Forestry England has announced that charging for their car parks across the New Forest will begin on Monday, 20 April. To repeat NFDOG’s position; we regret that charging is necessary, but also recognise that money is needed to keep car parks and other forest amenities up to standard.

You can pay in a variety of ways. Costs for one-off parking range from £1.50 for an hour to £8.00 for a day. Largest car parks have a machine which will take a fee from a credit or debit card. You can use the RingGo app (the same as council car parks in our towns and villages) up to midnight the next day, if you’ve parked. If you can't use RingGo there is a back up - really in case there's an issue and you can also pay over the phone by calling 0300 068 0400 and selecting option 1. Lines open Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm. 

The cheapest, and simplest way, if you use forest car parks regularly, is to sign up for a year’s membership of Forestry England. It’s £96.00 or £8.00 a month direct debit. You can apply here: https://my.forestryengland.uk/membership/ . When you apply please select ‘Hampshire - New Forest’ as the location to ensure all the money comes back to maintain the New Forest. If you don’t have internet access you can join in person at King’s House (FE’s local HQ) in Lyndhurst.

A big issue is displaced parking. Drivers may try to park on the roadside, though more than 100 temporary (to be made permanent we’re told) traffic regulation orders have been made on the forest roads. These will forbid parking. 

Worse is the danger to the verges and natural environment. Forestry England have dug many ditches and installed dragons teeth – but this won’t deter some. So NFDOG is supporting a programme by the New Forest Association to record verge parking, and identify how much of a problem it will become. 

There is a website where you can record any example you see of verge parking – this will be collated by the New Forest Association to identify problem areas, and support Forestry England in preventing and deterring damage to the roadside. 

You can record instances of verge parking which concern you here: https://tinyurl.com/34aufwh2 . Or you can use the QR code below. If you’d like to support this initiative, I suggest you bookmark the page so you can find it easily later. 

In any event, and whether you use the New Forest car parks, or not, we wish you continued happiness walking your dog(s).