New Milton Advertiser 29th Jan 2021

Friday 29th January 2021 · 13 News

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Organisers slammed for Forest cycle event

Town council backs 63-home proposals

Ban given to drug-driver

Appeal helped 112 families Battery causes fire at garage HAMPSHIRE and Dorset firefighters joined forces to tackle a blaze which broke out at a commercial garage in Ringwood on Monday. The alarm was raised shortly after 8pm when the incident involving a motor- cycle battery took place at the premises off Yeoman Road. Crews from the town and Burley were among the teams, aided by breathing apparatus, who together contained the emergency within 40 minutes. PHONE 01425 612594 to place a display advertisement THE organisers of the Wa- terside Christmas Appeal have thanked all those who helped to support more than 100 families. Donations to the appeal, which is run by the Handy Trust, local youth workers and the Gang Warily Scout and Guide HQ, meant 112 struggling families were supported. Over 300 children received at least two presents to open and many families also re- ceived hampers, food parcels and Christmas dinners. DRIVING with excess levels of cannabis and cocaine landed a Holbury man with a three-year driving ban. Michael Smith (44), of Faircross Close, admitted two charges relating to getting behind the wheel on 20th April 2020 with cocaine and a third of cannabis. He was ordered by South- ampton magistrates to do six months of drug treat- ment as part of a year-long community order. He was also fined £360 and told to pay £135 in court costs.

A NEW Milton bank manager who spent more than 40 years serving customers during his career has died aged 96. Edward John Franklin MBE, who was known as Eddie, had been living at Barton Lodge Care Home prior to his death on 5th January. Eddie, who moved to the town in 1969, spent 15 years at the Natwest branch before re- tirement, serving thousands of customers, and he always took an interest in the welfare of not only his own staff but that of the company generally. This led to him being nation- al chairman for five years of the trade union Natwest Staff As- sociation, formerly known as Westminster Bank Guild. He was made an MBE in 1977 in recognition of his ser- vice with the Royal Naval Re- serve and Sea Cadet Corps, witnessed with great pride at Buckingham Palace by wife Joy and daughter Julia. Eddie was born in Westhamp- nett, near Chichester in West Sussex, on 19th November 1924 but the family moved shortly af- ter to Arundel. Eddie began working for Westminster Bank in 1941 but just a year later, as he ap- proached his 18th birthday, he volunteered for the Royal Navy. He saw service in escort ships A SCALED-back plan to build 63 homes on land in Fording- bridge has earned the support of the town council, despite cutting the number of afforda- ble units. Metis Homes had original- ly proposed 74 properties on a nearly four-hectare site on the northern edge of the town, ac- cessed via the A338 Salisbury Road, with half the properties designated affordable. But after discussions with New Forest District Council, Metis revised the plan to 63 properties with only 14 pro- posed to be affordable, which the developer said was due to a fresh viability assessment. The independent assess- ment, conducted by Tangent Surveyors, also warned: “If fur- ther costs come to light, includ- ing additional planning gain, then the amount of affordable housing provision would again reduce.” Documents show 10 of the mooted 14 affordable proper- ties will be for rent – four one- bed flats, and six two-bed – while two two-bed flats and two two-bedrooms houses will be shared ownership. There have been 51 objec- tions from local residents, but members of the town council

decided to back it at their lat- est meeting. They said it “provides open space that we didn’t have ac- cess to before and provides much-needed housing of that type”. It added: “Fordingbridge Town Council would like to be involved in the open space design and what is put there.” Metis said its scheme had been redesigned to “create a development in a form and to a density that integrates ap- propriately with the suburban edge of Fordingbridge and the more rural character of the land to the north”. As reported in the A&T, the site includes land sold by Burgate School to Metis. The academy had 21 acres of open space which trustees said was more than officially required for a school of its size, and the land concerned was off limits to students, having been a wildlife area. The sale was approved by the Department for Education and, by law, the proceeds must be spent on improving sports fa- cilities. A decision by New Forest Dis- trict Council is expected by the end of June.

