Letter: A brief feasibility study into reopening Ampress Halt station

SIR – Perhaps I could save the cost of a feasibility study into reopening Ampress Halt (A&T, 29th April)? It isn't.

1. I do a litter pick around Ampress Park every Sunday morning. I suggest that the councillors walk from the Halt to the hospital, preferably on a cold, wet day, and see how far they are apart.

2. The Halt opened as a private halt to serve Wellworthy's factory in 1956. The service never appeared in a timetable (source: Change at Brockenhurst, Gordon Wynne).

3. Like the mythical Lymington Shores bridge it would almost certainly require lift(s) to allow disabled access.

4. The additional stops (four an hour) would impact on the connections with the ferry and at Brockenhurst.

5. When the site was being developed a cycle path was constructed that runs along Marsh Lane to Lymington New Forest Hospital. I believe the intention was for staff (and presumably not patients) to cycle there. It is seldom, if ever used.

Feasibility study complete. Next!

Brian Matthews,
Lymington