Infrastructure Funding Statement covering report December 2025

New Forest National Park Authority
Infrastructure Funding Statement

Covering the period 1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025
Published December 2025

Contents

Section	Title	Page
1	Introduction	3
2	Contributions available at 31 March 2024	5
3	Contributions received between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025	7
4	Contributions spent between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025	9
5	Contributions available at 31 March 2025	12
6	Monitoring fees received between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025	15

1. Introduction

1.1 In accordance with the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations, any authority (including local planning authorities and parish councils) that receives a contribution from development through either the Community Infrastructure Levy or Section 106 planning obligations is required to prepare and publish an Infrastructure Funding Statement.

1.2 This report therefore provides a summary of the financial contributions the New Forest National Park Authority has secured through Section 106 legal agreements (including unilateral undertakings) from development for off-site infrastructure works, the delivery of affordable housing and mitigation measures for the internationally protected habitats of the New Forest and Solent coast. This report covers the period 1 April 2024 – 31 March 2025.

1.3 The information included in the report is updated annually, published on the National Park Authority’s website and submitted to Government. This ensures up-to-date information on the amount of developer contributions received from new development and the projects where these contributions have been spent is readily available to local communities and other interested parties.

Section 106 planning obligations and developer contributions

1.4 Under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, local planning authorities (including National Park Authorities) can enter into legal obligations with developers to mitigate the impacts of new development. These agreed legal obligations can include both physical on-site measures and financial contributions towards off-site infrastructure provision and mitigation measures.

1.5 Planning obligations assist in mitigating the impact of unacceptable development to make it acceptable in planning terms. National planning regulations state that planning obligations may only constitute a reason for granting planning permission if they are:

• necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms;
• directly related to the development; and
• fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development.

1.6 These tests are set out as statutory tests in the Community Infrastructure Regulations 2010 (as amended by the 2011 and 2019 Regulations) and as policy tests in the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Paragraph 58, National Planning Policy Framework (December 2024).

New Forest National Park Local Plan (2019)

1.7 The New Forest National Park Local Plan was formally adopted in August 2019. The Local Plan forms a key part of the statutory ‘development plan’ for the National Park and the policies set out in Table 1 are particularly relevant to this Infrastructure Funding Statement.

Table 1: Relevant Local Plan policies

Local Plan Policy	Summary
SP5: Nature conservation sites of international importance	Confirms that a contribution to the Authority’s Habitat Mitigation Scheme for the New Forest sites and/or the Solent Recreation Mitigation Partnership’s Scheme (‘Bird Aware Solent’) will enable measures to be put in place to mitigate the recreational impacts of new development.
DP10: Open Space	New development is required to provide new public open space provision. Where this cannot be delivered on site (typically due to the small-scale of development within the National Park) a financial contribution to support off-site provision or enhancements will be sought.
SP27: Affordable Housing Provision	At the discretion of the Authority, financial contributions in lieu of on-site affordable housing provision will be accepted on smaller development sites.
SP38: Infrastructure provision and developer contributions	“Development proposals shall make provision for the infrastructure and measures necessary to ensure that the development is acceptable in planning terms. Where appropriate, financial contributions for the provision of off-site infrastructure and measures will be sought.” Within the context of development within the New Forest National Park, developer contributions may be required towards highway and transportation works; affordable housing; education provision; recreation provision; and nature conservation mitigation measures.

1.8 Further details on the developer contributions sought within the New Forest National Park are set out in the Authority’s adopted Development Standards SPD (2012), which sets out the level of financial contributions sought from new development towards affordable housing, public open space and transport.

1.9 In the context of planning within the New Forest National Park, developer contributions are also required to mitigate the impacts of new residential and visitor accommodation development on the internationally protected habitats of the Solent coast and the New Forest heathlands. Further details of these mitigation schemes can be found in the Authority’s updated Habitat Mitigation Scheme (2020) and the Bird Aware Solent Strategy.

1.10 It is also important to note that alongside local planning policies, the process for seeking developer contributions from new development is guided by national planning policy and guidance. The Government’s National Planning Practice Guidance (NPPG) resource includes a specific section on ‘Planning Obligations’ which sets out the national framework for seeking developer contributions. Paragraph 58 of the NPPF (December 2024) sets out the policy tests that planning obligations must meet.

