Professor Gavin Parker is professor of planning at the University of Reading where he has specialised in countryside planning and community engagement research. He has published widely on topics relevant to the work of the National Park.

Born and brought up in Salisbury and with family still in Downton, he has in the past worked for the Royal Town Planning Institute as a director and has chaired a rural community council.

Gavin, who has been an Authority member since 2017, said, “My main aim as chairman is to continue to build the necessary networks and collaborative relations needed for the work and the aims of the National Park to flourish and to be promoted. The trust, faith and input from the wider public from within the Forest and beyond are also very important. So we will reach out and broker and make use of the goodwill that is out there to redouble our efforts to respond to some of the challenges stemming from the Glover Landscapes Review about how protected landscapes and their governance bodies need to respond to the climate and nature emergencies and help more people connect to nature.”

Acting chairman Patrick Heneghan has become deputy chairman.