New Forest | |
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![]() The Redbridge Bridge in Totton | |
Motto: "Old yet ever new" | |
![]() New Forest shown within Hampshire | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Region | South East England |
Non-metropolitan county | Hampshire |
Status | Non-metropolitan district |
Admin HQ | Lyndhurst |
Incorporated | 1 April 1974 |
Government | |
• Type | Non-metropolitan district council |
• Body | New Forest District Council |
• MPs | Julian Lewis Desmond Swayne |
Area | |
• Total | 290.8 sq mi (753.2 km2) |
• Rank | 43rd (of 296) |
Population (2022) | |
• Total | 175,942 |
• Rank | 119th (of 296) |
• Density | 610/sq mi (230/km2) |
Ethnicity (2021) | |
• Ethnic groups | |
Religion (2021) | |
• Religion | List
|
Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
ONS code | 24UJ (ONS) E07000091 (GSS) |
OS grid reference | SU2581608959 |
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.
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: [2]
The new district was named New Forest after the forest which covers much of the area. [4]
New Forest is one of the 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. [5]
New Forest District Council | |
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Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
Kate Ryan since December 2021 [7] | |
Structure | |
Seats | 48 councillors |
Political groups |
|
Length of term | 4 years |
Elections | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
Meeting place | |
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Appletree Court, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, SO43 7PA | |
Website | |
www |
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. [8]
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. [9]
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: [10] [11]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Independent | 1974–1976 | |
Conservative | 1976–1991 | |
No overall control | 1991–1995 | |
Liberal Democrats | 1995–1999 | |
Conservative | 1999–present |
The leaders of the council since 1990 (formally the chair of the policy and resources committee prior to 2001) have been: [12]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jack Webb | Conservative | pre-1990 | 5 May 1991 | |
Jack Maynard | Liberal Democrats | 20 May 1991 | 24 May 1993 | |
John Coles | Liberal Democrats | 24 May 1993 | 24 May 1999 | |
Simon Hayes | Conservative | 24 May 1999 | 18 Nov 2002 | |
Mel Kendal | Conservative | 18 Nov 2002 | 31 Oct 2008 | |
Barry Rickman | Conservative | 1 Nov 2008 | Mar 2021 | |
Edward Heron | Conservative | 12 Apr 2021 | 14 Nov 2022 | |
Jill Cleary | Conservative | 14 Nov 2022 |
Following the 2023 election, the composition of the council was: [13] [14]
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Conservative | 26 | |
Liberal Democrats | 14 | |
Independent | 4 | |
Green | 3 | |
Labour | 1 | |
Total | 48 |
The next election is due in 2027.
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. [15]
The district is divided between two parliamentary constituencies: New Forest East and New Forest West. [16]
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. [17] [18]
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: [19] [16]
Ringwood is a market town in south-west Hampshire, England, on the River Avon close to the New Forest, northeast of Bournemouth and southwest of Southampton. It was founded by the Anglo-Saxons, and has held a weekly market since the Middle Ages.
South Derbyshire is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. The district covers the towns of Melbourne and Swadlincote as well as numerous villages and hamlets such as Hilton, Hatton, Etwall, Aston-on-Trent, Repton, Weston-on-Trent and Willington. About a third of the National Forest lies within the district.
East Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. Its council met in Wimborne Minster between 2016 and 2019.
Forest of Dean is a local government district in west Gloucestershire, England, named after the Forest of Dean. Its council is based in Coleford. Other towns and villages in the district include Blakeney, Cinderford, Drybrook, English Bicknor, Huntley, Littledean, Longhope, Lydbrook, Lydney, Mitcheldean, Newnham and Newent.
New Forest East is a constituency in Hampshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its creation in 1997 by Julian Lewis of the Conservative Party.
New Forest West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1997 by Desmond Swayne, a Conservative.
Brockenhurst railway station serves the village of Brockenhurst in Hampshire, England. It is located on the South West Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth. It is also the junction of the Lymington Branch Line with the main line. It is 92 miles 66 chains (149.4 km) down the line from Waterloo. It is managed and served by South Western Railway and it is also served by CrossCountry trains.
New Forest was a county constituency in south-west Hampshire which elected one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Boldre is a village and civil parish in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is in the south of the New Forest National Park, above the broadening (estuary) of the Lymington River, two miles (3 km) north of Lymington. In the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 1,931, and in the 2011 census, 2,003. The parish has a few campsites and a tourist caravan site, along with visitor parking around its mixed woodland and heath hamlet of Norley Wood.
The New Forest Tour is an open-top bus service in the New Forest, running three circular routes around various towns, attractions and villages in the protected forest. It is run by morebus and Bluestar in partnership with Hampshire County Council, New Forest District Council and the New Forest National Park Authority.
East Boldre is a linear village and civil parish situated near Lymington, Hampshire, England. East Boldre is surrounded by the New Forest and forms part of the district of New Forest.
The Borough of Tewkesbury is a local government district with borough status in Gloucestershire, England. The borough is named after its largest town, Tewkesbury, which is where the council is based. The district also includes the town of Winchcombe and numerous villages including Bishops Cleeve, Ashchurch, Churchdown, Innsworth and Brockworth as well as other hamlets and surrounding rural areas. Parts of the district lie within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The 2017 Hampshire County Council election took place on 4 May 2017 as part of the 2017 local elections in the United Kingdom. All councillors were elected from electoral divisions by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office. The electoral divisions were somewhat changed from the previous election, with some being split, merged or with boundary changes. No elections were held in Portsmouth and Southampton, which are unitary authorities and hold their elections in other years. Similarly the districts within Hampshire did also not hold elections this year.
West Suffolk District is a local government district in Suffolk, England. It was established in 2019 as a merger of the previous Forest Heath District with the Borough of St Edmundsbury. The council is based in Bury St Edmunds, the district's largest town. The district also contains the towns of Brandon, Clare, Haverhill, Mildenhall and Newmarket, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas. In 2021 it had a population of 180,820.
Buckinghamshire Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire in England. It is a unitary authority, performing both county and district-level functions. It was created on 1 April 2020, replacing the previous Buckinghamshire County Council and the councils of the four abolished districts of Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, South Bucks, and Wycombe. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes Milton Keynes.
The Lymington Times and New Milton Advertiser are weekly English broadsheet newspapers which serve the New Forest in Hampshire and neighbouring Christchurch in Dorset. They are published by Highland News and Media Limited.
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.
Lyndhurst (main office): Appletree Court, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, SO43 7PA
50°52′44″N1°37′59″W / 50.879°N 1.633°W