A spat has broken out in the New Forest National Park over a cricket club’s plans to install artificial grass and expand a pavilion.

New Forest commoners – a group of landowners who take care of the animals in the national park – have slammed the “growing ambitions” of the Cadnam Cricket Club.

The club wants to extend its pavilion by a “tiny” amount to accommodate changing and toilet facilities for women, children, and people with disabilities.

It has submitted a planning application to the New Forest National Park Authority, which has prompted a furious reaction from the Commoners Defence Association.

Chair Andrew Parry-Norton described the plans as “appalling”.

He said: “Cadnam Cricket Club has always been a small New Forest cricket club – but now their ambitions seem to have grown much larger.

"We have tried on a number of occasions to engage with the club and make sure they have an understanding of their obligations to the Forest. This has been met with little success.

“This is not the right location and it will harm the Forest – but the club seems to be determined to ride completely roughshod over everything.”

The club has also submitted details relating to planned pitch improvements, which include an artificial cricket wicket, which it plans to install this summer.

Those plans were granted conditional planning permission by the NPA in 2023.

A letter from the club said: “This would have a mat surface 30m long and 2.74m wide. It would be used mainly for practice by club members but also for matches played mainly by the ladies and junior teams.”

However, Mr Parry-Norton said that this was also widely condemned by commoners.

“To put artificial grass down on an ancient Forest lawn is utterly appalling,” he said.

"We did not know about the application when it was submitted but cannot comprehend what the NPA were doing when they approved it.”

The extension plans were supported by the local parish council and the NPA tree office, which backed the construction proposals because the plans would have no detrimental impact on any trees.

The application has also been endorsed by Natural England, which said that the proposed development will likely have no significant effects on the the New Forest Special Area of Conservation.

Cadnam Cricket Club came under fire from commoners in 2025 after it failed to reopen its pitch to grazing stock in the autumn, and was also criticised for using heavy machinery on New Forest lawns and allowing “illegal parking” on match days.

The club was founded in 1880, with matches played at Lambs Corner since the 1950s.

Chair Paul Godfrey said that the area would not be what it is without the hard work of its past members.

“The ground was wasteland before, and then men of the village cleared the site by hand,” he said.

“It was never grazing land, it was waste land – after the war when they were rebuilding the roads this is where they dumped all the hardcore.

"It is only the lawn it is now because of what the men did in the 1950s to clear the site and create a pitch to play on. Every now and then we dig out bits of broken slab.”

Mr Godfrey said he had been engaging with Mr Parry-Norton since he took up the role of chair.

He said: “We have meetings here with Minstead Parish Council, Copythorne Parish Council and Andrew Parry-Norton, and we have always said ‘what can we do to work together and how can we keep everyone happy?’.

“The extension we are proposing is tiny – it is only there to give disabled people and women a place to change.

“I understand that commoning is an important part of the Forest but so is the chance for people to have opportunities to play sport.

“While I respect that the ponies have been here for a while, so have we – we are part of the Forest too.”

The plans would add just under 25 square metres of floorspace to the pavilion, bringing its total footprint to just over 166 square metres.

In a letter to the National Park Authority [NPA], Mr Godfrey said: “Currently, the ladies and colts under-18s are changing in the toilets which is totally unacceptable in this day and age.

“With the increased participation of ladies, the club would like to construct changing rooms specifically for women and disabled people to include baby changing facilities.”

The club currently runs five Saturday adult mixed gender teams, a ladies softball cricket team, one ladies hardball team, and four colts teams, as well as a Sunday friendly and a midweek team.

Mr Godfrey explained: “It is planned to run two ladies hardball teams next season subject to obtaining planning permission for the changing facilities which is currently restricted under ECB [England Cricket Board] welfare regulations.

"At the present time we have more than 100 playing members at the club.”