A CONTROVERSIAL planning application for major development at Hollands Wood and Roundhill campsites in the heart of the New Forest has been withdrawn.

The Forestry Commission announced its decision to withdraw its extensive application - for new reception buildings, facility blocks and electric hook-ups - from the New Forest National Park Authority.

The applications, which were originally submitted in September 2004, included proposals to reduce the size of camping areas at both sites for habitat restoration.

The verderers have welcomed the move and hope the decision by Forest Holidays will put an end to the bitter battle between recreation and conservation interests.

The verderers declined to give their consent to both these developments in January 2005, on the grounds that they were contrary to their policy on recreation and development.

Official verderer Oliver Crosthwaite Eyre said: "We have been unhappy with these developments from the very beginning - and when the Forestry Commission first came to us asking for our consent in 2005, we refused it.

"We are therefore pleased to hear that the Forestry Commission's entirely separate application for planning permission to the national park authority has been withdrawn, and we hope that this brings the matter to an end.

"As we stressed back in January 2005, we have always been in favour of camping in the New Forest, and we still are. However, this development presented a classic conflict between recreation and conservation, and we will always put the Forest first when such conflicts occur."

The New Forest National Park Authority will review its recreational strategy for the New Forest in 2007/08.

Forest Holidays, a partnership between the Forestry Commission and the Camping and Caravanning Club, stated that it would be "inappropriate" to press ahead with the applications in light of the impending review. And it will await the outcome of the national park authority review before making future plans.

A spokesman said: "Forest Holidays will seek discussions with the New Forest National Park Authority and other interested parties regarding a way forward that is in the interests of the local area as well as potential visitors."

Proposals for buildings and infrastructure for recreational purposes on the Crown lands in the New Forest require the verderers' consent under the New Forest Acts.

If consent is not obtained then such works cannot proceed.

An application for planning permission by the Forestry Commission for development works on the Crown lands is an entirely separate process, and has no bearing on any decision made by the verderers under the powers given to them by the New Forest Acts.