Updates from NFDC and HCC

Community safety events – free bike registering

Our community safety team is hosting community events across the district over the next few months.

We’ll be joined by our local policing colleagues at the sessions, where you’ll have the chance to find out how we’re working together to target crime and antisocial behaviour across the district.

You can also bring along your bike to any of the sessions, which can be marked for free and added to the National Bike Register Database.

The sessions are taking place on:

• Wednesday 14 May (9am to 12pm), Ringwood Gateway

• Tuesday 20 May (9am to 12pm), Hythe market

• Saturday 24 May (10am to 4pm), Gang Warily recreation ground

• Wednesday 18 June (9am to 12pm), New Milton market

• Wednesday 2 July (9am to 12pm), Lymington, St Thomas Street car park

• Wednesday 9 July (9am to 12pm), Totton, outside Totton Police Station

You can find more details about the engagement sessions on the Safer New Forest website.

Garden waste renewals

It’s been 1 year since we introduced garden waste wheeled bins for collections.

Thank you to our 25,000 customers who have helped collect over 8,000 tonnes of garden waste to be composted into soil.

Colin and Ruth, residents and garden waste service customers, say: “The service is really convenient for us. It’s great that we can add garden waste to our bin and it’s collected from our drive, saving us a trip to the tip.”

Visit our website to renew or sign up for 12 months of fortnightly garden waste collections.

When you join the service or renew your subscription, you will pay for 12 months of fortnightly garden waste collections. Please allow at least 5 working days from renewal for your next collection.

Supporting people experiencing domestic abuse

In the New Forest, the Hampshire Domestic Abuse Partnership estimates that from 2023 to 2024, over 7,000 people were subjected to domestic abuse.

At our Cabinet meeting on 2 April, we presented a report on our domestic abuse strategy for 2025 to 2028.

We’re committed to bespoke training for our staff, safe accommodation and support for those experiencing domestic abuse, and ensuring there are clear pathways for accessing specialist domestic abuse support services.

You can read more about the strategy on our website.

Support is available from the Hampshire Domestic Abuse Partnership if you, or someone you know, is experiencing domestic abuse. Help is also available if you are finding it difficult to control your emotions and behaviour.

Contact the Hampshire Domestic Abuse Partnership by calling their advice line on 0330 0165 112. In an emergency, always call 999.

Services over the May bank holidays

Recycling and rubbish collections will not change over the May bank holidays (Monday 5 May and Monday 26 May). This includes glass recycling collections and garden waste. Please present your waste as usual.

You can check your usual collection day on our website.

Our information offices and customer services will be closed on the bank holidays, but you can still access many of our services on our website, including emergency contact information.

Our ‘Look Out For Our Forest’ campaign

We’re encouraging residents and visitors to keep the district litter free through our Look Out For Our Forest (#LOFOF) campaign.

Follow the #LOFOF litter project on Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date.

Through shared stories, simple actions, and community involvement, LOFOF is here to make it easier for everyone to do their bit.

You can find out more about the ways we’re working to reduce litter on our website.

Hampshire County Council

There are just under two weeks left for local people to have their say in Hampshire County Council’s public consultation on proposals to change and reduce some local services and help the Authority address a remaining budget shortfall of at least £97.6 million for 2025/26.  

The Future Services Consultation – Spring 2025 forms part of our plans to ensure we can focus support to the most vulnerable people in Hampshire while meeting our legal duty to deliver a balanced budget.

If your organisation has already provided views on the proposals – thank you. If you are yet to do so, please be aware that the consultation closes at 11.59pm on Wednesday, 7 May.

Why we are consulting

Prioritising the delivery of vital public services to residents who are most in need is our crucial core function. This includes protecting children from harm, social care for older people, and supporting adults and children with disabilities and additional needs. Demand and costs in these areas are now at record levels, putting immense ongoing pressure on our budgets. Despite having saved over £0.7 billion from our budgets in the last ten years, and continuing to transform how we work, being more efficient, innovative and commercial in our approach to delivering services, this still is not enough, and our budgets simply cannot keep up with that demand.

In the absence of any fundamental change to how central Government funds social care pressures nationally, we continue to seek greater savings ourselves, so we can keep delivering core services (those which we are required to provide by law) to those in Hampshire who need our help the most.  

Therefore, four further savings options are now being proposed and on which we have been encouraging residents to provide their views:

• Planned highway maintenance

• Older Adults Day Services

• Post-16 Transport only  

• Both School Transport and Post-16 Transport:  

Having your say

Views can be provided on some, or all of the four service change proposals presented in the consultation.

There is lots more information about each proposal and details of how to provide feedback on the consultation webpage: www.hants.gov.uk/future-services-consultation