New Milton Advertiser 29th Jan 2021

Friday 29th January 2021 · 7

news@adt.press · advertising@adt.press · 01425 613384

News

No to ‘unashamedly’ modern house bid

Tagged curfew after attack ATTACKING two people landed a Christchurch man with a four-month tagged curfew. Issac Johansen (19), of Marmion Green, admitted two charges of assault by beating: one in Christchurch in November 2019 and an - other at Canford Cliffs Chine in July 2020. Johansen must stay at his home between 7pm and 6am as part of a 12-month community order from Poole magistrates, which includes 180 hours of unpaid commu - nity work. He was also given a restraining order and told to pay £130 compensation to each victim. Play equipment delay for village A PLAY area in Lyndhurst is set to have equipment re- placed by the end of March, after delays because of Cov- id-19 and bad weather. At Lyndhurst Parish Council’s latest meeting, Cllr Mark Rollé said it had ini- tially been expected that the Coles Mead play area would be ready in February. Work to carry out some clearance of the site and oth- er groundworks would begin shortly, he said, before the new equipment is installed by contractor Vita Play. Drink-driver in two-year ban GETTING behind the wheel while more than three times the alcohol limit resulted in a motorist being banned from the roads for two years. Victoria Turner (27), of Christchurch Road, New Milton, pleaded guilty to drink-driving on Church Hill in Milford on 18th Novem - ber 2020 when she appeared before Southampton magis- trates. As well as disqualifying her, the Bench fined Turner £288 and told her to pay £119 in court costs.

Three applications for village site rejected for their appearance

struct two new self-build dwell- ings. The first plan attracted 15 objections and the second and third prompted 10. The parish council recommended the first and third plans for approv- al, but objected to the second as “overdevelopment” of the site. Deciding all three appeals at the same time, planning in- spector Martin Allen said while there was a “considerable vari- ety” in the design and scale of neighbouring homes, the key lo- cal characteristic was “a sense and appearance of spacious- ness”. He said having a single, large home would result in there be- ing “very little spacing to either side” and appear as “cramped additions” to the street. Deciding the third appeal for two separate new builds, Mr Al- len said the width of the plots would be “uncharacteristically narrow” for the location. see it go ahead but it needs to be safe. I’d like to see the gov- ernment give candidates a larg- er allowance to enable us to all do our canvassing via the post.” NFDC, which will run the local elections, is already look- ing at ways it can make polling booths Covid-secure, although it anticipated more people will opt to cast their vote by post this year. Cllr Diane Andrews, cabinet member for community en- gagement, said: “The polling stations will be set up to be safe places. “For example, there will be regular cleaning carried out, sa- nitiser available and numbers of people in the room at any time will be controlled. “But with the ongoing coro- navirus pandemic, we appre- ciate that some people would feel more comfortable voting by post.”

Mudeford Wood play area is one of three affected

BY JON WALLER

Play areas set for hand over to parish council

A BID to build an “unashamed- ly contemporary” house on land at Milford has been thrown out at appeal. The plan was one of three proposals put forward by Mr and Mrs S. Dench for land of Victoria Cottage, Victoria Road, which were each refused by New Forest District Council. The rejections were all chal- lenged but now planning in- spector Martin Allen has ruled they would have a “discordant and incongruous appearance” harmful to the character and appearance of the area and street. The first was for a two-storey “distinctive and contemporary, self-build, modern dwelling LOCAL elections in May should be delayed, according to a lead- ing opposition councillor, after door-to-door campaigning was suspended by the government amid the pandemic. Cllr David Harrison, who heads the Liberal Democrats on New Forest District Council, said it was wrong not to allow political party leaflets to be de - livered during lockdown while still permitting commercial ad- vertising through letterboxes. Elections are due to be held on 6thMay for Hampshire Coun- ty Council and a small number of local by-elections, including Ringwood Town Council, Hythe and Dibden Parish Council and Milford Parish Council. There will also be a BCP Council bye- lection for the Commons ward in Christchurch. The police and crime commis- sioner positions in Hampshire and Dorset are also due to be elected that day, having been

THREE play areas are set to be transferred to Highcliffe and Walkford Parish Council to maintain their upkeep. BCP Council is proposing to hand over Highcliffe recreation ground, Bluebell Close and Mu- deford Wood play areas. The playgrounds were recent- ly refurbished under a £1.2m investment by BCP Council in which new play equipment was installed and older items over- hauled. At Highcliffe recreation ground a multi-use games area for football and basketball was created. Cllr Bob Hutchings, chair of Highcliffe and Walkford Parish Council, said: “I welcome the proposed transfer of the rec- reation ground in Highcliffe together with the play areas in Bluebell Close and Mudeford Wood. “The parish council is fully committed to ensuring that children in the parish have

somewhere safe to play and that the recreation ground can continue to provide a safe ven- ue for our young footballers. “We have worked hard with BCP Council over the past months to arrange this poten- tial transfer of responsibility and we look forward to seeing the recreation ground used even more fully in the years ahead.” The transfer will be con- firmed later, and BCP Council’s cabinet member for environ- ment, cleansing and waste, Cllr Mark Anderson, added: “I am pleased that we are proactive- ly considering the best way to manage these facilities going forward. “These play areas and open spaces are vital in allowing our children to get outside, get ac- tive and have a great time play- ing with their peers, which is es- pecially important during these difficult times.”

