Water Regulations

The NFEA Committee has received several reports (and personal experience) of visits to equestrian sites from Bournemouth & West Hants Water. It appears that they have adopted a zealous interpretation of the 1999 Water Regulations as they relate to equestrian facilities in the Forest, and are imposing draconian measures on horse owners. The regulations give water authorities clear statutory powers over new
water fittings, with a duty on horse owners to notify any changes, but BWH Water appear to be on a tour of local inspections and are also using their discretionary powers to demand across-the-board changes to water fittings that pre-date the 1999 Regulations. We have received reports, for example, that these have included a total ban on domestic hosepipes, where they could also be used in nearby equestrian yards,
and the removal of field taps. It would be very helpful to us to hear of any other horse owners’ experiences with BWH Water. Please e-mail details direct to hilary.doe@tiscali.co.uk or e-mail through the NFEA page on this NFED site.

A copy of an advisory note, apparently endorsed by the BHS, can be found here: Water Regulation Advisory Scheme advice leaflet http://www.wras.co.uk/PDF_Files/Stables.pdf

New Forest National Park Authority

The New Forest Equestrian Association (NFEA) is very pleased that the NFNPA have clearly put great efforts into investigating every submission presented to the NPA setting out concerns regarding the NPA’s draft proposals of last year. They have now responded with a positive approach and appear to have scrapped many of the issues that caused much disquiet among Forest residents and in particular horse owners.

The NFEA has long advocated that dialogue is the best way to arrive at acceptable, practical proposals and that regulation is best achieved by education, encouragement and the spread of best practice. It is pleasing therefore to see that the newly formed Equine Forum comprising the NFEA together with many other interested user groups and equine experts is liaising closely with the NPA to ensure that no further regulation is proposed without a demonstrable understanding of the wider issues involved and a thorough review of non-regulatory options

The New Forest Equestrian Association has championed the horse riders/owners of the New Forest since 1993. The membership fee is kept deliberately low to ensure everyone can be involved and offer their views and expertise to help us keep the Forest a place where horse riding is not only permitted but is of prime importance to the local economy and preservation of the unique environment and cultural heritage of the New Forest. Support us now and join today.

Re: Resignation of Richard Lemon from the NPA
NFEA Committee 10th June 2009

“The New Forest Equestrian Associated (NFEA) was very sorry and disappointed to learn of the resignation of Richard Lemon, from his position as Director of Strategy and Planning within the New Forest National Park Authority (NFNPA). We have been working productively with him on the development of plans for the long-term future of the New Forest. We hope for a similarly positive and constructive relationship with his successor, with no return to the divisive approach typified by the planning documents published prior to Mr Lemon’s arrival.”

Reports on horse riding and erosion in the New Forest

The following is posted in response to those asking about evidence of erosion contained in reports referenced by the NPA.
The reports referenced are exactly those that caused the NFEA to form in the first place in 1993 and the content was disproven, which resulted in the Forestry Commission withdrawing its proposals to restrict access and charge horse riders in the New Forest.

Questions under the Freedom of Information Act have been put to the NFNPA to discover the documentary evidence relating to horse riding and erosion which have been used as the basis for drawing up the current draft Management Plan for the New Forest. The NPA in reply is quoting reports from 1992/3. These are the same Reports that were used by the Forestry Commission at that time to support their attempt to introduce licences and charges for riding in the New Forest. That attempt was vigorously opposed by the New Forest Equestrian Association and the proposal was eventually withdrawn.

The NFEA’s submission to the Forestry Commission at that time said…

‘The Forestry Commission’s Report- Horse Riding in the New Forest -does not define the extent of erosion, but simply states as a basic assumption that the primary cause of erosion is the riding of shod horses.’

That report shows no statistics or any other evidence at all to support this claim. The same statement appears in almost identical words in several previous reports going back to the 1970’s and in some books on the New Forest and has recently been repeated on television and in the local press. In none of these cases was there any attempt to show any evidence of the number of horses ridden or of the effects of riding.

