New Milton Advertiser 2nd Oct 2020

Friday 2nd October 2020 · 7

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Action at threatened beauty spot agreed

Abuse breached court order HURLING abuse in breach of a court order resulted in a Christchurch man being told to carry out rehabilitation activity when he appeared before magistrates. Stephen Brown (56) admitted using abusive and insulting words during a domestic violence incident at his home in Perth Close, Christchurch. The Poole Bench heard such behaviour had been prohibited by a non-moles- tation order imposed two months earlier. As well as a 12-month community order, with the rehabilitation requirement, Brown was fined £50 and told to pay £95 costs. Asbestos link to man’s death A RINGWOOD pensioner’s death was the result of an industrial disease, an inquest has ruled. Ivan Chant (80), a retired pharmacy dispenser of Forestside Gardens, died in Christchurch Hospital’s Mac- millan unit on 26th January. A hearing at Bournemouth Coroner’s Court last Wednes- day was told a post-mortem examination concluded he had suffered from mesothe- lioma – an illness linked to asbestos. Drug-driver given year’s ban A YEAR’S driving ban was given to a Milford man who drove with excess levels of drugs in his system. Louie Lunn (23), of De La Warr Road, admitted being at the wheel a week before Christmas last year with cocaine and its main com- pound above their specified limits. Southampton mag- istrates fined him £250 and ordered he pay £117 court costs.

ELECTRICAL · ALARMS · CCTV

Electrical Services include: • Complete rewires • New installations • Renovations/upgrades • Testing • Repairs & maintenance • Seasonal lighting (Christmas Lights)

Security Systems ALARMS • Tailormade for each customer • Wireless/wired systems • Maintenance contracts • System takeovers ACCESS CONTROL • Monitor and restrict areas within your premises • Remote access via your phone/laptop

Pollution has caused health of Hatchet Pond to decline

BY ANDY SHERWOOD

AN URGENT action plan to protect Hatchet Pond near Beaulieu – one of the UK’s most important nature spots which is threatened by pollution and over-use – has been agreed by a group of New Forest organi- sations. Work at the pond started in 2019 but unprecedented pres- sures experienced during the easing of lockdown has accel- erated the plans by Forestry England, Freshwater Habitats Trust, and Natural England. Hatchet Pond is the New For- est’s largest body of fresh water and home to some of the rarest wetland plants and freshwater animals long since lost from many other parts of the UK. As the most wildlife-rich pond remaining in lowland England, it has the highest possible conservation status as both a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area for Conservation, and maintaining the health of the pond is a legal requirement. Analysis of the pond has shown the health of the water, and plants and wildlife which rely on it, are in decline. Pollution is being caused by erosion, material being thrown in to feed birds and bait fish, and a sharp rise in people and dogs entering the water dis- turbing sediment and releasing trapped chemicals. The erosion has also led to regular flooding of the car park, raising a major risk of pollution from the toilet block. Actions to improve the wa- ter quality which began last year included an environmental DNA survey of the fish within the pond followed by the re- moval of non-native carp – a process repeated in 2020. Changes were also made to the car park to help prevent drainage flowing directly into the pond, with increased sig- nage highlighting the prohi- bition of activities including water sports, swimming and petting or feeding livestock. However, problems reached BROCKENHURST post office has doubled its opening hours, with the new operators praising villagers for the way they have “positively embraced” the facil- ity. Richard Dance, who integrat- ed the branch into his Brookley Road Welcome store, said it will now be open 7am to 9pm Mon- day to Saturday and 8am to 9pm on Sunday. “With the increase in people working from home we have been helping individuals and businesses reduce their travel out of the village for banking and other services during these difficult times,” Richard told the A&T. “With this in mind it is great that we are now in a position to be able to offer the complete A CRACKDOWN on organised drug gangs has been hailed a success by Hampshire and Dor- set police forces. Both were involved in a co- ordinated week of action to tackle county lines drug deal- ing – which involves exporting illegal drugs out of cities in to smaller towns – and the associ- ated exploitation of vulnerable people. In Hampshire, 53 address- es were targeted and officers spoke to 39 adults considered vulnerable and potentially at risk of being exploited by deal- ers and signposted them to ap- propriate support. The police also stopped and checked 85 vehicles and checked for signs of drugs mules and child ex- ploitation at rail stations and ferry ports. The operation saw the sei- zure of 1.26kg of cocaine, 166g crack cocaine, 47g heroin and 580g of cannabis. An addition- al £45,000 worth of suspected class A drugs, which are yet to be forensically analysed, were also located after raids in Southampton, Gosport and Andover. Officers also seized £47,000 in cash as well as stolen goods, over 50 mobile phones and 10

