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New Milton Town Council pledge £10k!
We need New Milton’s help
We are asking the whole town to get involved to help protect the station buildings at the heart of our community and the gateway to our town. Our town grew up around the station and we now need our town to get behind this project to restore the Station Master's House and award it the status it deserves.
What is No. 1 New Milton?
Sketch of New Milton 1892
Called No. 1 New Milton, the Station Master’s House was the first building in New Milton. From when the station opened in 1888 until 2007 when the last station master retired, it was the home of the New Milton Station Master and their family.
The Station Master’s House currently stands empty, run down and unloved. The exterior is almost untouched since it was built in 1886 and many of the original features such as fingerplates and fireplaces remain in the house. With our help, it could become a stunning, historic, community building in the centre of New Milton. What an asset it could become for our town!
Who are we?
We are a group of like-minded people from New Milton who are passionate about our station and our town. In 2024 we formed the Friends of New Milton Station (the Friends) to ‘celebrate our station’s heritage, and create a welcoming hub for passengers, community and nature’. Our volunteers have been busy making the station and the waiting room more pleasant for everyone and now it’s time to ask the New Milton community to step in and help.
What we want to do
We want to renovate the Station Master’s House, the garden, and the building on the southside platform and bring them into use for the community. Ideas put forward already include a heritage centre, a meeting room, exhibition space, a tea room, a shop, an art studio and a study centre. Public consultation will be carried out to determine its final use/s.
We want to ensure that the renovation is sympathetic to the age of the buildings and preserves the original features whilst allowing access to all. The buildings would be an asset to the town and something New Milton would be rightly proud of.
Imagine an historic community space that represents our town.
How are we going to do it?
By raising money and involving the experts!
The money
The Friends are looking to raise £40,000 to kick start the project. From businesses to community groups, from philanthropists to rail enthusiasts, and in fact everyone in our town, we’d love you to get involved and make this happen! Donations over £25 will ensure you name goes on the ‘Founders’ Wall’ – an artwork being created to display at the House. The bigger your donation, the bigger your name! Smaller donations always welcome – every little helps!
The £40k will cover the cost of the lease, legal fees, structural surveys, public consultation, planning application and working drawings with full costings.
Once the full costs of the renovations are known, grant applications will be made for the building and renovation works. Raising the £40k will also demonstrate New Milton's desire for the project to succeed and help with our grant applications.
Station Master's House interior
The Experts
Introducing…
The Hampshire Community Rail Partnership (HCRP).
The project will be managed by the HCRP who are experienced in restoring our railway heritage. With award-winning projects at Shawford, Woolston, Bitterne, Petersfield and a current project at Romsey Station, they have the expertise to make our vision a reality.
The HCRP are a Community Interest Company and are National Rail Awards winners in the category “Outstanding contribution to Society” for their previous work.
All work on railway buildings must be carried out by Network Rail or Network Rail approved contractors. The HCRP are Network Rail approved and work with a group of approved contractors.
The Friends have met with the Nick Farthing, Chair of HCRP and Gary Wilburn, MD of EP Architects and we are extremely impressed with their dedication and passion for railway heritage buildings. We have also visited one of their projects at Shawford Station – their work is stunning! They are now working on the Station House at Romsey. We believe they can help us create something very special in New Milton.
For more information on our partners in this project go to:
- Hampshire Community Rail Partnership: hampshirecommunityrail.co.uk
- EP Architects: eparchitects.design/portfolio
- Avon Construction: www.avonconstruction.com
Shawford Station Cafe
How the project will work
• The Friends will start the process by raising the required £40k.
• The HCRP will take out the lease (community use of station buildings can be taken out at a peppercorn rent)
• The HCRP will manage the project from structural surveys to final fitting.
• The Friends will provide support to the HCRP from the New Milton perspective especially with the public consultation and grant applications.
• The HCRP will sublet the building to the final tenant/s at the peppercorn rent. The HCRP operate an open book accounting system so that all transactions are completely transparent.
• New Milton celebrates!
Shawford Station Cafe exterior
Why?
A once in a generation opportunity to create something truly special in New Milton to be enjoyed by the whole community and a showcase for our town.
New Milton - Let’s do it!
Questions?
Interested in getting involved?
If you would like to discuss investing in this project, have any questions or would like to help the Friends, we'd love to hear from you. Get in touch via our email: [email protected]