Stalag Milford Liberated

Since the Valentine's Night Storm devastation on Milford on Sea seafront, the beach has been obscured by fencing that would not look out of place surrounding a prison.

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The New Forest District Council, along with many of the emergency services, did an excellent job on the night of the storm, and immediately after, clearing the havoc along the front. Since then, there has been heavy machinery removing the severely damaged concrete beach huts and men in florescent jackets inspecting the scene and occasionally scratching their heads.

It is clear that the council guys are on the case, and it is pleasing that they see the rebuilding of the seafront as important, which it is of course is for the village tourism trade and enjoyment of all.

However, and inevitably, there is no doubt that numerous NFDC committee's are being consulted to decided the final plan for the seafront, so as we speak the beach hut owners still remain in the dark as to what will be decided. Whether many of the huts are lost forever no one yet knows.

Even Taz looks sad!

Having just be through the process of getting a road closure for the Food Market, I was amazed to see over a dozen people from various bodies were consulted for our £130 fee. You can only imagine how many people are involved in deciding what to do with the extraordinary situation everyone has found themselves in after the storm.

There is some good news though, the NFDC Head of Environment Services recently wrote: "I met this morning to look at the possibility of opening up some of the Beach which is currently fenced off for the Easter weekend. The good news is that we will tomorrow start removing some of the fencing at the White house end of the Beach, opposite the Toilet Block and the Needles Eye Café to allow further access to the Beach. Some areas of the lower prom will still remain out of bounds due to the concerns regarding the Beach Hut stability. Hopefully this will improve access to the Beach for the Bank Holiday weekend."

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With the holiday season about to get underway this is good to hear, and many people in Milford on Sea now await the announcement of what will happen permanently, so that we can get our beach back and once again enjoy the view of the sea without having to look through a mesh grill!