New Forest
New Forest District
Non-metropolitan district
Motto: 
"Old yet ever new"
New Forest shown within Hampshire
New Forest shown within Hampshire
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionSouth East England
Non-metropolitan countyHampshire
StatusNon-metropolitan district
Admin HQLyndhurst
Incorporated1 April 1974
Government
 • TypeNon-metropolitan district council
 • BodyNew Forest District Council
 • MPsJulian Lewis
Desmond Swayne
Area
 • Total290.8 sq mi (753.2 km2)
 • Rank43rd (of 296)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total176,262
 • Rank118th (of 296)
 • Density610/sq mi (230/km2)
 • Ethnicity
94.9% White British
2.67% White Other
0.94% Asian
0.35% Black
1.14% Other
Time zoneUTC0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code24UJ (ONS)
E07000091 (GSS)
OS grid referenceSU2581608959

New Forest is a local government district in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Lyndhurst, although the largest town is Totton. The district also includes the towns of Fordingbridge, Lymington, New Milton and Ringwood. The district is named after and covers most of the New Forest National Park, which occupies much of the central part of the district. The main urban areas are around the periphery of the forest. The district has a coastline onto the Solent to the south and Southampton Water to the east.

The neighbouring districts are Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Dorset, Wiltshire, Test Valley, Southampton and Eastleigh (across Southampton Water). The district also faces the Isle of Wight across the Solent.

History

The district was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the whole area of two former districts and most of a third, which were all abolished at the same time:[1]

The new district was named New Forest after the forest which covers much of the area.[3]

New Forest is one of most populous districts in England not to be a unitary authority; at the 2021 census only four non-unitary districts had more people. The Banham Commission had recommended that New Forest should become a unitary authority in 1995, but this was rejected by the government.[4]

Governance

New Forest District Council
Logo
Type
Type
Leadership
Neville Penman,
Conservative
since 22 May 2023[5]
Jill Cleary,
Conservative
since 14 November 2022
Kate Ryan
since December 2021[6]
Structure
Seats48 councillors
Political groups
Administration (26)
  Conservative (26)
Other parties (22)
  Liberal Democrat (14)
  Independent (4)
  Green (3)
  Labour (1)
Length of term
4 years
Elections
Last election
4 May 2023
Next election
6 May 2027
Meeting place
Appletree Court, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, SO43 7PA
Website
www.newforest.gov.uk

New Forest District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Hampshire County Council. The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.[7]

In the parts of the district within the New Forest National Park, town planning is the responsibility of the New Forest National Park Authority. The district council appoints four of its councillors to serve on the 22-person National Park Authority.[8]

Political control

The council has been under Conservative majority control since 1999.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows:[9][10]

Party in controlYears
Independent1974–1976
Conservative1976–1991
No overall control1991–1995
Liberal Democrats1995–1999
Conservative1999–present

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1990 (formally the chair of the policy and resources committee prior to 2001) have been:[11]

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Jack Webb Conservativepre-19905 May 1991
Jack Maynard Liberal Democrats20 May 199124 May 1993
John Coles Liberal Democrats24 May 199324 May 1999
Simon Hayes Conservative24 May 199918 Nov 2002
Mel Kendal Conservative18 Nov 200231 Oct 2008
Barry Rickman Conservative1 Nov 2008Mar 2021
Edward Heron Conservative12 Apr 202114 Nov 2022
Jill Cleary Conservative14 Nov 2022

Composition

Following the 2023 election, the composition of the council was:[12][13]

Party Councillors
Conservative26
Liberal Democrats14
Independent4
Green3
Labour1
Total48

The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 48 councillors representing 26 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.[14]

The district is divided between two parliamentary constituencies: New Forest East and New Forest West.[15]

Premises

The council is based at Appletree Court on Beaulieu Road in Lyndhurst. The oldest part of the building was originally a large house, which was purchased in 1954 to become the offices of the New Forest Rural District Council. The building has been substantially extended since becoming council offices.[16][17]

Towns and parishes

The whole district is covered by civil parishes. The parish councils for Fordingbridge, Lymington and Pennington, New Milton, Ringwood, and Totton and Eling have declared their parishes to be towns, allowing them to take the style "town council". Whilst Brockenhurst and Lyndhurst are both post towns they have parish councils rather than town councils. The parishes are:[18][15]

References

  1. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 31 May 2023
  2. ↑ "The New Parishes Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/688, retrieved 12 November 2023
  3. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 31 May 2023
  4. ↑ "Local Government Review". Hansard. UK Parliament. 21 March 1995. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "Council minutes, 22 May 2023". New Forest District Council. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  6. ↑ Yandell, Chris (8 September 2021). "Kate Ryan succeeds Bob Jackson at New Forest council". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  7. ↑ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
  8. ↑ "Members". New Forest National Park. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  9. ↑ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  10. ↑ "New Forest". BBC News Online. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  11. ↑ "Council minutes". New Forest District Council. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
  13. ↑ "Local elections 2023: Tories keep control of New Forest District Council but lose BCP Council". Lymington Times. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  14. ↑ "The New Forest (Electoral Changes) Order 2021", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2021/888, retrieved 12 November 2023
  15. 1 2 "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "Will new R.D.C. offices cost £50,000?". New Milton Advertiser. 2 October 1954. p. 6. Retrieved 21 July 2022. The R.D.C. bought Appletree Court during the early part of this year for offices and a Council chamber, at a cost of £12,000.
  17. ↑ "Information offices". New Forest District Council. Retrieved 21 July 2022. Lyndhurst (main office): Appletree Court, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, SO43 7PA
  18. ↑ "Parish and Town Councils". New Forest District Council. Retrieved 12 November 2023.

50°52′44″N 1°37′59″W / 50.879°N 1.633°W / 50.879; -1.633

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