AM 746/26 – Chief Executive’s Report

AM 746/26

NEW FOREST NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY

AUTHORITY MEETING – 15 OCTOBER 2026

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REPORT

Report by: Alison Barnes, Chief Executive

Summary:

This report covers the period since the Authority meeting on 23 July 2026. The report has been formatted to accord with our statutory purposes and duty; these are delivered by the Re:New Forest themes of ‘Climate, Nature, People, Place, Partnership and Achieving Excellence’ from our agreed Business Plan, summarised as follows:

Re:New Organisation: Achieving Excellence

• Delivering high-quality services through a capable and motivated staff team
• Maximising resources and using them efficiently and effectively
• Modernising our use of the office space and our wider ways of working

Recommendation:

To note the report.

Contact: Alison Barnes

Tel: 01590 646633

Email: alison.barnes@newforestnpa.gov.uk

Equality and Diversity

The Equality Act 2010 provides protection from discrimination in respect of certain protected characteristics and places us under a duty to have due regard to the advancement of equality in the exercise of our functions. We aim to eliminate discrimination, harassment, and victimisation and to advance equality of opportunity throughout all aspects of our work. More details regarding our projects and initiatives, such as PEDALL, are set out in the relevant reports and Equality Impact Assessments.

AM 746/26

NEW FOREST NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY

AUTHORITY MEETING – 15 OCTOBER 2026

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REPORT

Report by: Alison Barnes, Chief Executive

As the New Forest returns to green and Autumn begins following several months of drought our focus is on building resilience in the landscape and for communities as we begin to prepare our next Partnership Plan for the next five years (2027-32). This will be a crucial plan for all to engage with, contribute and commit resources to if we are to meet the challenges ahead for our National Park.

The summer heatwave has showed us in stark terms the kind of risks we need to plan for. For some years we have been acutely concerned about wildfire risk, responding with the campaign to ban disposable BBQs with local businesses removing them from shelves, securing a PSPO and pushing the New Forest Code, but this year's tinder dry conditions saw our fears materialise with the tragic A31 heathland fire and other smaller fires concurrently including at Hale Purlieu, Nomansland and Bolton’s Bench.

We immediately engaged with the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) and local communities in response. The ranger team supported route closures, affected businesses, fire prevention messaging and media enquiries, speaking to more than 900 people in the first week. Our Communications Team played a key role, especially in the first days when others were deployed on the ground, handling media requests from a large number of channels and ensuring members and staff were kept up to date; communications reached a large audience, with social media posts generating more than three million impressions and over 170,000 engagements and a website rolling news page viewed 71,000 times.

We are working with partners and the LRF to assess the impact of the summer wildfires and to increase resilience and preparedness, supporting landowners, businesses and communities.

Our work to review the New Forest National Park Partnership Plan was also a focus of our stand at the New Forest Show, where we asked families to help design what their ‘ideal’ National Park would look like in 2050. Our stand won first in the Large Trade Stand category, welcoming thousands of visitors. Farming Minister Stephen Morgan also spent time on our stand and gave out our annual joint awards with CLA, while talking to NPA staff, members and partners to hear about the importance of the National Park in tackling climate and nature challenges, how we connect with our communities as well as funding pressures and uncertainty about future support for the Forest and commoning.

Thanks to additional resource in the planning team, performance against Government targets for determining planning applications was back to 100% of major applications determined within 13 weeks and 90% of non-major applications determined within eight weeks (compared to targets of 60% and 70% respectively) by the beginning of quarter 2.

In the same period, 72 planning applications were determined, with an approval rate of 92%.

The planning enforcement team has worked hard to reduce its caseload, closing 44 cases during the quarter. The revised Local Enforcement Plan is being prepared for Planning Committee and will help improve transparency around priorities, processes and decision-making.

The policy team led the Regulation 19 Submission draft Local Plan consultation, which ran from 17 August to 30 September, with extensive engagement with communities, statutory bodies, parish and town councils and wider stakeholders, included more than 30 hours of public drop-in sessions allowing in-depth discussion, clarification of the process and the requirements set out by Government. The draft Local Plan, evidence base and consultation representations are due to be submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination in December 2026.

Heritage and conservation work has included archaeological advice on 44 planning applications, Forestry England and Higher Level Stewardship work, and the Grade II listing of Netley Marsh War Memorial following community efforts.

Education and youth team had a very busy summer programme of school visits, prioritising young people who may face barriers to accessing the Forest and coast and with funded visit opportunities supporting up to 13 local primary schools. The team is also diversifying its green careers offer, including new short-format work experience opportunities.

After three years, the £1.4m Youth for Climate and Nature (YouCAN) National Lottery Community Fund programme concluded in August after making a major contribution to youth voice, climate and nature action, volunteering, professional practice and cross-team working. Working with six other partners, the scheme included more than 700 activity sessions and reached over 28,000 participants, with a further £117,000 now secured to support legacy activity. Among other activities, this legacy funding will help the Youth Board to continue as it moves into its next phase, developing from a consultation role into a stronger, more integral voice for the National Park.

Rangers maintained a strong public presence over the summer, engaging with 5,683 visitors on issues including barbecues, fire safety, wild camping, livestock interactions and Public Space Protection Orders.

Our health, wellbeing and inclusion work with partners continues to grow. The Green Health Network met again in October, the Green Health Hub was relaunched, and PEDALL inclusive cycling delivered 196 inclusive group riding sessions, 1,750 individual riding slots and four community events during the reporting period.

Sustainable transport and access work has focused on proposals for two A337 crossing points as part of the Lyndhurst to Lymington active travel route. The New Forest Tour season ended on 13 September, with overall passenger numbers down 4%, although July and September saw increases of 13% and 27% respectively. August was affected by the major wildfire and wider public transport issues. Future funding from Hampshire County Council’s LEP Legacy Fund has been secured to support options for new buses and electric charging infrastructure.

We continue to seek vital funding and partnership opportunities. Following a successful expression of interest, we have been invited to submit a development phase application for Landscape Connections funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund in November, with the potential to secure up to £10 million over 10 years.

