New Milton Advertiser 16th Oct 2020

20 · Friday 16th October 2020

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Letters

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The Grade II building was designed by the same architect who designed St Saviour’s in Brockenhurst, Rhinefield House and an extension to the Tate Gallery – well known in his time, following on the heels of Pugin and the Gothic revival. The planning application to alter the interior of this much loved and admired building did not need to be presented to the NFDC planning committee but was determined under officers’ delegated authority. This surely prevented local participation to raise any ob- jection to the proposed altera- tions to this listed building. Other church buildings in the area have sensibly built toi- let facilities to blend with the building, none in the nave, and after four years of nursery use it is fair to question the need to destroy the interior. With rapid changes taking place around us it surely is our responsibility to protect our heritage as best we can, to use buildings and outside areas with the respect they deserve, not only for our own wellbeing but for that of future genera- tions. Joan Hawkes, Lymington Not the time for a coalition SIR – Your correspondent Barbara Gzoch (Letters, 2nd October) criticises our voting system but doesn’t suggest an alternative. Does she favour proportional representation? If so, how many nations use it effectively? In a coalition the threat of withdrawal of support by a minority can have a dispro- portionate effect, as happened in the last parliament. There are times, such as now, when a government has to be decisive at short notice, like a general in a battle. Unfortunately, at all levels, there are some who will be ob- structive rather than be able to take a clinical view of the need. G. A. Davey, Barton I have met with a number of Christians for whom this cur- rent crisis has thrown up all sorts of very difficult issues, but whose confidence in a God who does care is unwa- vering. The second question is also key and timeless, for it calls for each of us to reach a con- clusion: “Who is this that the wind and waves obey him?” Can we really categorise Je- sus as just a significant, even the most significant, person of history or are we able, with the disciple Thomas, to go further and say: “My Lord and my God.” In so doing we stand on a rock which even the fiercest of torrents cannot dislodge. The Rev. Martin Poole (retired Baptist minister), Lymington Baptist Church member

start to die out and the prey recovers so the predator num- bers increase and the cycle is established. I do not think such a cycle has been reached. This does not apply to the Forest because the number of young produced by small birds is so much greater than that produced by raptors. Julia Gammon (Letters, 9th October), in common with Woolley and Jubb, notes the fall in garden bird numbers which they all put down to predation. I have lived in the Forest for 15 years and in that time the number and variety of birds on my feeders has increased. The predominant species is the goldfinch, having taken over from the greenfinch which suffered a huge decline from finch disease and has yet to recover. This shows what little value there is in single observa- tions and assigning unproven causes to the observations. What should concern your correspondents more is the horrifying fall in the numbers of all garden birds as shown by the annual Great Garden Bird Watch – many by over 70% – for which causes in many are unclear but predation is highly unlikely. Peter Green, Bartley Vandlism of church revamp SIR – It is disappointing to know that the planning ap- plication made to New Forest District Council has been granted for the interior of All Saints Church in Lymington to be refigured to accommodate children’s loos in the nave and a mezzanine floor. The building is Grade II listed and as such should be safe from this vandalism, but apparently not. The nursery occupying the premises for the past four years has been using the church hall and the main body of the church, it would seem, to the satisfaction of par- ents and the bats that fly freely inside and out.

Reader’s photo

How did the NPA agree to this? SIR – I am a long-term resi- dent in the little New Forest village of Sway. Like many residents, we were pleased unsympathetic both in style and purpose.

9th October), the cycle racks outside the Tesco store and further down the street are an inconvenience. I would go further and say they are downright ugly and way outside the necessities of our village. So please, parish council, district council and/or county council, do something about it – like removing them. We do not deserve it nor, as your correspondent says, are those cycle racks inside the Tesco car park used much. Simple solution to parking issue SIR – One would have thought that with Covid-19 amongst us and Brexit looming, these would be the favourite topics for correspondence in this col- umn, but not a bit of it. There seems to be a far more important subject: that of the curse of modern civilisation, the cyclist. The latest whinge from an anonymous (no surprise there) contributor (Letters, 9th October) trashes the efforts of the council to encourage a healthy lifestyle by installing – horror of horror – bike racks in Brockenhurst high street to the detriment of a couple of parking spaces. The only physical disability of the majority of those parking there is an aversion to leaving their vehicles no further from the shops than is absolutely necessary. The solution? Simple, just follow the Highcliffe plan – ban all parking in the high street apart from Blue Badge holders. As a concession, offer free off-road parking for a short interval to help cushion the traumatic shock of having to walk a few extra yards. Chris Moseley, Barton It can in no way be said to benefit or maintain the daily life in this small village. Anne Dew, Sway Alan Powell, Brockenhust I cannot understand how the NPA could agree to this store, with flats above it and more flats and three houses behind it, being permitted for a village that already has two small grocery stores and an award-winning butcher. The development, with too few parking spaces on it, fronts on to the very narrow village high street in an area close to the village school, and the school buses’ collec- tion and drop-off point. There is little parking space now and the village has no public car park. Perhaps someone can ex- plain to me how this can have passed as a suitable devel- opment for this village which had no need for another food store and the traffic problems that it is already causing and which are bound to continue?

