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Verderers urged to work with Forestry England to find solutions to improve the New Forest’s cycle network




THE verderers have been urged to work with Forestry England to find solutions to improve the New Forest’s cycle network following months of debate surrounding the issue.

As reported in the A&T, Forestry England approached the Verderers’ Court in September 2024 with details of a “once in a generation” plan.

The scheme, developed in conjunction with the New Forest Cycle Working Group, would see existing walking paths opened up to cyclists and new routes developed.

More paths could be opened for cyclists (picture: New Forest National Park Authority)
More paths could be opened for cyclists (picture: New Forest National Park Authority)

Changes would be introduced in phases, starting with routes on gravel tracks which are already used by large forestry vehicles. Others routes requiring surface improvements would be added at a later stage.

However, the scheme has generated dozens of responses from both pro-cycling organisations and critics who feared the plans could damage the tranquillity of the national park and impact the future of commoning.

More than 30 presentations were made to the Verderers’ Court in October and November debating the pros and cons of the scheme. The issue has also been debated at length in private sessions of the verderers’ committee.

Speaking at January’s court, Official Verderer Edward Heron said the authority still felt it had insufficient information to make a decision on the proposed extension to the cycle network. He added: “The court has heard the range of views expressed, both those made in the court and in the many letters and emails that have been received.”

Official Verderer Edward Heron
Official Verderer Edward Heron

Addressing the concerns of the verderers and the Commoners’ Defence Association, Forestry England’s deputy surveyor Craig Harrison urged the organisations to work together to find a solution.

Explaining that that current proposals had been drawn up to address a longstanding discontentment with on forest cycling, he said the existing network was “not fit for purpose”.

“It’s hard to navigate and is disconnected,” he said. “Many routes simply do not make sense and do not connect to the routes in and out of the forest. As a result, people simply get lost or end up creating more effective routes of their own, often using apps to do so. Others simply choose to bypass the network completely.”

Thanking the “wide range of groups and interests” that had engaged in the consultation process, he asked everyone to work together to find a constructive way forward.

Mr Harrison continued: “I'd also like to take this opportunity to reiterate it's always been and remains our intention to meet all the legal requirements around any proposed changes to the network.

“This includes habitat assessment regulations, which would be met prior to any changes to the network, and we acknowledge that the verderers would require that assurance.”

Stating that withdrawing the proposal at this stage would risk losing the “considerable amount of progress made”, Mr Harrison urged the verderers to work collaboratively with Forestry England to identify and compile the additional information necessary for it to made a decision.

He asked the verderers to confirm which areas of the plan they support, which areas where they would require additional information to take a view and which elements they were against.

Many of those opposed to the scheme were commoners and equestrians, but speaking at the meeting, Andrew Parry Norton, the chairman of the Commoners’ Defence Association, said the body would now “reluctantly” accept the proposals with a number of conditions attached.

He warned: “Over the last year the Forest has had imposed upon it catering vans in car parks, the removal or downgrading of bridges, and now the possibility of additional cycle routes.

“It could be seen as steps towards the gradual ‘urbanisation’ of the Forest; as always the increasing number of visitors each year, penetrating deeper into the Forest, the commoners’ stock, the architects of the Forest landscape, suffer more harassment and disturbance in their natural environment; and commoners carry the responsibility of legal litigation from stock interactions.”

Pointing out cyclists were already straying from the official tracks and cycling on open Forest with no legal consequences, he said the new network must be properly marked and policed by a substantial number of trained marshals.

Mr Parry Norton added that large scale events should not be allowed, new routes should be limited to the large network of existing tracks, and should only be open from sunrise to sunset.

He said: “The activities of commoners managing their stock should be prioritised over recreational use; cycle routes in the vicinity of these organized activities should be closed for the public safety, at the request of the verderers or the commoners.”



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