WARNINGS about the dwindling working-age population of the New Forest have been issued.
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) says the National Park is at risk of becoming a “permanent retirement and dormitory zone” rather than the living and working community it needs to be.
The warning follows an analysis of the 2011 Census.
CLA surveyor Tim Broomhead said: “The statistics regarding the other national parks in the UK show that retaining young families living and working in what are often remote rural communities is a real challenge.
“Retirement villages will not generate the economic activity essential to the maintenance and management of the countryside – future planning policies in national parks must recognise the need for affordable housing, for jobs and accessible services.”
