New Forest District

This article is about the local government district. For the National Park and historic forest after which the district is named, see New Forest.

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.

New Forest
Non-metropolitan district
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) [1]
• Ethnic groups	List 96.8% White 1.3% Mixed 1.2% Asian 0.4% Black 0.4% other
Religion (2021) [1]
• Religion	List 51.1% Christianity 40.9% no religion 6.1% not stated 0.6% Islam 0.5% other 0.3% Buddhism 0.3% Hinduism 0.2% Judaism 0.1% Sikhism
Time zone	UTC0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code	24UJ (ONS) E07000091 (GSS)
OS grid reference	SU2581608959

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:^[2]

• Lymington Municipal Borough
• New Forest Rural District
• Ringwood and Fordingbridge Rural District (except the parishes of Burton and Hurn, which went to Christchurch, and the parish of St Leonards and St Ives, which went to Wimborne)^[3]

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]

Governance

New Forest District Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan district
Leadership
Chair	David Hawkins, Conservative since 13 May 2024[6]
Leader	Jill Cleary, Conservative since 14 November 2022
Chief Executive	Kate Ryan since December 2021[7]
Structure
Seats	48 councillors
Political groups	Administration (26)   Conservative (26) Other parties (22)   Liberal Democrats (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.^[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]

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:^[10][11]

Party in control		Years
	Independent	1974–1976
	Conservative	1976–1991
	No overall control	1991–1995
	Liberal Democrats	1995–1999
	Conservative	1999–present

Leadership

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

Councillor	Party		From	To
Jack Webb		Conservative	pre-1990	May 1991
Jack Maynard[12]		Liberal Democrats	20 May 1991	May 1993
John Coles[13]		Liberal Democrats	24 May 1993	May 1999
Simon Hayes[14][15]		Conservative	24 May 1999	18 Nov 2002
Mel Kendal[16][17]		Conservative	18 Nov 2002	31 Oct 2008
Barry Rickman[18][19]		Conservative	1 Nov 2008	22 Mar 2021
Edward Heron[20]		Conservative	12 Apr 2021	14 Nov 2022
Jill Cleary[21]		Conservative	14 Nov 2022

Composition

Following the 2023 election, the composition of the council was:^[22][23]

Party		Councillors
	Conservative	26
	Liberal Democrats	14
	Independent	4
	Green	3
	Labour	1
Total		48

The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

See also: New Forest District Council 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.^[24]

The district is divided between two parliamentary constituencies: New Forest East and New Forest West.^[25]

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.^[26][27]

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:^[28][25]

• Ashurst and Colbury
• Beaulieu
• Boldre
• Bramshaw
• Bransgore
• Breamore
• Brockenhurst
• Burley
• Copythorne
• Damerham
• Denny Lodge
• East Boldre
• Ellingham, Harbridge and Ibsley
• Exbury and Lepe
• Fawley
• Fordingbridge
• Godshill
• Hale
• Hordle
• Hyde
• Hythe and Dibden
• Lymington and Pennington
• Lyndhurst
• Marchwood
• Martin
• Milford-on-Sea
• Minstead
• Netley Marsh
• New Milton
• Ringwood
• Rockbourne
• Sandleheath
• Sopley
• Sway
• Totton and Eling
• Whitsbury
• Woodgreen

References

1. UK Census (2021). "2021 Census Area Profile – New Forest Local Authority (E07000091)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
2. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 31 May 2023
3. "The New Parishes Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/688, retrieved 12 November 2023
4. "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 31 May 2023
5. "Local Government Review". Hansard. UK Parliament. 21 March 1995. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
6. "Councillor David Hawkins elected as New Forest District Council Chairman". New Forest District Council. 21 May 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
7. Yandell, Chris (8 September 2021). "Kate Ryan succeeds Bob Jackson at New Forest council". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
8. "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
9. "Members". New Forest National Park. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
10. "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 26 November 2024. (Put "New Forest" in search box to see specific results.)
11. "New Forest". BBC News Online. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
12. "Policy and Resources Committee minutes, 20 May 1991" (PDF). New Forest District Council. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
13. "Council minutes, 24 May 1993" (PDF). New Forest District Council. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
14. "Council minutes, 24 May 1999" (PDF). New Forest District Council. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
15. "New leader warns of 'danger' for Forest". Daily Echo. 21 November 2002. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
16. "Council minutes, 18 November 2002" (PDF). New Forest District Council. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
17. Jolliffe, Bob (6 August 2008). "'Abrasive' council chief to quit". Daily Echo. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
18. "Council minutes, 27 October 2008" (PDF). New Forest District Council. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
19. "New Forest Council leader resigns after scrap yard conviction". BBC News. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
20. "Council minutes, 12 April 2021". New Forest District Council. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
21. "Council minutes, 14 November 2022". New Forest District Council. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
22. "Local elections 2023: live council results for England". The Guardian.
23. "Local elections 2023: Tories keep control of New Forest District Council but lose BCP Council". Lymington Times. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
24. "The New Forest (Electoral Changes) Order 2021", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 2021/888, retrieved 12 November 2023
25. "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
26. "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.
27. "Information offices". New Forest District Council. Retrieved 21 July 2022. Lyndhurst (main office): Appletree Court, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, SO43 7PA
28. "Parish and Town Councils". New Forest District Council. Retrieved 12 November 2023.

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