A CGI of one proposal for the site (Image: Visionary Architects)

house”, which featured a dis- tinctive raised-roof eave. Designed by Visionary Archi- tects, the plans said it was an “unashamedly contemporary design” and aimed to comple- ment local new-build homes with a modern twist, such as the nearby Zinc House.

After it was turned down by NFDC, the couple put forward a second plan for a similar sized contemporary home but with a flat roof. The refusal of that sparked a third, different proposal – to demolish the buildings on the site, sever the plot and con-

Call for elections delay as canvassing halted

postponed last year by the pan- demic. MP Chloe Smith, minister for the constitution and devolu- tion, recently wrote to all polit- ical parties to say door-to-door campaigning was not consid- ered essential activity. Cllr Harrison, who will be defending his Totton South & Marchwood county council seat, said: “The government’s position is that whether or not it is safe to deliver a leaflet to someone depends on whether the person doing it is doing it for love or money. That’s a real- ly weird contortion. “A leaflet is a leaflet. It’s ei - ther a health risk or it isn’t. If the government really believes what it claims, it shouldn’t be giving an opt-out to pizza leaf- lets and MPs with money to spend and instead it should be looking at delaying the May elections.” Cllr Alexis McEvoy, Conser-

Teen ordered to pay back loans after false claims

Cllr David Harrison

A TEENAGER has been or- dered to repay two men £905 which he admitted duping them into loaning him. Jae Williams (18), of Mill Road, Totton, made false rep- resentations about debt he owed, gaining £655 off one vic - tim and £250 off another. In fact he was earning at least four figures a month at the time of both offences, between 21st August and 16th November in 2019, Southampton magis -

trates heard. He was further convicted of causing £100 of criminal dam - age to property belonging to a third man, and sending him an offensive message. In addition to ordering Wil- liams to compensate all three men in full, the Bench gave him a 12-month community order and banned him contacting any of the victims or going to an address in Eastleigh until 18th July 2022.

vative county councillor for South Waterside, told the A&T that the decision on whether to delay the elections was “quite difficult”. She said: “Clearly they need to go ahead but if you delay, how long do you wait? Democ- racy isn’t best served by shov- ing it down the road. It is quite important that however the election is carried out, it has to be on a level playing field. “Personally, I would like to

THIS ARTICLE IS PART OF A PAID-FOR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UK GOVERNMENT

HOWYOUCANHELPYOURCHILDREN KEEPUPWITHSTUDYING

While schools andcolleges are closed to all except childrenof criticalworkers and vulnerable children,most childrenare currently receiving remote learning support. Teachers and lecturers areworkinghard to ensure students don’tmiss out. Herewe explainwhat experts are offering to ensure ongoing educationaswell as tips onhow parents canbest helppupils.

HELPFOR DISADVANTAGED PUPILS ɷ The UKGovernment invested over £400 million to support disadvantaged children and young people with access to technology through the pandemic, including providing 1.3million laptops and tablets. ɷ The Department for Education has partneredwith some of the UK’s leadingmobile network operators to provide free data to disadvantaged families, further supporting remote educationwhere it’s needed. Families will benefit from this additional data until July 2021. ɷ 54,000 4Gwireless routers have been provided, with free data for the academic year, to support disadvantaged children to access remote education and vital social care services. ɷ Findoutmore informationat gov.uk/ coronavirus

‘First class support for learning fromhome’

provision forpupils during thepandemic. Ben said: “It’s been great funactually goingback to school for ourselves.Wedobaking with theBishops ona Friday afternoon. “All theparents join in togetherwith the baking and it becomes a discussionpoint in the community aswell.” n Formore guidance onremote learning and support formental health andwellbeing, visit : gov. uk/coronavirus-remote- learning

Parents BenandHelen Evans believe the remote learning support their childrenare currently receiving isfirst class. “I feel incredibly grateful to the school for having that structure,” enthusedBen, whose daughters Lily, aged nine, and four-year old Poppy attendBroadclyst CommunityPrimary. WifeHelen, a universityweb team leader, continued: “The community thing is really big forus. To see them interactingwith their friends and seeing relationships they havewith teachers is great.” TheDevonEdTech Demonstrator School provides advice, guidance and training includingwebinars, resources, peer to peerdiscussions onhow tobest use technology as well as remote learning

understandably, be stressful for parents some of who are already facing personal and professional challenges due to the pandemic. They can be reassured their help is invaluable inmore ways than simply helpingmanage lessons. Parents can create regular routines, ensuring their kids connect with friends and family online or via phones. They are also able to talk openly with their children about any updated educational requirements. BBC Bitesize andOak National Academy are among many valuable resources that are available. Other family-orientated virtual activities, including body coach JoeWicks, remain important to support children’s physical andmental health ... and that of their supportive parents.

The UKGovernment is committed to balancing the safety of communities with the continuation of children’s education. Classrooms have once again closed, but that does not mean an end to lessons. Themajority of students are expected to receive between three to five hours of lessons eachweekday. Such support includes recorded or live direct teaching as well as time for children to complete tasks independently. Additional support is also available for disadvantaged youngsters.The UK Government is investing over £400million to provide access to technology, including partnering with the UK’s leadingmobile network operators to provide free data to those who need it, while teaching staff regularly check pupils’ learning andwell- being. Remote learning can,

HELPING HAND: Children are expected to receive up to five hours of lessons a day.

FAMILY TEAMWORK: Ben and Helen Evans with Lily and Poppy.