New container for our equipment

A new container was much needed to replace our old leaky and insecure one.

Funding for our new container was provided by East Hampshire District Councillors, Julie Butler, Bob Ayres and Ben Bentley, using their discretionary grant stream. This provided £2,650 for the second-hand container, which came all the way from Essex.

With its proximity to the Little School and the small public car-park on Heath Road, the Friends knew that changing the container would not be an easy operation. Richard Warton, Chairman, said, “The driver was incredibly helpful, especially as he was initially unable to site the container owing to tree branches in the way. He even climbed a tree to deal with the branches, in order to get his crane into the correct position. Fortunately this meant we did not have to try to move the container on rollers, which would have been very difficult.”

The new container will house all the tools needed by our Working Parties as they help to maintain the heath and its habitats. Already plans have been agreed for a new live hedge to be planted to screen the container and make good any disturbance to the site.

The Friends made every effort to minimise disruption to the car-park and we thank the Little School for their forbearance.