10:31am Wednesday 17th June 2009
By Chris Yandell
A SECRET plan to ban cars from parts of the New Forest can be revealed by the Daily Echo today.
Environment chiefs also want to close down some tourist car parks in parts of the National Park.
The plan has been revealed in a report compiled by New Forest council bosses, a Daily Echo investigation has found.
It is the latest move to spark controversy following proposals by the National Park Authority to ban dogs from parts of the Forest, impose tougher restrictions on horse owners and look at a system of road tolls.
Now a new draft tourism scheme says car parks should be closed in remote areas, which would be designated Forest First zones.
But last night the scheme was branded “arrogant” by a leading campaigner.
David Dickenson, vice-chairman of the protest group NFDOG, which opposes moves to ban dogs from parts of the Forest, said: “Such arrogant behaviour bordering on dictatorship needs to be checked.”
He described the proposals as an attempt to “shut down the Forest to visitors”.
Under the strategy the new sites would be reserved for walking, cycling and riding – with all forms of traffic being removed “where possible”.
The document – called Our Future Together 2 – states: “Some areas of the district are valued for being wild and remote and should remain so.
“If the New Forest is to retain its integrity its needs must come first, before all visitor considerations.
“We believe these areas should remain free of all visitor structures and adjacent car parks and vehicular access should be removed.”
But district council Cabinet member Maureen Holding, who is also a member of the National Park Authority, has told officers to rewrite the tourism strategy.
“There were proposals to ban cars in some parts of the Forest but I don’t think that’s the right thing to do,” she said.
Cllr Holding warned that closing car parks would result in people parking in areas where they were likely to cause even more damage.
She added: “We haven’t got the power to close these things down and it wouldn’t work if we enforced it because we live in a free society.”
New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne said any car park closure plans would not be welcomed by many of the local visitors to the Forest.
“To tell people who have lived and worked in the area for years and generations they can’t go on roads or use car parks is a bit much,” he said.
An NPA spokesman stressed that the strategy was a council document and added: “It’s not related to us in any way.”
New Forest District Council itself was not available for comment.
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/trade_directory/