NFNPA 436/13 27 June 2013 Chief Executive’S Report

New Forest National Park Authority Meeting NFNPA 436/13 27 June 2013 Chief Executive’s Report

NFNPA 436/13 NEW FOREST NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY

AUTHORITY MEETING – 27 June 2013

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REPORT

Report by: Alison Barnes, Chief Executive

Summary: This report covers the period since the Authority meeting on 28 March 2013. The report has been formatted to accord with the ‘Protect, Enjoy, Prosper and Aiming for Excellence’ themes from the 2011-15 Business Plan, summarised below:

Protect Enjoy Prosper

Our priorities: Our priorities: Our priorities:

. Enhancing the Forest’s . Enabling high quality . Supporting a distinctive landscapes and experiences of the local economy habitats National Park . Improving affordable . Achieving excellence in . Improving understanding housing provision development and of the special qualities of planning the National Park . Promoting sustainable transport . Conserving strong local . Agreeing positive distinctiveness and the recreation management . Encouraging character of the historic sustainable living environment . Leading on education about the New Forest . Encouraging environmentally sustainable land management Aiming for Excellence

In all we do: . seeking to provide the highest quality of service . working closely with others in championing the Forest . achieving an efficient and high performing organisation

Recommendation: To note the report

Contact: Alison Barnes Tel: 01590 646633, Email: [email protected]

Equality & Diversity Implications: There are no equality or diversity implications arising directly from this report.

New Forest National Park Authority Meeting NFNPA 436 /13 27 June 2013 Chief Executive’s Report

NFNPA 436/13 NEW FOREST NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY

AUTHORITY MEETING – 27 JUNE 2013

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REPORT

Report by: Alison Barnes, Chief Executive

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

As the spring becomes summer, work on improving the natural environment on a large scale, focusing across the National Park and beyond its boundaries, is making real progress on the ground. We are bringing together a range of organisations and landowners to ensure a more coordinated approach and best use of resources. Current initiatives of note include a Better Boundaries project, working with the Bisterne Estate to create wildlife corridors linking the Forest with the Avon Valley habitats. This has involved extensive tree planting of native species to replace conifers, improving hedges, and introducing wildlife meadow buffer strips at the edge of fields to benefit wildlife.

Ponds and streams are vital elements connecting the wider New Forest landscape with the Crown lands and a further £34,000 boost to our work to improve the quality of river catchment systems has been secured.

Supporting the engagement of people with their local wildlife has been a continued focus, with the Community Wildlife Plans project engaging over 500 local people at 20 events in 7 parishes, helping to connect people with nature on their doorstep, provide training and support to local wildlife projects. The annual BioBlitz saw 500 species recorded and the engagement of local children and enthusiasts at Roydon Woods, Milford on Sea, New Milton and Lepe.

The 524.5 volunteer days now given to the WWII project have provided a critical contribution and helped secure over 40,000 records collected since the project began. We were delighted that the temporary exhibition at New Forest Centre attracted record numbers of visitors (9,000 in 4 weeks) and that Dan Snow will open the permanent exhibition on 27 June.

As well as working with 1500 children since April, our education team is preparing to host the first ‘Learning in the Forest Conference’ for headteachers and school governors. We are leading on the development of a New Forest Curriculum, enabling schools to deliver requirements of the curriculum through Forest-based activities.

Consultations on the Enforcement Plan and 3 Village Design Statements (Ashurst and Colbury; Sway and Boldre) have been well received. We have also responded to the consultation on Test Valley Local Plan. The Planning Tour enabled Members to visit a number of sites and see first-hand how the work of the Authority with developers is securing a good standard of design. A session with Agents in late May helped continue dialogue about design and enabled updates on policy.

We are proud that, following yesterday’s launch, the New Forest Tour is up and running with 3 routes this year, the new Blue Route covering the South West and coast. We hope the 79 day experience will continue to build on success of previous years, boosting local business and providing a unique, car-free experience for visitors with commentary focused on the Special Qualities of the National Park.

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Our work with partners on recreation management has included a number of improvements to local rights of way in Sopley and Fawley Parishes; securing a meeting later in the summer of over 20 stakeholders to discuss the preparation of a cycling code of conduct and charter for cycling events, and Ranger engagement in how people can help ground-nesting birds whilst enjoying the Forest in the breeding season. We have also been promoting the Dog Walking Code, recently agreed by the Dogs Forum and distributing the car stickers and emergency hot line cards that accompany this.

Staff took part in ‘My Journey Commuter Challenge’ throughout May and we are pleased to have won the ‘medium organisation’ category (50-249 staff) by getting 25% of staff taking part and travelling 3,349 miles on 233 journeys to save over £500.

We continue to deliver across Protect, Enjoy and Prosper and Aiming for Excellence Programmes as we move into 13/14 financial year and our Annual Report shows the highlights of the 12/13 year, with more detailed final year reporting on delivery and finance reported at RAPC on 10 June. We expect to hear more about our grant following spending review announcements at the end of June, but are pleased to be continuing to secure external funding for the Forest from a variety of sources to add to the £865,000 secured for projects delivered in 12/13 financial year. Our recent £4m bid to Heritage Lottery Fund has engaged a wide range of partners in developing a programme of work to support the New Forest as a living landscape into the future. We have also levered in £650,000 in match funding to the SDF over the past year.

