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Headley crowned Hampshire's Village of the Year

Wednesday 19th of August 2009

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Headley has been announced as Hampshire's best village after winning a prestigious competition.

The village has been announced as the winner of the Calor Hampshire Village of the Year.

The competition is a search for the most vibrant, enterprising and sustainable communities.

See Headley's page on easthampshire.org

EHDC councillor Anthony Williams said he was ‘really, really, pleased' at the announcement.

"Village competitions always used to be a best kept village competition but this isn't about that," he said.

"This is about which village is really good at working together and has a sense of community spirit and achievement.

"If a village has problems that doesn't count against it, it is how residents deal with them that counts. It's team work and how the community pulls together that the judges are looking for."

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Normally, the county winner goes on to represent Hampshire in the national Calor Village of the Year for England competition. However, as Headley's population exceeds the maximum allowed (5,000), runner up Vernham Dean is being nominated as Hampshire's national representative instead. 

The award has been given to the entire parish of Headley, which includes Headley Down and Standford. Cllr Williams said the village's size makes an award of this kind more difficult to achieve.

"Because Headley has more than one centre it is not as easy as in a compact village to create an espirit de corps, but the fact that we have achieved this award is very pleasing.

"This is a collective award which reflects the hard work done by the many local groups, individuals and organisations."

Steven Lugg, competition organiser on behalf of the Hampshire ALC, commented: "Our congratulations go to all the villages in this year's competition. We were very impressed by the standard of the villages and the judges had a very tough job selecting the winners. Each village demonstrated something outstanding and we were delighted to be able to recognise these qualities."

Judging took place in July with presentations and discussions between judges and many of the village's most active residents. They heard about the work of the Headley Society, who organised the entry, the parish council, St Francis Church and the visit of MP Iain Duncan Smith to Woodlands Hall in Heatherlands in 2008.

This is the second time Headley has entered the competition. Last year Headley was runner up in Hampshire and chosen as the best village in East Hampshire.