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PARKING THE CAR
What happens if the number and size of car parks in the Forest are reduced? There are currently many informal approaches to parking the car, but how sound are they? On the main roads, which are fenced off from the Forest, the responsibility for the strip of land between the tarmac and the fence lies with Hampshire County Council, or in some cases, the Strategic Highways Authority. Apart from the limited number of official lay-bys, numerous smaller unofficial lay-bys have developed over time. The gravelled surface makes them appear formal lay-bys, but this is really an effect of erosion on the fragile Forest soils, leaving just the underlying gravel. Some of them allow important access to otherwise inaccessible areas of the Forest. Currently, nobody is likely to trouble you if you park on one of these. However, not only are they at times unsightly, but they can be a serious traffic hazard. They have led to fatalities, especially when people have attempted a U-turn against fast-moving traffic. They are therefore liable to be closed off with no notice. If HCC took the decision to close all of them, it is to be hoped that they would make some additional provision for more formal lay-bys. This would, however, be controversial, and it can be foreseen that a significant amount of current informal parking space may be lost, and never show up in any figures. As regards all other roads outside the villages, once your wheel is off the road, you are probably on land managed by the Forestry Commission. Unless explicitly stated, you have no legal right to park there. Off-road parking is frowned upon, not only because it is unsightly, but it causes damage and erosion. Remember that road verges provide special habitats to wildlife that do not exist elsewhere in the Forest. The present tolerant attitude of the Forestry Commission may change in the future. At present, it is limited to the placement of a notice on the windscreen if they are significantly upset, and only in rare cases does the FC use its right to prosecute. Ditching and dragons’ teeth are employed in many cases to prevent off-road parking, but this is costly and often unattractive. We all park informally at times, but too much abuse will surely lead to a harder line policy from the Forestry Commission. Many people park at the gravelled edge of a lead-in to a Forest track, possibly closed by a barrier. This is still technically illegal, and thoughtless parking may well block the entrance for a timber lorry, or a commoner’s vehicle trying to access injured stock, for example. Some visitors ignore the notices on barriers on Saturdays and Sundays, thinking Forest life shuts down for the weekend. Thus legal, care-free alternatives to car parks are limited. This is a very good reason why NFDOG is fighting tooth and nail to preserve the current formal car-parking provision on behalf of its members. The Forestry Commission has assured NFDOG that it wishes to retain the current balance, albeit reserving its right to ‘tinker’ with the overall pattern of car-parking provision. It has also assured us that it has no wish to ban dog walkers from its car parks. Following a car-park closure, accessing your favourite parts of the Forest may not be an option. You may not have the entire day free, or perhaps be elderly or infirm. We must strive to convince the National Park that this does not genuinely give recreational access for all to the entire Forest. Closing certain car parks to dog walkers would, of course, just rub salt into the wound. David Dickenson |
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