LIBERAL Democrat Cllr Brian Dash (In My View, November 22) purports to be puzzled at local MPs’ demands for scrapping of the New Forest National Park.

But if Mr Dash had troubled to turn up at any of the huge rallies and public meetings called to oppose what the NPA is doing, he could have heard first-hand the reasons for the stance taken by the MPs and other campaigners. Alternatively, he could have come along to the NPA’s board meeting in public held in nearby Holbury when, once more, campaigners and the local MP made representations.

Three years ago Cllr Dash had another media swipe over the National Park after having failed to speak or offer a written submission to the earlier public inquiry. The leader of the minority Lib Dem group on New Forest District Council, David Harrison, has continued this pattern of sniping in the newspapers and failing to attend important meetings on this issue, including one called by his own council to formulate a response to the NPA’s proposals.

COLIN SMITH, Totton Branch, New Forest East Conservatives