DELIVERY OF NATIONAL PARK PURPOSES AND FUNCTIONS The report has been formatted to accord with the ‘Protect, Enjoy, Prosper’ objectives from the new Business Plan, a summary of which is set out on the previous page.

In addition, a fourth section, ‘Aiming for Excellence’, summarises those activities that support and contribute overall to all our work, and the final section lists Members’ activities and events.

1 Protect

1.1 Enhancing the Forest’s landscapes and habitats

Authority staff are working with Natural England, New Forest District Council, the RSPB and the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to ensure that the impacts of new development surrounding the New Forest on the Natura 2000 habitats within the National Park are mitigated. This work will continue through the latter part of 2013, with the aim being that a range of mitigation measures (including the enhancement of existing recreational sites, new greenspace provision, education and access management) are developed to ensure the important habitats within the National Park are protected.

Draft Landscape Action Plan and draft Landscape Character Assessment.

The current public consultation on the draft Landscape Action Plan and draft Landscape Character Assessment has generated a lot of interest and the consultation period has now been extended to 31 July. The draft documents have also been discussed at a number of recent forums, including the consultative panel, parish quadrant meetings and the equine forum. After all the responses have been considered, suggested changes and improvements will be made to the documents and the final drafts will be brought to an Authority meeting later in the year for members’ approval.

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Understanding tranquillity Tranquillity data from the Campaign to Protect Rural England is being analysed in detail. An overall map, as well as individual maps, are being produced for each factor that makes up the overall tranquillity score. This allows for certain features in the landscape, like the A31, to show up more clearly under the negative quality of ‘Hearing: Constant noise from cars, lorries and/or motorbikes’ and will help in providing a finer grain to the data and inform the process of deciding where to ground truth.

Better Boundaries NFLAS have completed a pilot phase of their project Better Boundaries which aims to restore, enhance and create habitat corridors across the farmed landscapes around the New Forest, linking fragments of existing habitat and improving existing connections. The project was carried out on Bisterne Farms south of Ringwood and is the culmination of a year and a half of development and design of the project and working with partners and consultants to make it happen. With the financial support of Natural England (both HLS and direct funding) and partnership working with the local NE team, thousands of metres of hedgerow, nectar and pollen rich seeded field margins, native trees and woodlands have been planted, created and enhanced across an intensive dairy farm, linking the Avon Valley with the New Forest across the farmed landscape in between. The aspiration is to role out similar projects in this location where the scoping report identified potential opportunities, but also to look at other areas as well. This all hinges on funding opportunities arising, as well as landowner agreement, to allow these projects to move forward.

Woodland management The Land Advice Service has been successful in applying to be the local delivery partner for the B&Q funded Good Woods project. This will focus on reaching out to owners of under-managed woodlands, starting in the South East and East of England. The project will promote the benefits of woodland management planning; help to strengthen links between communities and woodlands; build forestry skills, and develop markets for woodland products. NFLAS are responsible for identifying interested woodland owners and undertaking site visits where we help owners to develop a vision for their woodland and advise them on how this can be achieved. This year NFLAS aims to target 8 woodland owners and support owners and managers in improving the condition of their woodlands in line with the UK Forestry Standard.

Grown in the Forest is a pilot study run by NFLAS, which aims to increase communication between the timber supply and demand chains and promote the use of local timber within the New Forest. Building links with local timber businesses will enable the right timber to reach the appropriate market and provide a financial incentive for currently uneconomic management, for example thinning. This project will target owners of smaller, fragmented and neglected woodlands and aims to increase the structural and species diversity present to improve woodlands resilience to disease outbreaks and a changing climate.

Water Environment Catchment Project  Since the last report the project has entered a new phase with the New Forest Land Advice Service providing project coordination. The Authority is working in partnership with the Environment Agency, Pond Conservation and Natural England and external funding contributions totalling £34,000 have been secured to assist the continued work on the catchment within the financial year as well as work to initiate a community water quality monitoring project with local groups. 4 New Forest National Park Authority Meeting NFNPA 436 /13 27 June 2013 Chief Executive’s Report

 Our partnership work with the Environment Agency is developing and our local Agency officer now hot-desks once a week within the Authority to aid engagement. We are investigating opportunities to enhance work on planning and education and the Agency is positive about the support it is receiving. We have jointly developed a programme of work to improve the water environment as part of the HLF Landscape bid.  We held a meeting of the Catchment Stakeholder Group which endorsed our work programme and approach for partnership working in the year ahead. We have also facilitated input to the Environment Agency’s River Basin Liaison Panel on behalf of the group to raise awareness of how changes to Agency categorisation of waterbodies might adversely impact on priority attached to waterbodies and work with communities within the New Forest.  The project has undertaken liaison with private landowners and with the assistance of Pond Conservation and the Authority’s Community Wildlife Plan Project delivered training to volunteers to undertake water quality testing. We have also undertaken liaison with community groups with concerns about possible changes to streams within their local area.

Community Wildlife Plans This summer there have been over 20 events involving over 500 local people across seven parishes. The events have included training opportunities on freshwater ecology, water quality testing, woodland survey, bat survey and a two day ‘bioblitz’ event in New Milton and Milford on Sea. A growing group of people in Landford, Wellow and adjacent communities are getting involved in surveying and conserving the River Blackwater. An online GIS mapping tool is being used to map native and invasive species in the project areas to inform further work and the community wildlife plans.

