STATEMENT BY CHIEF EXECUTIVE
After deep reflection and discussion with the Chairman it is with considerable sadness that I have decided to leave the Authority.
Over the last four years I have dedicated myself to the development of an organisation which I hope will continue to champion the New Forest long after I have gone. My staff are passionate about the New Forest and its future, dedicated and highly professional and have already achieved much, for example in support the work and role of commoners and in securing significant amounts of external funding to assist local community projects.
As those who are close to me know, it has always been my intention to pass the baton on to a fresh pair of hands once the Authority is fully established. I had hoped that this would coincide with the completion of the first national park management plan, originally scheduled for earlier this year. Now that the Plan has been further delayed, and I would shortly have completed four years in post I have reviewed my position. I also believe that the recent perception of me and my role by some sections of the public, ill-informed and libellous as some of it is, may be damaging the reputation of the entire Authority.
For these, and other personal reasons, I will therefore be leaving the Authority at the end of the month.
I would like to give particular thanks to : the two Chairmen I have worked with and who have given me invaluable support and encouragement; to my staff for the excellent work they do; and to a number of colleagues from key Forest organisations who have been willing to work constructively with the Authority, and to support me personally, notwithstanding our sometimes fundamentally different starting points, to achieve what is best for the Forest.
I will not be making any other statements and would ask for privacy while I remain in post and thereafter.
STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN
Members, setting up a new National Park Authority is a challenge. This is the first time it has been done for over fifty years.
Over the last four years Lindsay has taken us through that process to establish a stable, well run organisation. Throughout her time with us Lindsay has shown great commitment and dedication to the New Forest, the National Park and the Authority.
Not only has the establishment of the organisation been a significant achievement in its own right but there is much by way of other successes to celebrate and I have selected two items to comment on.
For many years many organisations have sought to provide support for the Forest’s commoning economy. This has proved very difficult as our circumstances here do not comfortably fit into the national picture. Lindsay’s knowledge of how Defra works was fundamental in securing the Single Farm Payment for the whole of the open Forest to the considerable financial benefit of all practising Commoners.
Similarly the establishment of the planning service for the national park was a hugely complex process fraught with risk. If the service was not ready to run on ‘day one’ we could not have continued to provide a timely and proper service to local people seeking planning permission. As one member commented at the time, the achievement was nothing short of miraculous.
Members, I have known for some time about Lindsay’s views on the need to hand over to a successor at the right time and I understand and respect her reasoning on this. It saddens me that some parties have more recently chosen to make personal and offensive comments about her. Such nasty behaviour falls outside what I regard as common decency; I will deal with that matter separately.
I am sure that all members will join me in thanking Lindsay for her singular contribution to the creation and achievements of the National Park Authority and in wishing Lindsay well for the future.
