New Milton Advertiser 18th December 2020

20 · Friday 18th December 2020

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Letters

raising a deposit is pretty well out of the question, even if the Write to news@adt.press with your phone number and full address, which can be withheld from publication on request. Letters may be edited. Reader’s photo mortgage is affordable. This situation will be

sources, not the least of which are motor vehicles, it would be incongruous to then addition- ally agree to the destruction of a large amount of trees in close proximity. We are told that we must understand and accept the urgent need to halt global warming now, and the next 10 years are critical. There is a commitment by our govern- ment, in cooperation with most other countries, to do this and local authorities must also work to this end. We clearly need to change our attitude on a lot of factors and it’s good to see so many, tree planting projects in pro- gress. That’s great – the cavalry is coming, but the mature trees in question and all those others in our wonderful Forest area are in the front line now and will be playing their part in the next 10 years. They need our care and pro- tection and we need to see our local authorities’ commitment to ending global warning. Mike Browning, Lymington Donate heating allowances SIR – Because of Covid-19, we are all living through such hard times – and some more than others. There are some families, the elderly and the vulnerable that are really struggling with finance because of loss of jobs etc and there are others, like ourselves as pensioners, who are fortunate enough not to have this worry. So when the government hands out the £100 heating allowance to all of us who were born before 5th October 1954, it would be a nice gesture if we would donate part or all of it to one of the many charities that have suffered from loss of income – and the charity for us is the Basics Bank. We would normally on our weekly shop leave something in the collection trolley but because our shopping has all been done online this has not happened, which we are sure many of you are the same. It is at this time of year that the need is greater with Christ- mas upon us. So come on all you “oldies” out there, let us help our local community and I am sure doing so will make you feel good. John and Margaret Willson, Sway The shortest day is 21st December and by Christmas the day is one minute longer. The light is on its way. There’s a vaccine. The light is on its way. A visionary lady called Julian once told us what God means: “All shall be Well, All shall be Well, and all manner of thing shall be Well.” Nothing that’s ultimately important is different. Jesus, the light, is coming. Happy Christmas! Peter Salisbury, Vicar of Lymington

Generosity in these testing times SIR – Recently there has been a lot of commentary in the national media with regards to businesses that have benefited as a con- sequence of the Covid-19 pandemic. In many instanc- es, the morality is highly questionable at a time when the country faced one its darkest hours. But standing in stark donated by our local Wait- rose (Letters, 24th April). Sanders Sails also went to incredible lengths to provide PPE and it was heartening to see their efforts given due recognition at the British Yachting awards last week, with their Outstanding Achievement of the Year award (A&T, 11th Novem- ber).

compounded as more flexible working arrangements and a desire for country living drives urban-to-rural migration. The increased demand will increase house prices thus rendering practically all the properties coming to the mar- ket unaffordable to low-income local households and essential workers who may be forced away from their home com- munities to find somewhere to live. As a society we must accept that we cannot function with- out essential workers and this area will be particularly vulner- able if we cannot find homes for them at an affordable rent. Our population is ageing with a higher proportion of retirees than in urban areas so there is the demand for servic- es: just nowhere for those who provide those services to live. If all the younger people mi- grate to cities to find a home, inevitably local amenities will suffer. Shops may close due to lack of year-round trade, village pubs and schools will fail, and public transport will be reduced further. Local housing associations would like to build but are held back by lack of land and very often planning permission is not granted due to local objec- tions. What is the solution? Pam Reynolds, Board member, New Forest Villages Housing Association, Everton Take care of our existing trees SIR – We agree with Fran Cossey’s clearly defined points (Letters, 4th December) in respect of the 17 threatened trees in Lower Pennington Lane. The developers would have been aware of the council’s wish and the law’s requirement to conserve these trees and the environment when they decided to tender for the devel- opment. It is acknowledged that trees play an important role in the need to reduce the effects of carbon emissions. Therefore if allowing the construction of some 100 houses and accept- ing the inevitable increase in carbon emissions from diverse

Lord has enough land to share SIR – I read your report that Natural England had recent- ly written to Lord Montagu. They have asked for evidence of the environmental carnage he claims the public would inflict on his estate if they were allowed access to a proposed thin strip of coastal walkway (A&T, 4th December). We shall have to wait and see if any credible evidence is forthcoming. Interestingly, he seems to not mind at all the hordes of public visitors to the Beaulieu estate if they are paying at the turn- stiles of his motor museum. While there is a common imperative to behave respon- sibly in conservation areas and in the natural world in general, I cannot believe there is any moral grounds for one man with 8,000 acres at his disposal to attempt to block access to a tiny part of it for the rest of us. Walkers of the South West Coast Path will know that one can walk from Minehead on the Bristol Channel almost 700 miles around the coastline of southern England, pretty much without interruption until one gets past Lymington and hits the estates of a couple of big landowners. Writ large on the Beaul- ieu estate’s own website is a quote from the late Edward, Lord Montagu: “I have always believed that Britain’s great houses and gardens, originally created for the pleasure of a few, should now be enjoyed by the many.” Now would be the time to put those words into actions. Jon Bray, Lymington kindness that stood out for me were that of Red Her- ring catering, who provided meals to hospital staff for months on end using food contrast to these unpleasant examples are the incredible acts of generosity and kind- ness that many others have shown, none more so than the local businesses in our own community. As a physiotherapist at Lymington hospital, I worked on the Covid wards throughout the height of the pandemic. Perhaps understandably, this was an anxious time for me, my family and my colleagues but the challenge was made that much more manageable with the support from the local community. Among the many acts of