Growing the Forest Jacqui Stearn is two months into her secondment to the New Forest National Park from Natural England and has been getting to grips with the National Park’s policies and initiatives and preparing a Business Plan, which describes how the initiative that began as a Nature Improvement Area bid can be re-shaped. Work has begun to delivering key elements of the programme, including meetings with the local authorities surrounding the New Forest to discuss green infrastructure and develop partnerships. Jacqui has designed and facilitated a workshop with Natural England to help ensure that the Green Infrastructure Strategies local authorities develop use a common framework and focus on benefits to the New Forest as well as provision of greenspace within each authority area.

Jacqui has also embarked on quantifying nature’s (ecosystem) services across the New Forest landscape, assessing the contribution to pollination, air quality, human health, food and so on. Economic values will be assigned to these services. It is hoped initiative will increase understanding of the social, environmental and economic benefits provided by the New Forest and help drive investment in these.

1.2 Achieve excellence in development and planning

Development Control The Development Control Team has issued 176 decisions since the start of April, 80% of which have been approved. The team are currently making decisions well within the targets set for householder applications and minor applications. There are five current

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major applications which are all on track to have decisions issued within the timescales. 94% of all applications are currently decided under delegated powers.

As of the end of May six planning appeals had been decided with the Authority success rate standing at 66%.

A well-attended Members’ Planning Tour was held on 16 May, with representatives joining us from both Exmoor and South Downs National Parks. The tour included a number of recently completed new dwellings, a new building for a cycle hire business in the centre of Burley and the restoration of two listed buildings in Hyde and Woodgreen.

The annual Planning Agents meeting was held on 22 May, with some 30 agents attending on the night. Amongst the topics covered were the new permitted development rights introduced by the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013, the current consultation on the new information requirements for planning applications and the importance of Village Design Statements in the planning process.

Enforcement It has been a busy quarter generally in enforcement with approximately 100 new cases registered in order to investigate potential breaches of planning control. This quarter has also seen full compliance secured against four Notices and the service of two new Notices directed against otherwise harmful breaches of planning control in the National Park.

Of particular note, the Enforcement Team secured a High Court Injunction in May to compel owners of land near Sway to remove an unauthorised mobile home. The individuals concerned have been prohibited from stationing a mobile home for residential purposes anywhere in the New Forest National Park unless there is already planning permission. His Honour Judge Iain Hughes QC commented that:

‘There can be no more important public interest than in securing compliance with planning law in National Parks. Such places truly belong to the nation and the public is entitled to expect that their nature and special character will be safeguarded by operation of the law’.

The individuals concerned now have until early July in which to comply and the Authority will be able to recover the costs of the action. It is hoped this will now end the matter as failure to comply with the injunction would leave those concerned in contempt of court and liable to imprisonment.

Policy The second meeting of the Management Plan Leadership Group took place in April. The Leadership Group is made up of senior officers from a range of key partners within the New Forest including the Forestry Commission, Hampshire County Council and New Forest District Council. The Group have been looking at the vision and structure of the existing Management Plan (2010-2015), and agreeing areas of work that are of particular interest to the partner organisations.

The Inspector’s Report into the draft Hampshire Minerals & Waste Local Plan, which covers the whole of the New Forest National Park, has now been received. The Report concludes that the Local Plan is sound and the five minerals and waste local planning authorities in Hampshire will be adopting the Plan in the autumn. A separate paper on the Plan will be presented to the September 2013 Authority meeting. 6 New Forest National Park Authority Meeting NFNPA 436 /13 27 June 2013 Chief Executive’s Report

Staff in the policy team continued to work with colleagues at New Forest District Council and the Parish Council as the Milford-on-Sea Neighbourhood Plan developed.

The Policy team continues to respond to consultations from neighbouring authorities that may affect the National Park. Within the last quarter this has included the draft Test Valley Borough Local Plan which sets out the Council’s proposals for the Borough for the next twenty years. The Authority’s response highlights the need to consider impacts on the adjacent National Park from this development; and supports the principle of a new country park in southern Test Valley, although it is acknowledged that further details are required on this project to ensure it is deliverable.

Design advice and guidance Work has continued on developing our pre-application service and design guidance aimed at helping applicants and agents in formulating their proposals. Following publication of the design guide officers have been working on a set of case studies for the website to help promote exemplary new design in the Forest. Work has also begun on developing a ‘materials library’ which will assist applicants in sourcing the most appropriate building materials which work well in the National Park.

1.3 Conserving strong local distinctiveness

Village Design Statements As is set out in a separate agenda item, the statutory six-week public consultation on the draft Ashurst & Colbury Village Design Statement (VDS) ran from the 25 March to the 6 May. The consultation was widely advertised locally and a number of consultation responses were received which were discussed with the local VDS Steering Group. A number of amendments have been recommended to the VDS in light of these consultation comments and the final version of the Statement is now presented for formal adoption. In addition, public consultation on the Sway Village Design Statement and the Boldre Parish Design Statement was launched at the start of June and these documents will be presented to the September Authority meeting for formal adoption. All three documents have been produced by the local community working with Authority staff and highlight the value placed on conserving local distinctiveness within the National Park.

‘New Forest remembers - untold stories of World War II’ The New Forest Remembers (NFR) project has just released an assessment of the World War II archaeology that was on the Forest. This desk based assessment has been put together over the last year from a huge variety of sources, such as local databases, aerial mapping, LiDAR survey and war diary research, not to mention the local input. This information has been collated into a database that lists approximately 40,000 individual records for structures and sites across the Forest. The significance of these sites has also been assessed relative to national and local examples and based on their frequency and state of survival. The job is to now survey as many of these sites as possible with volunteers to see what remains and identify where work can be undertaken to improve the condition of significant features and work to preserve them for future generations.

