THE NEW man at the helm of the New Forest National Park Authority has vowed to press ahead with controversial plans for the area – but said changes could be made in light of widespread protest.

In his first week in the job, interim chief executive Barrie Foley said a redrafted version of the plan could see a change to initial proposals that included the dog-free car parks, curbs on keeping horses and the prospect of road tolls.

The ideas sparked a series of demonstrations over the last year.

Mr Foley admitted mistakes may have been made in the presentation of the draft plan.

He said: “You are never going to get a totally smooth ride with these kind of situations because lots of people have got different opinions, but we could have had a better ride if we communicated better.”

The 51-year-old, who lives in Pennington, came to the job with 30 years’ business experience from spells at Mars and British Steel to a stint at the Esso refinery in Fawley.

The father-of-five says he “does not like” the idea of road tolls, wants a “common sense approach” over how horses are kept for recreational use and talks of “working together” on the issue of walking dogs in sensitive parts of the Forest.

But despite being keen to meet and talk to protest groups, he is still aiming to push a version of the plan through this autumn.

“What I can say is whatever we come up with it will be done properly and based on going out there and getting a better input from the parties it affects,” he said.

His predecessor, Lindsay Cornish, quit the post in June after an anonymous letter criticising her management style was sent to one of Britain’s top civil servants.

Mr Foley said: “One thing I will say is that Lindsay has done a good job. She’s built this establishment and a good team.”

He said he would bring “communication and people skills” and an understanding of marketing.

He would “not just listen to people who shout the loudest”.

“In every walk of life there’s some people who like it and some people who don’t – all I can say is judge me going forward. I can’t do anything about the past or what people’s perception of the past is, I can only go forward.”