BISHOPSTOKE CARNIVAL
Saturday 21st June 2025
COUNCIL MEETINGS
WILDFLOWERS
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Bishopstoke Parish Council would like to help any local residents that wish to enhance their local area by planting wildflowers. Often, the areas best suited for planting are owned by either Eastleigh Borough Council or Hampshire County Council. The Parish Council can help you get in touch with the right people to gain permission for your planting.
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The Council may be able to support in other ways too. Anyone interested should contact the Clerk by emailing the Clerk.
ONLINE APPLICATIONS FOR ALLOTMENTS AND TRAVEL TOKENS​
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As part of our efforts to improve the service we provide to the residents of Bishopstoke it is now possible to apply for either allotments or travel tokens online.
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To apply for an allotment, please click here.
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To apply for travel tokens, please click here.
PHOTO SEARCH​
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Bishopstoke Parish Council is looking for photographs of the scenery around Bishopstoke. This could include landscapes, parks, iconic buildings, river settings or anything else beautiful within Bishopstoke.
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The photos would potentially be used on our Facebook or website, or in Council newsletters and leaflets, and would be credited to the person who took them.
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If you are interested in letting us use your photos please contact the Clerk, David Wheal, by emailing clerk@bishopstokepc.org.
POTHOLE REPORTING​
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Hampshire County Council have provided a direct link to their website for reporting potholes in roads. We have been told that some potholes on Sandy Lane are about to be fixed as a direct result of being reported through this link. Please use this link to report any potholes you encounter in the road.
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https://www.hants.gov.uk/transport/roadmaintenance/roadproblems
BURIAL FEES FOR 2025-26
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Following the freeze in fees in 2024-25 there is a small increase in fees for 2025-26 at the Cemetery. A full list of applicable fees can be found on the burial information page or by clicking on the link below.
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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.
AUDITED ACCOUNTS FOR 2024 - 2025
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The Council has just approved its audited accounts for the year 2024-2025. As usual there was an interim audit conducted by an internal auditor appointed by the Council which took place in January 2025. followed by the final internal audit in April. There were no issues for the Council to update from the January audit and the final audit found no further problems.
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Full details of these reports can be found by heading to the Audit page.
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Following the approval of the accounts at the Full Council meeting on 29th April 2025, the accounts and other relevant information are sent to the external auditor, BDO LLP. We will not hear the results of this process until late summer but are expecting to again come back with a clean bill of financial health.
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There is a period known as "electors' rights" which this year runs from 3rd June to 14th July. During that period any resident wishing to view the accounts for 2024 - 25 can do so by emailing the Clerk at clerk@bishopstokepc.org to make an appointment.
BISHOPSTOKE NEWS
Clerk &
Finance Officer
David Wheal
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07368 487464
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Allotments &
Cemeteries Officer
Tim Mellor
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07444 798083
07949 068556​
COUNCIL STAFF
MISSION STATEMENT & AIMS
Bishopstoke Parish Council Mission Statement
To work on behalf of the people of Bishopstoke to enhance our village as a great place to live, work and visit.
Aims
Aim 1 - To improve, and protect, our environment for residents and wildlife
Aim 2 - To promote better health & well-being outcomes for all.
Aim 3 - To strengthen a sense of place.
Aim 4 - To encourage residents to become more involved in the life of the village.