Yesterday I received an answer to my Freedom of Information Request as follows:

"Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I am  responding on behalf of New Forest District Council to your correspondence of 5 February 2023. 

Your request stated: 

‘I would be grateful, once again, if you could update me on the progress of this study. Please  could you tell me who the officer is that is responsible for its direction, and the organisation  for which they work? Please could you let me know who I should contact when I want an update? 

Please could you tell me how many meetings there have been so far and with what  organisations. I would also like to know what stage has been reached and what the next step  will be’. 

I confirm that this information is held by the Council and is being disclosed below. 

Firstly, can I apologise that you didn’t receive a reply to your email to Cllr Heron. Cllr Heron stepped  down as the Leader of the Council in November and Cllr Cleary is now Leader and taking an active  role in pursuing this work with our partners. 

As you will be aware there are many different parties that have supported the commitment to  commission a Feasibility Study into speed cameras on Roger Penny Way. Although not a specific  District Council responsibility, since I started as Chief Executive at the Council in December 2021 I  have been chairing a steering group of the key organisations involved in moving this work forwards.  

You have asked how many meetings there have been so far and with what organisations. 

Since the initial discussions and commitment to move forwards this work, there have been five  steering group meetings: 20th Jan 2022, 31st March 2022, 23rd May 2022, 18th July 2022, 20th January 2023 – with another one tentative for the 17th March 2023.  

These have been held with the following organisations: New Forest District Council, Hampshire  County Council (Traffic Management), New Forest National Park Authority, Verderers of the New Forest, Hampshire Constabulary (incl. Chief Inspector and Road Policing Unit), the Office of the  Police and Crime Commissioner, Natural England, Forestry England. 

On 15th November 2022 as the new Leader Cllr Cleary organised an informal meeting on Roger  Penny Way next steps with Cllr Heron (NFDC), Cllr Adams-King (HCC) and Lord Manners (Verderers of the New Forest). 

You have asked for an update on the progress of the Study, what stage has been reached and  what the next step will be. 

Preparatory pieces of work to inform the scope for the Feasibility Study have been underway for  some months. These aim to update the original proposal and create a clear scope for the Feasibility  Study that Hampshire County Council would commission. For example, at the most recent meeting  the group was presented with Traffic survey data undertaken in the autumn which had concluded that  side road activity would need to be considered.  

Power supply information has also been requested in order to provide clearer costings and SSE will  need to provide connectivity data as a key piece of information.  

The Feasibility Study would determine factors such as: 

o The technical/operational challenges & solutions for a viable design 

o Costings for initial installation 

o Management and maintenance resource requirements ongoing 

o Scope and processes for consents required 

o Any other aspects re technical implementation 

Hampshire County Council outlined at our meeting in January that it could take a further 3-6 months  to finalise this stage and gain approvals to move to commission the Feasibility Study. The Study itself  could then take up to a further 12 months. All partners are mindful that there is an urgency to this  work and throughout have been keen to support what must be done to bring this forwards.  

You also requested to know who the officer is that is responsible for its direction, and the  organisation for which they work? Please could you let me know who I should contact when I  want an update? 

As you can see from those involved in the discussions so far, to deliver this project requires many  partners to work together collaboratively to address a wide range of issues such as infrastructure,  planning, environmental impact, funding and implementation. 

I will continue to chair the Steering Group and am happy if you wish to contact me for updates.  

(Kate Ryan, CE of New Forest District Council)

The picture shows Juma just before he was turned out for what became his last spell on the Forest - two months later he was killed.