2. Contributions available at 31 March 2024

2.1 Table 2 (below) sets out the level of developer contributions held by the National Park Authority at 31 March 2024.

Table 2: Contributions available at 31 March 2024 received in preceding years

Infrastructure / measure	Contributions available at 31 March 2024
Affordable Housing	£830,910
New Forest SPA Habitat Mitigation	£289,661
Solent SPA Habitat Mitigation	Pooled contributions held by the Bird Aware Solent habitat mitigation scheme*
Transport	Pooled contributions held by Hampshire County Council for local transport schemes #
Public open space, sport & recreation	£80,490
TOTAL	£1,201,061

*Solent SPA habitat mitigation contributions are transferred to the Bird Aware Solent mitigation project on a quarterly basis and so are not in the direct control of the National Park Authority.

#Transport contributions are transferred to the local highway authority and so are not in the direct control of the National Park Authority.

2.2 Developer contributions secured through Section 106 agreements in the National Park are legally ring-fenced for specific uses/forms of infrastructure. This means they must be used for the purposes set out in the relevant legal agreement. Unlike funding received through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) – which the National Park Authority does not operate – the priority for the use of received Section 106 contributions is not at the discretion of the Authority.

2.3 It is important to note that other than for the affordable housing and the New Forest SPA Habitat Mitigation contributions, the National Park Authority itself is not directly responsible for the expenditure of the following contributions:

• Solent SPA Habitat Mitigation contributions have been sought since 2015/16 from new residential development within 5.6 kilometres of the Solent’s internationally protected sites. Contributions within the 5.6-kilometre catchment area from across the 14 planning authorities in the area are pooled to be spent on the delivery of the ‘Bird Aware Solent’ habitat mitigation scheme and further details can be found here.
• Although the Authority is the sole statutory planning authority for the National Park area, it is not responsible for highways (or education and social care). The two ‘highway authorities’ for the National Park area are Hampshire County Council (for the 95% of the land area of the National Park that lies within Hampshire) and Wiltshire Council (for the remaining 5% of the National Park located within the county of Wiltshire). Transport contributions are therefore transferred to the relevant highway authorities to be spent on schemes within the National Park area.
• The National Park Authority does not own or manage any public open space, sport or recreational facilities in the National Park. This responsibility typically rests with the local town and parish councils in the National Park and therefore contributions received towards open space provision are made available for the relevant town or parish council to draw down on and spend on open space projects in the locality of the new development.

2.4 For developer contributions towards affordable housing, it is necessary to build up a fund of pooled contributions to enable the delivery of off-site affordable housing. Affordable housing contributions have previously been spent on the delivery of two affordable dwellings for local people at Bransgore.

2.5 Table 2 confirms that the total of developer contributions held by the National Park Authority as at 31 March 2024 stood at circa £1.2 million. Of the total contributions held at the start of the Infrastructure Funding Statement reporting period, it is also important to note that the habitat mitigation contributions for the Solent coast and New Forest habitats were earmarked for specific projects. Both the New Forest and Solent mitigation schemes have published strategies setting out future spending priorities. The Solent contributions are pooled from development across the sub-region to fund the implementation of the Bird Aware Solent Mitigation Strategy, which is subject to separate annual reporting. The implementation of mitigation measures funded by the financial contributions towards the New Forest Habitat Mitigation Scheme (2020) is overseen by a Steering Group that meets annually to agree priorities for the following year.

3. Contributions received in 2024 – 2025

Table 3 – Contributions received in 2024 – 2025

Infrastructure / measure	Contributions received in 2024 – 2025
Affordable Housing	£65,400
New Forest SPA Habitat Mitigation	£610,713
Solent SPA Habitat Mitigation	£48,743
Transport	£0
Public open space, sport & recreation	£121,805
TOTAL	£846,661

3.1 As shown in Table 3 (above), during 2024 – 2025, the National Park Authority received just under £850,000 in financial contributions from new development, secured through either Section 106 agreements or unilateral undertakings.

