New Forest

[keith@tbrs]

I was looking possibly to setup a cache in the FC New Forest, somewhere in the Sway, Brockenhurst, Burley area and I see that the agreement show on the website here expired at the end of 2007.

1) Has this been renewed??
2) Is there a change in guidelines because of the National Park status??
3) Does the Forestry Commission bit just cover enclosures or does it also cover the common land outside the enclosures??

This will be the first cache I have setup so I am obviously very keen to ensure I do it correctly, so any other hints or tips would also be appreciated.

Keith

[Bill D (wwh)]

Oops, thanks for pointing that out - we'll be in touch with the Forestry Commission immediately, and hopefully the agreement will be renewed. We have a good working relationship with the FC NF, so there should be no problems there.

As far as I know, there'll be no changes to the agreement due to National Park status.

The agreement covers all land that comprises part of the New Forest, regardless of how that land is used.

Provided your cache meets the conditions of the agreement then you shouldn't have any problems. When a new cache in the Forest is approved by the geocaching.com reviewers, they pass the details to me, I double-check for anything that the FC might not be happy with and then pass the information on to them. If you placed a cache there and it was approved, then if I spotted any possible problem I'd contact you directly before passing the information on, to give you the opportunity of rectifying matters.

I think you can safely assume that the agreement will be renewed shortly, and you can go ahead with your cache. If you have any further questions about it feel free to contact me through my profile.

---
Bill, Chairman GAGB

[keith@tbrs]

Thanks very much for this, as an additional query, there are a number of areas in the New Forest where nesting birds are an issue, would a cache in these areas be permissable if it was removed during the nesting season??

Keith

[Bill D (wwh)]

keith@tbrs wrote:
...there are a number of areas in the New Forest where nesting birds are an issue, would a cache in these areas be permissable if it was removed during the nesting season??

I think that would probably be ok. If I remember correctly, there are or have been caches in ground nesting areas that have been temporarily suspended during the nesting season (I'm speaking generally, not specifically about the New Forest). If you place a cache in such an area, then I suggest you state on the cache page that the cache is in a ground nesting area, and will be unavailable during the nesting season each year.

[The Wombles]

Actually I did remember to renew the agreement on 19th December 2007 but with various Christmas commitments I forgot to update either the committee or the website

It's been renewed for another full year on exactly the same basis, I'll update GLAD now.

[Fluffy's Revenge]

May I correct the impression that may have given above exchanges that the agreement covers all of the New Forest?

This has caught me out, it is wrong.

The permission is from the Forestry Commission and large parts of the New Forest are not owned by the Forestry Commission, so check first.

Fluffy

[nobbynobbs]

Good point, please don't confuse it with the new national park authority as this is a totally different beast.