New Forest District Council owns Stillwater Park's 69 plots and says it cannot yet evidence the site's electrical safety. Cabinet decides on 2 September.
New Forest District Council will be asked on Wednesday to approve £161,000 for electrical works at Stillwater Park, the 69-plot residential park home site it owns on North Poulner Road in Ringwood. Its own report says the council cannot currently evidence that the site’s electrical infrastructure is safe and compliant.
The request goes to Cabinet on 2 September, inside the quarterly financial monitoring report covering April to June 2026.
What the council found
Stillwater Park extends to about six acres. Residents own their homes and occupy plots under site agreements, while the council is the freeholder and the legal site operator. The site sits in the council’s General Fund rather than its Housing Revenue Account.
Electricity reaches the whole park through a single incoming SSE supply. From that point the council is responsible for the infrastructure, and each plot has a council-owned concrete or brick shed housing the supply and distribution equipment for that home.
The review started with one fault. In 2025 a council electrician attended Stillwater Park after a fault was reported at an individual plot. What that electrician saw prompted a wider look at the park, and a full inspection was then carried out at a vacant plot. That inspection found:
- electrical installations and components inside the council-owned sheds had reached an age where replacement or upgrading must be completed to meet current standards
- variations in how homes are connected, with a number wired directly into the fixed infrastructure rather than through a plug and socket
- the site’s electrical installation documentation requires updating
The report is blunt about the second point. Direct connections “can make it more difficult to clearly define the point at which responsibility transfers” between the council’s infrastructure and the resident’s own installation.
Its risk assessment is blunter still: “The principal risk is that the Council cannot currently evidence the condition and compliance of the site electrical infrastructure until a full review and subsequent remedial works are completed.”
How the £161,000 was worked out
The figure is an estimate built from a single plot, not a priced schedule for all 69. The assessment produced an indicative cost of about £2,330 per plot, applied across 69 plots, which gives £160,770 and is rounded to £161,000 for budgeting.
The council says the full cost model has been used deliberately so the budget is adequate, and that some plots will need less work. “Any works found to be unnecessary at individual plots will be omitted from the final cost, ensuring NFDC only pays for the works completed.” The recommendation asks Cabinet for a supplementary budget of up to £161,000.
Two delivery risks are named: getting access to occupied plots, and potential asbestos-containing components within older equipment, which would have to be removed and disposed of under environmental rules.
The report also says the council should have been inspecting all along. Electrical infrastructure under its control is subject to a risk-based regime with “a minimum inspection frequency of every five years, or more frequently where condition, risk, or asset-specific requirements dictate”. It does not say when the site was last inspected.
The wider picture at Wednesday’s Cabinet
Stillwater Park is the largest single new pressure in the quarter, but not the only one. The council forecasts a £17,000 surplus on a General Fund budget of £26.630 million, after netting off £121,000 of unfavourable expenditure variations against £138,000 of extra income. The Housing Revenue Account is balanced, and the capital programme rises by £1.690 million, mostly because 2025/26 work slipped into this year.
The other items in the quarter:
- £282,000 remaining for coastal works at Milford on Sea, from a £522,000 Community Infrastructure Levy allocation, after £240,000 was spent in 2025/26
- £185,000 on local government reorganisation activity, funded from a reserve, including a £120,000 review of the council’s grounds maintenance service
- £130,000 on planning appeal costs across three significant cases still under appeal, with a risk of more to come
- £80,000 on investment properties, being £70,000 less income than estimated plus £10,000 of business rates on empty periods
Against those, £170,000 of budgets is being removed immediately, including a £100,000 health and leisure centres contingency and £40,000 from corporate management supplies.
Two other things in the report are worth knowing. The council is budgeting for a 3.2% pay award while the national employers’ final offer is 3.3% and the unions, who are consulting members on industrial action, have asked for £3,000 or 10%. And the council has concluded that progressing a Local Plan for the current plan area on the current timetable is “no longer considered realistically deliverable”, with up to £284,000 of rephased Local Plan funding held back for a revised timetable.
What it means for you
If you live at Stillwater Park, the works are inspection, testing and replacement of the equipment in the council-owned shed serving your plot, and the council will need access. Nothing has been approved yet and no start date is given. The report says resident communication and access “should be managed sensitively, particularly where residents may be vulnerable or require reasonable adjustments”, and notes that asbestos may be found in older equipment.
If you own a park home anywhere in the district, the split of responsibility is the part to note. The site operator is responsible for the electrical supply up to the point it hands over to your own installation, and this report shows that point is not always clearly defined on older sites.
If you want to watch the decision, Cabinet meets at 10am on Wednesday 2 September in the Council Chamber at Appletree Court, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, SO43 7PA. Public participation is item 4 on the agenda.
Sources
- Financial Monitoring Report based on performance April to June 2026 inclusive, New Forest District Council Cabinet, 2 September 2026, for the £17,000 forecast General Fund surplus, the £26.630 million budget, the £1.690 million capital increase, the recommendation to approve up to £161,000 for Stillwater Park, the planning appeal, investment property, coastal, reorganisation and budget removal figures, the pay award position and the Local Plan timetable.
- Appendix 5, Finance Overview Report on Stillwater Park Works, in the Cabinet public reports pack for 2 September 2026, for the 69 plots, the six acres, the North Poulner Road location, the single SSE supply, the 2025 fault and subsequent review, the vacant plot assessment, the direct connection issue, the £2,330 per plot estimate, the five-year inspection regime, the asbestos and access risks and the compliance risk assessment.
- Cabinet agenda, 2 September 2026 for the time, venue and public participation item. All checked 31 August 2026.
Have your say