3.2 The amount of developer contributions received by the National Park Authority in 2024 – 2025 increased substantially from the preceding reporting year (when just under £133,000 was received). Developer contributions in the reporting year were received from windfall developments and temporary campsites (which are required to address impacts under the requirements of the Habitats Regulations for legal compliance). As anticipated in last year’s report, the adopted New Forest National Park Local Plan (2019) housing site allocations at the site of the former Lyndhurst Park Hotel (79 dwellings) and land at Whartons Lane, Ashurst (62 dwellings) reached their triggers for payments in 2024 – 2025 and this accounted for the majority of the financial contributions received.

3.3 Developer contributions towards habitat mitigation measures to address recreational pressures on both the Solent coast and the New Forest Special Protection Area (SPA) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC) are required to ensure legal compliance. They are therefore sought from all net new dwellings and visitor accommodation permitted in the National Park, unlike other forms of contributions where various site size thresholds apply. As in the previous reporting year (2023 – 2024), during 2024 – 2025, habitat mitigation contributions towards the New Forest’s internationally designated sites were also sought from seasonal campsite uses under the requirements for the Habitats Regulations. In addition to the campsite payments, financial contributions were received from the redevelopment of the former Lyndhurst Park Hotel (79 dwellings) and also the development of the adopted New Forest National Park Local Plan site allocation at Whartons Lane, Ashurst (62 dwellings). Given the scale of the developments, the developer contributions were proportionately significant and totalled over £500,000. The Whartons Lane development also contributed towards off-site public open space enhancements in the locality. Just over £115,000 was secured from the development and this will be made available for Ashurst & Colbury Parish Council to use on the enhancement of the Whartons Lane Recreation Ground, which is located opposite the development site.

3.4 In the 2024 – 2025 reporting year, £65,400 in financial contributions were received towards affordable housing provision. This was from the redevelopment of the former Cloud Hotel site in Brockenhurst, with the financial contribution made in lieu of on-site provision (in accordance with the adopted New Forest National Park Local Plan, 2019). This reflects the small-scale nature of new development in the National Park over the reporting period, with the threshold for affordable housing contributions not reached on any schemes.

4. Contributions spent in 2024 – 2025

Table 4 – Contributions spent in 2024 – 2025

Infrastructure / measure	Contributions spent in 2024 - 2025
Affordable Housing	£29,141
New Forest SPA Habitat Mitigation	£59,875
Solent SPA Habitat Mitigation	£48,743 transferred to the strategic Bird Aware Solent Mitigation Scheme
Transport	£0
Public open space, sport & recreation	£27,952
TOTAL	£165,711

4.1 Table 4 illustrates that during 2024 – 2025 a total of £165,711 of contributions were spent on infrastructure or habitat mitigation measures within the National Park. Set out below is a summary of the key areas of expenditure.

Affordable Housing

4.2 £65,400 was received in affordable housing contributions in the 2024 – 25 financial year. During the same financial year, £29,141 was spent on the Burley Affording Housing Project which will provide two affordable homes for people in housing need with a connection to the parish or adjacent parishes within the National Park.

New Forest SPA Habitat Mitigation

4.3 The spending of received financial contributions towards mitigating the impacts of increased recreational pressures associated with new development is done in accordance with the Authority’s adopted habitat mitigation scheme (2020). The scheme is overseen by a steering group comprising representatives from the National Park Authority, Forestry England, Natural England, the RSPB, the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and New Forest District Council. During 2024 – 2025 a total of £59,874.80 was spent on mitigation measures. The Authority’s Habitat Mitigation Scheme Annual Implementation Report for 2025 sets out details of all the expenditure and the developer contributions received.

• Seasonal Rangers: Habitat mitigation contributions have been used for the seasonal ranger resource working in the New Forest designated nature conservation sites. Seasonal rangers were employed during the 2024-2025 reporting period and £42,000 of developer contributions were utilised. Additional ranger provision is identified as key to addressing increased recreational pressures associated with new development (housing and other forms of overnight accommodation, including campsites).
• Communications: An important mitigation measure is the regular delivery of interpretation information, publications, website and social media development. A total of £8,000 of developer contributions were utilised to this effect to ensure consistent messages was relayed to the public.
• Access improvements to attract recreational visit away from designated sites: including the installation of 16 lampposts Landford and Hamptworth (£1,000) and an oak finger post (£4,050), as well as annual payment for the Walking App Functionality (£700), New Forest Walks App (£2,350). The promoted walks are away from the New Forest’s internationally designated sites and help to deflect recreational pressures.

