A DATE has been set for the first meeting of the organisation that will run the New Forest National Park.

Members of the National Park Authority (NPA) will hold their initial session on April 11 - a month after the area's new status came into force.

With less than a year to go before the NPA officially takes charge, the organisation is still searching for a home in the district.

Its first meeting will take place at the Lyndhurst Park Hotel, scene of a seven-month public inquiry that resulted in the national park scheme being given the go-ahead.

Interim chief executive Susan Carter, pictured right, said: "This is such an exciting time for us and I see it as the beginning of a new era in the Forest's history. The meeting marks the beginning of a process that will see the authority working with - and involving - everyone with an interest in the Forest to build a hopeful and secure future."

The 90-minute meeting will include the election of the NPA's first chairman and deputy chairman.

The organisation will have only limited authority during the first 12 months of its existence, but from April 1 next year it will take on a full range of powers and responsibilities.

NPA members will determine all planning applications relating to sites within the 57,086-hectare national park.

The district council will continue to decide applications involving the Forest's four towns - Lymington, Totton, New Milton and Ringwood - and all the other communities outside the park boundary.

Members of the public who want to reserve a seat at the meeting should ring 023 8028 5398.