Conservation Area Action Plan for the Western Escarpment Conservation Area The Western Escarpment Conservation Area Steering Group has continued to work on their four priority actions in the conservation area action plan which was endorsed by the Authority in June 2012. The actions are being lead by the Steering Group with assistance from the National Park Authority: 7 New Forest National Park Authority Meeting NFNPA 436 /13 27 June 2013 Chief Executive’s Report

 Following a meeting of the Steering Group in April revisions to the text of the draft conservation area guidance note have been finalised and the graphics team will be working shortly on artwork for the leaflet.  Guidance notes on boundaries, including drives and gates, have been drafted and again the graphics team will be working on artwork for the leaflet.  Members of the group are continuing to look at ways of identifying specific problems of verges damage within the Western Escarpment Conservation Area.  Following a constructive meeting looking at ways of encouraging reporting of fly tipping for early removal, the group is looking forward to continuing to work with New Forest District Council on how to report incidents and who to contact.

Monument conservation National Parks have various key performance indicators. The indicator on ‘the number and percentage of Scheduled Monuments brought back into favourable condition’ poses a real challenge where the National Park Authority is not the landowner or manager of the land.

The good news is that 21 monuments have been brought back into favourable condition in the last year, approximately 10% of all the scheduled monuments within the New Forest National Park. This is largely through the New Forest Higher Level Stewardship Scheme, working with volunteers and the Forestry Commission. The 2012 list of ‘Monuments at Risk’ produced by English Heritage has been reviewed with their officers and work will begin with site visits to assess the condition of Scheduled monuments on the National Trust land at Bramshaw Common.

The Higher Level Stewardship Scheme Lidar work has initially identified twelve significant non-scheduled monuments on the Open Forest requiring conservation work to bring them to favourable condition. Four sites on the Crown land have been conserved through vegetation clearance as part of the ‘New Forest Remembers’ World War II project.

1.4 Encouraging environmentally sustainable land management

New Forest Higher Level Stewardship Scheme The planned programme of LiDAR analysis has continued, also providing the Forestry Commission and other agencies with archaeological and historic landscape data required for ongoing wetland restoration and other work on the ground. Support has also been appointed to assist with work to meet survey targets.

Nightjar survey work has commenced and plans have continued to be made for the survey of other Special Protected Area (SPA) species.

Work continues with the Forestry Commission on the preparation of a leaflet for property owners adjacent to the open forest about boundary treatments, importance of native species, avoiding damage to verges, light pollution and so on.

Work has taken place to create a number of new web pages which allow the general public to explore and engage with the data sets acquired as part of the HLS LiDAR Project and the ‘New Forest Remembers’ World War II project. This includes access to processed LiDAR data, aerial photography and near infrared imagery. It is hoped that these pages will help people to explore and understand the heritage found across the New Forest and how these data sets help to manage it.

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Tree work in the National Park and New Forest District Council areas On 5 November 2012 the Authority and New Forest District Council tree teams combined to form a single tree service based at the National Park Authority. The team is dealing with all tree work matters in both the National Park and the District Council areas of the New Forest.

The service is working well and between the 1 March and the 10 June 2013, 217 new tree works applications were received and 91 tree work decisions were issued. Tree work applications remain at record levels for both areas. 15 new Tree Preservation Orders (TPO) were made during this period. Also between the same dates consultations were received from the Forestry Commission on 10 felling licence applications.

Beaulieu Road Sales Yard The Authority has been assisting the New Forest Livestock Society to secure funding to complete their ongoing programme of improvements to Beaulieu Road Sales Yard. Funding for the final phase of improvements – providing a roof on the sales ring – has now been secured through LEADER and the work will be implemented this summer fulfilling an extant planning permission.

2 Enjoy

2.1 Enabling high quality experiences of the National Park

Access improvements The Small Grants Scheme Panel met on 22 April. Both applications from the New Forest area were approved, with funding being allocated to Sopley Parish Council for the continuation of a ‘stiles to gates’ programme, and to Fawley Parish Council to undertake some improvements to the network of paths at Holbury Manor.

The Countryside Access Officer is working with the Land Advice Service to assess options for a drainage problem that is adversely affecting both a public footpath in Minstead and the agricultural land crossed by the path. It is possible that a joined-up approach using the Small Grants Scheme and the Verderers’ back-up grazing fund can be used to improve the situation for everyone.

New Forest Access Forum The New Forest Access Forum met on 3 June. The National Park Authority reported on relevant changes introduced by the Growth and Infrastructure Act 2013, the outcomes of the National Trails review, and new Access Infrastructure Design Standards from Hampshire County Council along with regular updates on Coastal Access, Paths for Communities and the local LSTF-funded Community Routes work. The Forum is advising Hampshire County Council on its review of Countryside Access Plans, and it has commented on the National Park Authority’s proposed revision of the Recreation Management Strategy Working Group. Individual Forum members reported on a recent site visit to discuss proposed wetland restoration works funded through the New Forest HLS Scheme, and attendance at national and regional Local Access Forum conferences. The next meeting of the Forum will be on 9 September. The Forum thanks Leo Randall for his contributions to the Forum over the last year and looks forward to welcoming whoever is appointed as the National Park Authority’s member representative for the next year.

