NATIONAL Park chiefs have been accused of wasting taxpayers’ money after convening a meeting of the planning committee to discuss just two applications.

Ten members of the National Park Authority (NPA) travelled from across the New Forest area, including Wiltshire, to attend a meeting that lasted only an hour.

One of the applications – a proposal to build a new house in Brockenhurst – took just 17 minutes to determine.

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Members of the government- funded body do not receive an allowance for attending individual meetings but can claim 40p a mile in travelling expenses.

Mark Wallace of the Taxpayers’ Alliance said: “These meetings must be costly to stage and with so few applications coming before it perhaps the NPA should hold them less often.

“These are tough times, with ordinary people having to tighten their belts. The NPA should try to reduce costs in any way possible.”

Forest Uprising, the pressure group set up last year to fight proposed restrictions on horse keeping and dog walking, was also scathing.

Spokeswoman Tina Cant said: “We’ve got two planning departments in the Forest – one at the district council and one for the area covered by the NPA. It seems an awful waste of money.”

The planning committee meets each month, even though the NPA has up to 13 weeks to rule on applications.

An NPA spokesman said an unusually high number of proposals had been determined by planning officers under delegated powers, resulting in a short agenda. He added it would have been unreasonable to make the applicants wait until the June meeting.