THE DAUGHTER of a Petersfield woman who died in Australia but wanted her ashes scattered on the Heath says she is shocked her plea was turned down.

Petersfield Town Council, which manages the beauty spot, refused to allow Gillian Doyle to scatter the ashes of her mother Betty Pilmore, previously Oakley and nee Newman, there.

Gillian, who lives in Australia, had planned to visit the Heath while on holiday in the UK this year. She said: “I am devastated. I recently heard from my relations in Canada whose mother was my mum’s cousin, and who also died last year.

“She also wanted her ashes scattered on the Heath, which shows the importance of our roots, and significance of favourite childhood places. Her family didn’t ask, they just did it.”

Betty Newman was born on February 28, 1925, and grew up in Noreuil Road. She attended the mixed age Petersfield School, behind St Peter’s Church in St Peter’s Road, until she was about 15.

She then worked for an estate agent in the town, before joining the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.

In later life she recorded her life in?Petersfield in a diary. One passage said: “I belonged to the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) Juniors, known as the Pioneers. We took part in country dance competitions in London, and won quite a few prizes over the years. When I was seven-and-a-half I joined the Brownies, and four years later the Guides.

“I wore my new Guide unform for the first time in Petersfield Square at a big parade of Brownies, Cubs, Guides, Scouts and police and fire brigade, for the 1936 coronation of King George VI. When I enlisted in the air force, I soon realised what a different life I had committed to.” She narowly survived the war, and married her childhood sweetheart Jack?Oakley, also from Petersfield. They married in St Peter’s Church. Betty wrote in her diary: “Gillian was born on August 2, 1947, and Pauline three years later, on September 2, 1950.

“They were both christened in St?Peter’s Church.

“On October 8, 1958, we sailed to Australia, and settled in Adelaide where we built a house, and happily our new life began.” Betty died in Australia, on August 3, 2017, aged 92.