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Volunteering The New Forest Remembers project continues to go from strength to strength due to the amazing effort from our large team of dedicated volunteers. To date 524.5 volunteer days have been completed on the project. This is made up of volunteers out on the Forest undertaking field survey (377 days), going out into the local community to record oral histories (76 days), helping run events and activities (44.5 days) and researching various archives and donated material and linking them together with additional photos, stories and documents (27 days). Working on the HLF rate of £50 match funding per volunteer per day this has added £26,200 of value to the project and the National Park. We are currently drawing up proposals to recognise the hard work of these volunteers through an award scheme.

Planning has started for this year’s UK ANPA All Parks Volunteer Co-ordinators Meeting which will be hosted by the New Forest National Park between 9-11 October. It will be a great opportunity to showcase the work being done by volunteers in the National Park but also to learn from other National Park officers and their experience.

Outreach The 'From our Viewpoint: the New Forest as experienced by diverse cultures' exhibition was on display from 4 May - 2 June at the New Forest Centre displaying artwork contributed from Mosaic Community Champions and ethnic communities from the Southampton area.

On Monday 13 May, we hosted the exhibition celebration event at the gallery attended by 46 people, representing a diverse range of contributing communities; 19 from the Filipino community, 12 from the Asian-Indian community, 5 from the Southampton Chinese community, 6 Friends of the New Forest Centre and 4 NPA staff. It was wonderful to see such high quality artwork inspired by the New Forest and encouraging to talk to the Community Champions and hear how their involvement with the Mosaic project led them to stage the exhibition. Many of them now visit the New Forest regularly and bring friends and family to enjoy this special place.

Building on the previous Mosaic model for BME communities, Campaign for National Parks are working with five National Parks, including the New Forest to launch the Mosaic Youth Project. It is a 3 year project and aims to engage young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to experience National Parks and encourage them to become ‘Champions’ for these special landscapes. Sarah Young took up post as the Mosaic Project Officer at the beginning of May. She is employed by CNP but we are pleased to host her in the Authority offices so we can maximise partnership working on such an exciting project. Three taster days for potential Young Champions are planned for the coming months and an overnight residential at the end of September.

2.2 Improving understanding of the special qualities

Interpretation Projects The temporary WWII exhibition at the New Forest Centre, jointly put together by the WWII team and the Interpretation Officer, saw an audience of over 9,000 during the 4 week run. This was a record number and over 3 times the expected audience for such an exhibition. The response from the visitors was very positive, and a large number of people contacted the team to share memories, donate photos and share their knowledge. Plans are well under way for a permanent exhibition at the New Forest Centre and 10 New Forest National Park Authority Meeting NFNPA 436 /13 27 June 2013 Chief Executive’s Report

elements are already being installed. The plan is for the exhibition to opened by Dan Snow, patron of the New Forest Centre. The project has also launched a website where people can upload their own photos, memories and stories on the back of these two exhibitions and is starting to see a good flow of traffic.

Public events Although unsettled weather, Easter and May half term holidays encouraged people to a number of public events. Over 500 people attended the Lepe into Action Day at Lepe Country Park which although was open to all included many accessible activities for children and young people with disabilities. The Authority led inclusive cycling sessions proved hugely popular. A successful dog day was held at Wilverley Plain in conjunction with the Forestry Commission. As well as a dog show and agility tests, rangers attended to increase the public’s understanding about ground nesting birds and encourage responsible dog walking in the forest.

Wild Wednesdays started at the Reptile Centre and records show a peak in visitor numbers on these days to the Date With Nature Project.

Early June saw the annual BioBlitz events take place, this year at Roydon Woods Nature Reserve, Lepe Country Park, Milford on Sea and New Milton. Wildlife enthusiasts of all ages helped experts to record as much wildlife as possible within 24 hours on bat walks, moth trapping sessions, river dipping and other surveys. This year’s Bioblitz, co-ordinated by the Interpretation Officer and Community Wildlife Plans Officer saw over 1200 records of over 500 species recorded, including some national rarities. NPA staff and invited experts helped deliver the events, engaging members of the public in discussions about New Forest wildlife and responsible recreation.

Plans are well advanced for the Authority’s stand at the New Forest Show. The Show’s theme is Get Involved – we will be highlighting various Authority-led projects which protect and enhance the biodiversity of the National Park.

Training Pre-season ‘Front of House’ training was delivered to 52 members of staff and volunteers from a range of visitor-facing organisations across the Forest, including the New Forest Tour, New Forest Centre, Beaulieu Motor Museum, Camping in the Forest, Marque businesses, Local Information Points and new members of NPA staff. The training has helped participants understand the balance of organisations within the Forest, encouraged them to promote sustainable food, crafts and transport, and better equipped them to deal with visitor enquiries about the workings of the Forest.

‘Front of House’ training has been delivered through 3 guided walks to Our Land businesses and to New Forest Trust businesses involved in the New Forest Visitor Gift Scheme. It is hoped that with additional knowledge and understanding of the Forest they will be better placed to explain the benefits of contributing to such a special place to the public.

Rangers Rangers have been busy delivering the latest copies of Park Life, the Essential Guide, cycle maps and dog stickers and cards. Re-stocking outlets and identifying new ones for Authority literature is a valuable way of making contact and talking to businesses, accommodation providers and retailers across the National Park. 11 New Forest National Park Authority Meeting NFNPA 436 /13 27 June 2013 Chief Executive’s Report

The mobile unit has been out to events such as the Spring Fair at New Park, Tiptoe Green fete, Roydon Wood Fair and Exbury Gardens. The theme has been to promote the importance of ground nesting birds and encourage responsible behaviour for those out walking riding or cycling during their breeding season.