The first reference we can trace appears in a study carried out for the Nature Conservancy in 1976 which stated (without any supporting evidence) that ‘Erosion of vegetation was caused mainly by shod horses from riding establishments which followed regular but numerous routes. More than half the paths examined showed numbers of parallel paths’.

That same submission also pointed out that the substantial increase in other uses of the Forest such as walking, cycling and in the numbers of animals turned out all played a role in creating the conditions for water borne erosion to occur, as does the far more severe damage caused by Forestry Commission and their contractors’ vehicles and equipment.

The NFEA has made the same point in its more recent submission to the NPA and also provided statistical information to illustrate the dramatic decline in horses at commercial riding establishments that has been a feature of the last twenty years.

The studies quoted therefore by the NPA do not provide any scientific quantified basis of evidence to support the policies which they now propose with regard to recreational horse keeping. This is a continuation of a long history of repetition of unsupported assertions which the NFEA has fought for many years and will continue to do so.

The NFEA Response to the New Forest National Park Plan Consultation Draft and the Draft Recreation Management Strategy for the New Forest National Park.

Please Click Here to see the NFEA Full Response

National Park Plan Alleged Consultation with NFEA

The NFEA wishes to clarify the position regarding its consultation over the National Park Plan, which was reported under the message "SEEDA equestrian champion".
The NFEA attended a meeting convened by the NPA in late April of this year to discuss their concerns over the “Proliferation of horse paddocks within the New Forest”. They cited a field in Bramshaw which had received much publicity by influential Bramshaw residents and their Parish Council as a typical example. The meeting, we understood, was to find ways around this type of development, and although we did not consider the problem to be as widespread as they claimed, we discussed various measures which we hoped the NPA would sign up to.

Pat Thorne who had been part of the team who carried out the survey for the New Forest Committee in 1994 on horse keeping in the New Forest, presented the results of her 2007 repeat survey for the NPA. In essence, her findings were that there had been no increase in numbers of horses in the area. Although a subjective issue, she had looked at the condition of horse fields and had concluded that there was not a widespread problem over condition or aesthetic value. As did the NF Committee in 1994, the NPA dismissed their own 2007 survey as “as a small sample survey which didn’t give the full picture of horse keeping in the New Forest and further monitoring would be required – particularly of field sub-division.”. We felt that the minutes of the meeting produced by the NPA late in July did not reflect the words or the mood of the discussions accurately, and we informed them of this.

We were given no idea of the detail which has subsequently appeared in the draft Park Plan, and as those who attended the East Boldre meeting last week will be aware, we are now preparing our objection to much of the equestrian section of that plan. We wish to assure our members and all horse owners who may be affected if these proposals go through, that the NFEA was not party to the measures included in the consultation document.

Gordon Garrett

NFEA committee member.

New Forest National Park Draft Plan

The New Forest NPA has announced its 20 year plan to a rather shocked horse riding community. Resulting from a meeting with the NFEA in April, the Authority had convinced us that its plan was to be one of encouragement and help to the horse owning community. The draconian policies relating to horse keeping which have recently been announced in draft form, have united the community in a way last seen in the early 1990s when the FC proposed riding charges on the Forest. These new policies, announced in response to an unproven perception of “a proliferation of untidy pony paddocks”, include the need for change of use of agricultural land to horse keeping where the stocking density is higher than one horse per hectare, (which the NPA say they are unlikely to grant), an overly prescriptive list of conditions for retrospective change of use from grazing to keeping of horses, and more onerous conditions for the siting of field shelters.

A meeting organised by Tina Cant and colleagues at East Boldre Parish Hall last Friday (22nd August) to discuss the NPA proposals was attended by around 200 very concerned horse owners. Owing to the size of the hall, an unknown number of people turned away as they could not get in. We wish to thank Tina for the obvious amount of hard work in setting up this meeting and the publicity which her committee have achieved so far.
The NPA, who had been invited, declined to send an official representative, however one NPA member did attend as an individual.

