DOZENS of protesters attended a meeting on Monday evening to attack plans for a tented campsite in Alice Holt Forest. About 35 residents from Binsted, Bentley, Frith End and Bucks Horn Oak, descended on Binsted's sports pavilion to express their anger at the Forestry Commission's plan to establish a seasonal camping ground off Gravel Hill Road, and to hear Binsted parish councillors unanimously oppose the application. The proposal involves the erection of up to 40 rentable tents, built from timber and canvas, and three similarly constructed washing blocks. An existing 30-space car park would be expanded to accommodate 40 vehicles, and the campsite would be open from April to October. In the winter, the tents would be removed. The camping ground would have "an ecological and environmental bias", encouraging recycling, rainwater collection, a reed-bed system to treat wastewater and solar-powered lighting. To be marketed for young families, the enterprise would help satisfy a growing demand for accommodation in the forest, says the applicant - Petersfield man Jonathan Clothier, a freelance television producer, who has an interest in green tourism. Scores of letters objecting to the application for the 13- hectare site have been received by East Hampshire District Council and Binsted Parish Council. The Forestry Commission's Mathew Maguire put forward the case for the scheme, but members of the public complained that the proposal was "an absolute disgrace", "atrocious" and "amateurish". Mr Maguire pointed out that the site was just a minute's walk from Bentley railway station. "The developer wants to encourage the use of public transport," he said, and with the site fully equipped, campers "could turn up with a toothbrush". He said no trees were to be felled, and the proposal would encourage educational and ecological uses for the forest. But objectors say the claim that it is an environmental project is a smoke screen for a commercial enterprise, which would ruin a piece of natural woodland. There were concerns over the vandalism of the static washing facilities in the winter months, the "impractical" use of Bentley station, the site's "isolation" on the western side of the A325, away from other public facilities in Alice Holt Forest, and the "inadequacy" of Gravel Hill Road. Colin Hall launched the attack. As a leading light in the Alice Holt Action Group, established in 1995 to ward off plans for a holiday village in the forest, he described the camping ground as "a mini-version of what we were concerned with at that time." Alice Holt, he said, was protected ancient woodland, adding: "It is our tropical rainforest - one of our most valuable resources. This development will destroy it." Andrew Joy from Bentley said: "I don't believe anyone in this room believes anyone will turn up by train and if you are so confident they will, why extend the car park to 40 places? It's an absolute disgrace that the Forestry Commission should allow this to go forward. Lots of people use the forest because it is unspoilt woodland and it's ridiculous to turn it into something that is another piece of spoilt woodland." Her husband, Jamie, a Forestry Commission worker, said the application was "confusing, vague, misleading and inaccurate". He said the arboretum was "very well used because it is unspoilt and natural", adding that it had "champion trees" and rare plantings. David Asher, the chairman of Bentley Parish Council, said: "It is ill-conceived, inept and amateurish, a disgrace to the Forestry Commission, and it will be vociferously opposed by Bentley Parish Council as an absolute outrage." Ken Carter, the chairman of Binsted Parish Council, said: "Forestry Commission land is the nation's asset and the Forestry Commission is the custodian - there to protect it for the country and future generations. I don't see this application doing that." After looking at many sites, Mr Clothier put the idea of the campsite to the Forestry Commission, which he said, "don't have the funds to maintain the forest at the level they would like to". He said: "I stand to lose more money than I stand to gain." Money earned will be ploughed back into improving paths and disabled access in the forest, he said, and if security was necessary to protect the site in the winter, that would also be forthcoming. He said the ethos behind the scheme was in response to the increasing demand for holidays at home, avoiding the use of cars and planes. He described the project as "a small- scale, low-density, minimum-impact camp" designed to "encourage, enlighten and educate its visitors". He added: "What we're trying to do is a good thing. It was an arboretum orginally and is designed to have people in it. It's a chance to have it back in a managed state." He accused objectors of being reluctant to "share their toys", adding: "I genuinely believe people should be allowed access. It deserves to be seen by more than the people who live there. "This is about doing something nice. I don't want hideousness and unpleasantness and this is done with an open heart. It's a tiny thing where people can stay while they explore the forest. If we can teach our children first hand about the wonders of the natural environment, then maybe in 10 or 20 years when really serious choices have to be made - and make no mistake about it, that will happen - then those of us who tried can at least say we did our best." The deadline for public comments is February 25. Case officer Tony Whitty said that if officers were minded to recommend approval, the application was likely to go to committee on March 15.