Asset Transfer Update - As at May 2025

 

Sewall Drive Allotments & Open Space

 

Sewall Drive Allotments are now with the Borough Council. While the process of changing the registration at the Land Registry takes place Bishopstoke Parish Council is being granted a Licence to Occupy the land which means we will soon be able to complete the necessary groundworks and other preparations needed before finally opening up the allotments to those on the waiting list. 

 

Stoke Common Cemetery

 

As with the allotments, the Parish Council will shortly have permission to lay out the land and do all the necessary preparation prior to opening the site to those that wish to be buried there. The full plans will be published when they are available but the site is expected to broadly operate in the same way as Bishopstoke Cemetery. Following a public consultation a few years ago the Parish Council decided that kerbsets would not be permitted in Stoke Common Cemetery. In addition, the Council is hoping to set aside an area of the cemetery for natural burials.

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Bow Lake Gardens Allotments

 

This land was assessed for beginning its 12 month countdown to being passed to the Borough Council in 2021. This transfer has not been completed although the Borough Council has taken on the maintenance of the site. It has not yet been offered to the Parish Council. The Parish Council employed a specialist to assess the site for its intended use as an allotment and the report found a number of problems. Some of the problems were: the land sloping rather than being tiered as originally planned; no safe ramps or steps with handrails to travel between elevations as had been planned; insufficient standpipes; a fence that whilst it meets the planned specifications does nothing to keep out deer, badgers or rabbits and poor soil quality.

 

As the Parish Council does not believe that land is suitable for allotments the waiting list for Bow Lake allotments has been suspended whilst the Council works out what best to do. Once various options have been assessed there will be a public consultation to determine which are the most popular options to explore with the developer of the site, as their permission will be needed before the site can be used for anything other than allotments.

 

Bow Lake Gardens Community Orchard

 

The Orchard is situated lower down the slope than the allotments and is not easily accessible without going through the allotments. There are very few actual fruit trees there and the site is overgrown. The local Greening Campaign are keen to restore the original intent of the orchard and possibly expand it but before that can happen the Parish Council needs to first take over the land and second assess whether it is possible to provide safe access to the community to the Community Orchard.

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Rose Close open space

 

There is a small area of grass at the entrance to Rose Close (just off Church Road) between the road and Stoke Common play area. Responsibility for that land is being transferred to the Parish Council. Once the transfer is complete the land will be added to our grounds contract to ensure that it is maintained properly. The Council is also going to consider moving the bench away from the dip in the landscape as that area is often waterlogged!

Devolution 

 

The devolution process started by government just before Christmas 2024 has led to the Borough Council examining every asset and patch of land it owns, to assess whether any of them would be better looked after if they were transferred to the relevant parish council rather than taken over by the planned unitary authority. Bishopstoke Parish Council is actively examining all the options and will take decisions on what transfers to request based on whether a particular asset would further the Mission and Aims of the Parish Council. We are in a fortunate position in Eastleigh Borough in that the Borough Council has been devolving control of many of its assets - play areas, allotments, cemeteries - to local Parish Councils for a number of years and so we have a head start on many areas of the country. More information will be provided as the Council takes decisions.