Strong objection to the inclusion of Ashley Manor Farm in the Hampshire County Council Minerals and Waste Plan
SIR – I hereby wish to register the very strongest objection to the inclusion of Ashley Manor Farm in the Hampshire County Council ‘Minerals and Waste Plan’.
This land is particularly open and highly visible to the countless users of the adjacent Lymington road (A337) – the busiest of all the roads in the area.
The land is uniquely, refreshingly and surprisingly undeveloped, similar to a pocket of downland – and is therefore wonderfully aesthetically uplifting as a beautiful piece of unspoiled farmland to pass through, yielding lovely moments of ‘release’, heightened by the dramatic clear break and contrasting with the densely built-up areas of Barton-on-Sea and New Milton.
It is totally available to be appreciated by all – you don’t even have to slow down on the road! All of which has rightly been recognised in being placed in the highest category of Green Belt designations.
Other proposed inclusion sites are at least somewhat naturally hidden from such a full and constant public gaze.
This proposal would therefore transform this piece of unspoiled countryside into a ghastly, hideous, distressing, ongoing eyesore – moments of ‘Joie de vivre’ turned to ‘Mors de vivre’ (‘Joy of life’ to Death of life’). It would be a perpetual disgraceful proof of the cold, high-handed disregard for nature and human sensitivity of the Authority that would have actually encouraged such cruel desecration of maiden landscape beauty in full view to all.
This would all be an obscene joke, if it wasn’t actually being mooted.
Therefore, wake up! Recognise the unique natural and visual importance of the area, as a exceptional aesthetic asset, and purge any thought of its destruction in an abhorrent industrial holocaust, for all to watch and judge.
Name and address supplied
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SIR – I refer to your recent article (A&T 28 April 2023) highlighting New Milton Sand & Ballast’s latest consultation period regarding their planning application to extract 1.7-million tonnes of sand and gravel from the rural site that is Ashley Manor Farm, to the south of Caird Avenue.
The site is also separately subject to potential inclusion as a preferred site in the updated minerals and waste plan.
The prospect of New Milton suffering the dual blights of NMSB’s Solent Distribution Centre (stockpiles of aggregates, washing, sorting and distribution) AND an active quarry opposite, within metres of our town, is real.
The site has been rejected twice previously, the inspector considering the semi-rural aspect of Ashley Manor Farm essential to the setting of New Milton. If permitted now, the quarry would be operational for 12-15 years, the strong prevailing south westerly winds carrying dust and noise over a very wide area.
An enlarged Caird Avenue roundabout and new concrete haul road for 150 daily movements of lorries of up to 40 tonnes across the fields and exiting opposite Caird Avenue, would create a semi-industrial approach to New Milton.
The farm comprises Grade 2 ‘Best and Most Versatile’ agricultural land – a precious resource in these days of food insecurity. This would be partially stripped, quarried and replaced with 1.4-million tonnes of inert waste, incurring further lorry movements.
The current stockpiles of sand and gravel stored at NMSB’s expanding Solent Distribution Centre have severely damaged the natural screening and created a quarry-like view when entering our town along the A337.
Government policy is changing, and requests for action to prevent quarrying close to towns, partly due to health concerns, are being put forward by MPs.
If you have concerns about this planning application please email planning@hants.gov.uk or address your letter to Development Management, Universal Services, Elizabeth II Court West, The Castle, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 8UD, by 30th May 2023, marking it HCC/2022/0338 (include your name and address in all correspondence).
Julia Bowen and Pamela Perry
RAGE (Residents Against Gravel Extraction)
