Anger over plans for New Forest

By Eleanor Williams
BBC News, New Forest

Donkeys, ponies, cattle and pigs graze openly in the New Forest

The New Forest is an unspoilt green haven that most agree needs protecting.

But being the UK's smallest national park, it is also the most densely populated. More than 34,000 people live within the boundaries of the New Forest.

In addition, thousands of people who live in the more urban areas surrounding the park regularly escape to experience its tranquillity.

But many residents feel this could all be about to change with new regulations appearing to threaten restrictions on the way they live and work the forest.

A vast majority of people here wouldn't be able to keep their ponies Tina Cant, horse owner

Horse owners could be banned from feeding and putting up shelters for their animals, while dog owners face being banned from certain areas.

Road pricing measures could also be introduced, it has been claimed.

The proposals are part of the New Forest National Park Authority's (NPA) draft plans for its future.

The New Forest's history as a leisure destination goes back to the days of its creation in the 11th century when William the Conqueror declared it his royal hunting park.

More than 700 people took part in a protest against the plan in October

For nearly 1,000 years the forest has been farmed and worked by local people on behalf of the Crown.

But the main agricultural practice and the reason it is most well known, is the keeping of ponies, cattle, pigs and donkeys in the open forest by authorised residents known as commoners.

It became a national park in 2005 and in April 2006, the National Park Authority (NPA) took up its full powers.

The plans, which have angered a number of forest residents, were published earlier this year and are the first real test of the Authority's power.

While the NPA said its focus and aim was to protect the park for another millennium, people living in and using the New Forest feel it is an attempt to take away their freedom.

Horse owner Tina Cant has organised the Forest Uprising Group to fight a proposal which could force many recreational horse keepers into a battle for planning permission and which she believes they look likely to lose.

Car parks could be closed or made dog free under the plans

She said: "A vast majority of people here wouldn't be able to keep their ponies."

Many dog walkers in the New Forest are also up in arms over a proposal to "develop the concept of dog-free car parks".

David Dickenson, of the New Forest Dog Owners Group, said the document did not explain what the phrase meant and there was no indication of how many car parks could be affected.

Meanwhile, business owners have expressed their fears over "restrictive and controlling" planning regulations which, it is claimed, threaten to push them out.

Paul Girling, who owns and runs the Setley Ridge Vinyard and farm shop near Brockenhurst, said the NPA's planning regulations were very restrictive.

He said: "They [NPA] want you to have a business but don't want you to be too successful.

Despite the NPA suggesting "road user pricing" as a future traffic management tool, it has caused widespread protests from residents and local businesses who feared such a move would harm their livelihoods.

Forest dwellers fight draft plans

Councillor Ken Thornber, leader of Hampshire County Council, dismissed the fears, saying road pricing was "not on this administration's agenda, not in the New Forest or anywhere in the county".

And Clive Chatters, chairman of the NFNPA, said that there were no "specific plans for road pricing at all at this stage".

But the county council also believes many other proposals in the plans are too restrictive and could harm the economy of the New Forest.

The NPA received about 9,000 responses to the drafts, of which 65% were objections to the recreational horse-keeping policy.

There were also 900 letters, based on a template letter from the New Forest Dog Owners Group, and about 7,200 signatures on a petition by the Forest Uprising Group.

Mr Chatters said: "We have heard and understood people's concerns over how the plans are presented and some aspects of the content.

"The purpose of a consultation period is to get people's views on draft proposals and we are especially grateful to those who have taken the time and trouble to suggest constructive ways in which the plans can be improved.

"Officers now have an important piece of work to do in analysing the responses and reporting them to members so that we can debate, improve and agree the national park plan.

"Although the formal consultation is over, the conversation about the plans will continue as the process moves into a new phase."