Forest dwellers fight draft plans

By Eleanor Williams
BBC News, New Forest

People living and working in the New Forest in Hampshire have vowed to fight the draft of a new national park plan and management strategy for the area.

The National Park Authority (NPA) published its draft New Forest National Park plan in the summer.

Out of 9,000 respondents, 65% raised objections to the recreational horse-keeping policy.

TINA CANT - HORSE OWNER

One of them was Tina Cant, who set up the Forest Uprising campaign group in response to proposals to tighten planning regulations.

Tina Cant said many people would not be able to keep their ponies

Recreational horse keepers would have to seek planning permission if they wanted to keep horses in fields classed as agricultural land as well as provide shelter, supplementary feeding and rugs and each horse would need to be kept on one hectare (2.5 acres).

This would also only be allowed near residential areas and not in the open forest.

Ms Cant claimed that such an amount of grazing would cause many horses to overeat and some could get laminitis, a potentially fatal condition.

She keeps four New Forest ponies in rented paddocks near Beaulieu and one out on the open forest.

PLANNING PERMITS NEEDED FOR: Keeping more than one horse per hectare Subdividing a former single field into multiple pony paddocks Manages, stables, field shelters Onsite equine equipment - horse jumps and schooling rings Corrals for tacking up horses Regular supplementary feeding Horses being regularly rugged in winter

"What they're suggesting is unnecessary, unworkable and unreasonable.

"They're pushing every recreational horse owner into getting planning permission. There's no logic in it.

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

"And it would have a knock-on affect on a load of other people who work here and depend on the recreational horses, vets, farriers, tack shops..."

She said the document repeatedly accused horse riders of destroying the forest tracks and said that "pony paddocks" damaged the grazing and fields were left "poached".

"There is no evidence everyday horse riding causes damage. The tracks we use have been there hundreds of years and they're still there."

DAVID AND MARY DICKENSON - DOG OWNERS

David and Mary Dickenson have lived in Lyndhurst for 40 years and said they were determined to fight any access restrictions

Mr Dickenson, a veterinary surgeon and committee member of the New Forest Dog Owners Group, said the NPA's plan to "develop the concept of dog-free car parks" was worrying and could potentially lead to full dog bans.

"It doesn't specify what they actually want to do and it's caused a great deal of suspicion. People are very upset," he said.

The Dickensons said dog walkers were the forest's "eyes and ears"

"There is no evidence that closing car parks has any positive impact on conservation.

"There's no reason dogs should be banned in any car park unless there is a real issue. But they'll just say, 'We'll do it anyway, just as a precaution'.

"They [NPA] want to put the forest in a glass case but we are the eyes and ears of the forest.

"We're here to spot an injured animal or if something else is wrong.

"They treat us as if we've been irresponsible in the way we treated the forest before they arrived. That's deeply offensive because we love the forest."

PAUL GIRLING - BUSINESSMAN

Paul Girling owns and runs the Setley Redge Vinyard and Farm shop near Brockenhurst.

He said the NPA had already placed a "planning straight jacket" on local businesses and had made it difficult to make a living in the forest.

He said: "The principles and the importance of conservation people understand but this is not a desert island where you can just make people go away.

"It has to work together within a rural economy framework. But it's become them and us now.

Paul Girling said the NPA was making it difficult to run a business

Mr Girling said he wanted to develop environmental projects but everything was scrutinised by the NPA.

"We got a grant so we could expand and sell more local produce, now the NPA enforcement and monitoring [planners] say I have to stop selling certain products.

"They want to restrict our signage - it can't be 'too visible'. But that has a direct impact on our business."

The NPA has identified three zones with the forest, with zone one being the most sensitive and zone three the most robust areas.

It said it wanted to "relocate any facilities and activities where these cause direct damage to protect habitats or features or undermine the most tranquil areas".

"They're pushing the economic activity to the boundaries," Mr Girling said.

"But this is where I want to live, this is my home, I built this house. This [business] is not a hobby, it's our livelihood.

"People feel their right of freedom is being taken away."