Rumble in the....woodlands!

Recently, a rather nice golden egg fell into our laps! Being based on the edge of the New Forest has, so far, been a bit of a hindrance in the production of our programmes for Outdoors TV. I joked once with a rock climber I was filming that I lived roughly half way between the Alps & the Scottish Highlands. “Ah yes”, she replied “but not close to either”!

She was right of course, but in reality, I don’t have a problem with that. I need to be relatively close to London for clients & also we have some great facilities & recreation opportunities down here. The forest itself is the most divine space. OK, it’s not as wild as Snowdonia or Scotland but it IS a real wilderness & can provide wonderful isolation if you know where to look.

So what about that egg? We’ll, the golden egg came in the shape of the New Forest National Park Authority’s Draught Recreation Strategy…………… Anticipating your confusion, let me explain!

Recently, the National Park Authority (NPA) published its plan for the future of recreation in the forest. Instantly the local newspaper published warnings that the end of the world was nigh!

For us, having a major outdoors news story on our doorstep is a great opportunity! Very quickly, we made the decision to produce an investigative documentary about the whole issue & to look at whether it might set a precedent for other National Parks. Being local, we would be able to devote a great deal of time to the programme & tackle some of the issues in detail, in order to get to the truth.

So far, we’ve filmed at two public gatherings, both of which seem to indicate that there is a significant subtext to the debate that has nothing to do with the specifics of the proposals – the question of whether the NPA should even exist.

So far, this question has been the main thrust of the argument made by the two local MPs and the ‘consultation process’ does seem to be getting increasingly political. So, the battle lines have been drawn & I’m not entirely sure that the NPA quite realises the full extent of the can of worms it has opened!

Keeping an objective viewpoint on these matters can be difficult, especially when proposals are being made about the area you live & play in. It is already clear to me that there are questions to answer about the proposals but whether the threat is as real as some are suggesting remains to be seen.

The big issues seem to be more about competence in the composition & publication of the report & how proposals can be made when there is so little factual evidence on which to base them, rather than any real & present danger to forest access. For instance, incendiary remarks have been included when at this stage there really is no need & the reaction of locals & the media could surely have been predicted.

So, after round one, the NPA has already received a cut under the eye & will need to take stock of the reaction to the report if it is to win round local people. I suspect from some of the remarks coming not just from the crowd at the last meeting but from the MPs & other officials, that this might be an impossible task. Whatever happens, producing this documentary is going to be a thoroughly engaging process!



Roger Burlinson
Director of Programming - Outdoors TV