AN ACTION plan to make New Milton more vibrant has been presented to local councillors by the town partnership.

Council chairman Cllr John Mason said: "I think it's well structured and well thought out and it embodies a lot of what the town has started thinking about and doing.

"We endorse what they're doing and hope that we can stay in partnership to do many things."

Backed also by New Forest and Hampshire councils, Tourism South East, the South East England Development Agency and the Countryside Agency, the Action Plan for New Milton and Barton-on-Sea will take place over the coming 10 years.

Although it is now set down in a 40-page document, town project officer Alison Talbot says the ideas in it are malleable. "It is not a document set in stone," she said. Many of the 30 projects listed are already being actioned.

They include the setting up of the Whistles children's day nursery at Arnewood School and the Friends of Ballard Water Meadows group.

A transport information leaflet giving bus and train times, taxi contact numbers and Cango and Dial-a-Ride services has been produced.

Two editions of Chill, a magazine for teens, have been published with a third waiting in the wings.

The Ashley play area is up and running and the first stages of improvements have been carried out in the town centre recreation ground.

Films can now be seen once a month in the community centre thanks to Hants Moviola. Forest Arts also shows films and Arnewood School wants to be involved in the Milton Movies.

The Wednesday market is now a weekly feature, a Hampshire Farmers' Market has been booked for April 17 and a Christmas market is lined up for Sunday December 18.

Grant money has been provided for a town development officer to find new ways of boosting the economy and tourism and the county council is carrying out a traffic survey to find out if improvements can be made.

There are a range of young people's projects in the pipeline including a swap shop for teenage fashions, a drop-in caf manned by appropriate adults, personal safety scheme and plans to make sports more accessible.

"The whole aim is to improve the economic and social life of New Milton," said Alison.

First published: October 23