Councillors want a New Forest residents' parking pass at £24 to £48 against the £96 national rate. Forestry England stopped adding local schemes in 2024.

New Forest District councillors will ask Forestry England tonight to create a cut-price parking pass for people who live in the district. The motion wants a local rate “50% to 75% less” than the £96 a year Forestry England charges nationally. That works out at between £24 and £48.

The motion is item 9 on the agenda for the full council meeting at Appletree Court, Lyndhurst, at 6.30pm on Monday 14 September. It is moved by Cllr Malcolm Wade, who represents Dibden and Dibden Purlieu, and seconded by Cllr David Millar, of Fordingbridge, Godshill and Hyde. The public gallery holds 22 people and the meeting is live-streamed.

What the motion claims

The motion accepts that “Forestry England requires funding”. It then sets out what councillors say has happened since charging began on 20 April this year, based on “observation and feedback from residents”:

  • fewer local people are using Forestry England’s New Forest car parks
  • residents who used to visit regularly have seen their wellbeing suffer
  • people on low incomes and retired residents cannot afford the annual membership and no longer visit
  • there are no blue badge concessions for disabled residents
  • unlike Forestry England sites elsewhere in the country, there is no local membership scheme here

It asks the council to write to Forestry England requesting a local membership scheme for district residents “at a reduced rate of 50% to 75% less than the current national scheme”.

Two of those claims are matters of record

The blue badge point is correct, and Forestry England states it plainly. Its New Forest parking information page says charges “apply to all vehicles, including blue badge holders”, and that accessible bays exist but are not free. New Forest District Council’s own car parks are the opposite: blue badge parking there is free. Our guide to parking in the New Forest sets out both.

The local membership point is correct too. Forestry England runs local memberships at more than 30 forests, and its local forest membership page states: “For all other locations, including the New Forest, visit our Forestry England national membership page.”

Two of those local schemes are in Hampshire, and both are cheaper than the national rate:

  • Alice Holt Forest, near Farnham: £77 a year per household, about 20% below national
  • Forest of Bere, which covers West Walk, Woodend, Upperford Copse, Creech Wood and Havant Thicket: £48 a year, exactly half the national price
Annual Forestry England parking membership prices compared A bar chart of annual membership prices. Forestry England national membership, which is the only option in the New Forest, costs 96 pounds. Alice Holt Forest local membership costs 77 pounds. Forest of Bere local membership costs 48 pounds. The New Forest District Council motion asks for a local rate of between 24 and 48 pounds. The New Forest has no local pass. Two other Hampshire forests do. Annual Forestry England parking membership, price per household National membership the only option in the New Forest £96 Alice Holt Forest near Farnham, Hampshire £77 Forest of Bere West Walk, Creech Wood, Havant Thicket £48 What the motion asks for 50% to 75% below the national rate £24 to £48 Source: Forestry England national, local and forest membership pages, read 14 September 2026. Motion figures from the New Forest District Council agenda for 14 September 2026. Graphic by New Forest Daily
Two Hampshire forests already run a local membership. The New Forest is not one of them.

The obstacle the motion does not mention

Forestry England has already published a position on new local schemes, and it is a no.

Its membership FAQs say: “The local scheme pre-dates our national offer, added in 2023. Since 2024, we are no longer expanding our local options, but continue to offer those options established pre-2024.”

Charging in the New Forest began in April 2026, two years after that line was drawn. So the Hampshire forests that have a local pass have one because they had it already.

Forestry England’s answer to the cost question has been national membership. When it announced the charges on 2 October 2025 it said membership “will offer unlimited parking for less than £2 a week in all New Forest car parks”. It gave its reason for charging as rising costs, saying the price of materials for repairing and maintaining car parks had “increased by more than 50% over the last three years”. Commoners and people doing key forest work tasks park free.

What happens at the meeting

Under the council’s Standing Order 42, a motion like this is proposed and seconded without speeches and then stands referred to whichever committee, panel or Cabinet covers the subject. The chairman can allow it to be debated on the night if they consider it urgent or convenient. So a vote tonight is possible but not the default.

The same agenda carries 13 written questions from councillors, including one asking what feedback the council has had about its new grey heavyweight waste and dog mess bins, and whether older and disabled residents have complained.

What it means for you

  • Nothing changes at the barrier tonight. The Forestry England tariff is unchanged: £1.50 for an hour, £3 for two hours, £5 for four hours and £8 for over four hours at all 129 car parks.
  • If the motion passes at some point, it is a letter, not a decision. Forestry England sets its own prices and the council has no power over them.
  • If you are a blue badge holder, you still pay in the forest and still park free in the district council’s own car parks.
  • If you use forest car parks more than about 12 times a year, national membership at £96, or £8 a month, is already cheaper than paying £8 a visit.
  • The district council also sells a parking clock for its own town and coastal car parks, which is a separate thing from Forestry England membership. The rules and prices are on our parking guide.

You can watch the meeting live or afterwards on the council’s website. Papers, including the full wording of the motion, are on the council’s democracy site.