Summer 2024 Update from the Chair – Sarah Nield

So, what has the first 100 days brought?

On the planning front, we supported the National Park’s objection to a solar farm at Thornhills Farm at Netley Marsh. Whilst we need low carbon energy solutions, in this instance, these benefits did not outweigh protection of the special qualities of the forest or the loss of possible back-up grazing.   We are also keeping a watchful eye on any developments with the Freeport and the A326. With the recent withdrawal of the plans for the new town at Fawley Waterside, we wait for what comes next for the old Fawley Power Station site.

Our Habitats and Landscape Committee have a full agenda to fit around their members’ seasonal fieldwork which is so vital to the forest’s future. We are also participating in shaping the future of the campsites particularly their environmental impact and have reiterated to the Verderers our opposition to the fencing of the campsites, first set out in our presentment to the January 2024 court. We continue to remind Forestry England of the Habitat Regulations which received only a cursory acknowledgment when the food vans appeared in some forest car parks this summer.

Our support of commoning looms large from work against encroachments to the interaction between commoners’ stock and visitors, whether in the campsites, car parks or the forest more widely.  Last year we surveyed the commoners on the effect of byelaw breaches on commoning and are following up this work with monitoring the effectiveness of the PSPOs.

A working group is looking at a range of recreational issues from the mitigation of recreational impact from new developments to progress on the National Parks’ recreational strategy.  We continue to look at the role played by the Byelaws, and now PSPOs, in regulating recreation. So, we will be repeating the Byelaw Watch in August this year and asking you again to take part in recording byelaw breaches when you are out and about in the forest.

We value our relations with the statutory bodies and other leading forest organisations. Our twice-yearly meetings with Forestry England and the National Park Authority continue and our Planning and Transport Committee have invited key National Park personnel to their meetings. The election of our Council Member and Trustee, Brian Tarnoff, as chair of the National Park Consultative Panel and his appointment to the Access Forum is excellent news.  We also continue our close links with the Commoners Defence Association and the newly formed Biodiversity Forum.

As for me, what have I been doing?  Meeting lots of people is one answer and seeing how our committees operate. I have much to learn but fortunately there are many helpful folk willing to share their expertise. But as chair I am concerned with how we move forward. We have been very fortunate to have a talented volunteer look at our business strategy which the trustees are considering carefully. We need to be more visible and showcase the important work we are doing.  To do that we must grow our membership and our profile.  I of course welcome your thoughts on how the Friends should approach the future in its key mission of protecting the forest. You can just email me on chair.fonf@gmail.com

In the meantime, here are some plants I spotted on my forest walks – you will see I am neither a botanist nor photographer!