Poor highways plan for lane SIR – I joined the webinar on 10th December regarding the Brockhills Lane development (A&T, 4th December). It in no way provided the necessary public consultation required for the proposed housing, but was rather a 30-minute sales pitch followed by the developers selecting the questions they wished to address and then providing responses without recourse. I do not object to the devel- opment but the patent dis- regard for a safe and sensible solution to the wholly inade- quate highway situation servicing the project is alarm- ing. We live on Sway Road and at peak times it can take up to 10 minutes to safely exit our property and join the carriage- way. Forty-mile-an-hour lorries and a large volume of cars, heading to the pinch point near Danestream farm shop where the road is littered with broken wing mirrors, make this road currently, in rush hour particularly, not only extremely busy but positively dangerous. The development wishes to encourage its residents to use the northern access onto Sway Road for pedestrians and cyclists. May I suggest that the trans- port consultant employed by the developers that we heard from at the webinar has a walk with his family in a southerly direction along the Sway Road at rush hour to experience what he is advocating for the rest of us. Tim and Carol Mason, Ashley generosity from within our community are certainly not among those and we should remember these long after the pandemic has passed. Alaine Brooks, Sway New Forest Sewing for the NHS and the local commu- nity who devoted hundreds of hours of time to making scrubs (A&T, 17th April). And finally, Will Stone Plumbing who showed their appreciation of the NHS ef- forts by gifting and installing a new boiler for me (A&T, 24th July) – a humbling act of generosity. Like most people, I won’t have many fond memories of 2020 and there are a lot things that I would prefer to forget. But the many acts of

Peter Padfield captured these ponies on a frosty morning. Please send your photos to ne ws@adt.press

Faith in human nature restored SIR – I am writing this letter to restore everyone’s faith in human nature! I am 81 and my friend Roger is 82. We took Roger’s dog Har- ry for a walk at Long Meadow, Barton, and unfortunately Roger lost his mobile phone and wallet. Later I received a phone call from Roger’s mobile phone as I was on Roger’s contact list. “Mark” had found it in the middle of the road near Long Meadow. I thanked him profusely and mentioned the missing wallet. Mark went back to where he had found the phone and found the wallet in the middle of the road. What a lovely man. The irony is that Roger has spent his life in men’s clothing retail and Mark has had his own clothing company for 31 years – Edwards, 5 High Street, Lymington. “A Few Good Men” – and Mark is certainly one of them! Sheila Purkiss, New Milton Wheelie bins the only option SIR – I was interested to read the article and the remarks from Cllr Alison Hoare regard- ing wheelie bins (A&T, 11th December). She states that it is “not a done deal” to bring wheelie bins into the New Forest. We have also heard this from others. Well, if it is not a done deal, what are the other deals on offer? There are no other options on the table, only the introduction of wheelie bins. What other options are being considered? Cllr Hoare goes on to say the consultation was to gauge opin- ion. If that was really the case

We must look at rural housing SIR – May I ask your readers to consider the long-term im- pact of the pandemic on rural households? Even before Cov- id-19 New Forest families faced some of the least affordable homes outside London. Rural keyworkers represent one-third of the employed population, and have we not all relied upon them since last March? Carers, postmen, supermar- ket workers and refuse collec- tors helped us all by keeping essential services going during lockdown. Yet as we clapped for them outside our homes, did we con- sider where they live? It is a fact that rural workers spend a greater proportion of their income on housing – if they can find any accom- modation at all. Too many households, particularly young families in this area, are in ex- pensive private-rented accom- modation with no prospect of being able to move to a larger home when babies arrive. And as for buying some- where, without family help

why, through the wording of the consultation, does it seem all roads lead to wheelie bins? Cllr Hoare also blames the government for introducing new policies which local au- thorities must follow. I suspect it is New Forest District Coun- cil’s interpretation of this pol- icy and the belief that wheelie bins are the only answer that is at fault. Cllr Hoare says the members who were critical of the consul- tation had not been helpful and suggested they played a part in the low 3% response rate. Could those same members be more in tune with views of residents more than the supporters of this proposal? The low response could also be down to the fact most people think this is a done deal and weren’t able to express their sentiments in the consultation survey because of the wording. There are other NFDC councillors and parish councils who are not in favour of this proposal. It is inconceivable that NFDC, before embarking on this project, did not have some idea of the financial costs of the new scheme compared to the existing one. Come on, Cllr Hoare – where are the figures? You can tell us, it is our money after all. Steve Herra, Winsor No logic in flytip whinge SIR – I would like to know why the council persists in com- plaining about how much it costs to remove flytipped rub- bish when it costs very much more to remove rubbish than it does to allow people to take it to the tip. What is the logic in this attitude?

Christian Comment ONE week till Christmas! It’s the same every year but so much is different this time round. The same reading at the one in, more free tickets, more masks, more distancing. Imagine someone holding a candle in the middle of a field on a dark night. You’d see

Internal Position 200H x 343W (7 columns)

Midnight Mass: “Jesus is the light that darkness cannot overcome, full of grace and truth” – different setting: free tickets required to attend, masks must be worn, seats are far apart. The same carols: “Unto us a boy is born, King of all crea- tion, let the organ thunder” – but two sittings to fit every-

that candle from miles away. Darkness has no power over light. You can play with the Christmas lights on our clock tower at St Thomas from your smartphone. Try it from the sea wall at night and you can see the light shining through the darkness.

George Page, Brockenhurst

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