Coastline - July 2023 edition

Big weekend for free events

This weekend is a big one when it comes to free summer entertainment in Gosport, as the Summer in Gosport programme continues.

There's a two-day festival-style event on Walpole Park with a huge range of live music. And in the High Street, a packed programme of free family entertainment gets under way.

The Party in the Park, a council-supported event on Walpole Park, is on Saturday and Sunday, 29 and 30 July. It's a free-entry family event with live music, a funfair, go-karts and bouncy castles.

Each day starts at noon, and there will be plenty of refreshments to keep you going.

For full details see the Your Party in the Park Facebook page.

Meanwhile, in Lawrence Square, on the High Street, the council will host the first of five fun-filled Saturdays for local families. These free events, running until 26 August, will feature varied entertainment. But every Saturday there will be free go-karting from 10am to 3pm.

This Saturday (29 July) will see performances by a flamingo stilt walker at 10.30am, 12pm and 1.30pm. Punch and Judy will be in action at 11.30am, 1pm and 2.30pm, while St Vincent College music department performs from 12pm to 1pm.

Other Saturdays will feature face painting, a flea circus show, juggling, brass band music, the Reilly craft bus and a bubble artist.

For full details see the Discover Gosport Facebook page.

From 5 to 20 August, a series of free Arts in the Parks events will come to local parks. These will include a magical carousel for younger children, a comic performance of Alice in Wonderland, live jazz and fascinating theatre performances.

The free-entry Gosport Sunset Festival runs from 1 to 3 September on Walpole Park, celebrating street food, music, wellbeing and culture.

Coming up on 16 September is the free-entry Stoke Road Festival, including music, workshops and activities for young and old.

Details of these summer events, and many others, can be found in the council's Celebrate Gosport what's on guide.

30 new electric charge points

At Pebble Beach, left to right:interim Believ CEO Perran Moon, Mayoress Suzanne Pepper, Mayor Cllr Martin Pepper, Cllr Julie Westerby, Cllr Peter Chegwyn.

The council has teamed up with Believ, the UK's fastest-growing electric vehicle charge point operator, to bring new chargers to council car parks.

The first two charge points are now operating at Pebble Beach car park. Other sites in line for installations are Marine Parade, Beach Road, No 2 Battery East, Green Lane/Hardway, Walpole Park and No 2 Battery West.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Peter Chegwyn, said: "We want to encourage our residents to make environmentally friendly choices and reduce possible pollution and do so in a sustainable manner."

Perran Moon, interim CEO of Believ, said: "We're proud to contribute to Gosport's plans for cleaner air and a reduction in carbon emissions by providing an accessible, sustainable EV charging network for all, with a variety of charging speeds and at no cost to the taxpayer or council."

Funding for new Lee allotments

New allotments at Lee-on-the-Solent are being planned by the council, following a decision by councillors.

They agreed to allocate funds to set up a new allotment site at Manor Way open space, with 65 plots, and infrastructure to include access, security and water.

The cost, £56,587, will come from contributions paid to the council by companies behind recent property developments.

The next major step for the project is a planning application.

Garden at heritage site

Councillors have agreed funding for the development of a garden at Bastion No 1, near Trinity Green, which was part of the town's 17^th century defences. The garden, planned by the Friends of Bastion No 1, has been allocated £11,636 from developer contributions.

Fun with Summer Passport

Gosport's free holiday scheme for kids, Summer Passport, is under way, running every Tuesday and Thursday from 11am to 3pm for four weeks, at various parks and open spaces across the borough. It's open to children born between 1 September 2006 and 31 August 2011.

Activities already booked include sailing, zorb football, inflatables, yoga, swimming, driving lessons (14+) and arts and crafts.

You'll need to register and book. For more info see the Facebook pages for Gosport Passport Scheme and Motiv8 South - Gosport and Fareham Team, or www.safergosport.co.uk

Awards for two borough parks

Two Gosport Borough Council parks have once again been recognised as among the best in the country.

Stanley Park (pictured) and Crescent Gardens were named as Green Flag winners by the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy in its annual awards announcement.

Stanley Park achieved the Green Flag standard for the fourth time, and Crescent Gardens was awarded the accolade for the 17th time.

Cllr Peter Chegwyn, Leader of the Council, said: "It's fantastic that these two parks have once again received Green Flag awards. This is the international quality mark for parks and green spaces.

"It's great recognition for everyone involved, including the Friends of Stanley Park, the Friends of Crescent Gardens, our grounds maintenance team and our cleansing contractor Urbaser."

New chief executive

A meeting of the full council has endorsed the appointment of Debbie Gore as the council's new chief executive. Debbie has been assistant chief executive since November 2019.

As part of their shared management arrangements, Gosport Borough Council and Portsmouth City Council currently have a shared chief executive, David Williams. Following David's decision to step down as chief executive of both councils this summer, the administration at Gosport Borough Council decided that, while most of the shared management and service arrangements should remain in place, it should have its own chief executive.

Debbie has been part of Gosport Borough Council for 31 years and also currently holds the post of head of planning and regeneration.

Debbie said: "Having been part of the council since 1991, I'm absolutely committed to this council and to improving the lives of local people.

"This is an exciting time for the area. We're already working to build a better Gosport and have the right plans in place to move forward with projects and developments that will help to revitalise our high streets, waterfront and town centre, make the most of our amazing heritage as well as our green spaces and coastal areas, and create homes for local people. All of this helps our economy and creates real opportunities for residents to thrive."

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