Staff presence "is often a crucial determinant of whether safe and independent travel is possible at all" and that the "Turn Up and Go" system becomes much harder to deliver with fewer staff at stations or onboard trains, the report found.

 

The Committee has urged the Government to ensure that the transition to Great British Railways (GBR) does not further reduce accessibility and must remain inclusive of different passengers needs.  

 

RMT is calling on the Government to put passenger accessibility and safety at the heart of its plans for GBR, which must include protecting and expanding ticket offices, maintaining and increasing station staff levels, and ending  the practice of driver-only operation.

 

RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “Railway staff are essential to delivering a safe and accessible network for all passengers and this report shows that.

 

"Ticket office closures were stopped by the strength of our campaign and the support of older and disabled passenger groups.

 

"It is important that passengers do not feel forced to rely solely on ticket machines or apps as they do not always meet the accessibility needs of all travellers.

 

"A properly staffed railway is a necessity and the Government must ensure that ticket offices remain open, continue to be adequately staff, and every train has a second safety-critical member of staff on board.

 

"The Government must now act to ensure Great British Railways prioritises access and safety for all*.”": https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/staff-cuts-undermine-accessibility-transport-select-committee/

*Italics mine, as both a UNITE Community and Spectrum (centre for independent living) member I heartily concur and suggest that cutting staff on the railways is oxymoronic when one is trying to encourage greater use of public transport in a time of crisis.

 

I am very much afraid that (just like the bas-relief of St Barbe Baker in the video) the Chancellor's plans will turn out to be window dressing, neoliberal greenwash for an exploitative status quo of vested interests desperately trying to cling to power at a time of fundamental change.

 

We cannot afford to waste opportunities to transform infrastructure with half-measures. 

Consider instead a transport system that encompasses "hard", "medium" and "soft" approaches,  for we search for our own Goldilocks Planet (not some other) integrating "Slow Ways", quote; "Slow Ways began in 2020 as an initiative led by geographer Dan Raven-Ellison, aiming to connect every town, city and national landscape in Britain through thoughtfully designed walking routes. Volunteers drafted routes between 2,500 settlements using existing rights of way.

Slow Ways routes aim to:

• Be safe, direct, and accessible
• Avoid roads where possible
• Include resting places every 5–10 km
• Pass through public transport hubs
• Be enjoyable and easy to navigate

You can see all ten of the design principles here.

Not all routes are accessible to everyone, but we are working to let people know which paths and routes are good for them.

Routes are tested by walkers and wheelers (wheelchair and scooter users) who share reviews with star ratings. A route with three or more positive reviews is verified – a tried-and-tested pathway for others to enjoy.

People can also survey routes for surface quality, gradients, and potential obstacles, such as stiles or mud. Routes are graded using a system developed by Experience Community, helping people choose paths that suit their needs.": https://beta.slowways.org/Page/about"

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/slowways

..a "soft" transport infrastructure both with trams and canals (intersectional or "median" infrastructure) and the "hard" infrastructure of roads, rail, air and sea. The key to which (and this won't surprise those to whom such is of most concern) is accessibility. Integration requires universal accessibility, that which is not accessible is not integrated. Work in progress perhaps yet emergent.

Hatch Farm on Arafel

 

 "The housing development has turned the beautiful, picturesque village of West End in to just another dormitory": https://www.arafel.co.uk/2019/12/journey-man-walkinginthewildwestend.html

 "Isn't it time they gave something back? I propose that the Moorfield site should be developed (and that only in part, on the western half of the land -nearest the existing entrances-), by the construction of an environment centre, that this be done sensitively using sustainable materials and include sustainable heat and power systems (mainly solar but a small windmill could also be considered), this especially so given the exposed position which is ideal for the maximum efficiency of such. The area where nature has now established a toe-hold should be left as undisturbed as possible.": https://www.arafel.co.uk/2020/08/walking-in-wild-west-end-pt-2_18.html

 "..further pictures of the proximity of the Telegraph Woods ("rat-run"), to both the Moorhill Hse. site and the Boundary Lakes Golf Course. The last picture was taken over-the-fence from the path in the Telegraph Woods that I was walking when "bombarded" from the tee of the hole by a local golfer (and where a young child out walking with his father "discovered" an orange golf-ball when I was researching for this blog a week or so later), clearly the hole is too close to the woodland, there can be no argument, it is beholden upon the Boundary Lakes Golf Course to address this problem as soon as possible. I would even argue that the course should be closed until the situation is rectified.": https://www.arafel.co.uk/2020/09/walking-in-wild-west-end-pt-3.html

Also see Walking in the Wild West End Playlist, Wolf's Head Video: https://www.youtube.com/@AndreaGail42