Many Councillors from across South-East Hampshire received a briefing at Fareham Borough Council today about the planned South-East Hampshire Rapid Transit project. This is being led by the highway authorities of Hampshire County Council and Portsmouth City Council

Work is in hand to bid for government Transforming Cities funding to extend the Bus Rapid Transit system known as Eclipse which runs between Fareham and Gosport to link with the Star service that runs between Portsmoth and Waterlooville. Many enhancements are proposed which will involve improvements across Fareham, Gosport, Havant and Portsmouth.

It was interesting to witness up close the laying of the high voltage cables onto the seabed for the IFA2 interconnector at Solent Airport, Daedalus being constructed by National Grid with the ability to supply 1 gigawatt of power to the grid as required.

The Cable Enterprise is laying the last 40 miles of cable from Fareham to France which should complete during November with the switch-on of the system next year.

Thank you IFA2 Project Director David Luetchford for the trip out in to the Solent with Solace boat Green Water providing the security for the project.

Pleased to attend a talk with around 100 people at Fareham Borough Council‘s Innovation Centre at Solent Airport, Daedalus to hear about the successful recovery of a Fairey Barracuda from the Solent by NationalGrid and its use by the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton. Curator Dave Morris gave an excellent presentation.

Incredibly the lead acid battery from the Barracuda which had been submerged for 76 years in the Solent still held a charge.

A touching end was being invited to open the Barracuda Room in the Innovation Centre with David Luetchford , Head of the IFA2 project, which will provide a lasting memorial to the Barracuda project and pay tribute to the Daedalus heritage.