A HAMPSHIRE MP has praised the Government’s decision to retain the body that manages most of the New Forest.

Ministers have revealed that the Forestry Commission is not among the publicly funded quangos being axed as part of the attempt to tackle Britain’s record deficit.

However, the commission has been warned to expect “substantial” reforms, details of which will be unveiled later this year.

Julian Lewis, Conservative MP for New Forest East, said: “It’s hardly a surprise that the commission is being retained because it has a role to play in keeping the New Forest in the condition in which it needs to be protected.

“But in these times of great pressure on public expenditure it’s appropriate that this body should be examined to see if it can be made to run more efficiently and economically.”

Desmond Swayne, Conservative MP for New Forest West, said that he was keeping an open mind.

“Until we know more about what’s proposed it’s difficult to come to any conclusion. I’ll wait to see what the reforms consist of,” he said.

The Commoners’ Defence Association (CDA), which represents animal owners in the area, welcomed the Government’s decision.

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Chairman Graham Ferris said: “We hope the reforms will retain and reinforce the commission’s traditional activities of growing timber as a sustainable resource and as an opportunity for local employment.”

Dr Ferris said he also hoped that the commission would continue to manage the open Forest in a way that benefited Commoners’ livestock.

Former CDA chairman Mike Cooper said: “Better the devil you know than the one you don’t.

“We were all a bit apprehensive that if the commission were disbanded something else would have to take its place, possibly even the National Park Authority.

“We’ve had all sorts of constructive arguments with the Forestry Commission but we’d rather have them than someone else.”

William Ziegler, chairman of the New Forest Association, said that any decision to disband the commission could have caused “horrendous” problems in the area.

The commission’s most senior officer in the Forest, deputy surveyor Mike Seddon, declined to discuss the future of the organisation. The National Park Authority also stayed silent.

The Official Verderer, Oliver Crosthwaite Eyre, head of the Forest’s ancient guardians, was unavailable for comment.