We continue to engage with local authorities and the shadow Hampshire and Solent Combined Authority as we wait for the future shape of local government in Hampshire to be determined following the decision of the new MHCLG Secretary of State to review previous decisions on boundaries. We have convened the protected landscapes that cover 38% Hampshire to engender a shared approach and joint working to show how our landscapes, not least the New Forest National Park, provide essential ‘natural infrastructure’ for the resilience, health and prosperity of our area. We met with the Chief Executive of the shadow Hampshire and the Solent Combined Councils Authority (H&SCCA) and Leader of Hampshire County Council to brief them on New Forest issues and to connect them into the development of our Partnership Plan.

The UK National Parks Conference ‘People and Nature Thriving Together’ took place in September in the Cairngorms and provided an excellent opportunity to share and learn across the national park family at this crucial time. We left the conference and go into the autumn with a renewed determination to ensure our National Park is an exemplar of what it should mean to be a national park in these challenging times.

DELIVERY OF NATIONAL PARK PURPOSES AND FUNCTIONS

The report has been formatted to accord with the statutory purposes and duty, which we often refer to as Protect, Enjoy and Prosper. These are delivered through our Re:New ‘Climate, Nature, People, Place, Partnership, Organisation’ objectives from the agreed Business Plan, a summary of which is set out on the first page.

Our Business Plan is delivered through annual Work Programmes, progress on which is set out in these reports alongside the formal quarterly reporting under the six themes to the Resources, Audit and Performance Committee; at the end of each year we produce an Annual Review document.

The final section of this report lists the Members’, our Chair’s and the Chief Executive’s activities and events.

1 First Purpose: Protect

Wildlife Rich Habitats Fund

We are developing projects with 3 partners to deliver over £100,000 worth of habitat creation this year, focused around hedgerows and ponds.

Our first agreement has been signed, so delivery of a pond complex will begin shortly, whilst the creation of extensive hedgerow networks will follow close behind with agreement signing expected within the next 2-3 weeks.

Delivery of both is expected in the new year.

Wildfire

Following the fire NPA staff have been involved with different groups organised to help with recovery across the economy, business and the environment. This has been the first occasion that the NPA has had significant involvement with the Local Resilience Forum.

The collective experience gained through this work will help inform our approach to the preparation of an Integrated Wildfire Management Plan as proposed in the UK National Parks Wildfire Management Position Statement that was published at the beginning of October.

Protected Site Strategy (PSS) for Deer Management

Work is progressing on the PSS, part of a national programme aimed at improving the condition of protected sites (Sites of Special Scientific Interest), restoring habitats and strengthening resilience to climate change. One of an initial 12 projects that will be developed across the country, the ambition in the New Forest National Park is to achieve a sustainable, well managed wild deer population by building a cooperative framework amongst landowners and growing a vibrant local venison market. We are in the final stages of signing the Memorandum of Agreement with Natural England. Our key contribution to the project is to convene the range of stakeholders needed to meet the objectives of the PSS, while working with Natural England and Forestry Commission to deliver the project.

We hosted a meeting of the partners involved in the national programme in July, highlighting the importance of working at the landscape scale and the role that the Partnership Plan can play in bringing partners together.

Development Management

The Development Management team continues to deal with a range of varied planning applications. This includes major applications – such as the proposed works to the A326 on the north-eastern boundary of the National Park – and minor applications which include considerations of natural and built environment factors.

Application Numbers and Appeals:

91 planning applications were received in the period 1 July to 31 August 2026 together with 43 other applications and 139 pre-application enquiries. In the same period, 72 planning applications were determined with an approval rate of 92%.

Also in this period, three appeal decisions were received. One was dismissed and two were allowed.

Performance:

Our Development Management statistics have continued to improve through the hard work of planning officers and the Planning Committee. In Q1 for the 2026/27 financial year, 100% of major applications were determined within the 13-week Government target; and 90% of non-major applications were determined within the eight-week Government target. This compares to the published Government targets of 60% and 70% respectively and illustrates the strong performance of our planning team.

Large Cases:

Current large cases include a major application for works to the A326; a further application for Ashurst Hospital; and the redevelopment of a former nursery site in Plaitford. The team has been engaged on a number of large pre-application proposals and there are several large appeals in progress.

Staff Changes:

Rhian Jones left the team in July after over two years. We would like to thank Rhian for her hard work and contribution during this time. We are pleased to welcome Kirstie Sessford as a Planning Officer.

Other:

Officers continue to be represented on a MHCLG/ Planning Advisory Service (PAS) Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) working group and also actively participate in the PAS group for local planning authorities.

From 31 October 2025 the Government is reforming planning committees, meaning in most parts of the country committees will only deal with major applications. National park authorities – including the New Forest National Park Authority – successfully made the case to be exempted from this reform, based primarily on the profile of development within National Park. This means our Planning Committee will continue to consider relevant applications in line with our published scheme of delegation.

Planning Enforcement

Over the past three months, the Planning Enforcement Team has continued to apply a proportionate and effective approach to resolving breaches of planning control across the National Park. The team concluded 44 cases during the quarter, representing the highest quarterly closure rate recorded this financial year, whilst continuing to progress a range of complex investigations, enforcement notice cases and appeal proceedings. This has contributed to a continued reduction in the operational caseload and enabled officers to focus their efforts on those cases causing the greatest planning harm.

Voluntary compliance and negotiated solutions continue to play an important role in the team's work. A substantial proportion of cases concluded during the period were resolved through compliance being secured, planning permission being obtained, breaches ceasing, or investigations confirming that no breach of planning control had occurred. These outcomes are often achieved through sustained engagement by officers with landowners, agents and other parties and help protect the special qualities of the National Park whilst ensuring that formal enforcement action remains proportionate and targeted where it is most needed.

The team continued to progress a number of significant enforcement matters involving unauthorised residential occupation, visitor accommodation, operational development and changes of use. Formal action previously taken at Hamptworth Farm Cottage, Landford, remained under active monitoring following the successful use of a Temporary Stop Notice and the subsequent service of an Enforcement Notice and Stop Notice. The case continues to demonstrate the Authority's willingness to act decisively where serious breaches of planning control cannot be resolved through voluntary measures alone.

