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More Private Planes for Hampshire: Farnborough Airport plans to expand against local backlash

Alfred Morris

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Groups in Farnborough have been up in arms this month after Farnborough International announced plans to massively expand the flight capacity of their operation. The airport is already the busiest private airport in the county, and the sixth busiest in Europe.

Farnborough Noise Group, an advocacy group which says it aims to “raise issues resulting from Farnborough Airport’s operations” has been vocal in its opposition to these plans, with one resident affiliated with the group, Colin Shearn, outlining that the expansions will increase the air pollution – which is already high.

Mr. Shearn said: “Jets produce particulates and nitrogen dioxide which are both harmful to health, and an increase in private jet flights will result in increased emissions.”

The recorded levels of nitrogen dioxide at Farnborough Airport, Shearn says, “regularly exceed the World Health Organisation safe limits”.

Shearn said: “There are only two and a half passengers per plane, and 40% of planes are flying empty’ which makes it ‘an extremely inefficient way of travel.”

Farnborough International plans to expand the number of flights from 50,000 a year to 70,000, increase the number of weekend flights from 8,900 to 18,900 annually, change the allowed weekend hours of operation from 8am-8pm to 7am-9pm, and adjust the lower limit for aircraft weight from 50 tonnes to 80 tonnes.

In a press release, airport CEO, Simon Geere says the expansions “will create hundreds of new jobs within the local community” which he claims will be “important for the future economic prosperity of the region”.

The airport also claims the expansions will generate “£470m of Gross Value Added by 2040”, the year it has targeted for the expansions to be finalised.

Public consultations have been hosted by the airport over the past month and the final consulatation closes, they say, on the 18th of October. Plans will then be put forward to the Rushmoor Borough Council, which will decide whether to permit the expansions.

This application is set to be put forward in November, so until then, the future of the airport is up in the air.

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Ivan Juric leaves Southampton after earliest ever relegation

Lennie Teague

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Ivan Juric has left his role as Southampton first team manager following the club’s relegation on Sunday.

The Croatian joined the Saints on an 18-month deal in December following Russell Martin’s dismissal but lasted just 107 days in charge.

Juric oversaw just two victories in his 16 matches in charge with Sunday’s 3-1 defeat to Tottenham confirming Southampton’s relegation to the Championship.

With seven matches still to play, Saints’ relegation is the earliest in Premier League history, breaking the joint-record set by Derby County and Huddersfield Town in 2007-08 and 2018-19 respectively, who both went down after 32 games.

The club confirmed the process of searching for a new manager is now under way and said: “With relegation to the Championship now confirmed, we believe it is important to give fans, players and staff some clarity on the future as we head into a very important summer.”

First team coach Simon Rusk is set to take charge of the team for the remainder of the season with player Adam Lallana to act as his assistant.

Southampton currently sit on 10 points at the bottom of the league and require a further two points to avoid breaking the record-low set by Derby County, who finished the 2007-08 season with 11 points.

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New foodhall to open on site of former Winchester nightclub

Lennie Teague

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A new foodhall is set to open later this year in place of Vodka, Winchester’s former nightclub.

The venue, which shut down in May 2023, is set to be converted to foodhall called Helch Market.

The market is planned to open until 3am and will have a number of food vendors which will rotate over time as well as events space in the basement.

Helch Market Winchester will be the second of its kind after David Jamal Benamor, of Benamor LTD, opened a similar business in Bournemouth in 2022.

Mr Benamor aims to open the new venue in the autumn.

Mr Benamor said: “There’s quite a low diversity in independent businesses, so there’s a lot of chains and very few independent, especially with new concepts, which are a lot harder.

“It’s quite stale, the diversity on the high street, like everywhere in the UK.

“This offers smaller businesses a chance to try a concept or to start their own chain of stores, whatever they’d like to do, so I’d say just a diversity within small businesses.”

Image courtesy of Benamor LTD

Mr Benamor’s application for a licence which allows the sale of alcohol, the serving of hot food and drinks between 11pm and 5am and live and recorded music and entertainment was approved on 25 March.

The plans to take over the Vodka site have been controversial and the initial licence application was met with criticism, with a number of written objections being made to Winchester City Council.

Residents have also been concerned with the potential rise in crime levels after there were 18 crimes reported on or near the Vodka property in the first half of 2022, a year before its closure.

‘As long as there’s a facility for the youngsters, which is much needed.’

One man said: “In principle, I am happy with the idea.

Despite the complaints, the members of the Winchester public WINOL spoke to were mostly supportive of the venue.

“I wouldn’t like it if it was open until 3am, but in normal hours it’s fine.

“No problem at all, I think we need to encourage young people here.”

Another resident said: “As long as there’s a facility for the youngsters, which is much needed in town because we haven’t got a lot like clubs as such.

“Not everybody wants them, but I just think the youngsters need something rather than have to go elsewhere. It’s good.”

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Winchester BID Rangers recover £100,000 in stolen goods

Lennie Teague

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Photo courtesy of Winchester BID

A security team in Winchester has hit a major milestone by recovered more than £100,000 worth of stolen goods in the city centre.

The Winchester Business Crime Reduction Partnership (WBCRP) and Winchester Business Improvement District (BID) Rangers were formed in 2018 with the aim of reducing business crime, antisocial behaviour and low level crime.

The group has now retrieved over £100,000 worth of goods and returned them to businesses in Winchester.

The Rangers work closely with local businesses, Hampshire Constabulary, Winchester City Council and BID to help their efforts of combatting theft.

They are highly trained security professionals that are accredited under the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS) and certified by the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

BID lists the Rangers’ key functions as being crime prevention and recovery, supporting the local Shopwatch and Pubwatch schemes, real-time assistance and customer engagement and public safety.

Hannah Hitchon, Shopwatch chair, said: “It is with the greatest pride that the BID Rangers have surpassed the stolen property recovery figure of £100,000.

“This figure has been recovered over a challenging time, including the pandemic, which naturally impacted the vital role that they played in protecting our local area.

“As such they should be commended for their hard work and resilience over the last six years.

“My heartfelt thanks go out to the Rangers for the continuing hard work and dedication that they offer both the public and local businesses and here’s to many more years of the same!”

The group have been recognised for their efforts by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC).

BID Ranger Brett Jones received an OPCC award in 2023 for his commitment to public safety.

Winchester BID Business Crime Reduction Manager Jane Bastock has been honoured with a 2025 OPCC award nomination for her leadership in business crime reduction over the past decade.

On the efforts by the Rangers, Ms Bastock said: “I am very proud of this achievement. This demonstrates not only the success of the BID Rangers scheme but that of the Radio Link and Shopwatch schemes, which businesses in Winchester utilise to alert suspicious or offending behaviour in their store or in the city.

“I would also like to thank the local police and Winchester City Council CCTV Control Room for their continued support with these schemes.”

Following the milestone, the WBCRP and Winchester BID remain committed to strengthening security initiatives and supporting businesses in tackling crime.

Cheif Inspector Korine Bishop, Winchester district commander, said: “This milestone demonstrates the importance of the BID Rangers to the partnership effort needed to keep the city centre a safer environment for all.

“Our officers, including those from our dedicated city centre Neighbourhood Policing Team, will continue to work with the BID Rangers and all our partners to reduce and prevent crime.”

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