News

In this communication:

Resident survey results Being safe at the coast Cost of living information and advice How to dispose of electricals and batteries New Forest Code Christmas tree recycling results Hampshire Kitchen Heroes Our latest job vacancies

Resident survey results

We’ve released the initial findings of our survey with residents.

The survey asked about a range of topics, like climate and the environment, living in the area, safety, and access to council services.

We will be doing a lot more analysis and work with the data to see what it is telling us, but early results are positive, with some clear improvement areas identified:

96% of residents feel very or fairly safe in their local area in the day, and 73% after dark 93% of residents are satisfied with the area as a place to live 89% feel their local area is a place where people get on well together 82% of people who contacted us about an enquiry or problem found it easy 78% are satisfied with the way we run things 75% feel worried about the impact of climate change 74% trust us a great deal or fair amount 66% feel we could do more to encourage households to recycle more 62% feel their financial situation got worse over the last 12 months and 34% report that they are just about managing 60% agreed that we are making the local area a better place to live

Cabinet will be discussing the results at their 1 February meeting (10am) and looking at how they can shape our priorities for the future. You can watch the meeting on our YouTube channel, either live or on playback: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY5ng2qulNNQPcqQeQ4uf4g

Thank you if you participated in the survey.

Read more, and find out how to give us your feedback at any time: https://newforest.gov.uk/residentssurvey

Being safe at the coast

Our coastal team continue to monitor the coastline after the recent wet and stormy weather.

Significant rainfall amounts since November are likely to impact on cliff stability, particularly at Barton on Sea and through to Milford on Sea.

Our engineering works team cleared the Fisherman’s Walk pathway at Barton-on-Sea and we continue to monitor the area. A section of coastal path has become unsafe and has been temporarily closed between Taddiford Gap and Milford-on-Sea.

If you are visiting the coast, please be aware of the increased risks of cliff failure due to weather conditions. Keep a safe distance from the cliff edge, which can become undercut following cliff falls, as well as the base of cliff, in case of material falling from above.

To learn more about how we manage our coastline, and to find out how to report an issue, visit our website at https://newforest.gov.uk/article/1220/Coastal-cliff-open-space

Cost of living information and advice

With the rising cost of living, we are working with local partners to help our residents.

There is lots of information and advice on our website at https://newforest.gov.uk/costofliving, including:

warm spaces available around the district, which are heated, free, and safe to use help with food, such as food banks, community fridges and other support what to do if you, or someone you know, is finding it difficult to pay council tax or other bills support for residents who are rough sleeping or have nowhere to live debt advice and support

Citizens Advice New Forest can also be contacted for advice and support https://newforestcab.org.uk/ or call 0808 278 7860.

How to dispose of electricals and batteries

Discarded electricals are one of the fastest-growing sources of waste in the world, and the UK.

It’s important that batteries are never added to recycling and rubbish sacks as they can cause fires when crushed in refuse trucks. This includes batteries in items like electrical toothbrushes and watches, which may be hard to spot.

Batteries can be taken to your local tip (also known as Household Waste and Recycling Centres): https://www.newforest.gov.uk/article/982/Take-rubbish-to-the-tip

You can use Recycle Now’s recycling locator tool on our website to find nearby locations where batteries, electricals, and other household items can be donated or recycled: https://www.newforest.gov.uk/Recyclinglocator

If you have a broken electrical item, it could be repaired by volunteers at Repair Cafés, usually for free or a small donation https://www.hants.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling/loveyourfurniture

New Forest Code

The New Forest National Park Authority’s New Forest Code focuses on nine simple ways visitors and residents can help care for our unique place. This includes:

keeping your distance from the animals (don’t feed or touch them) taking home litter and dog waste no fires or barbecues keeping dogs under control (don’t let dogs approach or chase any animals) parking only in car parks no wild camping sticking to the permitted cycle tracks driving with care helping wildlife by keeping to the main tracks

Find out more at https://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/news/new-forest-code/

Proposed PSPOs – consultation closes in a couple of days

There are two proposed Public Space Protection Orders which you can give your opinion on. These look to ban the lighting of fires and use of barbecues, and the feeding and petting of ponies, horses, mules, and donkeys in the New Forest. Comment here before Friday 27 January: https://newforest.gov.uk/article/3212/Consultation-on-proposed-Public-Space-Protection-Orders

Christmas tree recycling results

This year, we recycled over 6,500 real Christmas trees at our drop-off point locations.

The trees have been chipped to create mulch, which will be used locally to help retain moisture around plant roots, and to prevent weeds from growing. Mulch gets hot during the composting process so we’re now waiting for it to go brown and cool, so it’s safe to lay around plants. This generally takes a few weeks.

Thank you to everyone who dropped their trees off. It all makes a difference and helps us to reduce our impact on the environment.

You can view information on where to recycle items from home or elsewhere in the district, on our website at https://newforest.gov.uk/recycling

Hampshire Kitchen Heroes

There are lots of ways you can reduce food waste and save money.

Sign up for Hampshire Kitchen Heroes for free, and complete actions for a chance to win a prize at the end of each month, such as shopping vouchers. https://www.hampshirekitchenheroes.co.uk/

As a Hampshire Kitchen Hero, you’ll have access to lots of ideas on how to cut food waste, which you can try individually or as a family or group.

Some things you can do include:

keeping a food diary to measure your food waste creating a list to plan your weekly meals checking how long to keep food by understanding date labels playing the ‘Top Chomps’ online game which teaches about the environmental impacts of food waste

Hampshire domestic abuse service

If you, a friend, relative, or neighbour is experiencing domestic abuse, help and access to support is available 24/7.

0330 053 3630 (Call 999 if it is an emergency) www.stopdomesticabuse.uk

Our latest job vacancies

We are recruiting for a number of jobs at the moment, including fencers, plasterers, carpenters, project managers, admin officers, and team leaders.
Search all our current jobs and apply at https://newforest.gov.uk/jobs

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