New Forest District Council

14/09/2026

As a landlord, we carry out annual gas safety inspections in all of our tenants’ homes. If you're a tenant, please allow access for annual gas safety inspections. These important checks make sure that gas appliances are safe and help us meet our legal responsibilities. Please report any issues with your boiler, heating, or gas appliances to our customer services team as soon as possible. You can find out in-office and out of office hours numbers on our website.

On , we’re reminding residents that if you smell gas:

- open doors and windows
- turn off the gas supply if safe to do so
- avoid using electrical switches
- call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999 immediately (and also notify us if you’re a tenant of ours)

If you’re a homeowner, don’t forget to arrange your own yearly gas safety check. It’s a simple step that helps protect your family, friends, neighbours and your home. And remember to test your carbon monoxide alarm regularly and report any concerns straight away.

If you’re a private landlord, the law requires you to arrange a gas safety check every 12 months for your tenants and to give them a copy of the certificate.

You can find out more about how we maintain council homes on our website.

14/09/2026

Shared from New Forest - Forestry England: This year’s pannage season runs from Monday 14 September to Sunday 29 November.

Last year was a bumper year or 'mast' year for acorns. These typically occur once every seven years, with the following years often producing fewer acorns.

The hot, dry summer may also affect the amount of fruiting from forest trees and plants this year, causing fruit to fall earlier than usual. This means the pigs will be out soon for pannage, an ancient tradition where New Forest commoners turn their pigs out onto the Forest during the autumn.

The pigs play a very important role by eating fallen acorns, which are a tasty treat for them but are poisonous to ponies and cattle. To help them do this important job and stay healthy, please enjoy watching them from a distance and do not feed or pet them. 🐖

This year’s pannage season runs from Monday 14 September to Sunday 29 November.

Find out more https://www.forestryengland.uk/new-forest/pannage-pigs-and-acorns

14/09/2026

It's Recycle Week 2026, the nation's biggest annual recycling campaign, which encourages people to recycle the right things in the right way.

In the New Forest district, these 6 items can go loose in your green-lid recycling bin:

• plastic bottles, including spray bottles – empty and keep lids on
• aerosols – empty
• paper – no tissues, kitchen roll or shredded paper
• cardboard – flatten and remove tape
• tins – empty
• cans – empty

Please only put these items in your recycling bin, even if the packaging says something else can be recycled.

We are working to offer recycling for more items in the future. This is dependent on new processing facilities that will be provided by Hampshire County Council and are currently expected in 2028.

To find your nearest recycling point for items that cannot be recycled from home, such as batteries, cartons, and plastic packaging, add your postcode to the recycling locator tool on Recycle Now's website.

11/09/2026

Shared from Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service: If you have witnessed any suspicious behaviour around Burley or Fordingbridge fire stations and have information that could assist Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary investigations, please report this.

11/09/2026

Shared from Southern Water:

💧 Why am I receiving bottled water?

Our teams worked throughout the night following operational challenges at Testwood Water Supply Works and the site has been producing water since the early hours of this morning.

Customers remain in supply as normal, with Testwood operating normally.

As a precaution, we started bottled water deliveries overnight to customers on our Priority Services Register. These deliveries will continue today. Customers receiving bottled water deliveries will be notified via text.

We are also responding to a small number of burst water mains, with repairs ongoing.

We'll continue to monitor the situation closely and provide updates as needed.

https://ow.ly/mVYc50ZMqQS

10/09/2026

09/09/2026

We are hosting our next landlord forum this month. You're welcome to book in if you rent out or manage a property in the New Forest. It will take place on Friday 25 September from 7.45am to 10am at Lyndhurst Community Centre, SO43 7NY.

This session we will cover the changes in the 'Housing Health and Safety Rating System' and energy performance certificates.

To find out more and reserve your place, email [email protected]

09/09/2026

Today we are marking Emergency Services Day 2026 by flying the flag at our Lyndhurst offices.

Our thanks to everyone who works and volunteers in the emergency services, every day and on this

https://www.999day.org.uk

08/09/2026

Keep informed about local government reorganisation: Government has withdrawn its decision on local government reorganisation in Hampshire and is carrying out a review. We don’t yet know what this means for the district, but to stay up to date why not sign up to receive our resident emails.

They are occasional, straight-forward, and focused on information that matters to residents.

You can sign up at https://www.newforest.gov.uk/emails

07/09/2026

Government will announce the withdrawal of their Local Government Reorganisation decision later today (7 September 2026).

The Government has announced that it plans to review the LGR decisions taken for Hampshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk.

Cllr Jill Cleary, NFDC Leader said:

"Today’s announcement vindicates the concerns we have consistently raised about the government’s approach to local government reorganisation.

New Forest District Council has opposed reorganisation from the outset. We believe our focus should be on providing excellent services, supporting our communities and addressing the issues that matter most to our residents, not diverting substantial time and resources into restructuring local government.

Nevertheless, when the government made clear that change would be imposed, we developed and championed Option 1: a new rural council for Mid Hampshire that would keep the New Forest whole.

That proposal commanded strong local support and offered a coherent and sustainable alternative to a model that would have divided our district and separated communities with long-standing connections.

I wrote to ministers repeatedly and in the strongest terms to challenge the decision and to advocate for a different model.
While the Council reluctantly decided not to pursue a formal legal challenge, we have never stepped back from our position that the New Forest district must remain whole.

The withdrawal of the decisions gives ministers the chance to listen again. If the government remains determined to reorganise local government in Hampshire, it must now choose Option 1. Our communities have been clear, and the government should respect their voice.

We would much rather be able to concentrate fully on delivering for the people of the New Forest district. Until the future is settled, however, we will continue to make the strongest possible case for our district, our communities and the integrity of the New Forest."

Updates will be added to our website newforest.gov.uk/lgr