During the quarter, the appeal relating to Harry's Field, Abbotswell Road, Frogham was determined, bringing a long-running case to a conclusion. Alongside this, the team continued extensive monitoring of agricultural occupancy conditions, temporary campsite operations and development subject to planning conditions and legal restrictions. This preventative work remains an important part of the service, helping to identify issues at an early stage, maintain compliance and reduce the need for more formal intervention later.

The team also continued work on the review of the Authority's enforcement processes and the preparation of the revised Local Enforcement Plan, which is due to be reported to Planning Committee in October. The revised plan will provide greater transparency around enforcement priorities, procedures and decision-making, helping residents, landowners and other stakeholders better understand how allegations of breaches are investigated and resolved. The review has been a collaborative piece of work involving the whole Enforcement Team together with colleagues in Policy and Legal Services.

Looking ahead, the nature of enforcement work continues to be diverse, with investigations involving unauthorised residential occupation, short-term visitor accommodation, campsite activity, agricultural occupancy restrictions and rural land-use changes. The team will continue to focus on securing compliance through early intervention wherever possible whilst progressing formal action, where proportionate and necessary, to protect the National Park and maintain confidence in the planning system.

Policy

The primary focus of the Policy team from July to October has been the public consultation on the Regulation 19 Submission draft New Forest National Park Local Plan. The statutory consultation period ran from 17 August to 30 September and was widely publicised through social media; traditional media; direct notifications to statutory and other consultees; and through town and parish councils. During the consultation period over 30 hours of public engagement took place through an online session and in-person events held in Copythorne, Landford, Lyndhurst, Netley Marsh, Redlynch and Sway. The Policy team is now reviewing the representations received during this consultation period. The draft Local Plan, supportive evidence base document and all the Regulation 19 representations are due to be submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination in December 2026. The examination is likely to last most of 2027.

In August 2026 the Government published its revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The Framework continues to include national policy protection for national parks and their setting, while supporting small-scale development to meet local needs. The revised Framework now includes reference to ‘natural beauty’, ensuring greater consistency with the wording of the first statutory national parks purpose.

The area around the National Park continues to be the focus for significant development proposals. This includes the emerging plans for the redevelopment of the former Fawley Power Station site. Although located outside the National Park – and within New Forest District Council’s jurisdiction – it is recognised that the redevelopment of this site must consider potential impacts on the adjacent National Park.

Archaeology

In early July the Archaeology Team welcomed our new starters Rebecca Hayward (full-time) and Penny Rogers (part-time), joining as Assistant Archaeologists. Rebecca and Penny have focused on Forestry England Service Level Agreements (SLA) work and are now responding to Higher Level Stewardship scheme requests. We would like to thank Megan Donovan from the building conservation team for her ongoing support over the past few months.

During this period, we consulted on and progressed 44 planning applications - 16 within the National Park and 28 for New Forest District Council (NFDC). Opportunities for excavation within the National Park remain limited, our continued engagement with NFDC applications plays a vital role in expanding our understanding of the archaeological landscape surrounding the National Park as well as indicating what may survive within it.

Through our SLA with Forestry England, the team responded to eight new requests, progressed work on 19 sites, and carried out site visits across the Southern District. The current SLA comes to an end soon and Forestry England has launched its new invitation to tender. The team is now working to put forward a strong bid. For the Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme, we received seven new requests, advanced work on 11 sites, and completed several site visits.

Due to the potential risks posed by heavy machinery used in both forestry operations and habitat restoration, delivering these services continues to provide valuable opportunities to identify, record, and safeguard a wide range of heritage assets across the National Park. This work has repeatedly led to new archaeological discoveries through the detailed analysis of LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data from the New Forest and surrounding areas.

The LoCATE equipment is still being used by local groups. Some good examples of the results obtained using the project equipment can be found on the Avon Valley Archaeological Society website: https://avonvalleyarchsoc.wordpress.com/reports.

The New Forest Knowledge website is still active and in use. However, the site is beginning to fail. We are exploring options, planning to meet in the next quarter, with the aim of preventing a significant loss of publicly available information relating to the heritage of the New Forest.

Working with the Buckler’s Hard Shipyard Trust and Maritime Archaeology Trust, our volunteers assisted on the two-week Bucklers Hard slipway excavation carried out as part of the British Festival of Archaeology July 21-August 7. Our volunteering team and Archaeology team supported volunteers to excavate and record archaeology in the intertidal area, a muddy but fruitful activity. The dig was also a high-profile engagement opportunity, situated right at the bottom of the village, and a finds and interpretation tent welcomed hundreds of people over the two weeks. We also supported the dig in 2025 and hope to do so again next year.

Building Design and Conservation

This quarter, the Building Design and Conservation Team has primarily been focused on planning consultations, which have ranged in scale and scope from alterations to historic residential buildings, to major infrastructure projects. By providing specialist feedback, we have bettered the design and outcome of planning proposals to preserve and enhance the National Park’s cultural heritage and some of our most special buildings.

Through the excellent work of the local community, the Netley Marsh War Memorial has gained Grade II listed status, which recognises that the monument’s architectural and historic interests are nationally significant, and awards it statutory protection. Meanwhile, we have been liaising with Historic England on other properties within the National Park which could and should be nominated for designation. We have also started preparing this year’s cohort of Local List nominations for presentation to committee, and we are actively working with the communications team to secure further nominations from the public.

Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) and Environmental Land Management (ELM)

At the six month stage of this year’s FiPL programme 17% of the budget has been allocated and a pipeline of projects being worked up by the FiPL team. This is in line with our experience to date, with the summer period a peak time for land managers leading to a lull period for delivering projects.

The preparation of a potential Landscape Recovery project continues. This work is being coordinated by Forestry England, with contributions from the NPA, Natural England and commoners.

2 Second Purpose: Enjoy

Education and Youth

July and August saw a continuation of our popular school visits season. We were especially pleased to be working with Lift New Forest Academy, Redbridge Community school and Somerford Primary school since it’s great to be able to prioritise our time for young people living in areas with higher socio-economic and other need. For many of them it will have been their first visit to the open forest or coast, stepping outside their comfort zone, so being able to provide a summer term visit is an important way of reducing barriers to participation and increasing connection to nature.

