Milford residents asked to chip in to help buy meadow for community
VILLAGERS are being asked to splash out and help raise £100,000 to buy an area of land for the community.
Milford Parish Council wants to buy the overgrown grassland near All Saints Church in Milford, which adjoins a community meadow space. It would then be owned and maintained by the council as a green space for residents to enjoy.
The half-acre site has gone up for sale with a guide price of £100,000 almost a decade after it was bequeathed to the Friends of Christchurch Priory. The land adjacent to it was left to the parish of Milford to be retained as a community space.
Milford parish clerk Graham Wells said: “With the upcoming sale of the northern part of the meadow the parish council believes it should make every attempt to acquire this land to protect it in perpetuity as a green open space.”
As previously reported, the site owned by the Friends of Christchurch Priory was the subject of failed planning bid in 2022 to build a four-bedroom house. Now the charity has put the plot on the market.
Mr Wells continued: “It is hoped that the generosity of the community will strengthen a bid and improve the chances of being awarded this tender.
“The parish council is therefore asking for pledges to be made in order to determine the size of the bid that the village can make.
“A pledge of any size will be gratefully received. All pledges will be kept strictly confidential; money pledged will only be required if the parish council’s bid is successful.”
The former owner of the land, Diane Gillespie, died in 2015 leaving one section of the site to Milford Parish Council – on the basis that should be kept as a community meadow – and a second plot to the Friends without any stipulations about how the land should be used.
A planning application by Bayview Homes was then submitted in 2022 looking to develop the land with a four-bedroom bungalow. However, the application triggered 322 letters of objection from residents, as well as the formation of campaign group Friends of the Meadow.
The application was rejected by New Forest District Council after planning officers concluded it would have a detrimental impact on two listed buildings nearby and would not enhance the conservation area.
A subsequent planning appeal was dismissed by a government inspector who said that development would “severely” reduce the distinctive quality of the shared setting of important historic buildings. As a result of this ruling, it has been deemed unlikely planning permission will be granted for any development.
A parish council spokesperson added: “Please help us to create a legacy for the village by trying to acquire an important parcel of land, in the centre of our beautiful community, which is beyond value.”
Pledges of support can be emailed to clerk@milfordonseaparishcouncil.gov.uk before 26th November. Offers of funding can also be discussed by visiting the parish office at 22 High Street or by calling 01590 644410.
