The authority’s task will be to ‘conserve and enhance … natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage’, and to promote public ‘understanding and enjoyment’ of the National Park.  Nothing terribly controversial there, you might think, especially as these two purposes are common to all twelve National Parks throughout England and Wales.

Yet many local people were sceptical about the very idea of National Park status, and indeed the New Forest Verderers initially opposed the proposals.  Ironically, many of those who had supported the concept all along were dismayed when the Secretary of State excluded large parts of the former Heritage Area – such as Lymington, Ringwood and the Avon Valley – from the National Park.

“Until something actually happens, people will be very nervous about what’s being planned,” says Lindsay Cornish, Chief Executive of the new National Park Authority (NPA).  So she made time to meet many of the other key players in the Forest, and to establish regular contact.  “We’re not here to take over the world,” she stresses.  “We very much want to work with the people and organisations that have made the Forest what it is today.”

Lindsay spent part of her childhood near Winchester and returned to live in the area about twenty years ago.  After a long career in the civil service, where she worked on a variety of countryside and environment policies, she explains: “I’d done enough of the ivory tower stuff – I wanted to work with the people involved in making it all happen.”

With almost half the National Park under its direct control, the Forestry Commission certainly makes things happen.  It manages 66,000 acres of open heaths, fenced timber inclosures, and the ‘ancient and ornamental’ woodlands – to say nothing of 130 car parks, ten campsites and over 100 miles of cycle tracks.  So, as an established Forest landowner, does the Commission resent the new NPA muscling in on its territory?

Not a bit.  “We’ll be working as one of the very closest partners in the National Park,” says Deputy Surveyor Mike Seddon, “because in recent years our objectives have been in direct parallel with the National Park Authority’s own aims.”  Nevertheless, he considers that an authority with a wider remit than the Forestry Commission is now needed to tackle external pressures on the Forest.  The new NPA, he believes, will be uniquely placed to co-ordinate and support the work of the many organisations and landowners already operating in the Forest.

Oliver Crosthwaite Eyre, the Official Verderer, is also positive.  “We have every intention of working alongside the NPA and forming a close relationship with them,” he says.  As the Queen’s representative in the Court of Verderers, he presides over a body that traces its origins back to medieval times.  The Court is completely responsible for regulating commoning rights, and also plays an important role in controlling recreational development.

The Verderers originally argued that complex loopholes in the standard National Park legislation might weaken their traditional role in the Forest, but later accepted Ministerial assurances on that point.  Nonetheless, says Oliver Crosthwaite Eyre, “we were obviously surprised that the National Park boundary was so much tighter than even the Countryside Agency had recommended.  The New Forest is now the smallest National Park in existence, surrounded by the greatest threats and pressures.”

Lindsay Cornish acknowledges that the exclusion of some of the land on the outer edges of the Heritage Area has removed a valuable ‘buffer zone’ around the core of the Forest.  “Some of our key planning challenges will be to influence what happens beyond the National Park,” she says.  “We’re sandwiched between major built-up areas in the South East and South West Regions, with huge traffic implications, particularly from development proposals in the Bournemouth and Christchurch area.  Inevitably, that will lead to more cars and increased recreational pressure.”

Initially, the NPA will inherit New Forest District Council’s existing planning policy; then, over the next couple of years, the Authority will develop a strategy of its own.  Subtle changes of emphasis will stress the importance of conservation, recreation and wildlife, but Lindsay Cornish anticipates gradual evolution rather than dramatic policy shifts.  “New Forest District Council has done a good job over the years,” she says.  “If they hadn’t, the area wouldn’t have been worthy of National Park status in the first place!”

The NPA will also develop a management plan that builds on the work of the former New Forest Committee.  One of the top priorities will be to work closely with the Verderers to support the traditional system of commoning.  “The commoners provide a very valuable conservation service to the nation,” says Oliver Crosthwaite Eyre, “because their grazing ponies created the New Forest and keep it the way it is.”

Nevertheless, until recently the ponies were virtually worthless.  Then, four years ago, the Verderers introduced management changes that produced smaller numbers of better quality foals.  They also lobbied Defra to establish the country’s largest Environmental Stewardship Scheme, which supports commoners who graze their ponies on the Forest.  Oliver Crosthwaite Eyre believes that the NPA’s influence will help to attract significant new funding to the Forest – and, he says, when the Stewardship Scheme expires in 2013, “all eyes will turn to the NPA to see how they can help.”

The importance of commoning is widely acknowledged, and the Forestry Commission gives practical support by offering increasing numbers of its houses to commoners at discounted rents.  But Mike Seddon foresees other opportunities to co-operate with the Verderers and the NPA.  “The last significant changes to car parks and campsites were back in the early 1970s,” he says.  “Issues like recreation and transport are big challenges – but hopefully, by working together, we’ll find a solution that serves the Forest well.”

The NPA will aim to balance the demands of tourism, wildlife and residents so that visitors can experience the tranquillity of the Forest without disturbing its ecological balance.  For example, one innovative possibility would be to encourage visitors to start their trip at established attractions around the edge of the National Park, before travelling into the Forest via a network of park and ride buses.

Whilst detailed strategies are still in the future, it’s common ground that the natural environment underpins everything that the National Park stands for.  Indeed, if there’s ever a conflict between its various priorities, the NPA has a legal duty to put conservation first.  “The way I look at it,” says Lindsay Cornish, “if you don’t have a beautiful area in every respect, then there won’t be anything here for people to enjoy.”

As the NPA opens for business, her top priorities are sustainable development; strong partnerships; and starting work on a new management plan.  But what of the future?  What will the New Forest be like in five or six years’ time?  “If we’ve succeeded,” says Lindsay Cornish, “the Forest won’t look very different – perhaps even better than it does now.  Visitors might notice the odd boundary marker, but I hope they’ll be coming to a New Forest National Park that’s in very good heart.”

© David Foster, 2006