Authority meetings

About Authority meetings

Our 22 members meet regularly to make decisions on matters relating to the functions of the National Park Authority. These meetings take place throughout the year, usually on Thursday, at Lymington Town Hall.

Certain of the Authority’s functions have also been delegated to committees which it has established and are made up of Authority members. Currently these committees are:

More information on the agendas, reports and minutes of each of the committees as well as their membership and terms of reference can be found by clicking on the relevant links.

Meetings of the Authority and its committees are open to the public and members of the public can submit questions prior to meetings provided notice of at least two full working days is given to Member Services on 01590 646647 or email memberservices@newforestnpa.gov.uk.

To find out more about submitting a question at an Authority or committee meeting please see our Standing Orders.

Decisions made under delegated powers

Any urgent decisions that would have been made by the Authority may be taken by the Chief Executive in consultation with the Chairman, in accordance with the Authority’s Scheme of Delegations. The Chief Executive exercises this power having sought views from the NPA’s members and senior officers.

The following decisions have been made to date:

Date of decision	Decision	Further information	Details of any alternative options considered and rejected	Where the decision falls under paragraph 7(2)(a) [specific express authorisation], name of any Member who has declared a conflict of interest in relation to the decision
15 August 2022	Consortium agreement	To extend the end of the agreement period from 2023 to 2025	No alternative available	N/A
13 December 2021	Amendments to the Standing Orders	To correct a cross referencing anomaly	No alternative available	N/A
21 October 2021	Amendments to the Standing Orders	Amendment to correct error – consequent change to version adopted in August 2021	No alternative available	N/A
20 October 2021	Amendments to the Standing Orders	To clarify the procedure for appointing Members to Committees, Sub-committees and Panels under Standing Order 5.1, 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4	No alternative available – process required clarification before the next Annual Authority Meeting	N/A
2 September 2021	Green Recovery Challenge Fund – agreement	To enter into an agreement with the other parties involved in the bid	No alternatives available – next NPA meeting is not until October 2021	N/A
24 May 2021	Hampshire Minerals and Waste Partnership Agreement	To enter into a partnership agreement with other Hampshire authorities to update the minerals and waste plan.	No alternatives available – work to proceed on evidence base studies to begin as soon as possible and before the next NPA meeting. The principle of joint working and timescales have previously been agreed by Members	N/A
16 Mar 2021	Green recovery challenge fund – further expression of interest	Expression of interest for the second round of funding for approx. £700k working with four (or maybe five) partners. The NPA’s share would be approx. £180k	No alternatives available – the deadline for expression of interest is 22 March 2021 (three days before the next NPA meeting)	N/A
21 Sep 2020	Amendments to the Standing Orders	To allow Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen to be appointed at the next meeting of the relevant committee rather than the annual meeting when held remotely	No alternatives available – Limitations on the electronic voting systems available to us at the annual meeting when held remotely because of the need for a ballot rather than a show of hands	N/A
16 Sep 2020	To authorise a prosecution at Kenchingtons, Fordingbridge, in respect of an Enforcement Notice that had not been complied with	Members unanimously supported the action in the Part II section of the Planning Committee held on 15 September 2020. However, there was a slight irregularity in the proceedings in that unfortunately the Chairman ended the Part I meeting without a formal vote on going into a Part II session	No alternatives available – to ensure procedural correctness	N/A
22 May 2020	Acquisition of Godshill Meadow	Necessary as the offer to acquire the land is time limited. Following the cancellation of the Authority meeting on 26 March 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions there are no Authority meetings planned within the deadline. Acquisition was considered at RAPC meeting on 16 March 2020 https://www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/documents/rapc/resources-audit-and-performance-committee-02-03-20/	No alternatives available	N/A
20 April 2020	Amendments to the Standing Orders	Necessary to allow for statutory meetings to take place remotely in accordance with the Local Authorities and Police Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020.	No alternatives available	n/a
31 March 2020	Approve General Fund Budget for 2020/21 – please see background papers and minutes	Review and decision required by applicable laws and the financial regulations. Decision is also necessary in a general sense in order to allow good management of the NPA’s financial position.	No alternatives available	n/a
31 March 2020	Adoption of Work Programme – please see background papers and minutes	Necessary in order to direct the NPA’s priorities and work for the coming year. The work programme will be kept under close review by senior officers and members in light of the current public health crisis.	No alternatives available	n/a