Lengthsman Scheme

The term Lengthsman dates back to the 1800s, when workers were responsible for maintaining a particular “length” of road. West Meon had its own Lengthsman in the 1960s, looking after the A32 as far as the Warnford parish boundary.

Today, Hampshire County Council funds a shared Lengthsman Scheme, allowing parishes to work together and access maintenance support. West Meon receives around 5–6 days of Lengthsman work each year at no cost to the Parish, which would otherwise cost over £1,000 annually.

The Lengthsman can help with local maintenance tasks such as:

• Clearing vegetation and strimming public paths and areas
• Cleaning road signs
• Litter picking or graffiti removal
• Maintaining benches, bus shelters and parish stiles

There are limits to what the Lengthsman can do. They cannot carry out structural repairs, work on live carriageways such as the A32, illuminated signs, or street lighting.

If you have a suggestion for suitable Lengthsman work in the parish, please use the contact form on this website.

Further background on the scheme can be found here:
https://democracy.hants.gov.uk/documents/s11314/Report.pdf