New Milton Advertiser 20th Nov 2020

2 · Friday 20th November 2020

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Push to build on Forest brownfield

Cash boxes stolen from town shop by masked gang CASH boxes were stolen when four masked raiders forced their way into a Pennington convenience store on Sunday night. The quartet targeted the Tesco Express in The Square shortly before midnight be- fore fleeing with the boxes containing an undisclosed sum of money. No one was reported to have been injured in the in- cident. A Hampshire police spokes- person said: “Officers are cur- rently following a number of lines of enquiry.” Anyone with information should contact Hampshire po- lice on 101, quoting crime ref- erence number 44200443251, or call Crimestoppers anonymous- ly on 0800 555 111. 07733 318619 oceancars@icloud.com Long Distance Specialist Airports / Docks Stations / Hospitals Lady driver on request Hampshire vouchers accepted Lhotse, Forward Drive, Pennington ALL TYPES OF WATCH AND CLOCK REPAIRS Kris Perlowski 6 Spartina Drive, Lymington

Rural campaign says there is room to build 2,800 homes

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THERE is enough brownfield land in the New Forest to build nearly 2,800 homes, countryside campaigners have claimed. Research by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) identified 64 sites making up a combined 104 hectares within the New Forest area covered by both the district council and the national park authority. It said that currently there are 306 unbuilt homes that have planning permission locally on sites classed as brownfield – land which has previously been developed in some way. The figures have been pub- lished just months after NFDC recently approved 20-year pol- icies that unlocked greenbelt land outside the national park for hundreds of new homes. The CPRE said its figures came from national brownfield registers introduced in 2017. It said developing brownfield sites with high quality design proper- ties needs to be prioritised. It follows a white paper put out by government which sug- gests a radical overhaul of the planning system to make it quicker to build in some areas. Crispin Truman, CPRE chief executive, said: “These figures clearly show that the planning system is not what is ailing our FOREST MINI SKIPS LYMINGTON SKIP HIRE 07787 153873 12 Fairlea Road, Lymington

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CPRE chief executive Crispin Truman (inset) says there is enough land to meet housing targets

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Leisure talks walkout Continued from front page housing market. “If there is enough land in the planning system to meet the government’s own housing targets – what will an overhaul of the planning system, with rushed and untested changes, really achieve? “It’s clear the government has gravely misdiagnosed the problem. Slow build-out rates and market-led housing are blocking the quality affordable housing that rural communities are crying out for.” The CPRE produced an over- all report for Hampshire, which found the county had enough brownfield land for almost 27,900 new homes. More than a third of sites already have plan- and initially claimed he had been dumped there by some- one. Ms Bassett remained un- conscious until police arrived at the home, the court heard. Both women were rushed to hospital. Diane’s injuries in- cluded severe bruising over her face and body and a dislocated finger. Her face will be permanently scarred from her son’s bite. Ms Bassett, who has since had the baby without prob- lems, suffered bruising and had to return to hospital two weeks after the attack for treatment for concussion. In a victim impact statement, Diane said: “I have never been as petrified and as scared in my life as I was that night. He could have killed me.” She said she had “lost” the defendant as a son, suffered sleepless nights, was on an- ti-depressants and feared what he may do to her in the future. Ackers has a history of vio- lence, including domestic as- sault incidents against Ms Bas- chosen its three preferred pro- viders – the identities of which have been kept secret. Speaking to the A&T, the customer focus group repre- sentative said members had told NFDC the overwhelming view of leisure centre customers was that they do not want pri- vate management, which had not been taken on board. “There is a feeling within the CFG that we have been a by- part of the procurement pro- cess so NFDC can say they have taken account of customers’ views and pat themselves on the back.” The main concern the CFG has, he stressed, was lack of accountability as current- ly NFDC councillors could be challenged in open meetings or even voted out. and Cocklydown Lane, and south-east of Totton between Hounsdown Business Park and Dibden. HCC is working with the Faw- ley power station developers to deliver an £8m package of junction improvements on the southern part of the A326 be- tween Main Road (north of Dib- den) and the B3053 at Church Lane (Fawley). A report to Cllr Humby stressed how walking and cy- cling improvements will be “key components” to the plan, and HCC has held discussions with Fawley oil refinery owner Exx- onMobil regarding a new walk/ cycle route on its land on the eastern side of the A326. Any plans will be aligned with the emerging Waterside Lo- cal Cycling and Walking Infra- structure Plan and tie in with schemes provided as part of Southampton getting £57m of DfT money. Transport plans Continued from front page Thug attacked women Continued from front page

