MAJOR improvements to one of the New Forest's most popular campsites have been re-tabled by the Forestry Commission.

The Commission wants to halve the number of pitches at Hollands Wood campsite beside the A337 road at Brockenhurst.

That will allow the area taken up by tents and caravans to be reduced by a third in a bid to restore the ecological balance in the ancient broadleaved woodlands.

Other proposed changes involve demolishing three toilet blocks and replacing them with two improved blocks, replacing the reception building and providing 165 electrical hook-ups for caravans and campers.

The scheme, which was submitted last year, provoked numerous objections, said New Forest District Council planning officer Steve Clothier. One was from the Verderers of the New Forest.

In January, official verderer Oliver Crosthwaite Eyre said: "The decision presented us with a classic conflict between recreation and conservation. We firmly believe that wherever possible the forest's unique landscape must be protected from creeping urbanisation, and as verderers we felt we had no option but to put the forest first."

Mr Clothier said this is the same application but with a revised statement responding to the earlier objections.

He pointed out: "The Forestry Commission has the power to determine it themselves as it's on Crown Lands, and the government can call it in."

A new consultee this time round will be the newly formed New Forest National Park Authority, although it will not obtain its full planning powers until next April.

First published: August 12