Solent SPA Habitat Mitigation

4.4 The Solent Recreation Mitigation Strategy annual reports provide more detail on the spending of the contributions received. The 2025 Annual Report sets out the value of the developer contributions received by the partnership in 2024 – 2025, and details of all expenditure.

4.5 During 2024-25, planning permission was granted for 3,660 net new dwellings which were assessed as requiring mitigation for recreational impacts on the Solent; and the total developer contributions received by the Partnership between April 2024 and March 2025 amounted to £1,960,211 (i.e. nearly £2 million). This includes £48,743 in total from developments in the New Forest National Park, with the largest financial contribution from development in the National Park being from the Whartons Lane, Ashurst development. Set out below is an overview of the mitigation projects supported in the 2024-25 reporting year through the use of pooled developer contributions.

• Team of full time and seasonal rangers: The key mitigation measure is a team of rangers who cover the coast. The rangers aim to reduce bird disturbance by helping people to better understand the importance of the over-wintering birds and their vulnerability to disturbance. They advise people on how small changes in their behaviour can be hugely beneficial to the birds. During the 2024/25 winter period, the team conducted 477 site visits and engaged with a total of 5,324 coastal visitors, of which 97% were receptive to the key messages shared with them - £329,492.
• Education: During this reporting year, the education programme was launched to deliver key messages to schools. This has received extremely positive feedback, with repeat bookings already being requested. The Partnership also hosted their second ‘Bird Aware Arts Fest’ in February 2025, which enabled their messages to reach new audiences whilst creating unique pieces of art.
• Site Specific Projects: From April 2020, the Partnership has set aside £2 million every 5 years to fund series of capital projects designed to further the aims of the strategy through the provision of visitor management techniques, enhanced bird habitats, enhanced strategic recreational space or public engagement and education initiatives. During this reporting period, legal agreements were drafted to support 20 projects, but there were delays associated with them being issued on the Partnership’s behalf, causing some of the Project Managers to withdraw. However, towards the end of the reporting year, a new call for projects was launched and it is anticipated that some of the projects that withdrew will resubmit with revised costs.
• Dog Initiatives Post: 2024/25 was the second winter with the full Coast and Country Canines initiative up and running. With the support of the whole Ranger Team the audience has grown significantly and rangers have reported that having the initiative there to signpost to has been extremely helpful. Both at in person events and online, reception has been positive, with dog owners taking an interest in both the overall message and the resources offered. £48,000 of pooled contributions were spent on the Dog Initiatives Post and a further £10,000 on operating Dog Warden costs.

4.6 Developer contributions in 2024/25 were also spent on the Team Manager role - to oversee the day-to-day management of the Ranger Team, as well as provide strategic support to the Partnership Manager - £50,100. The Partnership is also investing a proportion of the developer contributions received in order to create an investment pot which will fund the mitigation measures in-perpetuity.

Transport

4.7 Following changes in national planning policy, the National Park Authority is only able to negotiate financial contributions towards transport infrastructure from larger developments. Given the typical profile of development in the protected landscape of the New Forest National Park, transport contributions are not usually triggered by the vast majority of new developments.

Public open space, sport and recreation provision

4.8 The National Park Authority liaises with town and parish councils regarding spending received contributions towards public open space, sport and recreation facilities. As with transport contributions, the Authority is only able to seek contributions towards public open space, sport and recreation provision/enhancements from certain developments. During 2024-25, a total of £27,925 was spent on enhancing play facilities at Jubilee Field in Sway which was received from recent residential developments in Sway (including the redevelopment of the former Hatch Motors site in the village centre).

4.9 Planning permission has now been granted (and development had commenced) on the adopted New Forest National Park Local Plan (2019) site allocations at Whartons Lane, Ashurst and Church Lane, Sway, both of which are due to include new on-site public open space provision for the benefits of new residents and the existing community. In total over 1 hectare of new public open space will be provided across these developments.

