Wide support for proposed New Forest National Park boundary
19 October 2000
A wide range of conservation and amenity organisations1 welcomed the Countryside Agency's draft National Park Boundary for the New Forest2 which was launched today.
Speaking on behalf of the group Clive Chatters said:
"The draft boundary3 is an excellent starting point which we all believe should be strongly supported as a minimum area by those who wish to protect the Forest.
We believe that there are several areas in addition to those proposed by the Agency that merit inclusion within the boundary. Broadly they are:
- Further areas that link the New Forest coast to the Forest core
- the whole of the Avon valley, not just the floodplain as currently proposed.
Since 1992 successive Governments have recognised the New Forest should be a National Park. The Countryside Agency is now making this happen.
The New Forest desperately needs more protection and support. Current laws help to protect the Crown lands at the heart of the Forest. These laws do not help to care for the rest of the Forest's countryside and special way of life. A National Park would be able to provide that protection and support.
A National Park offers a way to finding solutions for the Forest. An essential first step to giving extra protection to the Forest is providing a permanent defendable boundary."
Notes to editors
1 Organisations that support the proposed boundary as a minimum area include: The British Horse Society, Council for the Protection of Rural England, Council for National Parks, Friends of the Earth (New Forest), New Forest Association, National Trust, Northern Commoners' Association, Open Spaces Society, Ramblers' Association, Wildlife Trusts, WWF-UK and the Youth Hostels Association
2 The Countryside Agency launched its public consultation on the proposed New Forest National Park boundary on 19 October 2000. The consultation will last for three months. The consultation is part of an ongoing designation process which will culminate with a designation order being submitted to the Secretary of State for the Environment in autumn 2001.
3 The Countryside Agency has proposed a boundary that includes the whole of the existing Heritage Area with several additions including much of the Avon Valley, the whole of the South Hampshire Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Dibden Bay, the area of undeveloped coast currently the subject of a development proposal by Associated British Ports.
For press queries please contact:
Ruth Chambers, Head of Policy on
020 7924 4077 ext. 222