Following our very successful programme of week-long work experience for year 10 students from local secondaries, the applications are flooding in for next summer already. We will diversify our green careers offer so that more young people can take part in alternative styles of work experience– so we will be trialling a one-day ‘day in the life of…’ experience starting with a collaboration with the ranger team, designed for key stage 3 and 4 students attending in a small group. The invitation to take part in the pilot scheme has had a lot of positive responses, including from schools as far away as Portsmouth. We’ve also not been able to attend as many careers fairs based in schools as we would like so have pivoted to run a bespoke event with Southampton University instead.

Our offer to local primary schools for funded visits with activities supported by Higher Level Stewardship Scheme and the AJ Bell Futures Foundation Travel Fund is allowing up to 13 schools to come on visits that would not otherwise have happened. Those schools with high free school meals who have booked on are really excited to be taking part but there are still more grants to allocate so we will be contacting schools in September and the autumn.

Youth for Climate and Nature (YouCAN)

The Youth for Climate and Nature (YouCAN) project, funded by the Community Lottery-Climate Action Fund- came to an end at the end of August. New Forest Thrive festival was organised by our team and held in Ringwood on 4 July to celebrate the culmination of this partnership project that has create so many meaningful opportunities for young people to connect to nature and contribute to climate and nature action. Over 500 people attended and interacted with live performances, collaborative art and music activities, local green groups, environmental organisations as well as activities for children run by our own Junior Rangers. During the event several of our Junior Rangers were awarded their Gold Award, presented by Lead Ranger Gillie Molland, celebrating three years of participation and giving back to the scheme.

The YouCAN project has had a transformational effect on our team and made a significant contribution to the NFNPA as a whole in delivering key aims within our Partnership Plan. The final report for the project will be shared soon, as will that by our external evaluators, Action Hampshire, but it is important to note the impact it has had to the NFNPA itself:

• The Education team became and realised its new title of ‘education and youth team’ and increased staffing - enabling us to provide more varied opportunities in more varied places and times of day to reach a wider audience.
• Staff have been invested in, given opportunity for creativity, responsibility and professional development.
• We have increased levels of reflective practice amongst ourselves and with key colleagues in wider NPA teams.
• Relationships have been built with other professionals and volunteers working with young people across the region, including youth workers, green groups, school staff, and other outdoor education providers.
• Being able to collaborate across teams revealed things we’ve needed to work on to improve and has been immensely rewarding, in particular with volunteering, communications and ranger teams.

Claire Pearce, Youth Development Officer: ‘We have moved to a youth work values-led provision and embedded this approach with other team members too.’

Katie Barrow, Youth Engagement Coordinator: ‘Because you are trying to have an impact on young people, it feels really important to have ongoing reflection and change in our professional practice.’

New approaches and innovations:

• Systems and policies including - safeguarding policy, new booking systems, evaluation, communication platform for youth board members.
• Opportunities for repeat visits to the National Park for young people not engaged at school
• Youth volunteering opportunities on weekends
• Junior rangers programme now an established programme, with a long waiting list, multiple levels of progression and reward with opportunities to give back.
• Volunteers supporting education and youth visits with groups
• A youth board, regularly interacting with our Authority members
• Online youth portal
• More awareness of what else is happening in our region in youth work, environment and youth voice
• Deeper relationships with partner organisations in Southampton and Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole.

Things we will do differently now:

• A new concept of youth volunteering based on a better understanding of the motivations of that audience (and how to gather feedback from them)
• Early green careers network has evolved into a more open green careers network
• More integrated work with comms, engagement, policy and other teams.
• Improvements in project management and cross team working
• Development and design evaluation methods that are accessible to audiences in a range of age groups.

Youth Board

The youth board has been a crucial element of the YouCAN project, something that started from nothing, has gone the furthest and generated the most new ideas and opportunities. Staff, members, and youth board members alike have learned and developed through working together. We are also very aware there is so much further this can go.

We are committed to continuing to support the youth board and have been pleased to receive confirmation from the Community Fund that funds form ‘ending well’ will be available to support this in the short term. We now better recognise the amount of time and nurture that is needed to support this- and the strong facilitation approach that is needed. The youth board can now move from having a very welcome ‘seat at the table’ of consultations and committees and events, to having a stronger and integral voice for National Park.

Public and community events / rangers / recreation management

The Ranger Team maintained a highly visible presence across the National Park throughout the summer, responding to the increase in visitors, seasonal pressures, and the prolonged period of heightened wildfire risk. We engaged with 5,683 visitors across the period on issues including BBQs, fire safety, wild camping, livestock interactions and Public Space Protection Orders.

During the periods of red fire alert, our patrols specifically focussed on fire and wild camp prevention. We changed normal working patterns to focus on afternoons, evenings and week-ends when people were most likely to be cooking or setting up camps. The team coordinated with FE rangers, volunteer rangers, keepers and car park rangers to ensure high risk locations and times of day were covered with the resources available between us, especially Friday and Saturday evenings, and the night of the partial solar eclipse which was an exceptionally busy night with 239 people spoken to in three hours.

We continued the litter picking of sites whilst out on patrol, with a focus on glass, to help reduce fire risk.

During the weeks of the A31 wildfire incident, NPA rangers provided support with staffing of temporary route closures, offered support and engaged with affected businesses, and delivered targeted fire prevention messages to campsites and visiting members of the public. We spoke to over 900 people in the first week. The team acted as spokespeople for media interviews and press enquiries, highlighting the impact of the fire on the internationally important biodiversity, habitats and species being affected.

The team supported Forestry England's response to a series of suspicious fires at Boltons Bench, contributing to a multi-agency arson prevention rota alongside Hampshire Police and security teams, maintaining a strong public engagement presence focused on fire prevention and public safety.

We balanced our patrols with other community engagement work, attending many local events, starting with New Forest Show, followed by taking the mobile information unit to events including Lymington and Pennington Town Councils' Summer Spectacular, Ellingham Show, Hythe Activity Day, Romsey Show, Hurst Castle Wild Wednesdays, and a series of pop-up engagement sessions at strategic greenspace sites, helping to raise awareness of the New Forest's special qualities and responsible recreation messages.

