Cautious optimism for setback-hit No. 1 New Milton heritage centre project at old station master’s house

FRESH hope has emerged for New Milton’s disused station master’s house to potentially host a £100,000 heritage centre.

First mooted nearly six years ago, No.1 New Milton – so called because the house was the town’s first building in 1886 – has been plagued with numerous delays and setbacks.

It was spearheaded by the late then deputy mayor Cllr Keith Craze to be carried out in collaboration between the town council and Milton Heritage Society.

Earlier this year it looked like the project had hit the buffers for good after it was discovered around £300,000 was needed to address significant drainage issues, as well as an unstable wall.

Network Rail withdrew funding for the work, and the partners believed they would need to find an alternative venue.

But Mandy Hayes, of the newly-formed Friends of New Milton Station, brought some cautious optimism to a recent town council amenities committee meeting.

She announced the project’s steering group had a promising meeting with the Hampshire Community Rail Partnership (HCRP).

This organisation has a track record of restoring old railway stations, she explained, with one example being a £1.3m scheme at Romsey.

“They [the HCRP] believe the New Milton station master’s house is a workable project,” Ms Hayes said.

She added the organisation might also be willing to take on the lease, reducing the town council’s involvement with the project.

Thanking Mrs Hayes for the update, amenities chairman Cllr Geoff Blunden commented it looked “very promising” and wished the steering group well with it.

Cllr Alan O’Sullivan, who has been involved as Milton Heritage Society treasurer, said: “The No.1 project has got legs this time, and we’re really excited about it.

“We’re looking at getting it off the ground and getting the funding to get it going.”

Cllr Blunden added: “It’s been several years, so we’re really excited to start. I really hope we can get there for the people of New Milton.”

Speaking to the A&T afterwards, Mrs Hayes stressed it was very early days and was reluctant to get people’s hopes up amid ongoing talks with the HCRP.

Milton Heritage Society chairman Nick Saunders said: “The new development in the plan to restore the station master's house and turn it into a heritage centre is very welcome.”

As previously reported, South Western Railway was said to have contributed a “significant amount” towards the centre’s expected cost of up to £100,000.

Funding also came from the National Railway Heritage Society, with further sums from developers’ contributions and local donations. Local taxpayers were footing up to £20,000 on a match-funding basis.

The No.1 New Milton plan gathered momentum in late 2019 when New Forest District Council granted a change of use for the house from a dwelling to a heritage centre/museum.

By this time it had been disused for about 10 years.

Intended to host a free-to-enter attraction telling the history of Milton Parish, the building would contain exhibits in each room of the ground floor.

A large room upstairs would be taken up by a learning centre for schools and youth groups, also featuring further heritage displays.

With disabled access provision to the first floor not possible, cameras would feed footage of exhibits to monitors downstairs.

Previous delaying factors over the years included the pandemic and uncertainty over funding.