New Milton Advertiser 4th Dec 2020

Friday 4th December 2020 · 3 News

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Meet the mask crusaders cleaning up town streets

Man jailed for spitting at two police o cers

TWO instances of spitting at a police officer landed an Ash- ley man with an 84-day spell in prison. Kyran Hambling (26), of An- drew Lane, spat at PC Bartosz Tluchowski at Southampton General Hospital in September last year, the city’s magistrates’ court heard. He initially denied the charge but changed his plea and was ordered to pay the officer £100 compensation. Hambling had also been con- victed at Dorset Magistrates’ Court for spitting at an officer who intervened when the de-

fendant abused a bystander at Bournemouth police station in October. The following day Hambling damaged a police cell. Hambling also admitted us- ing threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour towards a Hythe man and dam- aging windows and doors in March. He was told to pay that vic- tim £100 compensation over those matters which had put him in breach of a condition- al discharge he was given for doing £80 damage to a Fawley house.

Animal-loving pair pick up 147 facemasks in week’s litter-pick

discarded personal protective equip- ment accounted for 88% of rub- bish collected in litter picks na- tionwide since March. Describing the

BY CHRIS MARCH

AMOTHER and daughter from New Milton are on a mission to protect animals by cleaning up facemasks scattered around their town. Tammie Jones (41) and Rhia (14), of Greenwood Close, were inspired to take action after becoming frustrated by the number of masks they saw lit- tering streets and parks while walking their two dogs, Hunter and Tinchy. Tammie told the A&T: “It was mostly Rhia, but we were really concerned by all the masks that were about, and we just thought that rather than worry about it, we would do something. “It’s not just that it looks dis- gusting having all these masks lying around, but there is also the danger to wildlife. “People should be aware of where their masks go. I’ve seen pictures of birds with masks stuck in their beaks, and that’s heartbreaking to see.” THE consultation on a new waste collection system for the New Forest, which could in- clude introducing wheelie bins, is flawed, members of Hythe and Dibden Parish Council have claimed. The Conservative-run dis- trict council recently launched a survey on plans to move away from weekly collections of rub- bish and recycling sacks. There is currently no service for food waste, and glass is collected ev- ery four weeks. If given the go-ahead, the new scheme would see collections on alternate weeks for rubbish and recycling, and a separate weekly food waste pick-up. The plans were blasted by members of the Liberal Demo- crat-controlled parish council as they discussed it at a meet- ing on Wednesday last week. Cllr Mark Clark said he was not happy with the way the questionnaire had been put to- gether. He said: “It’s a loaded consultation. It leads you to one single conclusion, which is what the council wants in place, which is the wheelie bins. I take issue with the questionnaire and the consultation.” Council chair Cllr Malcolm Wade said: “Having been a councillor for many years, that is what local government con- sultation seems to be like. They want a result; they send out a POLICE are hunting a mo- torist who racially abused an- other man after speeding into a Christchurch car park and nearly colliding with him. Officers have asked for wit- nesses and dash cam footage after the local victim, who is in his 40s and originally from Po- land, was targeted in what they called a “hate crime” outside Wickes in Somerford Road be- tween midday and 12.30pm on Saturday 21st November. The victim became involved in a verbal exchange with the suspect, who reportedly en- tered the car park at speed be-

issue as “endemic”, she said: “Our plea to the public is where they are wearing masks to protect the community, they similarly need to dispose of them cor- rectly to protect the environ- ment. “There is anecdotal evidence that discarded PPE is pos- ing a hazard to wildlife. The disposable masks are lined in plastic – they are non-biode- gradable. “We’ve been campaigning quite widely for months now for people to do the right thing. Put it in the bin – it’s not hard, really.” The RSPCA urged people to snip the straps from their used masks before disposing of them after it was revealed in September that these ac- counted for a portion of 900 nationwide cases of animals tangled in litter since March’s first lockdown. them through their paces, and sadly it seems these modern ve- hicles are just not as robust as they once were. “One vehicle in particular has spent many months being repaired which really isn’t con- venient at all.” A sub-committee of verder- ers has been set up to look into the costs of ending the lease hire agreement early. Ms Westwood added: “We have been watching with in- terest the development of Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineo Grenadier 4x4 vehicles which could be a better alternative for us.”

Rhia Jones and her mum Tammie picked up 147 discarded masks in one week, and (inset) a gull entangled in a mask

find a mask, she says ‘That’s one animal saved, mum’,” she explained. On Monday they had col- lected a total of 147 discarded masks in the space of a week, and they are expanding their campaign to cover surround- ing areas including Barton and Highcliffe. “We like to be proactive and do something, and this is the perfect way to do it,” Tammie

continued. “This pandemic is not going to go away any time soon, with people needing to continue wearing facemasks. “If more people out there are more aware of what they are doing with their masks, that’s the important thing.” Keep Britain Tidy chief executive officer Alison Ogden-Newton told the A&T

The pair initially used their dog poo bags to pick up the masks, but have now secured grabbers and biodegradable bags. Tammie, who also acts as a carer for Rhia, who has autism and attention deficit hyperac- tivity disorder, explained the collections helped keep her mind occupied. “This is something Rhia gets a real buzz from. Every time we

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Forest waste consultation ‘flawed’

Agisters’ ailing 4x4 fleet

THE contract hire agreement on a fleet of 4x4 vehicles used by the agisters could be termi- nated a year early after a series of breakdowns. The vehicles are often used off-road and for tow- ing trailers with heavy loads, but are now five years old and have been plagued with prob- lems. Verderers clerk Sue West- wood said: “It has become a real headache – three out of the five vehicles have needed signif- icant repairs, and the problems seem to be ongoing. “The agisters certainly do put

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The district could be set for wheelie bins

sultation and the lack of ability to comment.” Cllr Phillip Dowd added: “I do think we need to make a strong case for reduction, and that is the main focus. That has to be the forefront in any waste strat- egy. “I also think we need to put pressure on comments about the county giving a new con- tract to Veolia before this exer- cise was done, which is going to restrict what can be collected in terms of waste, so there are bigger issues there.” As reported in the A&T, the proposals have also came un- der fire from Copythorne Parish Council, with its members also attacking “misleading” infor- mation about the costs of the scheme. “I am appealing to any wit- nesses or motorists who were in the car park at the time and may have captured something relevant on dash cam to please contact us. “I understand a number of people approached the victim after the altercation to check he was alright, and I would be keen to hear from these individ- uals as they may be potential witnesses.” Contact Dorset Police on 101, quoting crime reference num- ber 55200175485, or call Crime- stoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

consultation to meet that.” Cllr Alex Wade told the meet- ing it was important the council represented the feedback it had received from residents. He said: “We all know the community has different hous- es, different roads, different is- sues. A wheelie bin works per- fectly in one area and it really doesn’t in another. People have different views, very strong views on all sides.” He added: “I think we should emphasise that we welcome food waste being dealt with but have concerns about the cur- rent survey and the accessibil- ity of it for those who cannot go online. “As a council we should rep- resent the frustration of the timescale and the type of con- fore parking in a disabled bay, nearly hitting him. After hurling racist abuse, the man approached him “with his arms raised and fists clenched” and started swinging punches. The victim dodged the blows and returned to his own vehicle. The offender is described as white, in his 50s, around 5ft 9in tall, of slim build, and driving a blue car, believed to have been a Ford C-Max. PC James Prowse said: “We take hate crime very seriously and are carrying out a number of enquiries to identify the man responsible for this offence.

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