The NFEA through chairman Graham Ferris assured the audience that we were currently considering the draft document and would be sending a formal objection to the proposed planning policies in due course. We would take legal advice, and consult other groups and experts, to ensure well reasoned arguments against these unfounded restrictions on horse owners. We had not come forward earlier, as we wanted to avoid a knee jerk reaction to the proposals which already had generated a level of scare mongering amongst horse owners. Chris Aldhous presented evidence that the numbers of horses using the Forest had not increased since 1994 when a report commissioned by the New Forest Committee subsequently repeated at the request of the NPA in 2008 and carried out by one of the original team, showed numbers to be steady at around 3000-3500. Gordon Garrett gave the background to the occasion in 1992 when NFDC attempted to define the distinction between horse keeping and grazing in order to enforce the removal of field shelters. NFDC were unsuccessful on that occasion it was noted. Attention was drawn to one clause of the paper which stated that the NPA could see no alternative route to go down and these policies were the only solution to the perceived problem. This was an indication of the likely inflexibility we may meet during any discussions with the NPA.

Support for the NFEA was offered from the New Forest Business Partnership whose concern was the damage these policies could cause to the local economy. Concern was expressed from the floor that the NPA had not consulted the local landowners who were also moving into horse grazing as a source of income. It was confirmed Beaulieu and Exbury Estates were unaware of the Plan until after its publication. Some commoners expressed concern that they would also be affected by the Plan due to ambiguous wording. One attendee drew our attention to the Proposed Animal Welfare Act currently going through Parliament which was in contradiction to the restrictions trying to be imposed.

The final advice given by us was that concerned individuals should also send in their own objections to the draft plan, to let the NPA know the full strength of feeling within and around the National Park.

Attended by NFEA members:
Ros Gibbins
Ailsa Farrand
Graham Ferris
Chris Aldhous
Gordon Garrett

The following letter from the NFEA chairman has been sent to the Lymington Times and The Echo.

“New Forest Equestrian Association to object to Draft New Forest National Park Plan. The New Forest Equestrian Association (NFEA) is to make a formal objection to the Consultation Draft of the New Forest National Park Plan and is taking legal advice. The Plan includes policies and planning controls with the stated aim of “resisting recreational horsekeeping”. The NPA justifies these draconian measures on the grounds that recreational horsekeeping has a negative impact on nature conservation and the landscape, reduces the amount of backup grazing available to Commoners and increases pressure on the Forest, resulting in erosion. The NFEA response will spell out that the facts do not support the need for these policy and planning proposals, which seem to show a complete lack of understanding of the realities of recreational horsekeeping.
A NFEA spokesperson said “It is particularly disappointing that the NPA has chosen such a punitive and confrontational approach to recreational horsekeeping , without seeking the facts, without considering the wider picture and ignoring the advice of experts and of those organisations and individuals that in good faith took part in workshops earlier this year. If implemented as drafted, these measures will inevitably lead to serious horse welfare issues, have a major knock on effect on the local economy and damage commoning which the NPA claims to be supporting. The NPA has shown itself unwilling to date to engage in constructive dialogue on these issues and has stated that it “does not consider there to be a range of realistic alternatives” to the policies proposed.” There is a very strong sense of local outrage and the NFEA urges all those involved in, or connected with recreational horsekeeping to obtain a copy of the Park Plan and Recreational Management Strategy via www.newforestnpa.gov.uk/consultations or by ordering a printed copy via telephoning the National Park Authority on 01590 646600 and making their views known.”

NFEA helps try out new “dual-purpose” catches on inclosure gates

Many riders in the Forest are only too familiar with the difficulties which can arise from time to time in opening and shutting the gates leading into the inclosures. Not always, but not infrequently either, these are stiff or inconvenient to operate from horseback. Riders, though, are not the only users of the Forest to experience these problems or to ask the Forestry Commission to seek for a solution to them. Another severely affected group is the disabled or other with restricted mobility, whether they are using wheelchairs, mobility scooters or simply juggling with walking sticks or crutches.

