Ambitious plans for park

The town council agreed on Thursday to recommend the scheme, which would include a wet woodland area, opening up of the river bank for public enjoyment, bird, bat and insect boxes and a stag beetle loggery, be approved subject to further discussions with the district council regarding funding.

Town clerk Terry Simpson said: “This is going to be the prestige site for the town and we are going to do it right.”

But concerns were expressed by councillors about vandalism of any wooden benches and picnic tables and the absence of lighting in the plans.

Cllr Gloria O’Reilly said: “The thing that concerns me is there’s no lighting and it’s a known trouble hotspot in the evening.

“The park bench, or table, that’s there, I can’t begin to tell you in this room the activity I’ve seen there.”

Head of environmental design at NFDC, Neil Williamson, said lighting would be expensive and could add about 50 per cent to the overall cost of the scheme.

New Forest District Council (NFDC) landscape architect Alice Harwood told a meeting of Ringwood town council on Wednesday the £51,000 scheme aims to create a natural park with an emphasis on ecology and wildlife, and for quiet enjoyment.

Natural England has agreed to provide £8,000 to meet the costs of interpretation boards as part of the Living Rivers Scheme, leaving £43,000 to be found from developers and contributors.

Miss Harwood presented a number of ideas for additional items at extra cost including woodland plants at between £5,000 and £10,000, a picnic bench costing £1,850, an access track for the local farmer at £1,800 and various examples of signage ranging from £500 to £5,000.

The scheme also includes a path to match the one on the main Bickerly open space would lead down to the Millstream, with part of this going through woodland boarded in timber for safety, making the path suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs.