IT WAS one of the biggest shake-ups in the New Forest’s 1,000-year history. After a gruelling six-month public inquiry, years of legal wrangling and a wave of opposition, the jewel in Hampshire’s crown had become Britain’s latest national park.

Its new status, aimed at conserving the cherished woodland and heath and improving understanding of the area, became set in stone in 2005.

And a year later the New Forest National Park Authority (NPA), an independent body consisting of appointed members, had been set up to uphold those principles.

It came amid a backdrop both of elation from conservationists and dismay from high-ranking politicians.

And now, just two years on, the organisation’s role has once again been thrust into the spotlight following the release of a key document relating to the Forest’s future.

In its pages are options for banning dogwalkers from certain car parks, tightening restrictions on owning horses for recreational use and introducing road charges.

It has already led to a mass outcry and the formation of a campaign group, Forest Uprising, which is gathering to show its opposition atWilverley Plain, near Brockenhurst, next Saturday morning.

The NPA has pointed out that the controversial items are part of a wider blueprint.

Its supporters hold the national park up as a vital safeguard against a range of potentially damaging pressures, such as urbanisation and climate change.

But the same voices that were opposed to its formation in the first place have started to resurface.

MP for New Forest East, Dr Julian Lewis, has reaffirmed his long-held position.

“The New Forest is a jewel and if there are going to be changes, they ought to be slow changes so that they can be tested as they go along,” he said.

The MP added that the park authority proposals were just the sort of plans that the protesters had been afraid of.

“The national park model was not suitable for an environment in which so many people reside and conduct their private lives and businesses.

“The fact is that bureaucracies have to justify their existence. Up until now, this bureaucracy has made very little visible difference to the Forest.

“They are treating it like a park and trying to govern it like a park – not a living, breathing populated community.

“It is for the people who live and work in the Forest and those who have looked after it for generations.”

Former deputy PM John Prescott announced plans to turn the Forest into a national park in 1999.

Critics instantly labelled the date “black Wednesday” and started their fight back.

At the time, the influential New Forest Commoners Association called it an “absolute disaster” and before long New ForestWest MP Desmond Swayne had also nailed his colours to the opposition mast.

Meanwhile, there was backing for the proposal from powerful conservation groups such the Open Spaces Society.

The county’s top councillor Ken Thornber said the NPA should now consist of elected members.

The leader of Hampshire County Council said: “At the very least the jury is out in terms of the national park as to what it has contributed to the New Forest.

“There were a number of people at the beginning – and I was one – who opposed it on the grounds that it was another tier of government bureaucracy.

“I go before the electorate every four years – the NPA does not, ever. It is an arm of central Government with no accountability.

The members are not elected and are not accountable. I would welcome elections so that everyone on that board is accountable.

“We are dealing with 900 years of tradition here. The New Forest evolves, but it does so through the people of the New Forest and the population in general. If the NPA takes a view against the traditional way of life here, they are going to find considerable opposition.”

NPA bosses declined to respond to the comments made by Cllr Thornber and Dr Lewis when the Daily Echo contacted them.

A spokesman has said previously that all policies in the draft plan consultation and recreation management strategy are only up for consultation, and urged members of the public to read the documents.

National Park Authority – the facts

  • The NPA is an independent organisation operating in a local government framework.
  • It was the first national park in the south-east and the first to be created in England for nearly 50 years.
  • It has 22 members, 12 appointed by local authorities within the National Park and ten by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, of whom four are selected by Parish Councils.
  • Its goals are to: Conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the park To promote understanding and enjoyment of its special qualities
  • To foster the social and economic well-being of communities within it