Call me an old cynic but when politicians insist things must be done “at pace” it usually means a botch job that hasn’t been fully thought through.

Part of the reason behind this is that Government Ministers come and go (at pace)…. rarely does anyone get the chance to fully learn about the job and yet all of them share the same desire (or pressure) to get things done in the short half life they have available.

Local government reorganisation is one of those things that’s being done “at pace”…. helped by the Conservative administration at Hampshire County Council who fell into the trap of accepting Fast track LGR without any apparent debate or thought about the consequences. They are now bitterly regreting the decision and committed to spending half a million quid of our money on what will almost certainly be a failed legal challenge about the process, not the decision itself.

I have been asked to talk to various groups around the New Forest about the current position. I happily do that but whereas I would like to spell out exactly what’s going to happen, so much has yet to be decided.

We have shadow elections in May next year and, as I write this, we still don’t know what the new ward boundaries will be. The question of how they will deal with the new Unitary Authorities being partly populated by areas that have Town & Parish Councils and others not, is a democrat issue, not resolved.

I think the new Authorities should have representation from National Parks. No idea if that will happen. Very clearly what the new Authorities decide to do will have a profound impact locally on both the New Forest and South Downs National Park, not least with regard to new housing developments and the additional pressures that will have.

If you think this all sounds like a very unsatisfactory state of affairs, I minded to agree with you. Hey Ho !