New Milton Advertiser 18th December 2020

Friday 18th December 2020 · 9

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News

‘Save Jesmondwood’ campaign launches

Suspended jail term over attack ATTACKING a woman land- ed a Pennington man with a suspended 18-week jail term. Zak Mapes (21), of Howards Mead, had denied assaulting the victim by beating but reversed his plea on the day of the trial at Southampton Magistrates’ Court. The Bench said the incident had involved an unspecified weapon, and opted to suspend the prison sentence for 18 months. Mapes was given a super- vision order over the same period and told to do 60 hours of unpaid work and pay £742 court costs. Flights resume at town airport MORE commercial flights have taken back to the skies at Bournemouth Airport. Tui’s service to Tenerife restarted last Friday and easyjet’s to Geneva a day lat- er, with more set to go again this week. They include Tui’s Lan- zarote service and Ryanair’s Krakow, Tenerife, Alicante, Faro and Malaga routes. The next reinstated flights, beginning in mid-February, are Tui’s service to Gran Canaria, with the company opening further destinations in March and May. Ryanair will resume flights to areas from the airport in March 2021. £10,000 grant to help roof repairs A FUNDRAISING effort by Avonway community centre to carry out urgent repairs to its roof has been given a boost with a £10,000 grant from Fordingbridge Town Council. The Raise the Roof appeal was launched in September 2019 with the aim of raising £70,000 for a replacement. A donation of £290 gath- ered from friends of the late George Morris, who used to attend clubs at the centre, also went to the appeal.

Developer claims trees in poor condition and pledges to plant 100

Students hold contest for food bank donations Students at the weigh-in (from left) Sam Fulton, Hannah Gorry, Noah Kinyanjui, Ruby Watts and Briony Dunn-Mussert

BY ANTONELLA LAZZERI

A “SAVE Jesmond wood” cam- paign has been launched by Highcliffe residents angry at a developer’s plans to chop down more than half the trees on a green site to make way for homes. Christopher Bulstrode has submitted a new proposal for 23 houses on land south of Jes- mond Avenue having previous- ly withdrawn a scheme for 54 dwellings, comprising 18 houses and 36 apartments. The outline application lodged with BCP Council, in the name of Brentland Ltd, is for a site which is currently covered by trees and plants. Mr Bulstrode claims many of the trees are in poor condi- tion but neighbours and parish councillors have said axing so many would be “unacceptable”. Now residents living near the site have launched a campaign calling on the council to refuse the application. They say 80% of woodland would be felled, which would destroy wildlife habitats and be in breach of planning policy. But Mr Bulstrode says that out of 500 trees on the site, 45%

MORE than 200kg of food do- nated by New Milton sixth formers will go to struggling families this Christmas. Students at The Arnewood School held a Big Weigh-In competition to see which tutor group could accumulate the most food, altogether collecting nearly 500 items. Triumphant was Vikki Sedg- ley and Fiona Wood’s group, and the items will be gratefully re- ceived by the New Forest Food Bank, based in Lymington. Head teacher Nigel Pressnell said: “The Big Weigh In was a great idea to do some good for our community. “Our sixth formers really got stuck in and together managed to donate a huge amount of food. “They were very much aware that some families will be strug- gling this year and really wanted to help.” CASH safes were stolen when raiders smashed their way into a New Forest convenience store in the early hours of the morning. The alarm was raised around 4.45am on Monday at the Tes- co Express in Brookley Road, Brockenhurst. Having broken the glass en- trance door, five offenders took several safes containing an un- disclosed amount of money from behind the tills. They then drove off in a red Mercedes. Police are urging people to come forward if they saw any suspicious activity, with officers keen for dashcam footage cap- tured at the time by motorists.

He added: “It has been a very difficult term for all of us but ev - eryone has pulled together and this effort shows what great stu- dents we have. “To add a competitive ele- ment really made the weigh-in exciting when we viewed it on the live stream. “We were also indebted to Danestream Farm Shop in New Milton who loaned us the scales.” Hazel Wood Infant School, in west Totton, took up a similar scheme by asking families to support the Youth and Families Matter Basics Bank, based at Testwood Baptist Church, in- stead of gifts to teachers. Staff also agreed to give their traditional secret Santa presents to the same cause. A school spokesperson said: “We are totally overwhelmed by the amount of food that was donat- ed.” A spokesperson for the Hampshire force said: “Were you in the area at the time? Did you see what happened? Or perhaps you have dashcam footage of the incident?” Local resident Cyril Teed told the A&T he saw staff stand- ing outside the damaged door when he arrived to shop at around 6am. The store was closed on Mon- day morning while investiga- tions were carried out. Contact Hampshire police on 101, quoting crime reference number 44200481001, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Christopher Bulstrode at the site where he wants to build 23 homes

would be retained. New trees would also be planted, he said, and a green corridor retained along Lymington Road. “It is not woodland it is a scrappy mess,” said Mr Bul- strode. “It has not been man- aged for over 65 years – you can- not even walk in it. A survey by an environmentalist discovered no wildlife habitats. It is zoned for residential development and we intend to plant over 100 new trees.” The 23 houses submitted will comprise eight two-bedroom houses and 15 three-bedroom, plus parking. The planning application

said: “The proposal presents a sustainable form of develop- ment, contributing to the eco- nomic, social and environmen- tal wellbeing of Christchurch. “The design has been careful- ly conceived to avoid harm to neighbour amenity and ensure that a comfortable relationship subsists.” However, the new application has attracted more than 20 let- ters of objection. One resident living near the site added: “I am very frustrat- ed to see this application being put forward to the planning authorities again which neces- sitates us having to write to de-

fend this important woodland. “As an active member of Dor- set Wildlife Trust, it horrifies me that this development would see this all destroyed.” The land in question was compulsorily purchased by Hampshire County Council in the 1960s from what was then known as Boyland and Son Ltd to build a relief road to bypass Highcliffe. But the route was never built and the land was bought back by Mr Bulstrode’s company in 2015. A decision is scheduled by BCP Council after the deadline for public comments on Mon- day.

Store raiders take cash safes

£12k pay-out over hedge chop mistake

A MAN has been paid damages by Hampshire County Council for mistakenly cutting down his hedge. Kevin Verran, from Ever- ton, said he has been awarded £12,640 after launching legal ac- tion – although HCC declined to confirm the amount agreed. The payment was made after Mr Verran complained nesting birds had been killed when, on

22nd July, a highways team mis- takenly chopped down the vege- tation growing outside his home. He told the A&T: “This mon- ey could have been spent on repairing the huge cracks in the road. “It will take years to restore the damage these unaccounta- ble cretins caused to my prop- erty. “Sadly the council is unac-

countable and not one person has been disciplined for this de- struction and violent trespass onto my land.” As reported in the A&T, Mr Verran claimed it could cost him thousands of pounds to put right and decades to regrow the hedge. A Hampshire County Coun- cil spokesperson told the A&T: “We can confirm that we have

investigated and resolved Mr Verran’s complaint and agreed a sum payable for damages.” Because his home is within the national park, Mr Verran has also been told by the park authority that if he wants to replace the mutilated, native hedge with a new one, instead of waiting for it to grow back, he will have to submit a removal notice for permission.