The proposed car park site is currently grassland used by the Countryside Education Trust to park about ten cars at a time. According to the planning application, the car park is needed because access for the trust's audiences is limited, and walking from the National Motor Museum car parks is not ideal for families with buggies, the elderly, or the infirm. The application also states that the trust's treehouses host a limited number of weddings to fund the trust's work.
Residents have opposed the plans, with local villager Stephen Rigby saying there is no evidence the treehouses need additional parking. Wealthy residents are fighting to stop the development and hoping the plans will be rejected at an upcoming planning meeting. The Beaulieu Estate owns a larger existing car park with 1,000 parking spaces located only meters away from the proposed site.
The educational treehouse on the estate's land was opened by Alan Titchmarsh in 2008. It remains unknown whether the planning application will be approved or rejected at the upcoming meeting, and the exact timeline for the decision has not been specified. The specific details of any wider commercialisation plans the estate might have are also unclear, as is the official response from the Beaulieu Estate regarding the residents' allegations.