'Dividing up our community is not the answer'

"I am devastated because it's all we've ever known, we don't want to be part of a city," says Della Keable.

She was born and bred in the New Forest area of Hampshire and her family roots go back generations.

But Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) plans show one part of the forest could be run by a new Mid Hampshire Council and the other by a South West Hampshire Council.

More than 20,000 people have signed a petition calling for a judicial review of the decision and local people, businesses and charities say they think the change could break up the community.

"The New Forest is our heart and soul, it is our identity," Keable adds.

Under the plans, places like Hythe and Totton on the Waterside eastern edge of the New Forest could end up under a larger, city-focused council, where some local people think decisions might be driven by Southampton rather than local needs.

A petition with more than 20,000 signatures has called for the forest's current local authority - New Forest District Council (NFDC) - to take legal advice and pursue a judicial review.

NFDC said it shared the frustration of residents and unanimously passed a motion to consider the petition and update its legal advice.

James Hartley-Binns, from Dibden, started the petition and cannot see how there will be any positives: "The Waterside is the first line of defence to the city, if you've got a population of 400,000 of Eastleigh and Southampton combined and less than 70,000 on this side, that's a hugely urban authority.

"They won't understand much about the commoners way of life here, the back-up grazing land which is so important to our way of life and to the forest and what that means to the ecology and the environment.

"Those areas will be looked to be built on, I have no doubt, that's going to pose a significant risk to the New Forest.

"This [proposed] authority does not respect our history, our ties, our culture, our traditions, the public are absolutely opposed to this."

Not everyone is against the plans, Julie Hope believes that joining an authority with Southampton will bring more housing and better services.

She also says she thinks the money raised by the area will be injected back into the community: "We have a lot of working class people in this area, as well as a lot more people who are far more affluent.

"All that's changing is that our services and facilities are going to come from a different area."

Lucie Mann runs Lucie's place, in Blackfield, a community pantry, aimed at reducing food waste.

She is not convinced: "I'll be in competition with other sorts of charities and non-profits for that money and so I can't see that it will benefit us in any way, shape or form.

"People running the council in the city are not going to necessarily understand the needs of each individual in the rural community."

Mann is also worried that with two local authorities in the New Forest she will have to apply for funding twice: "All of the things that we do that require paperwork will just be doubled but we don't have the resources to do that."

Southampton City Council said it was "committed to working closely" with residents, existing councils and the New Forest National Park Authority to ensure the reorganisation "respects local heritage and identities".

It said that LGR was "a real opportunity to create modern, resilient councils that are fit for the future".

The government has said previously that LGR would make councils simpler and more efficient.

But for many the assurances are not enough.

"My grandfather and uncles were lumberjacks and they worked on the trees in the New Forest," Keable explains.

"My children are making their own way in life and probably starting their own families in the not too distant future. I want them to be part of the New Forest."