District to explore judicial review over Hampshire reorganisation proposals

The Government announced last month that councils in Hampshire, including New Forest District Council, will be replaced by four new unitary authorities.

New Forest residents will be served by two of the new authorities, which are scheduled to begin delivering services in April 2028.

However, campaign group ‘New Forest Together’ has said the plans will “break the New Forest apart”.

In a petition on Change.org, the group called on the district to "urgently" instruct a specialist public‑law barrister to review the process, the criteria, and the consultation evidence to determine whether there are grounds for legal challenge.

It also said that the work should be carried out in collaboration with Test Valley Borough Council, "who are also at risk of seeing parts of their area absorbed into Southampton".

New Forest District Council have since discussed the petition at a full council meeting on Monday (13 April), in which members voted unanimously in support of a motion that the leader and the cabinet will “carefully consider the petition and the updated advice when considering the appropriate next steps to best represent the interests of the Forest through this process”.

Speaking to petitioners and members during the meeting, the council’s leader, Jill Cleary, said she shared their “frustration” and “hatred” of the decision, stating: “Because you can’t hate it more than I do.”

She later added: “Let’s wait and see what counsel comes back with as to whether we can challenge it, how we can challenge it.”

Writing in their petition, New Forest Together said the proposals would force large parts of the area’s community into a “new, urban‑centred authority dominated by Southampton”.

They added: "This ignores the character, needs and values of the New Forest and contradicts the Government’s own criteria for reorganisation - which state that existing district and borough authorities should form the building blocks of any new councils and that local community cohesion would be of upmost importance.

"Instead of respecting that principle, the New Forest is being carved up."

The group’s petition has amassed more than 14,000 signatures.

Adam Carey