On a sunny Sunday at the beginning of May, Rangers led a guided walk for 60 members of the ExxonMobil Families Group. They learnt how the New Forest got it’s name, the history of commoning and how it shapes the Forest, who manages the area today and how individually they could help to keep it special. The walk ended with a bbq at Wilverley Inclosure, craft activities for the children and a chance to touch artefacts such as deer antlers and skins from the New Forest nature trunk. We received very positive feedback.

Educational campaigns Window stickers saying ‘I walk my dog responsibly... by following the code...’ are now available at outlets throughout the National Park, as are credit-card sized emergency hotline cards for dog walkers. The New Forest Dog Owners Group sent these to their members, and Rangers are giving them out at events and to dog walkers at car parks. Together with free dog waste bags and booklets about ground nesting birds (and with life-sized model birds on show) these are proving effect in engaging local people and visitors about responsible walking.

April saw the launch of this year's Litter Assembly, entitled "What's that?"; the journey of a plastic bag across the Forest. The assembly, presented in partnership with New Forest District Council and Forestry Commission, has been very well received, with 26 local schools booking an assembly this term, and more requests for the Autumn term.

The risk of animal accidents will again be highlighted on the back of one of the New Forest Tour busses through the summer. Two new signs, with elements that change are being installed this summer (one at Cadnam and the other at Godshill). This is a first step towards reviewing signage across the north of the Forest, hopefully resulting in fewer and less obtrusive signs which, because they change on a regular basis, have greater impact on driver behaviour.

2.3 Agreeing positive recreation management

Research Rangers are trialling a new questionnaire which asks walkers about their knowledge of ground nesting birds and their habitats, and importantly, what things influence the places they walk at different times of year. This will help inform mitigation work funded through developer contributions.

Forums The Recreation Management Strategy Working Group is considering its future having concluded there is room for improvement. One option is for a smaller group of key stakeholders, with a larger advisory group.

The Equine Forum met in May and again in June to consider its response to the draft Landscape Action Plan and the draft Landscape Character Assessment.

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The Dogs Forum met in June. Although we still have a good list of tasks to work together on, a sign of ‘success’ is that those present agreed we could drop from three to two meetings a year, with liaison as appropriate in between. The various organisations now have a good understanding of each other and of who to contact about different things, and the work completed on the Dog Walking Code and associated publicity has given us all a common agenda.

Over 20 organisations have agreed to meet to agree a code of conduct for cyclists (covering both on and off road routes) and a charter for cycle event organisers. At the first meeting in July, we will look first at existing codes to identify which of these to use as starting points and in what ways they need to be improved.

Community/Practical recreation projects Rangers continue to support Angela Peters with the Community Wildlife Plans project. They have been able to provide knowledge of areas, species information and advice on safely leading public guided walks to ensure successful events including a nighjar walk, ground nesting bird session and habitat survey workshops, all with positive feedback.

Claire has worked hard to produce a Heritage Trail at Thorney Hill, Bransgore working with the local community and HCC’s Walk on the Wildside Project.

Chris continues to sit on the Lover Green Management Committee and is able to use his practical background to give advice and suggestions for the future management and opportunities to improve the site for the local community. He has also been able to signpost the group to experts such as Naomi Ewalk from Pond Conservation who has surveyed the pond for input into the management plan.

Rangers are assisting Wiltshire County Council with a programme of works to replace a network of stiles with accessible kissing gates around Lover and Redlynch.

2.4 Leading on education about the New Forest

Education work In addition to our usual school/college education sessions (approximately 1500 pupils since April), the Education team has been working with a growing number of local schools to embed the New Forest National Park in an increased number of curriculum areas, with recently developed sessions including Maths and English. Preparations are underway for the first Learning in the Forest Conference for headteachers and school governors, with the Authority playing a key role in the development of the New Forest Curriculum.

The first tranche of the Travel Grant Scheme, released in April and revised to enable more local schools to access the education provided by the Educator's Forum, has been allocated to 25 eligible schools.

Non-curriculum groups Pre schools continue to be a growing audience and rangers have visited 15 since April talking to 429 children at locations across the whole of the National Park.

Other groups visiting the Forest include 40 Hordle rainbows and 31 Hordle Guides who each came out for an evening visit to learn more about the National Park and what makes it special.

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3 Prosper 3.1 Supporting a distinctive local economy A new report, Valuing England's National Parks, was published by National Parks England in late May. The report presented combined socio-economic data for the nine English National Parks and the Broads and assessed their collective contribution to economic prosperity. It also identified future opportunities for national park authorities to further support sustainable rural economies. The Report shows the importance of National Parks, not just as iconic landscapes and part of our national identity, but as thriving rural economies contributing to national prosperity. Some of the economic highlights of the English National Parks include:  Economic activity in the Parks contributes between £4.1bn and £6.3bn to the national economy - equivalent to the UK aerospace industry.  There are around 22,500 businesses in the National Parks with a combined turnover of £10.4bn employing 140,000 people.  Unemployment is lower than the national average, and there is a high proportion of senior, professional and skilled occupations in the workforce.  Over 90 million people visit the English National Parks annually – compared with 5 million each to the British Museum, Tate Modern, National Gallery and Natural History Museum – England’s four most popular free visitor attractions. Visitors to the English National Parks spend at least £4bn, contributing about one third of the total spent in rural tourism in England.  While tourism, recreation, farming and forestry make a large contribution to National Park economies, other sectors are also significant and provide about 50% of employment overall. Employment grew by 2.7% in 2012.  Public spending on National Parks via the National Park Grant is less than £1 per person per year.