Rangers led a number of guided walks for community groups including a nursing team from Lymington Hospital keen to learn more about the area they worked in and to be able to share information with patients, and an evening nightjar event with African Activities, celebrating this SPA species which calls both continents home.

We attended Brockenhurst College Freshers Fair, where students were introduced to key New Forest Code messages, in particular livestock interactions and driving safely on New Forest roads. We continued to work closely with local businesses, campsites and tourism providers, distributing information, supporting compliance with PSPO messaging and encouraging partners to share key safety messages with their customers and visitors.

Protecting the Forest's habitats, wildlife and infrastructure remained a key element of daily ranger patrols. During the reporting period, the team dealt with numerous incidents including wild camping, heritage crime, illegal fires, fly tipping and vandalism to infrastructure posing risks to livestock. We engaged with over 100 Duke of Edinburgh students, educated off road cyclists and motorbikes, spoke with 3 fishermen illegally fishing in a New Forest pond, and worked with our archaeology team to respond to metal detectorists on the open forest. These activities, together with biodiversity monitoring, partnership operations such as Op Mountie and regular visitor engagement, help demonstrate the breadth of the team's work. There is never a typical day!

Communications

The New Forest Show stand ‘New Forest 2050’ focused on our Partnership Plan review and asked families to help design what their ‘ideal’ National Park would look like in 2050 through fun activities. Over 2,500 attended our stand, which won first prize in the large trade stand category. We held a reception for volunteers, partners and stakeholders to highlight the challenges ahead and how we can come together through the Partnership Plan review to find solutions. We welcomed Farming Minister Stephen Morgan to the stand and impressed upon him the special circumstances of the Forest and the funding threat to the future of commoning. He received a copy of our new annual review publication looking at the impact over the past year.

The annual National Park Awards ceremony and reception was held in the Main Ring at the Showground supported by the CLA, Moore Barlow and the Show Society. The Farming Minister handed out the awards to worthy recipients in the following categories, with press releases and social posts later highlighting the achievements of each winner:

• Young Farmer: Elycia Farnish
• Best Supporter of Local Produce: The Farmers Butcher
• Sustainability Champion: Hockey’s Farm Shop
• Young Environmental Champion: Gemma Hobbs
• Farming and Nature Champion: Richard Channell
• Commoning Champion: Richard Deakin.

Less than a month after taking part in the media cell of the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) ‘LiveX’ tabletop exercise with a New Forest wildfire as the scenario, a van caught fire on the A31 leading to a widespread heathland fire. The BBC asked for an interview not long after the fire started about how internationally-important the National Park is for wildlife and this led to national and regional TV, radio and print interview requests fielded by our Lead Ranger and Head of Environment and Rural Economy.

We also shared approved LRF messages including asking people to stay away from the area; about the pipeline bringing water to the fire area; shared CDA messaging to allay concerns about Commoners animals; information about traffic diversions and other fires in the National Park; thanked firefighters, Forestry England and volunteer/partner organisations for their incredible efforts in the record heatwave; and signposted support for businesses and that the Forest was open to visitors. The New Forest fire was in the context of other major wildfires across the country and part of the national media story of heatwaves, drought, climate change, fire resources, disposable BBQ bans and Government phone alerts. As a result, social posts saw over three million impressions and over 170k engagements. A website rolling news page of official updates from all agencies was viewed over 71,000 times. The NPA team also contacted campsites asking them not to have open fires or BBQs on their premises and we promoted the no BBQs in the open countryside PSPO.

Other ‘caring for the Forest campaigns’ have included messaging about pannage and keeping your distance from the animals; as well as the Drive Safe Campaign which has seen over 90 businesses sign up. We also supported New Forest District Council’s Look Out For Our Forest litter campaign and promoted awareness of ticks and Lymes disease.

The Local Plan review ‘Reg 19’ consultation has been promoted through press releases, social media posts, posters, drop-in sessions in person and online, and through liaison with parish and town councils.

As the YouCAN Youth for Climate and Nature scheme came to an end in August, we produced an animation about climate change in the New Forest and a wrap-up pdf bringing together the main achievements, impact and learnings from YouCAN which we are in the process of promoting. A Youth Portal on the NPA website was also launched, providing an online gateway for young people to find events, activities, programmes and resources from a range of partners. Another key piece of work through the scheme has been a climate risks and adaptations report commissioned by the NPA and produced by Wild New Forest and Maploom. John Stride has been working with the team to begin to promote the report through an article in the New Forest Association newsletter; a ‘tent talk’ at the East End Arms pub near Lymington; a People’s Emergency Briefing event with Greener Brockenhurst; a staff session; plus a digital summary document and website section.

A report produced by researchers at the University of Southampton, Swansea University and Cardiff University, in partnership with the New Forest National Park Authority (NFNPA) and Greenprint looked at the future of green careers. The report’s message that green careers need to be made more visible and accessible if the UK is to transition to a low-carbon economy was promoted through a press release and on social media.

We provide communications support for the Commoners Defence Association and held an update meeting with the Chair. Since the new funding was secured for the post two years ago, social media alone has seen 3.6 million impressions (up 105%) and 181k engagements (up 42%). Audience growth is up 32%. Video, including filmed regular updates from the CDA Chair, has been a key part of our strategy and has proved very popular with 230k views (up 58%).

The New Forest Marque, which we also support with communications, had a busy summer of events including the New Forest Show local produce area and nearly 20 Marque ‘inspired’ arts and crafts members taking part in Hampshire Open Studios.

Nationwide, we helped to provide a film and presentations on Team Nature for the National Parks UK conference in the Cairngorms; supported a National Parks Partnerships campaign with Vodafone and are planning a nationwide campaign ‘the answer is National Parks’.

Work continues on developing a new Green Halo Partnership website; a health and wellbeing communications campaign including the Walking Festival; and the annual Animal accidents campaign when the clocks go back.