No one-way plan for road SIR – Vaggs Lane, on the bor- der of Hordle and Tiptoe, is not going to become a one- way road (see clarification, page 5). There was already a one-way system at the fork at St An- drew’s Church at Tiptoe, but lorries and other vehicles were increasingly ignoring it and meeting other traffic danger- ously head on. So new signage and road stop lines were required to im- prove clarity, and a traffic order raised to formalise the existing one-way system. I can confirm that no other part of Vaggs Lane is becoming one-way! Cllr Fran Carpenter New Milton North, Milford & Hordle Division – Hampshire County Council Change the tip’s ‘rule of one’ SIR – My husband and I took four council garden waste bags to Efford tip where we were told that only one person could get out of the car. I explained that some were too heavy for one person and he reluctantly agreed for us both to take the bags to the skip. I noticed that masks aren’t required there. But I’d suggest making them compulsory to allow two people to dispose of rubbish, which would make it faster and quite possibly open up more slots for people. B. Potts, New Milton Ugly cycle racks spoil our village SIR – Brockenhurst is a pretty New Forest village and, as your correspondent says (Letters, village of less than 4,000 resi- dents. This is the new Co-op store and the flats and houses to be built on a small site in the centre of the village. It is when the New Forest and Sway became part of the national park as we assumed it would protect the beautiful national environment and all the creatures, many protected species, within it. We certainly believed that the ancient way of life of the commoners and their ponies, cattle etc would also benefit. But as we now all know, in many cases this has failed to happen. Another expectation was that there would be strict and sympathetic control of all development within the Forest boundaries. Sadly, this too has failed us. My concern is the astonish- ing commercial development taking place in our small

Sunset over Hatchet Pond captured by Jonny Shingles. Please send your photos to news@adt.press

Gentle and moving tribute SIR – Thank you, Antonella Lazzeri, for your lovely tribute to Big Issue seller Ed Sirani in the 2nd October edition of the A&T. I found it very gentle and moving. Ed himself was a gentle man and I really looked forward to buying the Big Issue from him and having a chat which I did almost every week until the recent hiatus. I cannot believe how upset I feel about his loss. Many of the things he said were very profound and I carry with me memories of his ob- servations to this day. I hope I always will. Thank you also to Joe of the Salvation Army who was such a good friend to Ed and went to see him in Bournemouth. In sadness, but with fond memo- ries. It was a privilege to have known Ed. Christine Battison, New Milton Keep TSB open out of loyalty SIR – With regard to the TSB closure, I emailed our MP, Sir Desmond Swayne, over the weekend and he came back to me by return – impressive. He was surprisingly dismiss- ive about the TSB branch clo- sure, asking why a bank should keep a bank branch open for fewer and fewer customers. My argument is that as TSB is making huge profits again, they should spend a little to keep branches open and show loyalty to their customers. There are huge numbers of people who will still not enter- tain the idea of internet bank- ing, particularly TSB’s, and prefer face-to-face dealings. Incidentally, the recent state- ment in the press from the bank’s CEO, Debbie Crosbie, about “enhancing the custom- er experience” is undiluted PR waffle and confirms that she

criticism so frequently faced by single mothers, whilst single fathers are often viewed as exceptionally selfless. Let’s accept that any parent or carer should be celebrated and supported as they raise the next generation. Hopefully they will be more open minded and kind. Predator-prey cycle of Forest SIR – Pat Woolley (Letters, 18th September) is concerned that raptors are denuding the Forest of other birds. John Jubb (Letters, 2nd October) agrees with her, while Martin Noble (Letters, 2nd Oc- tober) points out the dynamics of an ecosystem. The predator eats the prey until there is little prey left at which point the predators Pia Bramley, Brockenhurst

and her management are out of touch. I feel very sorry for the Lym- ington branch staff, as they are being tossed aside by the blindness of head office. As I pointed out to Sir Desmond, there is an American axiom: service sells. TSB should show an exam- ple to the banking industry and listen. Patrick Ridley-Martin, Everton Outrageous on single mums SIR – I had the unhappy expe- rience of reading G. A. Davey’s letter (Letters, 2nd October) and then having to reread in disbelief. Is the writer truly suggesting that single mothers are re- sponsible for driving away their partners, and guilty of not feel- ing ashamed for raising a child alone? Few would disagree that a child benefits from two caring parents at home, but to put the blame on women for every relationship breakdown is outrageous. Anyone caring for a child should be proud of their achievement. There is much joy in parenthood but any com- mitted parent will understand it’s also incredibly challenging and exhausting, as well as expensive. To tackle these responsi- bilities alone, without the practical benefits of sharing childcare, and financial pres- sures, and in the absence of the emotional support of a partner is doubly difficult. Single mothers should right- ly feel immense pride in their hard work. G. A. Davey thinks you should be ashamed but the rest of the nation celebrates you for showing your children the shape of love and respon- sibility! I’d like to be clear that it’s important to celebrate single parents of either gender, but Davey’s letter sadly reflects the

Christian Comment THE sky had darkened. Thick black clouds scudded across the landscape. Rain fell like stair rods and the blue Sea of Galilee was a distant memory replaced by a surging caldron of huge angry white-flecked waves. Despite the fact that the occupants of the small fishing the midst of a violent storm that had left them at the mer- cy of the surging surf. Of course, the story ends with that amazing moment when Jesus stands up in the keel of the gyrating boat and commands the wind and waves to “be still”, followed immediately by “a great calm”. This is more than a key scene in an “action movie”,

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craft called this sea their home, their normal profes- sional calm had been shred- ded and they feared for their lives – the boat was swamped and the water they were bailing out in no way matched what was coming in. The only passenger on board seemed oblivious to their plight and slept soundly on a cushion in the stern. Such is the backdrop to one of the most famous biblical accounts of Jesus, the dozing passenger, who with his followers found themselves in

for embedded in the narrative are two questions still being asked 2,000 years later. The first is the harrowing scream of the disciples: “Don’t you care if we drown?” At this time of coronavirus, as the death toll worldwide exceeds 1-million lives lost, I wonder if we have ever asked the same question. Is God asleep? For the Christian this inci- dent can be faith-building in declaring that in the midst of leaden skies God does care.

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