New Forest Closed - This could be the case if the National Parks Authority gets it's way. Members have fallen out with each other, some declaring that some members are becoming dictorial. They are effectively trying to make parts of the New Forest out of bounds to the public which is the opposite of what should be happening.
This weekend hundreds of demonstrators are planning a meeting at Wilverly Plain, not far from the Forest's central town of Brockenhurst. They will voice anger at the suggestions put forward by a number of the NPA members.
Maureen Holding, a local district councillor and a member of the NPA said: "The National Park was supposed to bring benefits but people feel it's encouraging dictatorship. They are telling people what to do instead of conserving the forest as it is"
Survey
Another member accused the unelected authority of becoming dictatorial after the NPA's deputy chairman, Barry Rickman said that the plans to restrict with new regulations the keeping of horses, dog-free car parking areas and road charging were "bureaucratic tosh."
Member, Stan Wade (Hythe & Dibden) in standing up for the draft plan said: "We don't want to control people, we just want balance things up a bit to protect the Forest.
At a recent parish meeting Clr. Rickman said: "This is exactly what people feared it would be. It's just another layer of bureaucracy that seems to fail to recognise that the Forest is a living, working environment."
One organiser of the demostration meeting said that the NPA is quickly moving towards "meltdown, adding that some members of the NPA are seriously concerned with the work they are producing.
The district council is accountable for any changes within the forest but the NPA is an unelected body, a fact that people dislike.
Hundreds of people visit the New Forest everyday, somewhere to relax and find peacefulness in a natural environment. National Parks are supposed to be for everybody and that must not changed by putting undue restrictions on the public.
New Forest Closed - This could be the case if the National Parks Authority gets it's way. Members have fallen out with each other, some declaring that some members are becoming dictorial. They are effectively trying to make parts of the New Forest out of bounds to the public which is the opposite of what should be happening.
(0 vote)