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Archive | May, 2009

New Forest Association First to Present Against Mobile Shop Proposal

By on 20/05/2009 in News, Planning

At the May Verderers Court the NFA launched a pre-emptive strike against Forest Holidays proposal to run a twice daily retail van mobile shop service to three of of their New Forest campsites. The Deputy Surveyor presented the proposal to the court on behalf of Forest Holidays, asking for the Verderers “agreement and support” for the proposal. The proposal claims the service would champion the New Forest Marque local produce and would reduce car pollution from campers off-site journeys.

The NFA Presentment took issue, claiming the proposal “fails on its supposed merits.” In hiding their proposal behind the New Forest Marque, “They have dressed up their Trojan horse to look like a New Forest Pony”, and that once market forces took over Forest Holidays would be unlikely to honour a preference for local produce indefinitely. The supposedly eco-friendly reduction of car journeys presents a similar sham as two of the proposed campsites are within easy walking distance of the local shops. Local businesses would inevitably suffer loss of both direct and passing trade. The forest would suffer further ecologically if more goods are bought and consumed on site producing more rubbish and packaging waste.

The NFA further chided Forest Holidays for their overly commercialized attitude as “wholly inappropriate” to the New Forest, and for failing to show the court respect by issuing the proposal through the Forestry Commission rather than sending their own representative.

The Verderers are due to make a decision on the proposal after hearing more from the public during the upcoming June court.

[To read a full text of the NFA May presentment , see the first comment below, or click here.]

Deputy Surveyor Previews Retail Van Proposal

By on 07/05/2009 in News, Planning

At this month’s New Forest Consultative Panel, the Deputy Surveyor, Mike Seddon, gave basic details of the Forest Holidays proposed campsite retail van, for which he will be asking the Verderers approval in the May Verderers Court. Having taken over the running of the shop at Holmsley campsite last season, Forest Holidays, a joint venture between the Forestry Commission and The Camping and Caravanning Club, wish to extend the shop’s offering to three other campsites, Holland’s Wood, Roundhill, and Ashurst.

The Deputy Surveyor’s presentation focussed on Forest Holiday’s aim of carrying New Forest Marque® products on the van, and branding the van itself with the New Forest Marque®. The New Forest Marque® is a branding scheme to promote and identify New Forest produce.
(see http://www.newforestproduce.com/about_the_marque.html for more info).

Forest Holidays will be promising the Verderers “that they are prepared to give preference to local products as far as possible.” They also claim “an ancillary benefit” would be reducing car journeys by campsite visitors.

Panel members slammed the proposal for its disregard for local businesses and the environmental impact on the fabric of the forest. Peter Roberts of the New Forest Association suggested that the proposals were merely “a sideshow”, and that given the statutory duty to insure that the Ancient and Ornamental woodland is kept in good or improving condition, that instead the Forestry Commission should be seeking to “remove the commercial element from the forest” which is doing actual damage to the land. Peter Sopowski, Ashurst and Colbury Parish Council, described the proposal as “a retrograde step” and that the shops dependent on the campsite trade in Ashurst are in easy walking distance of the campsite, and said, “it’s not the thin end of the wedge, it’s the sharp end.” Olive Collins, New Forest Shops Association, said she had “a feeling of deja vu”and gave a potted history of previous attempts to run mobile shops on the campsites, leading to closures of local shops, outrage, the Verderers Court filled to bursting, and the removal of the mobile shops.

[To read a full transcript of the Deputy Surveyor’s statement, see the first comment below, or click here.]