Commoners Defence Association Andrew Parry-Norton warns New Forest commoning has a bleak furture unless organisations unite

Time is running out for commoning in the New Forest unless local organisations unite over widening funding gaps and rapidly increasing visitor pressures, it has been warned.

The national park’s ancient tradition is in the middle of a “perfect storm”, according to chair of the Commoners Defence Association Andrew Parry-Norton, who says cash shortages for groups such as Forestry England and the national park authority is also fuelling frictions between Forest groups.

“The Forest needs a major overhaul and a thinking outside of the box – we need radical changes like we had in the 1960s,” he said.

“We need to seriously look at how visitors can continue to enjoy the Forest while commoning is supported. We need to work together – otherwise the future of the Forest as we know it is very bleak.

“Recreation is now seen as an entitlement and not a privilege,” added Mr Parry-Norton. “The understanding of this unique place as a working Forest is being eroded.”

He acknowledged that in an age when “every Forest organisation is running out of money” extra visitors can be seen as a money generating opportunity. “Ironically the loser in this situation is the very thing that people have come to admire – the stock that has created this landscape.”

Citing a recent move to allow hot and cold food sales from a number of Forestry England-managed car parks, Mr Parry-Norton said he understood and sympathised with the challenges faced by the organisation, which is now receiving just 10% of its core funding from the government.

He said: “We understand there is a shortage of money – we get that. But it is now starting to seriously impact the Forest in a number of ways.”

Meanwhile, a reduction in the subsidies paid to commoners for turning out cattle onto the New Forest has seen around 2,000 fewer animals turned out this year – which equates to a loss of revenue for the verderers of over £50,000 thanks to a reduction in marking fee payments.

Describing the current shortfall in funding for the national park as “completely unsustainable”, Mr Parry-Norton warned: “The government say they are in listening mode – but what that really means is they are doing nothing.

“If people want a national park that is going to be here for years to come, then it needs paying for.”

Mr Parry-Norton claims the impact of the funding shortfall is creating tensions between Forest groups. “Forestry England are trying to generate money, but from our point of view this is happening at the expense of commoning,” he said.

Pointing to the recent closure and reclassification of a number of FE-maintained bridges as unsuitable for equestrians, Mr Parry-Norton said commoners were now finding it increasingly difficult to manage their stock.

He said: “Forestry England say they simply do not have the money to maintain the bridges – some are being reclassified so we cannot ride horses over them and others have been removed altogether.”

He urged Forest groups to unite to “stop bickering and arguing”, lobby the government for additional funding and work towards the same goal: “Forest organisations must find a way to work together to say collectively ‘this is what our problem is and we need to secure funding for the Forest’.

“The issue is we do not have the luxury of time any more. The marking register [number of commoners animals on the Forest] is down every year and everyone is haemorrhaging money.

“We all love the Forest – we have that in common, so we must work together.”

The subsidy funding which commoners receive through the basic payment scheme is reducing every year, with the program set to end completely in two years. There is currently no alternative funding scheme to replace it, “creating anxiety” in the commoning community.

“For commoning to exist, we need a future that is financially viable,” warned Mr Parry-Norton. “At present we have a perfect storm, a lack of a suitable funding scheme, the gradual demise of the of the Basic Payment Scheme, high land and property prices, and record breaking prices paid for cull cows.

“We need to enter a scheme that works for the Forest urgently; it needs to reward commoners for what they do and entitle any commoner within the Forest to be part of it.”