Objective 4
Objective 4: Protect and enhance the New Forest’s working and natural landscape, and improve the recreational experience, by influencing where recreation takes place.
The Partnership Plan will include a fresh commitment to produce a spatial plan for where recreation should be encouraged across the New Forest and surrounding areas (alongside opportunities for wildlife habitat improvements).
The opportunity for some redistribution of car parking capacity is being investigated through creation of Local Development Order. Work is ongoing to sketch potential changes to car parks and draft the rationale, criteria and thresholds for any such changes and take account of Habitats Regulations Assessment. This work is helped by Footprint Ecology counts of parked vehicles and confirmation of which car parks are most used by people from different communities and how this changes through the year.
A Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan is being developed to improve safety, connectivity and sustainable travel.
Development planned in the New Forest District Local Plan (2020) includes provision of significant new ‘Accessible Natural Recreational Greenspace’ areas.
The major new development at the site of the former Fawley Power Station includes the planned provision of over 30 hectares of new recreational greenspace.
