A parish poll on the future of Kings Pond in Alton will be held on January 21.

It will feature six questions relating to Alton Town Council’s management of the Kings Pond project.

The poll will be run by East Hampshire District Council and the town council must consider its results, but they will not be binding.

Legislation prevents Alton Town Council expressing a view on the matter - but some councillors have spoken out as individuals in advance of the poll.

Firstly councillors Don Hammond, Barbara Tansey, Nick O’Brien and Jan Treacher published online a statement headed ‘What is behind the parish poll, and why you should vote’.

Barbara Tansey said: “I would like to remind everyone that Alton Town Council is investigating two options.

“One is to dredge the existing pond and make some improvements; the other is to restore the River Wey through the site while retaining a smaller dredged pond.

“There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Alton Town Council does not have a preferred option.

“The project is in Stage One, the preliminary design stage. The design of both options is being developed to sufficient detail to enable costing, for the advantages and disadvantages to be fully assessed and for presentation to residents.

“We want a full public consultation on all that before any decision is made. That consultation is likely to be in June or July this year.”

Nick O’Brien added: “For the past year there has been a sustained campaign by a small group of residents who simply wish to dredge and retain the pond as it is and don't want to consider any other option.

“They don’t want anyone else to consider them either. Their representations at meetings have often been unpleasant in tone to the point of driving other voices and opinions away.

“An extraordinary amount of misinformation is being used to support their position. This small group has been trying to stop the preliminary design stage, and to assert their own preference.”

Speaking about the parish poll, Don Hammond said: “This is another attempt to deny residents full information and a full consultation.

“A very small number of the electors present at a poorly attended meeting used an old piece of legislation to call for this parish poll.

“By the time East Hampshire District Council’s legal fees and the election cost are considered, the cost is likely to be more than £10,000. It will be Alton Town Council paying the bill.”

Jan Treacher commented: “Some will claim that the parish poll is democracy in action. It's a strange sort of democracy that tries to use this inadequate process to deny others a real choice.

“Democracy will only be served if a decision is taken following full public consultation on both options in around six months’ time.”

On the validity of the poll, Don Hammond said: ”There is a lack of public awareness; misinformation is being used in campaigning; there is the evident bias in some of the questions.”

The four councillors said they wanted all residents to answer all six questions on the ballot.

Don Hammond concluded: “Please vote for continuing the Stage One design of the project to a full consultation on both options for the pond. That will enable all Altonians to make a fully informed choice and it will be truly democratic.”

A fifth town councillor, Matthew Kellermann, said in response: "As a parish poll is a form of referendum, I feel it would be both improper and imprudent to comment on the content of the four Labour councillors' communication.

“Personally, I chose to follow guidance - and legal advice - to avoid any accusation of attempting to use elected office as a means of ‘seeking to influence’ the residents' decision at the poll.

“I take potential electoral interference and the possible criminal ramifications very seriously. It is disappointing that some councillors do not appear to share my caution."

Resident Anthony Furnival added: “Far from acting as individuals, these four councillors continue to push an ideology they have collectively voted to pursue at full council.

“I personally find it sad that in desperation they have resorted to defaming the public, spreading falsehoods and engaging in voter interference to keep their desired proposal alive.

“Given their persistent failure to represent the voices of residents in accordance with expectations in the councillor code of conduct, the hypocrisy of calling into question the democratic virtues of a parish poll when these same councillors have sought to preside over Alton as a quasi-dictatorship beggars belief.

“The pond will divide opinions, but many people like what we have now and fear that wildlife might be lost or that the river will dry up as it did in the neighbouring CALA site, leaving nothing but a muddy ditch. They don’t want to lose a space they love and no amount of surveys or further research will change that.

“To spend tens of thousands of pounds more when the council have no meaningful metric to gauge what the people want is fiscally irresponsible.

“Yet these four councillors, driven by a sense of self-importance, believe their four voices - one of whom isn’t even an Alton resident - should be greater than those of the 20,000 this council are elected to represent.

“People of Alton have been disenfranchised by successive councils failing to provide them with a voice. We are not in this position because residents are unreasonable. We are here because they have been failed.”

The Kings Pond Preservation Society said: “The Kings Pond Preservation Society are disappointed to read unsubstantiated claims from four local councillors accusing pro-pond sources of misinformation.

“Our position, as it always has been, is based on expert advice. Among others, to date we have engaged with dredging companies, wildlife specialists, hydrologists and horticulturalists.

“Sadly, in persistently dismissing findings so readily, these councillors have deprived townsfolk the opportunity to engage with meaningful information on a space many hold dearly.

“Far from being a ‘small group’, as per the claims of Nick O’Brien, the retention of the pond has been championed by nearly 2,500 mostly local signatories through an online petition, 340 in another and supported either verbally or through a vote by six of 13 councillors at December’s council meeting.

