M&G Developments: New Forest Resident Survey

Background & Context

M·E·L Research was commissioned to support a resident survey connected to Denham’s Corner and recreational use of greenspaces, including the heath and woodland areas of the New Forest. The work focused on understanding how people used the New Forest for leisure and recreation, the extent to which they visited other greenspace locations, and how patterns of use differed between those who did and did not visit the New Forest. The survey also explored transport choices, visit frequency, main activities, distances travelled within sites, and likely behavioural responses to car parking charges.

The wider context was the need to gather structured evidence about recreational behaviour in and around sensitive greenspace environments. The questionnaire distinguished between people who had visited the heath or woodland parts of the New Forest in the previous 12 months and those who had not, allowing the research to capture both visitor and non-visitor perspectives. This was important because the client needed to understand not only how residents used the New Forest, but also what alternative greenspaces people used, why some people did not visit the New Forest, and whether any changes in access costs might affect future behaviour.

The topic required careful survey design because the research needed to collect practical behavioural data without overburdening respondents. The questionnaire covered a wide range of issues, including frequency of greenspace visits, New Forest use, activities undertaken, dog walking, locations visited, transport modes, walking or cycling distances from arrival points, the balance between New Forest and other greenspace visits, and the potential impact of car parking charges.

Approach

We delivered a face-to-face approach using targeted door knocking in a very specific geographic area (around a 1km radius). We completed 120 interviews across 5 interviewing shifts. 

The survey was designed with clear routing so that respondents were asked questions relevant to their experience. People who had visited the New Forest heath or woodland areas in the previous 12 months were routed through questions about their use of those areas, while people who had not visited were routed to questions exploring whether they had ever visited, when their last visit took place, why they had not visited, and which other greenspaces they used instead.

The questionnaire was structured around three main sections:

1. Preliminary questions: These established respondents’ general frequency of greenspace use and whether they, or anyone in their household, had visited the heath or woodland parts of the New Forest for leisure or recreation in the last 12 months. This provided the basis for routing respondents into the relevant visitor or non-visitor pathway.
2. Questions for people who visited the New Forest: This section gathered detailed information about visit frequency, activities undertaken, whether dogs were taken on visits, locations used within the New Forest, whether those locations were mainly heath, woodland or a mix of both, transport used to reach the area, distances usually walked or cycled from access points, the proportion of visits made to the New Forest compared with other greenspaces, and the expected impact of car parking charges on future visit frequency.
3. Questions for people who did not visit the New Forest: This section explored whether respondents or their households had ever visited the New Forest heath or woodland areas, when they last visited if applicable, the main reasons for not visiting or not visiting recently, which other greenspace sites they used, their main activity at those sites, and the forms of transport used to reach them.
   The materials were designed to collect both closed quantitative data and open-text responses. Closed questions captured structured information such as visit frequency, transport mode, activity type and likely changes in behaviour. Open-text questions allowed respondents to list locations within the New Forest, name other greenspaces used for leisure and recreation, and explain reasons for not visiting the New Forest.

The questionnaire also included design considerations to reduce burden and improve data quality. For example, some questions were designed to capture several related pieces of information within one question, such as identifying the main activity, any other activities, and whether dogs were taken. The survey also included comments about the suitability of some “don’t know” options for a click-through survey and noted where free-text boxes would be required.

Alongside the survey outputs, a postcode map was provided, as well as raw data. These additional outputs supported interpretation of where responses came from and enabled the client to examine the underlying data directly.

Outputs

M·E·L Research provided the client with the structured survey materials for the Denham’s Corner – New Forest Visitor Survey. The questionnaire created a clear framework for collecting evidence from both visitors and non-visitors, with routing that separated respondents according to whether they had visited the New Forest heath or woodland areas in the previous 12 months.

The outputs included the survey questionnaire, raw data, and a postcode map. The raw data enabled the client to review the survey responses in detail, while the postcode map provided a spatial output to support understanding of the geographic spread of respondents. Together, these outputs gave the client practical evidence to help understand resident behaviour, alternative greenspace use, transport choices, activity patterns, and potential changes in visit frequency linked to car parking charges.