Health and Wellbeing and Inclusive Projects

Our second Green Health Network session took place on 1 October. The network is for health professionals, social prescribers, link workers, community groups, and anyone working to connect people with nature for their health and wellbeing in the New Forest and surrounding areas. It follows on from the successful first Connect and Learn event in March (https://greenhealthhub.org.uk/boost-for-nature-based-wellbeing-in-new-forest-through-green-health-hub-event/) attended by more than 30 people from across the NHS, local authorities, and the voluntary and nature sectors. Mandy Preece from Natural England gave a presentation on new national guidance for social prescribers and nature-based activity providers and attendees worked on how the network will grow and develop in the next six months. We have been joined by Dr Alice Glaysher who is our NHS Health and Wellbeing Fellowship placement, and Alice will be working on the network and planning the next activities including the spring event.

On September 24 we delivered in partnership with the NHS a connection to nature event, run by Phil Godfrey, who joined us as an NHS placement earlier in the year. 27 Health professionals spent a day at Foxlease Park understanding how nature can be incorporated into their wellbeing activities.

Throughout October we are highlighting our health and wellbeing work through a communications campaign. We are also welcoming all the health and wellbeing leads from the UK national Parks to the New Forest as part of the combined conference with Education and Outreach group, taking place in November.

We have worked to continue and support our partnership on the Nightjar Project with African Activities, supporting them with a high-profile event at the John Hansard Gallery as part of the British Science Festival in Southampton. We supported a drop in day displays about heathland ecology and the nightjar bird, with African Activities providing art and creativity workshops as well as the nightjar sculpture and facilitating discussions around migration and belonging. We will be supporting activities at CODA in October and are working on plans for next year’s programme and funding.

PEDALL New Forest Inclusive Cycling

Activity & Impact Update: Pedall has delivered 196 inclusive group riding sessions, 1,750 individual riding slots and four community events in this period. The very hot weather has impacted our rider numbers as extreme heat prevented many vulnerable groups from venturing outdoors. The extreme dry weather has also resulted in a pause of operations at Ashurst, as the condition of tracks has caused safety concerns (very large, deep cracks in tracks). We will require support from Forestry England to make necessary improvements.

Pedall participated in the NFNPA community event, Thrive, offering pedal go-kart rides to children, encouraging them to clock up kilometres in our Pass the Pedall summer challenge.

Pedall displayed specialist cycles and supported community engagement at the New Forest Show for the first time, helping drive awareness of inclusive cycling and access to the National Park for those with additional needs and disability.

Pedall worked with two new school groups, one youth charity and one new care home in this period.

Pass the Pedall, 10,000km for £10K challenge: Pedall kicked off its summer of fundraising challenges, with the New Forest inclusive cycling community aiming to ride 10,000km and raise £10,000. To date we have collectively cycled over 7,500 kilometres and have raised over £15,000.

26 September 2026 – Pass the PEDALL community event: Pass the PEDALL returned for its third year at New Park near Brockenhurst inviting PEDALL’s riding community to help reach the challenge targets.

The event has established itself as an annual highlight in the New Forest cycling calendar and builds on successes in 2024 and 2025.

Bournemouth Water: The company granted funding to Friends of Pedall to deliver inclusive cycling to young people with additional needs.

Social Impact Report: Pedall shared results from its social impact report which featured voices from our community and clear evidence of our health and wellbeing impact. https://www.pedall.org.uk/pedall-social-impact-report/

• 97% of riders say they feel happy after cycling with PEDALL, with the same proportion feeling excited to be in the Forest and outdoors in nature.
• 96% report improved strength and fitness, while 100% of volunteers say the programme has a positive effect on participants’ lives.
• Alongside this, 87% of riders say they have gained confidence to try new activities, and 92% feel happy cycling in a group, showing the importance of both movement and shared experience.

Volunteering

Our conservation and access volunteers, youth volunteers and New Forest ambassadors have provided 113 volunteer days on tasks across the National Park. Across three sessions, Flourish In Nature additionally provided six places on our tasks for adults requiring additional support.

We continue to offer corporate volunteering to local and national businesses. Since the last report we had a group from Talent Locker who helped on the Breamore Railway line project. We look forward to a busy winter season at Copythorne Common and currently have five groups booked in.

As part of the New Routes to Nature project, we were able to deliver outdoor first aid training to a group of New Forest ambassadors and engagement team staff, increasing the pool of people able to support guided walks, events and volunteer tasks.

We joined Natural England at Langley Woods Nature Reserve, clearing two-decades-old butterfly transect routes of bracken. With eight people total on brush cutters, including four of our in-house trained volunteers, we were able to complete a job that normally takes two to three days in one.

In a joint effort with the HCC Countryside Team, our volunteers replaced two ditch crossings across an area of Open Access Land in Copythorne, providing our team with valuable experience to install our own crossing point (see Access and Rights of Way section below). We received lots of positive comments from curious residents.

Finally, for our first task of the autumn/winter season, two dozen keen volunteers cleared over 500sqm of scrub at RSPB Copythorne Common, a great start to our long-term project supporting this Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Access and Rights of Way

NPA staff and volunteers installed a crossing point over a small stream down on the Calshot to Gosport section of the England Coast Path. The bridge kit was kindly supplied by the HCC Rights of Way team.

We are gathering quotes for surface works along section two of the England Coast Path. Once surface works are organised, we will start planning out signage, interpretation and gate installation to be ready for the opening in March 2027.

Surface works on the Breamore Railway line project have started. The contractors are working down from the northern section and making good progress. We hope to have most of the work done by October with some final tasks to be done early in 2027.

3 Duty: Prosper

Fundraising

Development of the Landscape Connections proposal continues with the Re:New Nature Partnership. The National Lottery Heritage Fund has invited the National Park Authority to submit a development phase application, with the potential to secure up to £10 million over 10 years. Evidence gathering and engagement work has helped identify key priorities for long-term investment, with the application due for submission in November 2026.

The three-year, £1.4 million Youth for Climate and Nature programme funded by The National Lottery Community Fund has concluded, having delivered over 700 activity sessions and engaged more than 28,000 participants, including over 10,000 young people. Early evaluation findings show strong impacts on climate and nature awareness and engagement. A further £117,000 has been secured from the funder to support legacy activities and embed learning from the programme.

