Pay to play

 

We knew it was coming, but still, it's a sad turn of events. Living in the area since I was four, the forest has been a canvas on which so many of my memories have been painted. We walk here more days than we don't. This morning notices have gone up in every one of the New Forests' car parks, parking starts at £1.50 an hour. It should be noted that Forestry England have a monopoly on forest parking. The forest has always been free when you've needed it, a place to explore both the stands and your own imagination, a place to build memories, or a place to find solace, tranquillity, some measure of relief from what troubles you. That's the magic of the forest, it's all things. Not any more though, strictly pay to play now. At a time when the country's suffering an omni health crisis, on top of seemingly endless austerity which is thinning lives to the bone; when Government and health experts wax lyrical about the holistic benefits getting out in nature, an executive agency of the same Government put a barrier in the way. I mean. What a soulless place we're becoming.