New Forest Commoners voice concerns on fallen timber and food waste bins at Verderers’ Court

At this month’s sitting of Verderers’ Court, Andrew Parry-Norton, chair of the New Forest Commoners Defence Association (CDA), delivered two presentments highlighting urgent concerns affecting the management of the Forest.

In the first presentment, Andrew addressed the increasing volume of fallen trees and timber in woodland areas, supporting a presentment at the Court the previous month from a fellow Commoner to have the debris more actively cleared.

‘The CDA acknowledges that a certain amount should be left for the benefit of the ecology,’ he said on Wednesday, 16 July. ‘But we now feel this policy has been taken to the extreme. Access for stock welfare has become difficult and dangerous.’

The second presentment focused on New Forest District Council’s roll-out of food waste bins.

‘As was predicted by the CDA, the rollout has not gone well,’ Andrew told the Court, referencing pictures and reports of donkeys prising open the caddies and consuming the contents.

He warned the problem would only worsen with the approaching pannage season, when pigs are turned out onto the Forest in autumn.

‘Urgent discussions need to take place involving all interested parties, maybe suspending the separation of the waste food from general waste until this problem is solved,’ added Andrew.

You can read the two presentments in full here