The New Forest economy made a positive contribution to the economic figures. The Authority will be looking through the recommendations of the Report carefully and using it to raise awareness of the economic benefits derived from the National Park and its contribution to prosperity.

New Forest Marque Since March we have acquired a Tasting Stand with a marquee which Jenna McCulloch has already taken out to 5 events (including New Forest Spring Fair and Christchurch Food Festival) showcasing the New Forest Marque and local produce. Our aim is to help promote members and to increase brand awareness for the Marque and the general public. This in turn will hopefully attract more members and help to increase income. We also have welcomed a placement student who is currently studying at Cirencester College, Jo Hordle lives at Gorley and is Tom Hordle’s (Young commoner) sister, she is with us for 6 months.

We have already achieved our member income for the year and have increased interest from new members wishing to join. Our new food directory was published in time for the season and lists members in Where to Buy and Where to Enjoy in an easy to find index.

Rural broadband We are working closely with Hampshire County Council, New Forest District Council and local Parish Councils to develop the full application to the Rural Communities Broadband Fund (RCBF). HCC have announced their partner, BT Openreach for the county-wide roll out, which will result in large areas of the rural Forest being covered including most of the

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villages. The remaining area will make up the RCBF bid and aims to use the same provider, BT Openreach. Officers are in close consultation with both BT and HCC to ensure a suitable roll out, guided by the recently National Parks England-led Code of Practice for pole and cabinet siting in National Parks. We have also supported a new Expression of Interest to the third round of the RCBF by Elingham, Harbridge and Ibsley and Hyde Parishes.

3.2 Improving affordable housing provision

A bus tour for parish councillors has been arranged for 5 July. The tour will take councillors to see a number of completed and proposed rural exceptions sites, including Pilley and Breamore. In addition, staff are working with a number of parish councils within the National Park to discuss local housing needs and potential affordable housing development sites. We continue to explore opportunities to facilitate the delivery of affordable housing through the use of the developer contributions that have been accumulated.

3.3 Promoting sustainable transport An initial consultation on a network of community routes has taken place with parish councils, around twenty parishes have engaged with this in some way. Community Routes involves the identification of well-maintained and easy to use paths and other connecting routes that people can use to walk, cycle and ride between settlements and popular countryside areas within the New Forest National Park. They are existing routes which will provide residents and visitors who have less experience and knowledge of the area with the confidence to explore the area and the option to travel between settlements without using a car. Amendments to the initial network plan will be made over the summer and a drop-in session for other organisations and consultees will be held in September. Following this, small scale maintenance improvements will be made to the network to bring it to an agreed standard, funded through the LSTF programme.

The New Forest Tour will launch on Saturday 29 June, and will operate for 79 consecutive days through the 15 September. The 2013 operation is the most comprehensive to date, with six open top buses serving three routes. This includes a new Blue Route serving the coast and south west of the National Park. We are working closely with New Forest tourism businesses to promote the Tour to visitors.

The Interpretation Officer has also been working with the Sustainability Team to develop a new delivery mechanism and new commentary interpreting the features of the Blue Route (using GPS triggers on an iPhone app).

We are also preparing to launch another new bus service, the Beach Bus, on July 27. This will enhance the existing 112 service between Hythe and Lymington, to serve Lepe Country Park, Exbury Gardens, Beaulieu and Buckler Hard. The service will operate every day during the school summer holidays with seven services in each direction.

On 20 April, we submitted a £3.8M application to the Department for Transport Linking Communities Fund, a funding stream designed to support cycling in national parks. The application, entitled New Forest Family Cycling Experiences, sets out five capital projects which aim to boost family cycling in the New Forest. The application has the support of key stakeholders, including Hampshire County Council, the Forestry Commission and the New Forest Access Forum.

Applications are currently being assessed and an announcement is expected soon.

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3.4 Encouraging sustainable living

Sustainable Development Fund The Sustainable Development Fund awarded £25,000 in March to Nomansland Recreation Ground Sports Association to build a new eco-club house with changing facilities. The energy needs of the building will be met through the use of sustainable technologies such as ground source heat pumps, solar etc. This brought the total amount of grants awarded by the Fund to £174,000 for 2012-2013 financial year; levering in over £650,000 in match funding.

Energy Advice Audits During 2012-2013 the Authority provided energy advice to six community facilities (village halls, local shops etc.) via an externally appointed consultant. The advice identified ways in which facilities could reduce their energy demands (draft proofing, insulation, heat exchanges etc.) and the potential for energy generation from sustainable sources. This has helped to reduce the running cost of these facilities and their environmental impact.

4 Aiming for Excellence

4.1 Seeking to provide the highest quality of service

Support to members, officers and the public

 The Business Services team have provided administrative support across the corporate structure which includes support to members (including tours, members days, workshops and briefings) and meetings of the Authority and its committees and officer working groups (including Executive Board and Leadership Team), Human Resources, Communications Team, NF Show preparations, setting up quadrant Meetings, Programme Pursuit Officers in maintaining and updating the Operational Plan.