ning permission. Asked about the CPRE fig- ures for the New Forest, the district council’s deputy leader, Cllr Edward Heron, said it had analysed the CPRE data when forming the Local Plan – which sets out local areas of greenbelt land to be developed until 2036. “The council has always giv- en priority to making best use of previously developed land where that is possible, and the plan that the council adopted in July 2020 assumes the poten- tial for brownfield development within the area is maximised,” Cllr Heron said. He pointed to a plan for 1,500 new homes on the former Fawley power station, which is a brown- sett, Mrs Cavender outlined. At the time of the April offences, he was the subject of a court order which banned him from seeing her. The court heard he was pre- viously convicted for punching and kicking her in Christchurch High Street and smashing her mobile phone in 2017, for which he had been hit with an indefi- nite restraining order. In 2019 he was convicted of breaching that order in rela- tion to another alleged assault that did not make it to trial. He has yet to be sentenced for the breach. The couple had been dating for many years, the prosecutor said, but got back together in early 2020. Mrs Cavender said their relationship was beset by his “jealousy” and on the day of the April attacks Ackers had been contacted by an ex-part- ner of hers. He had also grown frustrated at not having a job and being “broke”, she added. Ackers initially denied the two charges of causing Ms Bas- sett and his mother grievous bodily harm with intent. He was due to stand trial at Bournemouth Crown Court on He said: “This is going to be a 10 to 15-year contract and there will be no democratic ac- countability to that organisa- tion. Whoever is in charge of the council will not be able to have any kind of impact on whoever will be managing it.” The CFG was concerned a large provider could wield its financial power to challenge aspects of any NFDC contract and may resort to cost-cutting measures to maximise compa- ny profits. Cllr Steele responded by say- ing the leisure centres had pro- vided an “excellent service” for many years but with a subsidy, adding: “This position is not sustainable and therefore the service may be at risk. “The procurement process has shown that bidders can provide a service that meets the council’s objectives, and they bring industry expertise and economies of scale which go be- The city was promised the cash in late 2019 to boost trans- port and cycling in the city and surrounding areas, with ap- proximately £9m set aside for the Waterside. That will fund bus improve- ments at three key junctions – in central Totton, Rush- ington roundabout and near Hounsdown Business Park – and the creation of a contin- uous cycleway between Eling and Fawley. The overall strategy will be finalised by next spring for a public consultation, and pro- gressed to a formal plan in the autumn of 2021. The paper revealed interest in closing the level crossing at Junction Road in Totton and building a bridge. A feasibility study will be completed early next year before a spring 2021 consultation, with ideas includ- ing a road crossing at another location or a non-car crossing instead. The paper also endorsed the business case for the reopen- ing of the Waterside railway line, on which passenger ser-

field site, adding the Local Plan had been prepared after the coun- cil “made a realistic assessment” of the potential for other brown- field sites to be redeveloped. “However, despite maximis- ing the reuse of previously de- veloped land in the area there was still a need to identify ad- ditional ‘greenfield’ sites to meet the level of new housing required,” he continued. “The council continues to work with the development sec- tor to ensure new housing, on both brownfield and greenfield sites, comes forward to provide good quality housing which ad- dresses local needs and safe- guards the district’s precious environment.” Tuesday. But as the prosecu- tor stood to begin the evidence in front of the jury, Ackers sig- nalled to his defence barrister, Kevin Hill, that he wanted to have a conference with him. After a brief adjournment Mr Hill came back into court and indicated his client wanted to plead guilty to both charges. Mr Hill told the court his cli- ent was a care leaver, who had witnessed “abuse” growing up. He suggested pre-sentence reports should be conducted on Ackers to get the context of his offending. Judge Robert Pawson sug- gested the assaults could be seen as a “savage attack” and was a “very serious incident”. While he was prepared to give Ackers some credit for sparing two “vulnerable victims” from giving evidence, the judge said the defendant could face up to 12 years in jail. Judge Pawson adjourned the matter until 21st December, re- serving the sentencing exercise to himself. Dismissing the jury, he told them: “This sentence is going to be many years, and having heard what you have heard, nobody should be sur- prised.” yond what our in-house service can provide. “At the customer forums, cus- tomers will be able to listen to the preferred bidder who will be able to explain in detail how they propose to deliver the ser- vice.” Cllr Steele insisted the con- tract and specification within it was “very detailed”, covering the minimum standards re- quired and performance meas- urements. “If standards are not met then financial sanctions can be applied,” he confirmed. “We are satisfied that the con- tract and specification is right and enables us to ensure that service is provided as detailed in the specification. “A preferred bidder will be compared with the internal in- house provision when any rec- ommendation is made to cabi- net and council.” vices ceased in 1966. The idea was floated in 2013 but reject- ed by HCC on a failed business case. However, the report said its prospects were now much better – partly because a New Forest District Council vision document outlines “significant employment growth potential” on the Waterside. HCC has embarked on an outline business case for the railway, and the DfT provided £50,000 in grant money for more feasibility work by HCC. The railway news was met with “absolute delight” by Cllr David Harrison, HCC member for Totton South and March- wood, a long-time champion of the scheme. However, the separate A326 improvements needed to go further, according to Cllr Mal- colm Wade, who represents Dibden and Hythe. He said: “There needs to be further support and investment in the Hythe-to-Southampton ferry service, possibly combin- ing with or a separate one from the new development in Faw- ley.”

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