Basing House: Community Liaison Group meeting, 19 January 2010
The first Old Basing/Basing House Community Liaison Group meeting was held at
The Parish Room on the evening of 19 January. The meeting was well attended by
invited representatives of various groups including locally elected members,
Friends of Basing House, residents living nearest to the Basing House site, Old
Basing Infants School, scouts and guides, Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme,
Surestart Children’s Centre, and several historical or archaeological societies.
The W.I. sent their apologies.
A presentation by members of the County Council’s project team was followed by a
question and answer session. Here is a summary of the questions put to the
team, and their answers.
Q. What sort of events will be held at Basing House and how often?
A. It is envisaged that a wide variety of indoor and outdoor
events will be held, e.g. drama productions, concerts, living history or
re-enactment events, or private weddings. Planning conditions limit the number
to a maximum of 4 per calendar month, and all must be appropriate to the venue
and must finish by 10pm.
Q. What is out definition of an event? Will a concert, say, staged over
3 evening count as one event or three?
An event is something that is likely to generate a significantly larger number
of visitors, or a greater degree of activity or potential for disturbance than
is normal on ‘non-event’ days. A single event will happen during one 24
hour period, so 3 consecutive evening concerts would be 3 events.
Q. How will residents’ access between The Street and the River Loddon
work when the site is open to the public? Will residents have to go through the
Visitor Centre, and will they have to pay?
A. When the Basing Grange VC is closed residents can walk along
the designated pathway around the edge of the field. When the VC is open it is
planned that residents will be able to pass through it free of charge. Dogs will
have to be kept on leads. However it is recognised that this may present
problems on busy days so alternative solutions are still being investigated. An
update will be given at the next meeting. The county council has no intention to
stop allowing access between The Street and the river.
Q. Will Alan Turton’s site tours be recorded for posterity?
A. Yes. They will be filmed and will be an invaluable record of
the history of Basing House. However Alan will continue to give his tours and
lectures, it is hoped for a long time to come.
Q. What is the projected number of visitors in the first year and how
has it been worked out?
A. 25,000 in the first 12 months, and rising to 40,000 in 5
years. ‘Visitors’ includes anyone coming to the site whether a ‘walk-in’
visitor, a child in a school group, a guest at a wedding, someone attending a
lecture, etc. The projections are based on information from other, similar
sites.
Q. How will traffic be directed to the car park, and will it be big
enough? Will there be more traffic through the village?
A. New signage will direct drivers to the Barton’s Lane car
park, keeping them away from the village and Redbridge Lane. Satnav users will
be given the correct postcode on our website, etc.. HCC Highways section will be
asked to investigate whether satnav systems can be programmed to avoid the
village. A report will be given at the next meeting.
To discourage parking in the village tickets will not be sold at Garrison Gate.
The car park is considered to be adequate for normal usage, and the overspill
area in Cowdery’s Down will be used (as now) for event days.
Q. Pedestrian road crossing at Garrison Gate: a) Is a footbridge over
The Street feasible as an alternative entrance? b) Can school groups be
protected from the traffic by walking along the field side the wall towards the
crossing at Garrison Gate? c) Some concerns were expressed about the details of
the proposed pedestrian crossing.
A. a) The county council did a feasibility study on a
footbridge and concluded that it is not feasible on grounds of size and impact
on the historic landscape. b) All pedestrians will use the path on the
field side of the wall bordering The Street, when approaching or returning from
the road crossing point. c) HCC Highways section is currently designing
the road crossing after consulting with residents living close to the crossing
point. They will be asked to attend the next meeting of the Liaison Group.
Q. The walk from the car park along the river path is very dark at
night. What is being done about this?
A. This will need to be explained on our website, leaflets,
etc. Provision of temporary lighting for evening events will be investigated.
For visitors with special needs it may be possible to lay on a shuttle bus to
ferry them to the Visitors Centre at Basing Grange.
Q. The Girl Guides and Sure Start Children’s Centre wish to work closely
with Basing House as a family venue, and work on art projects for example with
under 5’s, families etc. Please could the site management consult with
youth groups/ families/rainbows/ brownies etc.?
A. Certainly. It is the county council’s ambition to build
relationships with all such local groups and to offer them a range of learning
and fun activities as well opportunities for participation.
Q. Do you have to have your own MP3 player to use the Podcast audio
guides? Are they, and the written guides, provided in alternative languages?
A. Podcasts will be free to download onto your own MP3 device
from the Basing House website. It is envisaged that preloaded MP3 players will
available for hire at the on site, possibly also a free facility to download the
guides onto a visitor’s own MP3 player (to be confirmed). Shorter
versions of the tours will also be available on a leaflet. Currently there is no
budget to translate the guides into other languages.
Q. Is there to be a viewing platform on the citadel? Where?
A. The viewing platform is seen as an important aid to
understanding the site and its location. It won’t happen before 2012 and is
subject, anyway, to funding and planning and Scheduled Ancient Monument
consents. It would probably be sited on the south side of the citadel ringwork
(bank) looking out over the Common. Residents who might be overlooked will be
consulted.
Q. How were the attendees at this meeting chosen? Are comments going to
be published?
A. The meeting was ‘by invitation’ in order to obtain a
representative cross-section of the community and to ensure that key interest
groups were included. A note of the meeting would be published in The Basinga in
order to reach all residents, including those without internet access.
Q. How often will the Group meet?
A. That is for the Group to decide. It was proposed and agreed
that the next meeting should be held well in advance of the proposed site
re-opening in August in case any serious issues remained to be addressed before
then. A meeting will be called for a date in May or early June, and invitations
sent out at least 3 weeks in advance.
Q. Will residents be invited to the site for a preview before it opens
to the public?
A. Certainly. A date will be confirmed later in the year.
For further information or enquiries please visit
www.basinghouse.org.uk
or email basinghouse@hants.gov.uk.
You may also write to Peter James, Hampshire Museums Service, Chilcomb House,
Chilcomb lane, Winchester SO23 8RD.