5. Contributions available for future years

Table 5: Contributions available as of 31 March 2025

Infrastructure / measure	Contributions available at 31 March 2025
Affordable Housing	£867,169
New Forest SPA Habitat Mitigation	£840,498
Solent SPA Habitat Mitigation	Pooled contributions held by the Bird Aware Solent habitat mitigation scheme
Transport	Pooled contributions held by Hampshire County Council for local transport schemes
Public open space, sport & recreation	£174,343
TOTAL	£1,882,010

5.1 During the financial year of this Infrastructure Funding Statement, the National Park Authority received £846,661 in developer contributions (see Table 3); and released/spent £165,711 towards local infrastructure projects and habitat mitigation measures (see Table 4). The total level of contributions held by the National Park Authority therefore rose compared to the position at 31 March 2024 (see Table 2). Table 5 sets out what was held by the National Park Authority at the end of March 2025.

5.2 As well as reporting on the developer contributions received and spent between April 2024 and March 2025, the Infrastructure Funding Statement is required to set out the priorities for spending in the future. These are set out below for the main areas of infrastructure provision sought in the National Park.

Affordable housing

5.3 The delivery of affordable housing for local people in identified housing need is a key element of the adopted Local Plan and accords with the Authority’s statutory duty to foster the socio-economic wellbeing of local communities living within the National Park. Successive development plans dating back prior to the designation of the New Forest National Park in 2005 have required new development to support the delivery of affordable housing, through either on-site provision or financial contributions to enable off-site delivery.

5.4 Received developer contributions towards affordable housing have previously been used to fund the delivery of new affordable housing in the National Park. This has included the release of funds to New Forest Villages Housing Association to support new provision at Foxhills in Ashurst; and the use of contributions to fund the construction of two new affordable homes at Bransgore (application reference 14/00664). Following the successful delivery of the affordable dwellings at Bransgore in September 2018, the Authority granted planning permission for two affordable dwellings on land adjacent to Park Lodge, Burley (application reference 18/00517). So far, received affordable housing contributions have been used to support this development in the financial years 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2024-25. As indicated in Table 4 above, £29,141 was spent on the Burley Affordable Housing Project in the current reporting year (2024-2025).

5.5 The Authority is open to working with developers on sites to increase the delivery of affordable housing and this may include the release of pooled affordable housing contributions. For example, the Authority has liaised with a Registered Provider of affordable homes in the National Park regarding the release of some developer contribution to support the delivery of a rural exception site in the National Park area.

New Forest SPA Habitat Mitigation

5.6 The Authority has sought developer contributions towards a package of measures to mitigate the impacts of increased recreational pressures associated with new development (residential and visitor accommodation) on the New Forest SPA and SAC since 2012. In July 2020 the Authority’s revised Habitat Mitigation Scheme SPD was formally adopted following public consultation. The revised scheme sets out the package of mitigation measures that will be funded by developer contributions through the Local Plan period to 2036 and is supported by Natural England. It sets out the overall proportions the funds will be spent on – details can be seen at Development Impacts on Protected Areas - New Forest National Park Authority (newforestnpa.gov.uk).

5.7 Ultimately, as the ‘competent authority’ under the Habitats Regulations, the decision on what mitigation measures to prioritise rests with the National Park Authority. However, the implementation of the Habitat Mitigation Scheme is also overseen by a Steering Group comprising representatives of the National Park Authority, Natural England, Forestry England, the RSPB, the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and New Forest District Council. The Steering Group typically meets annually to review the mitigation measures implemented in the preceding year; and to agree priorities for the next year.

5.8 The following broad mitigation projects have been agreed for the 2025 - 2026 year to address the potential impacts of increased recreational pressures from new development on the New Forest designated sites.

• Communication activities to promote key messages: To include key messages in new publications, through social media channels and on the website. A budget of £8,000 was agreed for 2024/5. This measure continues to be supported, with the increased contribution of £8,000 retained for the 2025/26 financial year.
• Additional ranger resource: Developer contributions have been earmarked to support an additional ranger resource working within the New Forest’s designated sites. The pooled contributions enable the employment of 1.5 full time equivalents (FTEs) at a cost of £42,000 per annum.