New Forest Tour

The New Forest Tour season ended on 13 September. While overall passenger numbers were down 4%, the monthly view is more telling. In July, numbers were up 13%, similarly in September numbers increased by 27%. Patronage in August was significantly impaired for two reasons: firstly, linked to the general disruption caused by the major wildfire, and secondly due to the free child fare scheme on the general bus network over the course of August which incentivised families to use other bus services in the area. Taking into account these factors, the Tour has performed relatively well. A significant change this year was the reversal of the red route including Brockenhurst as a stopping point. Further analysis of the passenger data will show whether this route change improved east-west connectivity across the National Park.

Our application (in partnership with Go South Coast, the Tour operator) for future New Forest Tour funding from Hampshire County Council’s LEP Legacy Fund has been successful. In its September meeting, RAPC committee supported that we set out options for receipt of the grant for acquisition and operation of the new buses and electric charging infrastructure.

Funded by Interreg (an EU inter-regional co-operation programme), the MONA project aims to promote sustainable tourism in nature areas. In September, the sixth MONA webinar took place focusing on accessibility in protected landscapes, addressing the full range of barriers that can prevent people from accessing these spaces. Aynsley Clinton presented a range of initiatives developed in line with the Partnership Plan’s strategic ‘Inclusive National Park’ objective. On the webinar, she outlined our key access priorities such as PEDALL, the New Forest Tour and the Green Health Hub.

Sustainable Transport and Active Travel

Enabled by Active Travel England funding, work continues with Hampshire County Council to develop two crossing points on the A337 as part of the Lyndhurst to Lymington Active Travel Route, as well as pilot approaches on the on-road leisure network identified in the New Forest Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan. A press release about the crossing-points scheme is ready and is informed by the extensive stakeholder engagement undertaken to date.

Affordable Housing

Recent research by Nationwide confirms that properties located within National Parks cost 24% more on average than a similar property elsewhere in the country, with the New Forest having the highest average house price of all the UK National Parks. Through our planning powers we will continue to use the tools available to deliver affordable housing to support our local communities. Dwelling completions on the adopted New Forest National Park Local Plan (2019) site allocations at the former Lyndhurst Park Hotel, land at Whartons Lane in Ashurst, and land at Church Lane in Sway continue. These sites include on-site affordable housing for local people in housing need and will result in a significant increase in affordable housing delivery in the National Park. Work is also progressing on the rural exception site development at New Inn Road, Bartley, which will provide 10 affordable homes for people in affordable housing need in the locality.

Sustainable Communities Fund

The Hampshire Ornithological Society has been awarded £2,000 towards the purchase and fit of 500 sets of artificial nest cups (ANCs) for house martins across Hampshire in time for the 2027 breeding season. To maximise occupation, the cups would be provided and fitted free to suitable properties within 1km of known nests, thus expanding existing colonies rather than attempting to establish new sites. The house martin is a popular but red-listed, declining species that need insects for food, overhanging eaves for their nests and damp mud to make them. Nest failure is one of the factors thought to be driving population decline. ANCs provide safe, durable nests and save the birds about 10 days of building. Our funds will provide a proportion of the total cost reflecting the area of the New Forest National Park that falls within Hampshire.

4 Organisation: Achieving Excellence

Human Resources

As of 30 September 2026, the total staff headcount was 79 or 67.38 full-time equivalents (FTEs).

*Of the core funded roles, one staff member (1 FTE) is working in shared services and 24 are part-time.

In the last few months we recruited to the following roles:

We said goodbye to:

We are currently recruiting:

IT & Cyber Security Services

Security/Infrastructure

• Progressed development of a new IT Service Catalogue and Knowledge Platform to improve documentation, and knowledge sharing across the team and thereby reducing single points of failure and improving service resilience.
• Continued strengthening cyber resilience through phishing awareness planning, cyber assurance preparation, and security improvement activities. Progressed planning for future cyber incident exercises and organisational readiness activities.
• Reviewed security processes, incident response arrangements, and evidence collection to support future audits and assurance requirements.
• Progressed the review and update of the IT Policy, improving clarity, usability, and alignment with modern ways of working.
• Continued routine maintenance, system upgrades, supplier management, device deployments, and operational support activities across the Authority.

Microsoft 365

• Expanded the AI Champions programme, helping staff explore practical uses of AI and Microsoft Copilot in a safe and supported environment.
• Began development of an Authority-wide approach to AI governance, recognising the growing use of AI technologies and the need for clear guidance and responsible use.
• Delivered further IT Champions sessions focused on improving digital skills and increasing confidence in Microsoft 365 and SharePoint.

Other

• Piloted a range of managed iPad solutions to support reception services, education activities, planning officers, volunteers, and mobile workers.
• Progressed procurement and evaluation of replacement multi-function devices and associated cloud-printing services to ensure future reliability and supportability.
• Investigated options to modernise Council Chamber technology, focusing on improving audio quality, accessibility, hybrid participation, and meeting recording capabilities.
• Developed new management dashboards and reporting tools to improve visibility of IT assets, service requests, contracts, and service performance.

Information management

Information requests

To date (16 September 2026) we have received 50 formal requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This is an increase of 67% on the number received in the same period last year (50 vs 30). Of those, 39 have been responded to within the statutory timeframes, with a further two exceeding the statutory time limit. They were late by three and four working days respectively; the remaining nine have yet to be responded to and it is likely some may be finalised after the statutory deadline. Requests are becoming increasingly complex and are often broad in scope and contain multiple parts within a single request, regularly containing 9-11 specific questions. Due to commonalities in form, layout, language etc, it is suspected that many are now being generated by AI.

Most requests (74%) related to our planning work, including policy matters, planning statistics and specific planning applications and enforcement cases. Eight were specifically related to the ongoing review of the Local Plan. However, we still received a similar number of requests about other areas of our work (13 vs 17 last year), such as our finances, IT arrangements, HR matters, fleet vehicles, pollution, climate change etc.

We currently have one outstanding request for an internal review of our original decision; this is the only one received this financial year. However, this figure may rise as some requesters still have time, since their response was sent out, to request a review, if they wish. We currently have three historical requests with the Information Commissioner and are waiting to hear from their investigator. Two relate to a single planning matter where we withheld some information because it was the personal data of a third party.