In response to the concerns of riders and the disabled, the Commission has begun a trial of two different types of gate-catches which are designed to make life easier for both groups. Each incorporates a lever (longer than the traditional gate-latch) which should be more efficient in opening the catch. One type is not unlike the traditional long-arm gate-catch (although the handle is longer), while the other takes the form of a continuous loop over the top bar of the gate (rather like a paper-clip in shape!).

One of each type of catches has been installed on gates leading into Wilverly Inclosure from the Commission’s car-park there and, on 12th. October, NFEA arranged for riders to attend a trial session with the Commission staff spearheading the initiative. NFEA Chairman, Professor Malcolm Forster, and Committee Member Chris Aldhous accompanied by Jaqui van Wyk (along with several wheelchair users) experimented with each of the catches. Both were thought to be a marked improvement on the existing types, the “paper-clip” version also having the advantage that it was difficult accidentally to loop reins or martingales over it. Chris had great difficulty with the gate fitted with a return spring, although he found both latches were a pleasure to use. He pointed out that neither would function properly if the gates to which they are attached are allowed to drop!

The Commission has agreed to leave the catches in place until Friday, November 10th, so please ride over and try them out. They are on the gates into the east side of the inclosures (“paper-clip” type) and the southern side (long-handled lever type). Please let Helen Wood, the Recreation and Community Manager know what you think. Her E-mail is helen.wood@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

New Guides to Help Protect the New Forest.

Everyone visiting the New Forest can now help to protect the area by following four brand new codes. There is a general 'Out and About' guide, plus separate codes for each of dog walkers, horse riders and cyclists.

The guides contain helpful information about how to look after the forest, such as safe cycling areas, why visitors should stay on the tracks during the ground nesting bird season and some tips for preventing soil erosion.

They also explain the dangers of touching or feeding the ponies and donkeys and why speeds have to be kept below 40 mph when motoring in the forest.

Designed to appeal to all age groups, the guides use cartoons to
illustrate the main points. They will be available to locals and tourists alike, to promote understanding and so help conserve the forest.

The 'Out and About' guide and the codes for horse riders and dog walkers are all free. The cycle code costs just £1 as it includes a large scale map printed on water and tear-proof paper.

The guides have been developed by people who live and work in the forest through the stakeholder forum of the PROGRESS Project, an international project co-funded by the EU and led by the Forestry Commission.

PROGRESS (PROmotion and Guidance for Recreation on Ecologically Sensitive Sites) aims to reconcile conservation and recreation in the Forêt de Fontainebleau in France as well as the New Forest and brings together partners from across Europe.

The stakeholder forum was established at the beginning of the project and includes local conservationists, recreational users, interest groups, businesses and statutory agencies. The PROGRESS team will continue to consult with the forum throughout the next three years to guide the future direction of the project and its actions.

Keith Campbell, PROGRESS project co-ordinator said: "Although the majority of visitors respect the area and act responsibly, some are unaware that their actions could damage the fabric of the forest - it is these people that we hope the best practice guides will reach. If everyone does their bit to protect this unique environment, between us we can all ensure that the forest will remain a wonderful place for years to come."

Peter Frost, New Forest Verderer, member of the National Park Authority, and a representative from the PROGRESS stakeholder forum, said: "Bringing together a variety of people with a diverse range of interests through the forum has meant that we've been able to discuss all forest users' needs in great detail. Ultimately, we all want to protect the forest, whilst ensuring that everyone can enjoy their favoured activity without disturbing other users, or urbanising the beautiful landscape."

Christian Tillier from Bashley walks his dog, Dipper, on the forest regularly and welcomes the new guides. Christian commented: "Dipper and I feel privileged to have such a beautiful area to walk in and the guides mean I can play a part in looking after the forest. If we all follow them we can protect the area we enjoy so much, and also ensure that everyone else gets the most out of their visit too."

The guides will be available in shops, information points, libraries, hotels, guest houses, recreation centres and other outlets, as well as being available to download online from www.forestry.gov.uk/newforest.

Poster versions will also be produced and displayed at important visitor sites such as cycle hire shops and riding stables.