Dispute over memorial bench in Alresford (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Dispute over memorial bench in Alresford

7:00am Friday 20th January 2012 in Alresford By Andrew Napier

IT was supposed to bring rest to the weary and to remember a woman who loved Alresford.

But a bench installed at the bottom of Broad Street last year is creating late-night noise pollution that is disturbing nearby residents.

So Alresford Town Council has decided to move the seat - but only a few yards up the road.

The bench was installed last year in memory of Joan Buddery.

However for James and Diane Ekins, of Broad Street, the new seat has meant ruined sleep on several occasions with drunk people congregating on the bench in the early hours.

Mr Ekins told the council: "We find this a gross intrusion of our privacy. We don't think a memorial bench should cause this sort of distress. We implore the council to take it away," adding they were personally prepared to pay for the cost of its removal.

Mrs Ekins added: "I can't go through life being woken up. On Boxing night at 1.30am they were singing bawdy songs."

But Mrs Buddery’s son Cliff said he was unhappy about the decision to move the bench, which he regards as his mother’s final presence in Alresford.

He said: “I’m very annoyed about the situation and it’s disturbing. The nearby houses were considered at some length when we tried to install the bench and it was agreed it would not be unreasonable or a nuisance to have it there.

“What needs to be tackled is the drunkenness, not the fact the bench is there because people enjoy it in the daytime. It’s a knee-jerk reaction.”

In a letter to the council prior to the meeting Mr Buddery, 61, who lives in Oxfordshire, said: "This is very upsetting. Mum's family and friends have now come to consider this as her place in Alresford and moving it will cause distress to us all."

However the council heard that Mr Buddery was unaware the bench was only 11 feet from one of the Ekins' bedrooms.

Councillor Roy Gentry said: "I don't think we went through proper consultation at the beginning which is part of the problem."

Cllr Gentry said there were some benches in a poor state further up Broad Street and he suggested removing one and transferring the Buddery Bench there.

The councillors unanimously agreed.

The council is writing to Mr Buddery explaining the decision.