Solent SPA Habitat Mitigation

5.9 A budget has been set for 2025/26 totalling £3,698,000 to fund the implementation of mitigation measures and associated costs, including a contribution to the in-perpetuity fund. Further details are available in Appendix 2 of the Annual Report 2025, and the headlines are set out below. Please note, this does not list the full range of mitigation measures due to be funded in 2025/26.

• Team of full time and seasonal rangers: The ranger team remain a core part of the mitigation package and the Bird Aware Solent rangers complement the work undertaken by other rangers along the Solent coast (including those employed by Hampshire County Council, the Wildlife Trust and others). In addition, £54,000 has been allocated for the continuation of the Partnership Manager role for 2025/26.
• Dog Initiatives: The implementation of initiatives to encourage responsible dog walking on the coast to avoid bird disturbance (£30,000). An initiative planned to be undertaken during 2025/26 includes further growing ‘Coast and Country Canines’ and nurturing a support network for the dog community, as well as launching Coast and Country Canines in other areas. Recruitment for two new members of the dog initiatives team has been ongoing since the beginning of the season. These roles have since been filled, and the new staff members will be in post soon.
• Campaigns and Engagement: To include the employment of a full time Campaigns & Engagement Officer role (£64,000). In 2025/26 this work will include the use of targeted campaigns to further grow the reputation and sphere of influence of the Bird Aware Solent scheme, both locally and nationally.
• Site Specific Projects: A total of £2 million is set aside over a number of years to fund capital projects designed to further the aims of the strategy through the provision of visitor management techniques, enhanced bird habitats, enhanced strategic recreational space or public engagement and education initiatives - £400,000 of pooled contributions have been allocated for 2025/26.

Public open space, sport and recreational facilities

5.10 In accordance with Policy DP10 of the adopted National Park Local Plan (2019), new residential development is required to either provide on-site open space provision or financially contribute towards off-site provision and/or enhancement in the locality of the development.

5.11 The developer contributions received by the Authority are made available for local town and parish councils. Over the years, the Authority has released over £300,000 towards local open space infrastructure, including the wildplay projects at Stanford Rise, Sway; Clare Lodge, Bransgore and Whartons Lane, Ashurst; and new play equipment at the Coles Mead recreation ground, Lyndhurst; and the Highwood Road play area in Brockenhurst; and the Jubilee Field playing facilities in Sway.

5.12 The Authority will continue to make the received open space contributions available for the relevant town and parish councils to support the delivery of costed open space enhancement. The contributions are linked to the locality of the development.

6. Section 106 Monitoring Fees received 2024 - 2025

6.1 The Community Infrastructure Levy (Amendment) (England) (No.2) Regulations 2019 enable local planning authorities to charge a monitoring fee to cover the cost of the monitoring and reporting on delivery of the Section 106 obligation. Monitoring fees can be used to monitor and report on any type of planning obligation, for the lifetime of that obligation.

6.2 The regulations allow monitoring fees to be established using a number of options. However, in all cases, monitoring fees must be proportionate and reasonable and reflect the actual cost of monitoring. Local planning authorities are required to report on monitoring fees in their Infrastructure Funding Statements.

6.3 The introduction of BNG and Section 106 Monitoring fees (as enabled by the relevant Regulations) were approved by National Park Authority members in October 2024. The monitoring fees therefore applicable across part of the Infrastructure Funding Statement reporting period of April 2024 – March 2025 are set out below.

Table 6: Section 106 monitoring fees

Band 1: 1-5 dwellings or up to 1ha of land	Band 2: 6-10 dwellings or up to 3ha of land	Band 3: 11-49 dwellings or up to 10ha of land	Band 4: 50+ dwellings or more than 10ha of land
Percentage increase 0%	Percentage increase 20%	Percentage increase 40%	Percentage increase 80%
Monitoring fee per covenant £333.20	Monitoring fee per covenant £333.20 × 1.2 = £399.84	Monitoring fee per covenant £333.20 × 1.4 = £466.48	Monitoring fee per covenant £333.20 × 1.8 = £599.76

6.4 In the Infrastructure Funding Statement reporting period of April 2024 – March 2025 the Authority received £11,772 in Section 106 monitoring fees.

6.5 The Authority also started to receive BNG monitoring fees in this reporting year. Only one was received – in January 2025 – of £7,506. It is anticipated that more BNG monitoring fees will be received in the next reporting year.