Letters: Government departments doing opposite of protecting New Forest

Are the government organisations who are charged with protecting and conserving the national park doing the opposite? There seems to be a theme of constant damage and lack of consultation that runs through your reporting on the New Forest.

We hear from the Commoners’ Defence Association that they have not been consulted over the proposed car parking charges, and in fact there was a “closed door” meeting between the national park and Forestry England. The proposed charges have implications of major proportions for commoners and residents alike, who will find there is an explosion of verge parking. It appears that no thought has been given to other land owners like the National Trust, Hampshire County Council and the many private individuals who also own verges within the perambulation.

FE seem to act in a wholly unaccountable way; they issued more licences for food vans in Forest car parks and decided to close bridges vital for agisters’ use and for the free movement of Forest stock and lawful Forest users without consultation.

Again, yet another account of destruction of historical sites by Forestry England reported by Mr Pasmore in his New Forest Notes, this time to totally irreplaceable Romano-British pottery kilns which were fully mapped in an area being clear felled. Further destruction was caused in another area, also to a fully mapped Roman kiln, this time due to infilling of a small stream.

I note during my walks in the Forest, areas where previously you could find eel, spawning trout, amphibians, reptiles, otters and many red-list birds, whose thriving habitat is being destroyed by infilling and re-digging of Forest streams.

Forestry England have planned for an enormous expansion of the tracks on which cyclists are permitted, highly protected areas presently classified as ‘tranquil’ and therefore the most successful breeding areas for many ground nesting birds/reptiles etc and providing some peace for stock are to be included in this expansion.

It’s about time some genuine protection of the much-loved Forest takes place.

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