Land to be sold next to Milford on Sea Community Meadow

it is understood the land directly next to the Milford Community Meadow is to go on sale for £100,000

The Community Meadow, just beside All Saints' Church, was opened by Milford on Sea Parish Council when hosting a village picnic on Saturday 22nd June 2019.

The meadow was bequeathed by the late Diane Gillespie, a generous Milford on Sea resident. 

The legacy was in two parcels of land, one made to the Friends of Christchurch Priory, the other to Milford on Sea Parish Council on condition that it should remain an open space to the benefit of the community.

In December 2022 The Friends of Milford Meadow were pleased to report that following significant local objection, a planning application by Bayview Developments to build a four-bedroom house on  the Friends of Christchurch Priory land close to the Community Meadow was refused.

Photo by Ginny Campbell

It is understood that over the last two years the Parish Council has had several meetings and communications with the Priory about the future of the Meadow - not least about the unmaintained state of the land.

At a recent meeting, the Friends of the Priory were encouraged to let the Parish Council know what they envisaged for the land and it was emphasised that the Parish would like first refusal on buying the meadow, but would need time to raise the money with community involvement. 

Subsequently, we have been informed that the land will be offered by tender via Goadsby Estate Agents in Bournemouth with a guide price of £100,000. The tender period is likely to commence in November 2024.

It is also understood that the Priory intend to erect a fence of ‘up to 2m’ to define the boundary around land. The original transfer document stipulated that the boundary should be defined by a shallow clear ditch. The Parish Council has always resisted this because it felt that a ditch could be dangerous. The fencing work could start around the 30th October 2024.

The Priory also wished that the Parish Council would designate a path through their land so that they would have ‘more flexibility’ in how they could use the site. We understand that the Parish Council do not wish to alter the terms of the granted right of way.

The future of the site is set to be discussed at a meeting of Milford Parish Council on Monday 21st October 2024 at 6.30pm in the Village Hall, Park Road.