Ashdown Forest's online parking system labelled "unfair, environmentally unfriendly and unworkable for the majority of users"

A group of walkers have claimed the new online booking system is ‘unworkable’ and excludes those who do not have smart phones.

One of the walkers, Nicholas Rogers, said: “There are a number of complications that make the system unworkable, not least because phone signals on the Forest are renowned to be very poor with many ‘not spots’.

"This means that if you have not pre-purchased your ticket on line before you get in your car, there is a real possibility that you will have to travel to the Forest Centre to buy a ticket – incurring fuel and other car running costs.

"If you do not have a smart phone, you will not be able to buy a ticket, because the location of the Forest Centre is so far from many of the popular car parks, this could entail round trips of up to seven-eight miles. As well as lost walking time you could end up having to pay a higher tariff.”

According to the new parking charges, the Forest management team will require all hourly and day rate users to pay online, or through the Ringo or Just Park Apps.

There will be no cash option and car users who arrive at the Forest, without having booked online before, will have to drive to the Forest Centre at Wych Cross to purchase a ticket with a bank card.

Nicholas said: “The Forest say you will be able to revalidate tickets but how do you do it when there is no signal? It is impossible to tell when you are going to arrive at your chosen car park and you may not be able to if you find that on your walk you are likely to overrun on your time.”

The Forest is owned by the Ashdown Forest Trust and managed by the Conservators of Ashdown Forest.

Both groups held public meetings in the towns and villages around the Forest, during which the parking payments scheme was discussed, and undertook an online consultation which received 2,800 responses from members of the public.

Mark Infield, Landscape Recovery Manager for the Forest, said: "We understand that members of the public are focused on how to pay for parking to support the Forest. We are introducing five methods of payment including the option to phone Horizon Parking to pay.

"A smart phone is not needed for this. For those who visit regularly there is also an option of an annual pass which can be bought online or in person at the Visitor Centre. The use of mobile phone and web-based systems are increasingly standard for car parks, including rural locations.”

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Conservators of Ashdown Forest also said the car parking company had measured reception for network providers in all car parks and found it sufficient for mobile phone payment apps to work.

Mark continued: “Mobile phone signals can, however, vary. As all Ashdown Forest car parks will be under a single parking zone, and as tickets are valid across all car parks, if a member of the public cannot find a mobile signal in one place, they will be able to find one nearby.”