New Milton Advertiser 11th Dec 2020

Friday 11th December 2020 · 9 News

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Over 40mattresses dumped in Forest

Housebuilder in £647m sale

Man fined over baseball bat A MAN convicted of hav- ing an offensive weapon in public was given a 20-week prison term suspended for 12 months. John Birmingham (37), of Brook Corner in Bram- shaw, was found by police in possession of a baseball bat while in Leicester in June. Sentenced at Southamp- ton Magistrate’s Court, Bir- mingham was also ordered to pay costs of £213. built its first development in New Milton in 1977. Mr McCarthy turned it into a multi-million-pound busi- ness before selling up. It is currently based in Bour- nemouth. A £10,000 cash boost will be awarded to Lymington Com- munity Centre for improve- ments to its facilities. The grant from Lyming- ton and Pennington Town Council was agreed at the authority’s latest meeting. Members agreed to hand over £5,000 this financial year, and an equal amount in 2021/22. A DEAL has been secured to sell a major retirement housebuilder founded in New Milton to a private equity firm for £647m. McCarthy & Stone is set to be taken over by US-based Lone Star after sharehold- ers for both organisations backed the move. Launched by carpenter John McCarthy and business partner Bill Stone, the firm Community centre boost

Hunt for flytipper who left waste across three beauty spots

It’s all relative as new waiting room unveiled From left, SWR platform supervisor Ewan Smith-Wainwright, Monica Fulford and John Wingham, secretary of the Friends of Brocken- hurst Station

BY CAROLYN GRIFFITH

THE dumping of more than 40 mattresses at three New Forest beauty spots has sparked a wit- ness appeal to track down the culprits. Over the weekend mattress- es were dumped in car parks at Matley Wood near Lyndhurst, Wootton Bridge in Brocken- hurst, and Burbush near Burley. A Forestry England spokes- person told the A&T: “Dump- ing waste in this way sadly re- flects the lack of respect some have for this special landscape. “It endangers others but can be extremely hazardous to wildlife. “We urge all householders and businesses to be aware of their own responsibilities for making sure their waste is disposed of properly and to ensure they check the person they are using is licensed to do so by using the Environment Agency website.” The spokesperson added: “We have arranged for them to be removed, a costly exercise given the scale of the flytip and diverting precious resources away from looking after the Forest.” As reported in the A&T, re- cent figures from New For- est District Council showed that from January to Septem-

A MAJOR renovation of a wait- ing room at Brockenhurst rail- way station has been unveiled by a descendent of the line’s founder. Monica Fulford cut the ribbon on Platform 3’s waiting room which has been re-plastered and decorated, given a new heater and information board, and features an exhibition tell- ing the history of the station. Her great-great-granduncle was Charles Castleman, a Wim- borne solicitor who created the railway through Brockenhurst in 1847. Mr Castleman put together the company which extended the so-called “corkscrew” line west from Southampton to Dorchester, when it also went via Ringwood and Wimborne as Bournemouth was then only a small village. Monica said: “The Dorches- ter line through Brockenhurst opened new possibilities, which we don’t always appreciate these days, of visiting relatives, going on holiday or just working away from home, thus widening everyone’s physical and mental horizons.

“It was nicknamed after both Charles Castleman and the fact that on a map travelling north and south it looked like a cork- screw! “It enabled people to travel at a speed that horse-drawn transport could not match, and the fact that Charles Castleman is my ancestor makes me proud of his foresight and achieve- ment.” David Bennett, chair of the Friends of Brockenhurst Sta- tion, said: “South Western Rail- way have put a lot of effort into the new room which had peel- ing paint and bits of the ceiling were falling down. “As well as looking smarter and having a live information board, we were also encouraged to put together the small histo- ry exhibition which is now on the walls of the room. “We hope passengers enjoy some of the fascinating tales we’ve uncovered and the his- tory which took place around them.” He added: “We were delight- ed Monica agreed to open the room, linking more than 170 years of history together.”

Mattresses left at Matley Wood car park near Lyndhurst. Inset, Cllr David Harrison

He added: “If you have a good idea where these mattresses be- long, I would love to see these returned to the owner and the offender prosecuted for flytip- ping in our national park.” The incident, which was post- ed on Cllr Harrison’s Facebook page, drew shock from mem- bers of the public, with one sug- gesting trail cameras would be a good way to catch fly-tippers in the act. Another wrote: “Hate to say it but this is what happens when tips start charging for rubbish

and people cannot be bothered to try and book a slot.” Flytipping is a criminal of- fence and offenders can be pros- ecuted. The courts have various powers available to those found guilty including imprisonment, unlimited fines and an order to deprive rights to a vehicle used to commit the offence. Anyone with information about the mattresses being fly- tipped should contact Forestry England on 0300 067 4601 or via email southern.enquiries@for estryengland.uk

ber this year there were 1,043 flytipping incidents – com- pared to 776 for the whole of 2019. Cllr David Harrison, a town, district and county councillor who is also a member of the national park authority, spoke of his shock at the scale of the flytip. He said: “I find it hard to be- lieve that anybody can dump mattresses and get away with it. Where have they come from? Not the sort of thing that one finds in your average house.”

County disabilities programme changes

CHANGES will be made to a Hampshire County Council programme which supports parents and carers of young- sters with disabilities. From April next year the programme will comprise an overall grant fund of £539,500 to match demand.

HCC will also accept funding applications that meet the core Short Break Activity priorities, co-produced with parents and carers, and retain an “excep- tions” fund of £20,000 to enable ad-hoc grant applications. There will be an annual £17,500 for the Hampshire Par-

ent Carer Network, a rede- sign of the Community Buddy Scheme and a new service com- missioned that will no longer give access to non-HCC area residents, or young people aged 18 or over. Parental hourly contribu- tions will increase from £5 to

£6.50, and mileage from 25p to 30p, within the scheme. They were agreed by HCC’s cabinet member of children’s services, Cllr Patricia Stallard. She believed the changes would “not have an undue negative impact on the families who ben- efit”.

Read by 38,484* Local People

*JICREG: June 2019

7 Homes Rated Outstanding *

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Reassuring Havens!

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Delicious Homemade Food

Excellent Nurse Led Care

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Safe Family Visits

We wanted to say a huge thank you for

loving our loved ones. We have always been confident of your loving care for dad and his fellow residents. Your love is making a terrible situation bearable for us.

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We are a Family

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Lovely Gardens!

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Tea & Togetherness!

A note to say a heartfelt thank you for looking after my mum so well in such troubled times. Your selfless devotion is so wonderful.

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Companionship When you Want it

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* UK’s highest rated ‘Large Care Home Group’ on public review site Carehome.co.uk. Awarded March 2020. Correct at time of print. ‘Tis the Season to Care Call 01425 482464 | ColtenCare .co.uk