New Milton Advertiser 18th December 2020

8 · Friday 18th December 2020

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Pulling together to help community at Christmas

CARING residents all over the New Forest have come together in the lead-up to Christmas to show community spirit by help- ing those in need. The Lymington-based New Forest Basics Bank has been busy delivering food parcels to families who have been hit hard by the pandemic. Locals have donated all kinds of items so it has been able to give an extra 622 packages this year. Chair Oliver Stanley said: “As we now approach the festive season, NFBB has seen an up- turn in demand greater than ever before. “These parcels will offer some luxury items to helpmakeChrist- mas a little more special than it may otherwise have been.” The NFBB has also helped launch a low-price larder scheme running at Ashley Hub to assist hard-pressed families. Catholic church organisation Saint Vincent de Paul donated Waterstones vouchers to the charity too for parents to buy a present for their children. St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery also gave free passes. BY ANTONELLA LAZZERI Local groups deliver vital parcels to help needy this yuletide

The Rev. Canon Diane Webster is met at Colten Care’s Woodpeckers in Brockenhurst by Jane Bunker

Woodpeckers residents Betty Hampton and Fred Woodford

New Forest Basics Bank team preparing for the larder at Ashley Hub. Inset, donated food

The food bank received fur- ther support from Lymington’s 60-strong Encore Choir which has gone online to perform af- ter all their Christmas concerts were cancelled. Now they are helping to cheer people up by donating 49 shop- ping bags of basic foods and fes- tive goodies to the NFBB along with £100 collected from choir members. There were many other initia- tives to help spread festive cheer in other parts of the New Forest, including the Hythe and Water- side Rotary Club which collect- ed shoeboxes full of gifts to be distributed to disadvantaged children in Albania, Montene- gro, Moldova and Romania. A care home in Brocken- hurst received “gifts of love” for their residents which con- sisted of dozens of knitted squares adorned with crosses and written greetings made by

the Mother’s Union from the village’s parish church. The Rev. Canon Diane Web- ster, who delivered the presents to Woodpeckers Care Home, said: “We know how difficult the

year has been for all your resi- dents and the staff and wanted to show our concern and sup- port for you all.” Iris and Fred Woodford live at Woodpeckers and recently

celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary there. They said they took “great comfort” from the church. Fred added: “We can’t get over the kindness of people who do not know us.” A total of 36 afternoon tea packs and the same amount of small Christmas hampers were delivered to members by Lym- ington’sAll Saints luncheon club which usually offers a Christmas meal to people who are isolated. Due to the pandemic the event could not be held this year, but instead the club re- cruited an army of volunteer bakers to give them a festive treat. Local supermarkets Co-op, Marks and Spencer, Tesco and Waitrose also donated food for the hampers. The club said it was hoping next year it will be able to hold a lunch where peo- ple can actually meet up.

Hythe and Waterside Rotarians Charlie and Jean Adams and Mau- rice Rowles with the shoe boxes

All Saints Luncheon Club volunteers

Year’s work on A35 bridge to start in the summer

WORK to replace a deterio- rating bridge on a major route through the New Forest will be- gin in the summer, Hampshire County Council has confirmed. The authority is currently in the process of selecting a con- tractor for the £5.5m scheme at Holmsley bridge near Burley, which carries the A35 over the C10. A new bridge will be built alongside the existing one, which is no longer fit for pur- pose, before traffic is trans- ferred over to the new route, including the realignment of about 380 metres of the A35. Work is expected to begin in summer 2021 with comple- tion by the end of June 2022. The section has already had the speed limit reduced from 60mph to 40, and disruption is expected during several phases of road closures. The council’s cabinet mem- ber for economy, transport and environment, Cllr Rob Humby, said: “We’ve been monitoring this bridge since it became the county council’s responsi- bility in 2012 to ensure it could continue to be used by all traf- fic. “The bridge, which was built

The £5.5m operation will include closures and diversions

in 1908, has now deteriorated to the point that replacement is the only viable option. “Last summer the speed limit was reduced, we installed tem- porary barriers, and added ad- ditional steel supports under the bridge. “The new single-span inte- gral concrete bridge will mini- mise maintenance costs, while the improvements to the A35 will include enhanced drainage in the area and ensure safer travel on this key route through the New Forest.”

Utility diversions and ecolog- ical clearance work have been taking place throughout the winter and will continue until the end of March next year. Temporary road and lane clo- sures will be required for some operations and signed diversion routes will be in place. The road below the bridge, the C10, will be temporarily closed while new piled foun- dations and other elements of the proposed structure are in- stalled and when the existing structure is demolished.

New plans to safeguard New Forest from rising visitors

A NEW strategy is being drawn up aimed at safeguarding the New Forest in the face of the cli- mate emergency and spiralling visitor numbers. The national park authority is working alongside organisa- tions including New Forest Dis- trict Council, the verderers and Forestry England to put togeth- er a Partnership Plan setting out how the area will be man- aged over the next five years. The overarching aim of the plan, which will be published

next year, is to conserve and en- hance the natural beauty, wild- life and cultural heritage of the national park. Feedback is now being sought from the public by way of a se- ries of “snapshot surveys”, the first of which are available on- line. These will be used to in- form the document. Questionnaires ask for details of “experiences” of the Forest over the last few months and views on what can be done to help the park recover.

An NPA spokesperson said: “People nationwide have been discovering and enjoying out- door spaces, many for the first time, with unprecedented numbers coming to the New Forest. “Our remit is to ensure the area is protected, that people have opportunities to learn about and enjoy it, and that our local communities prosper.” Visit www.newforestnpa.gov. uk/NFsnapshotsurvey by 22nd January to have your say.

Call on 07496 570387 or 01590 615566 Email: admin@timbertradeservices.co.uk www.timbertradeservices.co.uk

Classic car destroyed in garage fire

A CLASSIC car was destroyed in a blaze which ripped through a garage in Christchurch on Monday morning. The alarm was raised around 7.15am as flames engulfed the detached outbuilding in Hynes- bury Road in Friars Cliff.

Two local fire crews battled alongside a team from New Mil- ton to contain the emergency, with the aid of breathing appa- ratus. By the time the fire had been extinguished just over an hour later, both the garage and the

vehicle inside were completely destroyed. A Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service spokes- person said afterwards: “We believe the fire to have started accidentally due to an electrical fault.”