It’s been something of a perfect storm this year in terms of visiting the New Forest by car.

First, we had a lot of car park closures, for a variety of reasons…. pot holed access that required repairs, forestry operations, ground nesting birds, then the very controversial car parking charges and now, an unprecedented closure of the A31.

All these things would have contributed to less visits by car.

Quite rightly, some people will see this as not entirely a bad thing… less visitor pressure…a chance for nature to recover…. more motivation for people to use public transport or walking and cycling.

Right now, Officers working for Hampshire County Council will be reading through the hundreds of objections lodged with regard to the proposed widening of a stretch of the A326, (at a cost approaching £200 million).

Many people will have likely sighted the issue of the A326 acting as a barrier to the New Forest for everyone that lives in Totton or the Waterside. I was hoping for some improvements that could have been included in the scheme to make access easier, such as underpasses or even a Green bridge that would allow wildlife to travel to and from the National Park. No such luck.

Primarily, the road widening scheme was always about getting lorry traffic into and out of the expanding port operations, which include designs on Dibden Bay. It was dressed up as something else… improving commute times for motorists. I will be pleased if the scheme is dropped.

It would be so much better if the County Council took on board all of the objections and designed a new scheme that delivers for people and for nature. In other words listen more to us than Associated British Ports who are sitting quietly behind all this.