 The team manage and process Freedom of Information and Data Protection requests and Authority complaints. Three members of the team attended an Information Tribunal hearing on 20 May in connection with a complex and long standing Freedom of Information request where the NPA worked closely with the Information Commissioner, and Verderers. We have now received confirmation that the Tribunal have fully upheld the NPA’s decision.

 The team have facilitated the change in membership of the NPA and the induction of new members following the local elections in early May 2013. Business Services are responsible for maintenance and management of the offices and in liaising with NFDC in connection with on-going building issues including arrangements with NFDC and Lymington Town Council towards the installation of a new microphone system in the Council Chamber. A display of New Forest Shop stock has been set up in the reception area and we are promoting sales of products.

4.2 Working closely with others in championing the Forest

The Business Services team of the NPA provides comprehensive support in connection with the Sustainable Development Fund, NF Marque and NF Access Forum and acts as the Secretariat to New Forest Consultative Panel which comprises some 80 New Forest 16 New Forest National Park Authority Meeting NFNPA 436 /13 27 June 2013 Chief Executive’s Report

organisations and groups.

The External Funding Officer has been working closely with 11 main partner organisations and many others to develop an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Landscape Partnership programme. The application focuses on the enclosed lands which surround the Open Forest and aims to increase the robustness of the habitats, built heritage and Forest communities in order to better equip the Forest to thrive through change and modern-day pressures. This will be achieved by delivering programmes of work which will:

 “Grow the Forest” – reconnecting the core Forest with its surrounding landscape to increase biodiversity, build connectivity and provide a buffer for the core Forest from future changes  Re-establish the traditional skills needed to care for the unique natural heritage and built heritage of the New Forest  Establish links with the surrounding communities who may be less connected to the Forest but can play an essential role in looking after their local heritage whether it be built or natural  Encourage, enthuse and inspire a new generation of people to be involved in learning about, championing and caring for the New Forest  Maximise the contribution of the local economy (tourism, commoning, farming and forestry) in supporting a sustainable landscape.

If successful, the partnership will deliver over £4.5 million worth of projects over a four - five year period between 2015 and 2020. The partnership has applied for approximately £3 million of this from the Heritage Lottery Fund and will find out in late October 2013 whether it has been successful in their first stage application.

4.3 Achieving an efficient and high performing organisation

ICT Services The ICT Service review has been completed, and the new team structure has been implemented. Implementation of the new backup solution is almost complete, and we will be testing the new business continuity arrangements in the next 2-3 months.

4.4 Human Resources

. As at 14 June 2013 there are 70 members of staff or 61.4 full-time equivalents (excluding externally funded posts), of whom 22 are part-time and 10 are on a fixed- term contract.

. Welcome to the following staff who have joined the Authority in the last couple of months on fixed-term contracts: o Louise Robertson – Planning Admin Assistant (one year) o Alison Scarce – Receptionist, Mondays and Tuesdays (one year) o Matt Keatley – Corporate Partnerships Officer (one year) o Gemma Smith – Planning Officer (6 months)

. We said goodbye to Andrew Bell, GIS Officer and to Karen Evans-McDaid, Communications Officer. We wish them every success in their future ventures.

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. Recruitment is in progress for the following vacancies: o Sustainable Travel Ambassador – 2 seasonal roles funded by the LSTF project o Communications Assistant – fixed-term until March 2015

5 Members

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

. Planning Development Control Committee meeting, 16 April . Members’ Day, 11 April . New Forest Consultative Panel, 2 May . Planning Tour, 16 May . Planning Development Control Committee meeting, 21 May . Resources, Audit and Performance Committee meeting, 10 June . Planning Development Control Committee meeting, 18 June

5.2 Forthcoming activities include:

. New Forest Consultative Panel, 4 July . Planning Development Control Committee meeting, 16 June . Planning Development Control Committee meeting, 20 August . Members’ Day, 29 August . Consultative Panel, 5 September . Resources, Audit and Performance Committee meeting, 9 September

5.3 Chief Executive’s engagements

. HLS Board and AGM, 3 April . M3 LEP Rural and Broadband Group, 16 April . Management Plan Leadership Group meeting, 19 April . Netley Marsh Parish Council annual meeting, 19 April . Meet with Friends of Brockenhurst, 23 April . J-NPOG and E-ENPOG meetings York, 1-2 May . Meeting with Regional Director CLA, 8 May . MoD Community Covenant Signing Event, 9 May . HIOW CX Group meeting, 10 May . Meeting Chairman, CDA . Forestry Commission / NFDC Liaison meeting, 17 May . Launch State of Nature Report, Natural History Museum, 22 May . Exbury Egg Launch, 23 May . NFNPA Natural Environment liaison meeting, 29 May . 60th Anniversary of Coronation Service, Winchester Cathedral, 2 June H&IW Local Nature Partnership, 6 June . Forestry Commission Chairman visit to Exmoor, 7 June . North West Quadrant meeting, Fordingbridge 10 June . Meeting Chairman NFEA, 12 June . Opening of public conveniences at Lyndhurst, 12 June . 30th Anniversary Paultons, 15 June . Meeting Chairman NFDog, 19 June . HIOWLA Group meeting, 21 June . M3 LEP Rural and Broadband Group, 24 June . Wessex Institute Conference Presentation, 25 June . New Forest Tour Launch, 26 June 18 New Forest National Park Authority Meeting NFNPA 436 /13 27 June 2013 Chief Executive’s Report

6 Recommendation

To note the report.