New Milton Advertiser 22nd Jan 2021

2 · Friday 22nd January 2021 News

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Trust picked to run New Forest leisure centres

Coronavirus deaths Continued from front page

children. Her relatives said: “She will be fondly remembered by family and friends in the Christchurch area.” The two deaths emerged as 13 fatalities in the New Forest district were reported on Tues- day in the latest weekly update by the Office for National Sta - tistics (ONS) – up from nine the week before. It is the highest number lo- cally for several months. Ten were recorded in hospital and two in care homes. However, the number of weekly new cases reported by the government over the seven days to Tuesday showed the infection rate slowing slightly – down to 628 from 754 last week, following a series of rises. It put the New Forest’s rate per 100,000 people at 348.7 – a reduction from 418.7 previous- ly. The average in England was 506.5. In the BCP Council area, which includes Christchurch, there were 30 weekly deaths re - ported by the ONS, of which 18 were in hospital and 11 in care homes. The provisional figures from the ONS related to instances where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate up to 8th January but which were registered up to 16th January. On Tuesday the number

Dorothy Giltrap was 102

of new weekly Covid-19 cas- es across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole came to 3,320 – just below last week’s total of 3,348. It puts the rate per 100,000 people at 839.8, which is well above the average in England. By comparison, the highest UK rate on Tuesday was 1,231.6 in Knowsley in Liverpool. The infection figures are for the numbers of people with at least one lab-confirmed posi - tive Covid-19 test result in the preceding seven-day period. A temporary Covid-19 mortu- ary has opened in Basingstoke to support the four major NHS hospital mortuaries in Hamp- shire and local funeral direc- tors. Hampshire County Council chief executive John Coughlan said: “While our hospitals and funeral sector are currently coping, we are regrettably see- ing significant pressures within the system.”

demic last year it became ob- vious to us that until long-term financial security for both the council and potential bidders had been established, there would be questions over future income to the council. However, once again the Conservative ad- ministration refused to listen. “People’s habits change and after such a long period of lock- down both the council and po- tential bidders simply do not know yet how many people will return to the centres and in what numbers. The council’s future expectations are unreal- istic.” A spokesman for the CFG said it was “disappointed” and pointed to 23 online Trustpilot reviews of Freedom Leisure, many by former employees, of which were 78% bad. Only 13% were excellent. He added: “Looking to the fu- ture and given the 10 to 15-year contract, the most disturbing aspect is any new provider will not be accountable to the elec- torate, so we will be stuck with them good or bad.” Set up in 2002, Freedom Leisure runs 101 facilities for 23 council partners, schools and academies. On its website it boasts of being a “genuine, pro-active and innovative lei- sure trust”.

Controversial move would see it operating NFDC’s five facilities

BY JON WALLER

issues”, personality disorders, depression and anxiety. She also said he had been a drug user but had made at- tempts to get better in spite of setbacks. The driving offences were random and opportunistic, Mrs Conroy said, and she had “no mitigation” since Andrews could not remember or explain why he did it. “He cannot account for hav- ing no memory of it,” she told the court. The defendant did “have a A NOT-FOR-PROFIT trust has been chosen as the preferred bidder to run the New Forest’s five leisure centres. Freedom Leisure beat two other unnamed firms to win the nod from the district council to manage the network of facili- ties in Lymington, New Milton, Ringwood, Applemore and Tot- ton. Bosses at the company will hold virtual meetings with lei- sure centre staff and customers in the coming days. Still to be confirmed, the 10 to 15-year deal will first be de - bated by NFDC’s community and leisure panel before the ruling Conservative cabinet de- cides whether to recommend it be passed by the full council in a final vote in February. NFDC’s cabinet member for health and wellbeing, Cllr Mark Steele, said he was “delighted”, adding: “Freedom Leisure are a not-for-profit leisure trust, where all surpluses are rein- vested in support of shared ob- Trail of destruction Continued from front page

Lymington is one of five New Forest leisure centres which are set to be run by the trust

real desire” to get on top of his problems since he had recently become a father while in cus- tody. “He is desperately trying to embrace the opportunity he has to kick this,” she said, urg- ing the court to spare him cus- tody to get help. However, Judge Richard Smith QC said he did not find it unjust to activate the minimum term for the burglary, eventu- ally imposing a 41-month sen- tence. As for the 19th September car pursuit, he said it was an “appalling episode of driving”, and disqualified Andrews from the roads for three years and eight months on his release. The decision was backed by fellow cabinet member Cllr Mi- chael Harris, who holds the eco- nomic development portfolio. At a meeting of Brockenhurst Parish Council he said: “They have a lot of experience and will be great value to the enterprise. “It is a fantastic thing to have jectives with their partners. “Their approach to running community facilities really impressed us and they have demonstrated their track re- cord in achieving what we would wish from a leisure ser- vice for the New Forest.”

happened and I am sad it’s tak- en so long to get there – but it’s a great thing to happen for the Forest.” However, the opposition Lib- eral Democrat group on NFDC maintained their objections to the policy, which they argue is effectively a privatisation of the leisure service, although no property will be sold off. The Tories announced their intention to bring in a new provider more than a year ago, but it sparked controversy, in- cluding demonstrations, union opposition and a 2,000-name

petition gathered by the New Forest West Labour party. As reported in the A&T, the liaison customer focus group (CFG) of centre users walked out of talks last year and the Lib Dems also recently quit a cross-party panel. The Lib Dems said in a state- ment they were “very disap- pointed”, claiming the Tories had “no mandate” for the man- agement shake-up which they said had not appeared in any manifesto. They added: “With the ad- vent of the coronavirus pan-

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Twelve oak trees were felled at the site

took place in early December, leaving large fractures and splits in the remaining tree trunks. Several other oaks had been marked with an X, suggesting that they were also going to be chopped down. The spokesperson added: “It appears likely that the trees were felled to provide access to adjoining land within ‘Terry’s Patch’, which includes a larger open field. “The NPA recently raised concerns about this land be- ing divided into separate plots with different ownership, is- suing an immediate Article 4 direction to remove permitted

development rights to put up fencing. “This direction, which has not yet been confirmed by the NPA’s planning committee, was intended to ensure the bound- aries between plots were sym- pathetic to this important New Forest conservation area by requiring express planning con- sent for fencing.” Signage placed by the NPA at the site about the Article 4 direction was removed three times, said the NPA, each time being replaced. It also said building materials and equip- ment were brought into the woodland. ALL TYPES OF WATCH AND CLOCK REPAIRS Kris Perlowski 6 Spartina Drive, Lymington SKIP HIRE 07787 153873 12 Fairlea Road, Lymington FOREST MINI SKIPS LYMINGTON

Trees ‘illegally’ felled Continued from front page

urgent conservation measures under the UK Biodiversity Ac- tion Plan.” He added: “The developers in this case ignored or were una- ware of the tree preservation order in place. “Unless restrained by an in- junction order, they could well have caused further significant irreversible environmental damage to the New Forest.” An NPA spokesperson told the A&T the unauthorised felling

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