Dr Julian Lewis was re-elected as New Forest East Constituency MP.

Mr Mel Kendall was re-elected as Lyndhurst Division Hampshire County Councillor.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II GOLDEN JUBILEE 2002

An additional Bank Holiday has been declared for Monday 3^rd June 2002 in celebration of the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

A County Service will be held in Winchester Cathedral on 2^nd June 2002 and your PC will help co-ordinate events in Minstead similar to those for the Silver Jubilee.

Such things as a Tea Party on the Green and a Street Party have already been proposed and we would be pleased to hear of other ideas and suggestions that you'd like to make. We need everyone to suggest, plan, create, organise, co-ordinate, prepare, present and participate in this celebration. As it is a little less than a year away, let's get the ball rolling now.

Initially please register your interest and ideas with Cllr Bill Andrews by phone, fax, email or letter.

FOOT & MOUTH

All car parks, footpaths and bridleways are now open to public use, on condition that:-

·          Dogs are kept under control on a (2m max) lead

·          Contact with animals is avoided

·          We keep to the main tracks.

Cattle are now dispersed throughout the Forest and are at risk from contact with:-

·          People who work with livestock or in the industry, their dogs and vehicles

·          Dung or mud containing the virus dropping from vehicles having been picked up when passing through infected premises

·          Other people or dogs who may have strayed on to infected premises.

An added dimension to FMD control is the risk of disturbing Schedule 1 birds nesting on the ground in unusual places because there has been a long period without people & cattle on the Forest.

NEW FOREST NATIONAL PARK

No doubt you will have seen the Countryside Agency's revised proposed boundary for a National Park in the local press.  The Agency has just launched the next round of consultations, this time concerning possible administrative arrangements for a New Forest National Park Authority.  Besides sending every household documents for comments (must be in by 30^th September) they are holding a number of exhibitions, venues and dates for which can be located on their website www.countryside.gov.uk. Nearest to us is Bramshaw Village Hall on Thursday, 2nd August. Your Parish Council remains committed against the formation of a National Park but it is important to comment, if only to try to retain some local say on a National Park authority if it is imposed upon us.

DIBDEN BAY

A Public Enquiry into ABP's proposed Dibden Bay Port will be held at Esso (Fawley) Recreation Club, Holbury starting on Tuesday 30^th October. Minstead PC has indicated to the inspector that they intend to make written representations regarding the increase of traffic from the proposed port traveling westwards along the A31 through the parish.

CORRECTION

Mrs Annie COOPER (Chairman of the Minstead PC for 2001) email address in issue 1 should have read annie_cooper@talk21.com

NEW FACE

Mr Simon FISHER has been co-opted onto the Parish Council in place of Mrs Janet McCarraher who has moved to Salisbury.

My wife Vicky & I moved to Minstead in 1988 after living all our lives around Oxford. My bigger family are all doctors, I am the one who escaped to fly aeroplanes (until I moved here!). Our three children, Sally-Anne, Thomas and Richard, are all adults - we even have two grandchildren. As a sideline Vicky & I have run a holiday tour company, a gym club and organised many "Outward Bound" type activities e.g. walking, climbing, sailing & canoeing. I like to get results and effect change if required. I will do my best for the Parish.

MILL LANE

Continues to cause problems as a commuter rat-run despite the traffic calming measures carried out a couple of years ago, and is now exacerbated by the Lyndhurst High Street alterations and further by the cable laying in and around the area. Your Parish Council and Lyndhurst P.C along with residents of Mill Lane, Pikes Hill, Peartree Lane and the Emery Down end of the C17 had a useful meeting with the County Surveyor, John Ekins. Assisted by your County Councillor Mel Kendall we sought further measures to alleviate the suffering of the residents caused by main road traffic travelling along a little country lane. There is unlikely ever to be a complete answer but hopefully some improvement. We now hear that Lyndhurst By-pass proposals are again being mooted - Hurrah! That has to be the answer to most of the traffic problems in the area particularly in Lyndhurst. But a word of caution, we have to remember that this idea was first suggested seventy years ago!

We all know that commuters learn alternative routes very quickly and they don't forget them. So you can imagine how horrified your Parish Council was when yet more diversion signs were erected directing traffic southwards down the C17 turning left at Robins Bush cross-road through Newtown to Minstead whilst Lyndhurst Rd -Malwood end was closed. Traffic soon learnt that travelling from Emery Down end they could filter out through Minstead to Cadnam - a longer route maybe, but their wheels would keep turning (according to research this is what every commuter wants) Your PC has written a very strong letter of complaint to the County Surveyor concerning this and also persuaded the Local Association of Parish Councils to do the same, requesting that every Parish Council should be consulted for local knowledge before such signs are erected in the future.

FÊTE & BEER FESTIVAL, 11^TH AUGUST 2001

The annual Minstead Village Fête will be held on 11^th August at the Village Green. There will be a Beer Festival at the Trustee Servant on the same date. Proceeds from the Fête will go to the Pahar Trust.

Cllr Steve Cattell would like to hear from all of you with ideas for stalls, sideshows & activities and who will participate, & help.

LENGTHSMAN

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Stephen Short to the post of Lenghthsman to the village of Minstead. For a Parish Council to employ such a person is a new innovation for the County of Hampshire and we understand the rest of the County will be watching with interest what we hope will be a successful venture. Of course this is really not a new concept, until the late fifties every village had it's Lenghthsman, employed by the local authority. Brian Dibden's father, a former Parish Councillor who used to live in Dunbridge Cottage was the last person to hold that post in Minstead. He kept all the culverts, ditches and grips free running and generally kept the village tidy (for want of a better word). Of course in those days he worked full time but then times have changed and the Parish Council can only afford ten hours per month today with our present precept (that is the amount of money allocated to a Parish Council out of the local Community tax).

