The Beaulieu Estate has been accused by villagers of trying to push through a 'Trojan Horse' planning project in a protected area of a national park for commercial purposes, according to multiple reports. The proposed car park would have 46 parking spaces and is located near ancient woodland in the New Forest. The estate is trying to create a gravel surfaced car park to be used as additional parking for events, and a gravel track is proposed to be laid down between an existing track and the new car park.
The existing car park owned by the Beaulieu Estate has 1,000 parking spaces and is only metres away from the proposed site. The planning application says the car park is needed because access for the trust's other audiences is limited, and walking from the National Motor Museum car parks is not ideal for families with buggies, the elderly, or the infirm. Local villager Stephen Rigby said the limited number of parking spaces are intended for people who are unable to walk the couple hundred metres up an incline from the museum's 1,000-space car park.
What they're doing is a Trojan horse, they're using the charity, it's a very good charity, they say it needs the space for parking. And this is where the objection comes in - we can't understand why the charity is going from ten parking spaces to 46 spaces.
The agricultural land at the centre of the application is currently used by the Countryside Education Trust (CET) to park about ten cars at a time. Stephen Rigby said the land the car park is on has been used for crops. Alan Titchmarsh opened the educational treehouse based on Beaulieu Estate land in 2008. The planning application states that the trust's treehouses are used to host a limited number of weddings to fund the trust's work.
Villagers described the estate's actions as a 'Trojan horse', using the charity to claim the space is needed for parking, but questioned why the charity would need to expand from ten to 46 spaces. Stephen Rigby alleged the estate actually wanted to get planning permission to change this part of the grounds, Hides Field, so that they can then eventually change the use of it. Rigby said the parking is for weddings, which he described as commercialisation, and that the estate is claiming it is for educational purposes.
That's what they want, the parking is for weddings, they will never get it for weddings, that's commercialisation so they are claiming it is for educational purposes.
The exact date of the upcoming planning meeting has not been confirmed, and the official position of the Beaulieu Estate regarding the allegations remains unclear. The outcome of the planning application is pending.