Complaints

The number of formal complaints received this year remain low. We have not received any new ones during Q2, and therefore the cumulative figure for the year remains at two. Both were responded to within the 15 working days policy requirement. One was ‘not upheld’ and the second one was ‘out of time’ and therefore, fell outside of our Complaints Process.

Personal Data Rights

We received nine applications from members of the public to exercise their right to restrict the publication of their personal information under the General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). Seven of these related to a single planning application where the objectors were asking us not to put their names and/or postal addresses on our website. As we are not relying on consent to process personal data in relation to planning matters, such requests are determined on a case-by-case basis and based on the particular circumstances of the data subject, as set out in the legislation.

5 Members

5.1 Some Members were involved in some or all of the following meetings and events

• 28 – 30 July – New Forest Show
• 18 August – Planning Committee
• 3 September – Consultative Panel
• 7 September – Resources, Audit and Performance Committee
• 14 September – New Forest Access Forum
• 15 September – Planning Committee
• 21 September – ABP Members Briefing
• 22 September – Fawley Waterside Members Briefing
• 30 September – Members Day – Foxlease Visit
• 3 October – Youth Board Foxlease Event
• 5 October – Forestry England Members Briefing
• 13 October – Planning Committee
• 15 October – Full Authority Meeting

5.2 Forthcoming Members activities include:

• 2 November – Resources, Audit and Performance Committee
• 17 November – Planning Committee
• 3 December – Consultative Panel
• 10 December – Members Day TBC
• 14 December – New Forest Access Forum
• 15 December – Planning Committee
• 19 January – Planning Committee
• 28 January – Full Authority Meeting

5.3 Chief Executive’s external engagements

• 23 July – New Forest Business Partnership 25-year celebratory event
• 24 July – Meeting with Director of Conservation & Climate Change, North York Moors NPA (National Network Lead for Nature Recovery)
• 24 July – Meeting with Chief Executive, Marwell Zoo
• 27 July – Meeting with World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA)
• 27 July – Meeting with Director of Conservation & Climate Change, NYMNPA
• 27 July – English National Parks Officers Group (CX network) meeting
• 27 July – New Forest Show pre-Show reception
• 28-29 July – New Forest Show, including judging in the Food Hall, NPA stand reception to consider the New Forest of 2050, lunch with Farming Minister, NPA / CLA Award ceremony in the main ring
• 30-31 July – English National Park (NPE) and English non-government organisations CEO meeting (Peak District)
• 3 August - Meeting with Director of Conservation & Climate Change, North, NYMNPA
• 3 August – Business South Board Strategy Session
• 3 August – Meeting with International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
• 4 August – Meeting re National Parks UK (NPUK) Conference
• 5 August – Meeting with Chief Executive, Business South
• 5 August – Meeting with Women Leaders in Protected Landscapes (WLiPL) Conference organiser
• 5 August – Podcast recording
• 6 August – Visit Bucklers Hard archaeological dig
• 10 August – Meeting with Dartmoor and Exmoor NPAs
• 11 August – National Park City International Committee
• 11 August – Meeting with Director of Conservation & Climate Change, NYMNPA
• 12 August – Meeting with Policy and Public Affairs Manager, NPE
• 12 August – Regular meeting with Chief Executive, NFDC
• 13 August – Meeting with Chief Executive, Cairngorms NPA
• 17 August – Meeting with WCPA
• 18 August – Meeting re Nature Targets & Outcomes (UK Nature recovery leaders)
• 19 August – Meeting with Director, Landscape & Operations, SDNPA
• 20 August – WiPL event planning meeting
• 20 August – Meeting with Chief Executive, National Parks Partnerships (NPP)
• 21 August – Business South Summer Lunch
• 2 September – Meeting with NPP Board member
• 3 September – WLiPL event planning meeting
• 3 September – Regular meeting with Deputy Surveyor, Forestry England
• 3 September – Meeting regarding IUCN Conference
• 4 September – WiPL event planning meeting
• 4 September – Regular meeting with Chief Executive, South Downs NPA
• 4 September – Partnership for South Hampshire (PfSH) Chief Executives meeting
• 8 September – Regular meeting with Director – Thriving Landscapes & Nature Recovery, Natural England
• 9 September – Greenprint Steering Group
• 10 September – Call with St George’s Fellowship, Windsor Programme Director
• 11 September – Strategic Leadership Team development session
• 14 September – Meeting with WLiPL event organisers
• 15 September – National Park City International Committee
• 16-18 September – NPUK Conference, Scotland – including Team Nature presentation
• 22 September – Attended Natural England Board, Bristol
• 28 September – Leadership Team Development session
• 28-30 September – Leadership Conversation, St George’s Fellowship Windsor
• 2 October – Southern Water Independent Climate & Environment Challenge Group - Quarterly meeting
• 5 October – Meeting with WCPA
• 5 October – Hosting a visit for Executive Director, National Parks England (NPE)
• 5 October – WLiPL event planning meeting
• 6 October – Regular meeting with Director – Thriving Landscapes & Nature Recovery, Natural England
• 6 October – Meeting with SDNPA and Hampshire National Landscapes
• 6 October – Meeting with Leader, HCC and Chief Executive, Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority
• 7 October – Speaker at Lester Aldridge Green Finance Conference
• 7-9 October – Annual Nature Recovery Leaders & Climate Change Working Group meeting in South Downs
• 13 October – NPE Board meeting

5.4 Chair’s external engagements

• 10 August – Meeting with Exmoor and Dartmoor NPs
• 10 August – National Parks England (NPE) Directors meeting
• 17 August – Meeting with Chair, South Downs NPA
• 14 September – NPE Directors meeting
• 16-18 September – National Parks UK (NPUK) Conference, Scotland
• 5 October – Hosting a visit for Executive Director, NPE
• 6 October – Meeting with SDNPA and Hampshire National Landscapes
• 6 October – Meeting with Leader, Hampshire County Council and Chief Executive, Hampshire and the Solent Combined County Authority
• 8 October – Meeting with Chair, Commoners Defence Association
• 13 October – NPE Board meeting
• 14 October – Campaign for National Parks NP National Park Protector Awards

6 Recommendation

To note the report.