New Milton Advertiser 15th Jan 2021

Friday 15th January 2021

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N ew m ilton a dvertiser | advertiserandtimes.co.uk

Good Dog Turning your pet into a perfect pupil Page 21

Food&Drink Bakery rises in lockdown from villager’s hobby Page 19

Sport Bransgore’s ex-darts world champ speaks out over BDO collapse Page 17

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Green light for newAldi supermarket

School pleads for laptops

INSIDE

Index Planning Business 15 Christian Comment 16 Letters 16 From Our Files 18 Puzzle Corner 18 Food & Drink 19 Readers’ Photos 20 Good Dog 21 Help Yourself 21 Classifieds 25-27 Motoring 28 Family Announcements back page LT Price Rise 03 9 771353 223033 01 ‘Do you know people think you’re dead?’ – Ron’s obituary shock Page 3 Lymington hospital to open another Covid ward as infections rise Page 4 Man jailed for 18 years over gun-threat rape during massage Page 11 Dog put down after suspected case of Alabama rot in Forest Page 13 14

Continued on page 2 A NEW Forest GP has attacked Sir Desmond Swayne MP for his criticism of the lockdown policy, calling his comments “demoral- ising” for NHS staff. Dr Sally Johnston said she was “very sorry” to hear Sir Desmond call the restriction “malicious” in the House of Commons last week. “We do not want our local health care services and hos- pitals to be overwhelmed with Covid patients and the inevita- ble knock-on effects, not least all the distress and trauma this would cause, both to the pop- mer Co-op store and neigh- bouring HSBC outlet. However, the number of parking spaces to the rear was too few to sus- tain its business model. The second was building on the car park itself. However, Aldi said that would be “un- safe” as some customers would be forced to drive through a ser- vice bay to access some of the spaces on either side. Mr Templeton insisted the store at Caird Avenue could help deliver “significant eco - nomic benefits” to New Milton, adding: “Put simply the Co-op site is not suitable for an Aldi food store.” There was disagreement from Greg Davies, the director of Bradbeers which owns the ex-Co-op site, the car park to its rear and 12 nearby Station Road units. He claimed Aldi failed the sequential test because it had “rigidly stuck to its business model”, and he pointed to other Aldi town centre stores, such as in Bournemouth. The planning committee not- ed a report had assessed the

“It seems to me New Milton want this in their town and I think it would be a shame to refuse,” Cllr Arthur Davies said. Cllr Barry Dunning – who successfully proposed back- ing Aldi’s scheme – questioned whether Aldi would “walk away” from the town if the plan was turned down. It was ap- proved by 14 votes to zero. The potential obstacle for Aldi was that the Caird Avenue site was allocated for employ- ment use and not retail in NF- DC’s Local Plan – the keystone document for development in the district up to 2036. It meant the application had to satisfy a “sequential test” to show Caird Avenue was the most suitable spot for the area’s needs. NFDC’s planning committee had refused a similar plan by Aldi in May last year because of insufficient screening and argu - ments that an alternative site in the centre of New Milton – the former Co-op store – was pref- erable. The latest plan met with the approval of NFDC’s officers in terms of screening, but they still preferred Aldi to relocate to the town centre site. At the meeting Aldi’s plan- ning agent, Dan Templeton, said the discount German store had considered two options in the town centre but they re- mained unsuitable. One was at the existing for-

Councillors reject officers’ advice to refuse second effort

By Jon waller

Bid to axe town bridge link Pennington Junior School pupil George Wake accepts equipment serviced by Nigel Woodland, of Lymington Computer Repairs - full story, page 6

DISCOUNT retailer Aldi se- cured the go-ahead for a new store in New Milton amid “over- whelming support” after dis- trict councillors unanimously rejected advice from planning officers to refuse it for a second time. Members of New Forest Dis- trict Council’s planning com- mittee approved the plan for an outlet on Solent Industri- al Estate in Caird Avenue on Wednesday – despite a report from officers saying a town cen - tre location would be better suited. A trio of New Milton town councillors – mayor Alvin Reid, Steve Davies and Geoff Blun- den – urged permission. They pointed out the 3,000-member New Milton Residents’ Associa- tion was supportive and 51 let- ters from locals had advocated in favour. Cllr Davies stressed there was “overwhelming support” among New Milton residents, and there were claims the new store would create up to 40 lo- cal jobs and bring in £500,000 per year to the local economy.

The crossing was agreed as a condition of gaining permission for the major development in 2012. Plans for it have been ap- proved by NFDC but there has been no progress. Lymington mayor Cllr Anne Corbridge said the town coun- cil had been “continually dis- appointed” with Redrow’s con- duct. She added: “We would very much want to see any varia- tion in the planning application that allows the condition to be dropped refused by NFDC, and would like to see Redrow hon- ouring their commitment.” Echoing their criticism, Cllr Jacqui England said the bridge was of “paramount” impor- tance. Ian Sneddon, Redrow South- ern Counties managing director,

tion as a responsible developer will be tarnished. “I am sure our local planning committees will take this into consideration should any oth- er projects be proposed by this company. “By not building the bridge they are appearing to be not fulfilling their obligations to Lymington. The residents of Lymington Shores deserve to be treated in a fair manner and part of Redrow’s selling pack- age was the promise of a bridge to the town being built in a timely manner.” our patients as swiftly as possi- ble, in the hope of avoiding local health care meltdown.” Dr Johnston is clinical direc- tor of the New Forest Primary Care Network – a collaborative group of four local GP practic- es. As reported in the A&T, Sir Desmond was one of a small band of MPs who voted against the latest lockdown becoming law, and confronted the Prime Minister in parliament, brand- ing the regulations as “pervad- ed by pettifogging malice”. Continued on page 2

LYMINGTON councillors have warned developer Redrow Homes its reputation will be damaged if it ploughs ahead with a bid to break a promise to build a £1m railway footbridge. The housebuilder has ap- plied to New Forest District Council to remove a condition to construct a pedestrian link between its 168-home devel- opment on the former Webb’s chicken factory site and the train station car park. Lymington councillor Barry Dunning said: “If the bridge is not built then Redrow’s reputa- ulation and to hard-working staff,” she added. “He may wish to consider that one of the reasons we are not imminently in crisis locally is, at least in part, due to excep- tionally hard work by our NHS Health and Care professionals, some of whom have lost their lives to the Covid 19 Pandemic. “He should also consider quite how demoralising this sort of statement coming from our elected representative is, and the impact this could have on us keeping going through this unprecedented crisis, not least in continuing to vaccinate

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GP slams anti-lockdown MP

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