WE ARE PLEASED TO CARRY OUT ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION CONDITION REPORTS ON ALL EXISTING AND NEW LETS. (as per new Electrical Regulations which came into force1st June 2020)

CALLING ALL LANDLORDS

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Hatchet Pond has seen a marked rise in visitors since lockdown eased

a critical point during the re- cent easing of lockdown with unprecedented numbers of visitors and a steep increase in prohibited activities including wild camping, littering, the use of barbecues and campfires, swimming, kayaking and pad- dleboarding. Forestry England, the New Forest National Park Authori- ty and the emergency services significantly increased patrols there throughout this period. The urgent plan agreed by Forest organisations aims to increase protection of the site and covers a range of measures designed to halt the decline and restore the renowned beauty spot. Measures include relocating the car park, subject to plan- ning consent, away from the pond edge while retaining views over it. The toilet block will also be removed to reduce the risk of pollution. There will also be a focus on improved information and signage at the pond highlight- ing its conservation status and importance, together with increased engagement with the public to encourage them to help protect this special place.

Bruce Rothnie, Forestry England’s deputy surveyor of the New Forest, said: “Hatchet Pond is an incredibly important place for nature and wildlife. It is one of the few places across the country where you can still find so many rare species in one place. It is also a special place for people to enjoy and appreci- ate nature and its beauty. “Working together with other organisations involved in look- ing after the Forest we are tak- ing action to help protect this incredibly valuable location, build wider awareness of its importance and ensure its long- term survival.” Dr Naomi Ewald, from Fresh- water Habitats Trust, said: “Hatchet Pond is a unique and special place. There are no oth- er water bodies in lowland Eng- land which support the same number of plants and animals, and so many rarities which are in decline elsewhere. Once lost, it will not be possible to recre- ate a site as good as this, so we need to take action now.” Jenny Thomas, New Forest specialist at Natural England, said: “Hatchet pond is of excep- tional ecological value, support- ing a staggering 133 wetland plant species, more than one third of all the wetland species

in the UK, along with numerous invertebrates. “Natural England is delighted that this programme of restora- tion works is underway, which will help to protect and restore Hatchet Pond for the benefit of all the plants and animals which depend on it, as well as safeguarding it for the enjoy- ment and wellbeing of New For- est residents and visitors.” Nigel Mathews, the NPA’s head of recreation management and learning, said: “Over the summer, especially in the hot- ter weather, large numbers of people gravitated towards this beauty spot. “Sadly, some ignored the signs and left litter, lit barbe- cues, petted the livestock and entered the water to go swim- ming, boating or paddle board- ing. “Working closely with Forest- ry England we set up increased ranger patrols to remind peo- ple of the New Forest’s special qualities and how their actions could upset the natural envi- ronment and commoners’ ani- mals. “As the local planning author- ity, we will be dealing with the associated planning applica- tion for the works at Hatchet Pond in due course.” village centre post box being closed. “I am pleased to say the re- opening of the post office has gone really well and has been embraced positively by the vil- lage, with customers coming in to use us regularly for this ser- vice.” As reported in the A&T, the post office reopened in March after the previous one in the vil- lage closed in August 2019 be- cause it proved unviable for the operator. A spokeswoman for the Post Office Ltd said: “ Mr Dance has been using experienced staff from his other post office at Marchwood to allow the branch to reopen as training of new post office staff could not take place at the time of opening.”

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Village post office hours doubled

Richard Dance and his wife Karen opened the post off ice in March

range of services for extended opening hours – a level that has not been seen before in

Brockenhurst. We are also happy to take in standard post any time due to the

Week-long drug gangs crackdown

Keep your mind active with our

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Officers carried out checks at railw ay stations

bring to justice those running these toxic drug networks.” In Dorset officers seized over £4,000 in cash, along with quantities of suspected class A drugs, a Jaguar car and a flick knife. Nine people were arrested on suspicion of supply offences and more than 20 checks were

carried out to ensure vulnerable people were safe and well. Two referrals were made to the rele- vant agency regarding suspect- ed modern slavery offences. Anyone who has information about drug dealing or has no- ticed suspicious activity should contact police on 101 or 999 in an emergency.

weapons, the majority of which were knives. Ch. Spt Nigel Lecointe said: “The collaborative work be- tween Hampshire Constab- ulary and our partners will only increase and intensi- fy in the coming weeks and months ahead. We will contin- ue to shine a spotlight on and

1. Fungi 2. Boron 3. Edward Hopper 4. Brazil 5. Four (France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg)

1. Madagascar 2. Wannabe 3. Coffee 4. Six 5. Oliver!

25th September 2020 Answers quiz answers