New Milton Advertiser 20th Nov 2020

Friday 20th November 2020

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N EW M ILTON A DVERTISER | advertiserandtimes.co.uk

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Sport Star swimmer Alice Tai to be the voice

First Class 60-page photo special Pull-out

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Big Enough to Cope, Small Enough to Care 35+ YEarS ExpEriEnCE

2020/21

• General Building • Block Paving and Driveways • Electrical Work • Plumbing and Drainage • Carpentry and Joinery • Painting and Decorating • Ceramic Tiling • Flat Roofing and Guttering • Soffits and Fascias 10 Marine Dr. West, Barton on Sea, BH25 7QH 01425 615485 • 07522 406938 alanmurphy01@hotmail.co.uk

and suppliers Pages 16-17

of GB athletes Pages 19-20

Reception Year Photo Special

Thug beat mum and girlfriend

Nurses’ chilly charity challenge

INSIDE Woman arrested as police break up protest at hospital Page 4 LT Price Rise 03 Ambulance targeted by vandals during village wrecking spree Page 5 Mystery Bronze Age monument discovered in New Forest dig Page 6 Village council rejects plans for new wheelie bins waste scheme Page 7 9 771353 223033 9 771353 223033 42 9 771353 223033 43 41 Food and Drink 15 Christian Comment 18 Letters 18 From Our Files 21 Puzzle Corner 21 Good Dog 23 Legal Matters 24-25 Classifieds 26-29 Motoring 30-31 Family Announcements back page 9 771353 223033 9 771353 223033 45 9 771353 223033 46 44 Index Obituaries Planning 12 14

Road, rail and bridge in huge £140m-plus transport plans Holly Warren (left) and Rachel Easton are swimming the equivalent of the English Channel in aid of Christchurch Hospice where they work – full story, page 3

Continued on page 2 THE group representing cus- tomers of New Forest District Council’s leisure centres has quit talks over plans to hand management over to a private company, the A&T can reveal. The customer focus group (CFG) walked away because it disagrees with NFDC pressing ahead with the plan for the fa- cilities at Lymington, New Mil- ton, Ringwood, Applemore and Totton. One member, who asked to remain anonymous, told the A&T: “CFG members do not want to be associated with the forehead between her eye- brows. He bit her hard enough to remove a large chuck of her flesh between her eyebrows,” Mrs Cavender said, and Ackers spat it out on the floor. Ackers was furiously shouting that he thought Ms Bassett was dead, and he screamed at his mother: “You’ve f***ed up my life so now I’m going to f*** up yours.” According to his mother, she feared for her life when Ackers went downstairs and re-entered the bathroom with two knives. She recalled, Mrs Cavender added, that he used one to stab himself, before jumping out of the window when police came, around half an hour after Diane and neighbours had alerted of- ficers. Ackers was later found shirt- less in bushes around 300 me- tres from his mother’s house,

Violent man faces up to 12 years in jail after biting mother’s face

BY JON WALLER

A THUG stamped so hard on his pregnant girlfriend he left an imprint of his shoe on her stom- ach before he bit off a chunk of his mum’s face and spat it out, a court heard. Owen Ackers (23), from Bur- ton, faces a jail sentence for a “savage” 30-minute attack during the first national lock- down against Sapphire Bassett, his then-girlfriend who was 18 weeks’ pregnant, and his moth- er Diane. Bournemouth Crown Court heard Ackers, who has a history of violence against women, had drunk vodka and taken cocaine on the day of the attack on 21st April. Ackers became aggressive late that night when his moth- er tried to take away his bottle of vodka. He chased her up the stairs of her Lineside home and into the bathroom, punching

MAJOR spending plans worth at least £140m are being drawn up to cut congestion in the east of the New Forest with a new dual carriageway, town centre railway bridge and reopening the Waterside trainline to pas- sengers. The wide-ranging set of trans- port proposals was expected to have cleared a hurdle yesterday (Thursday) with approval to proceed with further planning from Hampshire County Coun- cil’s highways chief, Cllr Rob Humby. Funding worth £115m-£140m is being sought from the gov- decision and have people think it is one we are endorsing in any way, shape or form. “We want to send a clear mes- sage to everybody: we have not endorsed this process and have asked for it to be stopped.” Cllr Mark Steele, NFDC’s Conservative cabinet member for leisure, said the authori- ty was “disappointed” but re- spected the group’s decision. The council will be progressing to find a management partner, he added. Since NFDC first announced its intention to outsource the

ernment to expand the A326 west of Totton into a dual car- riageway. Separate plans are being considered to replace the queue-creating train gates in Junction Road, Totton, with a road bridge. The Waterside railway line could also be given money to progress to the next stage of potentially reopening to pas- sengers for the first time since 1966, following a lengthy cam- paign. The changes in the overarch- ing Waterside Transport Strat- egy are partly to ease pressure centres’ running, the issue has provoked objections from op- position councillors, protests and a petition attracting thou- sands of signatures. NFDC has invited private firms to bid for the contract to run the five centres for at least an initial decade. The Unison union has al- ready said it is opposed to the scheme, because it believes it is “politically ideologically driv- en”. The process has now reached the stage where NFDC has

on the roads predicted from the development of Fawley pow- er station with 1,500 homes, including new business space forecast to create about 1,500 jobs. Yesterday Cllr Humby was recommended in a report to approve the county putting to- gether a strategic outline busi- ness case for the Department for Transport (DfT), which will comprise its formal application for up to £140m for the A326 changes. The preferred improvement schemes have not yet been de- cided but would likely involve link and junction improvements across 12km of the northern part of the A326. The report suggests intro- ducing a dual carriageway on two main sections: west of Totton between Michigan Way

Owen Ackers

her in the side of the face, pros- ecutor Susan Cavender said. When Ms Bassett grabbed him, he set about her, pulling out “clumps” of her hair, the court was told. “Sapphire Bassett was on her back and he stamped repeated- ly on her head, shoulders, and upper chest until she was un- conscious,” Mrs Cavender con- tinued. “The stamping was sufficient to leave an imprint of his shoe on her stomach.” When Diane tried to stop Ackers he turned back on her, Mrs Cavender added. “He punched her again before biting her hard in an area of her

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Leisure centre talks walkout

9 771353 223033

Continued on page 2

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9 771353 223033

9 771353 223033 Christmas Trees available from next week e New Forest’s leading centre, o ering you the quality and choice from our own 25 acre nursery.

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Continued on page 2

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Come and choose from our range of needle fast Nordmann trees and traditional Norway Spruce. All sizes from 4-12 feet. We also have a selection of arti cial trees and a wide range of Christmas lights and decorations. Everything to get your home ready for the festive season.

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