New Milton Town Council maintains opposition to amended plans by New Milton Sand and Ballast for gravel extraction at Ashley Manor Farm, Barton

NEW Milton Town Council has maintained its opposition to controversial plans for gravel extraction in Barton after an amended application.

As reported in the A&T, New Milton Sand and Ballast (NMSB) has applied to Hampshire County Council for permission to extract 1.7-million tonnes of sand and gravel from Ashley Manor Farm, which runs parallel to Angel Lane, over a 12-year period.

An amended application was discussed at a meeting of the town council’s planning committee last night (Thursday), ahead of the end of the public consultation on Tuesday. The town council previously strongly objected to the initial application.

The changes include alterations to public access and roundabout improvements to access the A337, and the plan also gave further details on restoration using imported materials, and predicted dust and noise modelling.

The county council recently ran a public consultation over its own draft minerals and waste plan, which could include Ashley Manor Farm and Yeatton Farm in Hordle in its list of potential quarries.

Speaking at the meeting, planning committee chairman Cllr Steve Clarke said the site was still under consideration to be included in the strategic plan and called it “a chicken and egg situation”.

He added: “I suggest we maintain our opposition to this and await the outcome. That is our best course at this time.”

The move to extract at Ashley Manor Farm is opposed by a raft of local residents, including those who have formed campaign group RAGE (Residents Against Gravel Extraction), town councillors and the New Forest District Council.

However, it also has support from residents and traders who use NMSB, arguing that building materials needed to come from somewhere and the development would be good for the local economy.

Speaking at the meeting on behalf of RAGE was Marilyn Husbands who said: “The applicants propose to extinguish most of the [site’s] public right of way with new dedicated foothpaths inside the perimeter of the site.

“These proposed paths do not replace the existing peaceful public right-of-way that has given access across the open site of best and most versatile land for generations.”

She also raised concerns over the use of infill waste sourced from outside the local area and added: “This will create a great many more heavy traffic movements coming in to and through New Milton until at least 2041, and probably much longer as the availability of this material is questionable.”

The proposed enlargement of the roundabout at Caird Avenue was “only of benefit to the applicant”, she added, while “huge chunks” of hedgerow would be removed.

She added: “If this planning application were to be passed, the main road in to New Milton would look like, and indeed become, the entrance to a very large building site.”