Ride tickets on sale despite not being given permission

BY CHRIS MARCH

FORESTRY England has criti- cised a major cycling event or- ganiser for failing to seek per- mission for a debut 79km ride on the national park’s gravel tracks. Dozens of riders had been set to descend on Ashurst for Glorious Gravel New Forest on 20th March – although organis- er Sportive Breaks said it would “almost certainly” not take place due to lockdown. Angry residents took to Face- book expressing their alarm such an event had been planned for the area. As well as general concerns about the disturbance and effect on livestock, many were worried cyclists travelling in would worsen the spread of the virus. Promotion on the Spor- tive Breaks website for the £39-per-ticket event, which was Obituary der out Eddie dropped between the two heaving vessels, but managed to survive. On his next wartime trip, Eddie had another lucky es- cape. While he left the ship to undergo officer training, all his crewmates were killed when the stern was blown off by an acoustic torpedo. On his return to banking at the end of the war, Eddie moved to Worthing after marry- ing his high school sweetheart Joy. They had a long and happy marriage until Joy passed away in May last year. Eddie was a founder cadet member of the Arundel and Lit- tlehampton Unit of the Sea Ca- det Corps. He was later award- ed the Cadet Forces Medal and a special certificate for service of over 40 years. He continued to serve with the Royal Naval Reserve as a mines counter-measure officer, for which he was awarded the Reserve Decoration. Over the years the couple en- joyed caravan holidays, as well as cruises to Egypt, the Carib- bean and the Mediterranean. Eddie also spent many years as a police authority lay visitor and a Home Office lay observer, positions which involve provid- ing independent oversight on how detained people are cared for.

The event would have taken place on the New Forest’s gravel tracks in March (Image: stock photo)

listed as sold out but has since been removed, said it would loop from Ashurst and take in “some of the best gravel tracks in the New Forest”, passing through Fritham, Ringwood and Lyndhurst and finishing at a pub. But Forestry England (FE) confirmed it did not give per - mission for Glorious Gravel and was currently unable to accept any new event applications for the Forest. An FE spokesperson told the A&T that it had never previ- ously allowed such an event to take place on the district’s way- marked gravel network. “Forestry England shares the concerns raised by local peo- ple about this type of moun- tain biking event taking place. The off-road waymarked cycle

routes are not suitable for an event such as this,” the spokes- person said. “Off-road cycling is only al- lowed on specific routes in the New Forest and these are shared paths for people to cy- cle, walk and horse ride on tracks that avoid sensitive wild- life habitats. “It’s unfortunate that this event was promoted before the organisers had any discussions with Forestry England, as land manager’s permission is re- quired for any events or organ- ised group activities on the For- est before taking place.” When the A&T contacted Sportive Breaks, customer services manager Rob Sears sought to assure people the event would not go ahead dur- ing any form of lockdown.

“If these restrictions are still in place, we won’t be running an event,” he said. “We’ve put the event as sold- out on the website so it is not bookable while we are in talks with Forestry England and the national park about sorting out a new date. “If events can run after lock- down they will be run in full ac- cordance with any restrictions in place at the time, such as staggered arrivals and social distancing.” Reacting on Facebook, one frustrated resident posted: “It seems a lot of cyclists... go wherever they want the rest of the time. The Wiggle events ar- ranged when the drifts are on. “Sometimes it feels like we’re living in a cycle park, not a na- tional park.”

Eddie Franklin MBE Former manager of Natwest NewMilton

Estate agent offers school virtual help

BROCKENHURST estate agent Spencers came to the aid of the village’s preschool by creating a virtual tour of its new premises for prospective parents. The lockdown has stopped families visiting the new facili- ty which relocated to the Sway

Road primary school in Sep- tember last year. To help out, Spencers filmed a walkthrough of the preschool and its garden which has now been uploaded to YouTube. Spencers has supported the preschool’s move since a fund- raising effort was launched

and staff pitched up outside its Brockenhurst offices on a rainy Saturday last year to sell cakes. The agency has also helped print fundraising leaflets, and a spokesperson for the preschool said: “We are so grateful to the team at Spencers for creating this amazing tour.”

in the Atlantic, taking the first large convoy to north Africa and Sicily, and at the Syracuse beaches for the 1943 invasions during which his ship sank an enemy submarine. He also served in Canada, New York and Trinidad. His last active service appointment was working in naval control, over- seeing ships going east of Cey- lon, now Sri Lanka. It was while boarding an American tanker off Colombo in a heavy swell that he came dan- gerously close to death as he had to leap from his small boat to a jumping ladder dropped over the side. Unfortunately, as the sailors had not thrown the whole lad-

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