“Misrepresenting the support residents and their colleagues have shown the pond demonstrates how certain councillors persistently seek to undermine our local democracy in pursuit of their predetermined ideologies.

“While Mr Hammond makes much of the alleged £10,000 cost of the poll, he fails to share that recommencing Stage One will cost the taxpayer tens of thousands of pounds.

“Additionally, the proposed appointment of a permanent project manager will cost upwards of £70,000 per annum after employer contributions.

“Disastrous mismanagement of matters to date mean expensive surveys will need repeating owing to findings being valid for a limited period only.

“Further, an indicative price provided to the Kings Pond Preservation Society for dredging was just £320,000, compared to an estimated cost of up to £4.5 million for the pond and river option.

“This is before considering the cost of necessary drainage work required to facilitate the water quality associated with chalk streams - this could also reach into the millions.

“The £10,000 for this poll is a drop in the ocean compared to what has been wasted so far and it offers a chance to stop further money being wasted.

“While the parish poll was not called by the Kings Pond Preservation Society, we fully support the right of local people to have a democratic voice.

“The poll is independently administered by East Hampshire District Council in accordance with rules similar to elections and is therefore the most impartial and democratic way for residents to be heard.

“It should be noted that this council has never resolved to give residents a final say on the future of Kings Pond.

“A consultation which is written and administered by the town council is all that has ever been on offer. This is a non-binding series of questions, none of which have to offer a choice on retaining Kings Pond. This can and possibly will be subject to the same biases exhibited by certain councillors to date.

“A parish poll is democratic, it is independent and it provides a chance for every elector to have a say.

“Ecology has overwhelmingly shown us that separating the pond from the river will fail. If you want to save Kings Pond, protect its wildlife and preserve part of Alton’s history, you can by voting to reject the recommencing of Stage One, call for a change in project leadership and vote yes to dredging the pond in order to ensure that it remains at the heart of this town for many years to come.”

Resident Ash Dolan-Shakeri said: “The statement from Alton’s four Labour councillors is simply the latest salvo in their efforts to politicise what ought to be an apolitical process.

“Although Alton Town Council removed party politics from its processes in 2023, as we can see from this statement by the Labour bloc they have not understood nor embraced the spirit of this.

“There have been numerous posts online from Barbara Tansey claiming that this parish poll has been orchestrated by Reform, which is categorically untrue.

“I hope the town can move on from this petty attempt at political point scoring to decide the matter of Kings Pond once and for all in the parish poll, saving the pond for future generations of Alton residents and saving us all the many tens of thousands of pounds that are budgeted to be spent researching an option I believe the majority of the town do not support.”

And resident Melba Kellermann added: "In February 2023 Alton Town Council resolved to explore two options, online and offline.

“Their preferred option of a ‘meandering stream’ died in late 2025 when they found out that they don't own the chamber beyond the Kings Pond weir. That left online, dredge and improve as the only option standing.

“Instead councillors Hammond, Tansey, O’Brien, Treacher, Boyce-Churn, Lamb and Botten voted on December 10 to recommence Stage One after adding a new river option which was previously rejected by Alton Town Council as offering few of the supposed advantages of a meandering stream.

“Cllr Hammond urges the public to vote yes to Graham Parkin’s question 5. This would give public approval for Alton Town Council to spend more public money on an unworkable, undesirable and unwanted option.

“We need to abandon this endless research and move forward, dredging and improving Kings Pond."

Resident Phil Smith gave his views by responding directly to certain quotes from the four councillors’ statement.

On "Alton Town Council is investigating two options", Mr Smith said: “Yes, but for some reason - rumours persist - heavily skewed towards 'restoring' the River Wey.”

And about "The design of both options is being developed", he replied: “Little effort is being put into designing the pond as it stands. Proposals have been given to Alton Town Council for efficient dredging, biodiversity enhancements, silt reduction etcetera. All have been ignored.”

Answering criticism that “a small group of residents” were not considering any other option than dredging, Mr Smith said: “The group has considered other options and there is currently sufficient evidence, rejected by Alton Town Council, that a functional chalk stream is not possible and not wanted by residents.”

On the suggestion that the group often spread “misinformation delivered in a confrontational tone", he added: “This gets repeated without ever saying or debating the supposed misinformation.

“People are passionate about the pond. It's a bit feeble to suggest that the reason few people speak up in favour of investigating a chalk stream is because there are so many voices against it and a few get overheated.”

And on the “questionable” validity of the non-binding poll, Mr Smith conceded: “The council is likely to ignore it.

“The public are probably well aware that they like the pond as it is, with the wildlife it supports, and are not interested in 400 insignificant yards of chalk stream - real chalk streams are rivers like the Itchen and Test - even if it was viable, and there is already plenty of evidence to say it is not.

“If the council don't like the bias of the questions they could have held a poll with wording of their choosing - such as "Do you want Alton Town Council to improve the pond as it stands or spend £50,000 investigating the viability of reinstating a chalk stream?".”