Tina and Tom have owned a campsite on the edge of the New Forest for 25 years. (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster/Express)
Tina Whittet and her partner Tom Charman have welcomed visitors to the since 1999. Their perched on a pretty patch of land in Godshill, where wild ponies and cows roam free and acres of heathland offer urbanites a taste of country life.
The picturesque area, which stretches over 140,000 acres across Hampshire and Wiltshire, was taken over by the National Park Authority (NPA) in 2005. According to Tina, 58, it has been on a trajectory of prioritising tourism above wildlife ever since.
Around 100 animals are killed on roads through the parkland each year, and Tina also says people “petting, feeding them and attracting them towards the road” is driving up wildlife casualties, especially among those uneducated about proper management practices.
The couple owns a holiday house that they initially let as a permanent residence. However, they pivoted after a huge increase in the amount people were willing to pay for , a trend that is depriving local young people of settling in the area.
Tina said: “When we first started the campsite, we were one of the only ones here, and the forest wasn’t really being advertised as a holiday destination. Especially in the last 10 years, it’s swung completely the other way, and people buying second homes is becoming a massive problem.
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Ponies and other animals roam freely on roads around the New Forest. (Image: Getty)
“The amount we’ve been able to make from our letting has quadrupled. I think it was also accelerated by , when people realised they could go from charging tenants £800 a month to upwards of £800 a week.”
Wildlife-related incidents go both ways – 88-year-old walker Pamela Barnwell died after being trampled by a cow in October, just days after an animal charged at a man in the same spot.
While Tina and Tom think it’s too late to stop “binge tourism,” they advocate for greater education about navigating wildlife and want visitors to choose campsites over pricey Airbnbs, often owned by non-locals capitalising on the growing demand.
The New Forest District Council has introduced policies to crack down on second-home buyers, including a 100% council tax premium from April 2025 to “increase the housing supply for locals.”
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Tina and Tom think tourists are better off camping than staying in local Airbnbs. (Image: Jonathan Buckmaster/Express)
Despite this, the Office for National Statistics data shows that the average property price in the area was £576,000 in September, higher than any other national park. This is additionally damaging to the land’s history of commoner ownership, people who live or rent land with rights of common—including for grazing livestock—attached.
Over the last few decades, parts of the New Forest have also been designated as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Sites of Special Scientific Interest – contributing to the increasingly “manicured” feel of the once “wild” acres.
Tina said: “I like the fact that people who don’t live in green spaces can come and enjoy where we are, and I don’t think it should be suppressed, but the people and the animals who live here should be the priority.
“Camping, on the whole, is a better way to explore and helps to boost the local economy without taking away homes at the same time. Holidaymakers who stay with us are generally respectful and receptive to the message that these roaming wild animals aren’t pets and shouldn’t be treated like they are.”
Steve Avery, Executive Director of Strategy and Planning at the New Forest National Park Authority, said: “Over half of the New Forest National Park is designated as being of international importance for wildlife conservation – by far the highest proportion of any national park in the country – and the NPA receives over 15 million day visits a year.
“Our planning policies ensure that new affordable housing permitted within the National Park is tied to people with a local connection and we also support housing for new commoners, estate workers and agricultural workers in areas of the New Forest where unrestricted, open market housing would not be supported.
“We have worked with other national park authorities in England to push successive governments to bring in reforms to the national planning system to provide greater control over short-term holiday lets and second homes within National Parks. Visitors make an important contribution to the New Forest economy and communities, but we support proposed changes to national planning policy that would help address particular local issues.”