Because of the limited time available all work will be overseen and prioritised by Cllr Steve Cattell so please when you see Mr Short at work do not harass him into attending to what you think is of the utmost importance but contact Cllr Cattell who will allocate the work to be carried out in due course.

ROAD WORKS

Once M P Burke has completed the work in Bull Lane that will be the end of this cable trench digging on behalf of Scottish & Southern Energy Telecom Ltd in Minstead Parish. We know that some people who actually had the work near their homes have been disrupted but also know that only one person was sufficiently concerned to complain to the company directly. No one has written any complaint to this council - which should of course have been the first point of contact.

(Editor's note: I have to say that the team that was in the Malwood vicinity under Mr Alan Osborne was courteous, helpful and polite. They moved equipment and transports readily when asked and did their very best to minimise inconvenience to residents).

The work itself has been well described in the local media but briefly is to connect Totton and Christchurch education facilities by fibre-optic cable as part of a link eventually serving the whole of southern England. Routing through Minstead was chosen after Hampshire County Council refused permission to pass through Lyndhurst, and the work was mostly in the roadway as many Forest grass verges are listed as Sites of Special Scientific Interest and are protected by English Heritage. Road surfaces appear to have been properly reinstated within our Parish.

Exposure to radio waves near Mobile Phone masts

We have approached the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) and the Radiocommunications Agency (RA) regarding Electromagnetic Fields and public health in the vicinity of the mast at Malwood. The RA is conducting an audit of this for mobile phone base station masts close to schools (see www.radio.gov.uk) but has no intention of looking at others. We think that they should, what do you say? A copy of the Stewart Report (Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones) and sundry other documentation is available for your perusal, contact Cllr Bill Andrews. The new owner of Castle Malwood (Triangle Computers Ltd) has carried out his own survey and found that the EMFs are well within limits. However he may be within the skip area closest to the mast.

RAGWORT PULLING

Come and join us for this necessary and worthwhile event which takes place on Monday 16th July. We'll meet at the Village Green at 6.30pm and will certainly finish before the Trustee closes, as the Chairman will buy the first round! The danger of leaving ragwort is that if it is allowed to wilt animals find it palatable, eat it and die from ragwort poisoning. Pulling it before it seeds ensures that there will be less to pull next year. If you cannot be there please collect some bags and Pull it, Bag it & Dump it at the Village Shop & PO from where the PC will see to its safe disposal.

RECYCLING

When you've read the newspaper or magazine, where does it go? It's not rubbish, so recycle it!

Project Integra, Hampshire's waste management partnership, challenges everybody to recycle newspapers and magazines. You may have seen posters, stickers or articles in the local press asking for all your newspapers and magazines to be recycled - don't bin them or they will be buried in the ground!

Recycling is an energy efficient and sustainable way of providing the paper needed for tomorrow's news.

All magazines, brochures, catalogues and newspapers are acceptable. If in doubt, recycle it, and they'll sort it out.

It is very easy to recycle in Hampshire. Over 90% of households have a home collection of recyclables (100% of Minstead Parish). They are transferred to a Materials Recovery Facility where they are sorted and separated before being baled and sent to paper mills. Here the recycled paper is manufactured into newsprint.

Used newspapers and magazines are an important resource, not rubbish to be disposed of, so please help Project Integra and when you've read it, recycle it!

YOUNG PERSON'S CONCESSIONARY TRAVEL

NFDC is giving assistance vouchers valid for one year amounting to £38 to each person over 14 and under 17 years of age in Minstead Parish (among others). They may be used in full or part payment on Wilts & Dorset Buses, Herringtons Coaches, Damory Coaches, Solent Blue Line Buses, NFDC registered taxis/private hire vehicles and special bus services. Application forms are available at the Minstead Shop & PO.

INTERNET ANYONE?

UK Online is a government initiative that aims to ensure that everyone in the country has computer and internet access through a network of 700 centres across the UK. Totton College has opened centres at Blackfield and Hythe, which give a free basic introduction to information technology, including keyboard skills, word processing, spreadsheets, the internet and desktop publishing. They also plan a series of workshops on the internet and email, and topics such as tracing your family tree, hobbies, job hunting and pets.

NEW FOREST PRIDE

Another public-spirited effort organised by the Forestry Commission but of course using local volunteers. Originally it was to have taken place in April ready for the visitors, but because of Foot and Mouth precautions it will now take place between 15th and 23rd September. At least we shall benefit with a nice tidy Forest this winter. Watch for details that will be posted in the Village shop.

MALWOOD FARM ACCESS

Strong personal direct representation was made to the New Forest District Council Planning Committee opposing on the grounds of Traffic Safety the opening of the underpass and creation of a gravel track to join Running Hill Lane. NFDC members appeared to support this view but then seemed to have been influenced by the spectre of the expense of a Public Inquiry. District Councillor Mr David Scott states "NFDC strongly opposed Malwood Farm underpass but was overruled by Hampshire Highways, who said that National Safety Standards were met." The outcome was that the proposal was reported locally as having been "Approved". What value should be put on human life which will surely be at risk if this asinine development is allowed to proceed? This is still strongly opposed by your PC and we urge you to write directly to NFDC Planning Committee in support of this view.