THE pastor of St Mary's Church in Bramshott has strongly refuted reports that the parish boundaries for Blackmoor could be re- drawn.

Rev Simon Weeden has spoken out after an article appeared in the July issue of the Pompey Chimes, a bi - monthly diocesan newspaper, which claimed the Blackmoor, Liss and Liphook "clusters" were considering plans to alter diocesan boundaries.

The article came about after a question about the boundaries was put to representatives of Blackmoor, Liss and Liphook churches at a July meeting of the Kairos group in Portsmouth. The Kairos group works throughout the Portsmouth Diocese, which includes Blackmoor and Whitehill, Liss, Petersfield and surrounding villages.

The group aims to look at the role of the Anglican church within their communities to try and enable churches to have more effective local connections and work more closely with other churches and groups.

Mr Weeden told The Herald: "This report is absolutely wrong and I am furious at the way it has been presented.

"It was a response to a speculative question, which has been taken out of context."

He went on to say: "I would like to clarify that there are no plans to redraw the boundaries - it is simply not true.

"I'm not sure how this misunderstanding took place."

In a letter to the Pompey Chimes responding to the article, Mr Weeden corrects a number of points made in the July article.

He says in the letter: "We were asked whether any consideration had been given to parish reorganisation at Blackmoor and Whitehill or at West Meon and Warnford.

"Our answer was that we had not considered these options but that it might be necessary at some time in the future."

He went on to say: "My concern is that people in the deanery, less familiar with what has been put forward, are being unnecessarily alarmed."

Mr Weeden also said that he could not see any changes to diocesan boundaries taking place in the next 10 years.

Mr Weeden did confirm that there are plans in Liphook and Bramshott to review the baptismal practice to try and enable more families with young children to get involved in church life.

He said: "We want to encourage families to come forward for baptism and then maintain contact."

It is also hoped that construction work to build a new passageway and "quiet room" currently taking place on the Liphook Church Centre, Portsmouth Road, will add to the churches' provisions for youth and children's activities.

He also pointed out that Bordon and Whitehill was in a difficult position between three diocese boundaries which are the Portsmouth diocese in Hampshire, Guildford in Surrey and Chichester in Sussex.

Liphook is in a similar position, with Bordon falling within the Guildford diocese and Whitehill in the Portsmouth diocese.

Mr Weeden said: "It is possible in the future that some parish councils might be asked about changing their current parish boundaries."

The article states that the planned changes would depend on which pieces of Army land were sold in the East Hampshire area. Both Bordon and Liphook have Ministry of Defence land located on their outskirts.

The Longmoor Camp training area and Weavers Down land, just outside Liphook are both owned by the MoD.

Mr Weeden speculated that if the Bordon Army garrison left the area, in theory Bordon and Whitehill could expand.

He pointed out that the Army vacating Bordon and Whitehill could see an increase of around 10 - 15,000 people in the area over the next 15 years.

Under such circumstances, Mr Weeden accepted that changing the parish boundaries to take the changes into consideration might be a possibility

Mr Weeden said: "Each parish will have to look at the best way for the church to proceed in the 21st century."

Kairos, which comes from the Greek means " a time of special opportunity" was often used in the New Testament.

The scheme is being run across the Petersfield deanery to develop better communications between churches, offer a greater level of training and increased resources for lay and ordained people.

Churches in Liss are aiming to have a greater level of engagement with the community by providing greater support for families, a network of "street wardens" and a Christian listening service.