Profile
The New Forest District is well known as an area of outstanding ecological interest and also as a popular tourist destination. It is situated in south west Hampshire between Southampton City to the east and the Bournemouth/Poole conurbation to the west. It covers 290 square miles, and some two thirds of this comprises the world famous New Forest, a newly designated National Park comprising ancient woodland, heaths and lawns.
Population
In common with Great Britain as a whole, the population structure of the New Forest District Council (NFDC) area is changing slightly, with 49.4% of the population aged over 44 years, compared with 44.6% in 1991. Overall, the population of the NFDC area has increased from 167,064 in 1995, to its present level of 169,331. The average age of the population in the New Forest is 43.2 compared to an average for England and Wales of 38.6.
Economic Activity
Economic activity levels are increasing at a faster rate than population growth. The highly skilled workforce of around 77,000 is expected to increase further during the next 5 years. There are 5,500 businesses providing employment for over 64,000 people in the District, ranging in size from the major petro-chemical complex at Fawley to small businesses in converted farm buildings. The greatest growth sector within the Forest is Real Estate. VAT registered companies rose by over 20% in the period from 1998-2004 in this sector. Unemployment is consistently below that of both Hampshire and Great Britain. It is a prosperous area with a varied economic base, a skilled and flexible workforce, and scope for businesses to expand and develop.
Employers
The District provides varied employment for a large number of people, with a workforce of approximately 60,000 people in around 6,000 businesses (ABI 2001). The District is home to a very wide variety of businesses which include the major petro-chemical refinery complex at Fawley; precision and electrical engineering industries; boatbuilding and related industries; important tourism, retail and service businesses. The District has a well distributed employment base although the largest employment sector is that of 'Distribution, hotels and restaurants' which accounts for almost 30% of all employees and businesses.
Major companies include Esso Petroleum; Exxon Chemicals; Enichem Elastomers; Trant; Dean and Dyball; Millbrook Furnishings. There are also a number of relatively new, locally grown, precision and mechanical engineering businesses which are filling the gaps in the local economy left by the closure of larger, traditional manufacturing firms during the last decade.
Access
Access is good with Bournemouth and Southampton International Airports within a ten minute drive of the District. Heathrow and Gatwick are one hour away by the M27 and M3 motorways. Journeys by rail to Waterloo take less than 90 minutes. The port of Southampton lies adjacent to the District boundary.
Tourism
The New Forest is one of the most popular tourism destinations, contributing approaching £400m annually to the local economy and employing 8,000 people. A tourism survey in 1992 estimated that there were 7.5 million visits to the New Forest in the preceding year. This comprised 0.5 million staying visitors (hotels, guest houses, bed & breakfast); 2.25 million in self-serviced accommodation (camp sites, holiday parks etc); 2.2 million day visitors (who have travelled from outside the district for the day returning the same day) and 2.2 million local visitors (people who live within the district but travel to another part of the district for recreation).
The most popular commercial attractions are Beaulieu (344,000) , Paultons Park (540,000) and Buckler’s Hard (72,000). The New Forest also provides important day and residential conference facilities.
Links:
New Forest Tourism
New Forest District Council Economic Development
New Forest District Council Planning
New Forest National Park Authority
New Forest Facts & Figures
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