New South Downs National park gets go ahead

The National Park act came into effect around sixty years ago, in the United Kingdom.

Now, the Government has finally confirmed, after nineteen months of campaigning by the ‘Natural England’ organisation, that the beautiful South Downs and the Western weald will enjoy ‘National Park’ status.

It will be the UK’s ninth and the third largest park in the country with around six hundred and twenty seven square miles of amazing landscape.

During the forties, a previous proposal had been rejected, and it was Labour’s John Prescott, who reintroduced the idea back in 1999.

The South Downs already attracts more than forty million people a year.

Part of Sussex and Hampshire, it stretches from Twyford Down’s, set on the outskirts of the Hampshire City of Winchester, all the way down to the coastal town of Eastbourne, in East Sussex, which is known as the sunniest place in the UK, and home of the famous ‘Beachy Head’ cliff.

Original boundaries proposed were extended to include the towns of Lewes, Petersfield, Mindhurst and Ditchling Village.

Combined, they have a population of around hundred and twenty thousand residents, making this one of the most populated National Parks in the whole of the country.

Hilary Benn, the current Environmental Minister, believes the people living in the South Downs will benefit from the decision, with it providing a boost to local economy via tourism.

Its National Park status should ensure that this treasured and classically English countryside will be conserved and protected for many years to come.

Countryside Campaigners agree, and are ecstatic about the news.

Of course, that includes the organisation, ‘Natural England’ which has campaigned long and hard to bring the change about.

A local group, supported by more than one hundred and sixty pro- park organisations, including one of the most dedicated in the UK, the CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) are ‘over the moon’ with the news.

It believes that the South Downs had been a victim of mounting pressure, mainly due to the fact nearly eighty five percent is currently farmland.

However, the decision also has its fair share of critics, including Tory MP for Eastbourne, Nigel Waterson.

He states most local authorities and their residents have been ignored, mainly due to the fact the new park will affect previous plans to extend and improve the A27 motorway, which is something that will also affect the town of Lewes.

Others also believe that strict planning rules will now place businesses and homeowners in jeopardy, bringing excessive expenses neither can afford.

Since the South Downs has been declared a National Par, although it won’t actually take place until 2011, none of the fifteen, currently elected local councils will be able to grant planning permissions.

A Park Planning Authority will now be created and will have complete autonomy, leading many to believe this will create a lot of red tape.

South Downs and Arundel MP, Mick Herbert, is environmental spokesperson for the opposing Tory government.

He believes that Labour’s Hilary Ben has simply dealt another blow to local communities already facing difficulties.

The South Downs was previously declared an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and was managed by its own committee, one which has now been made virtually redundant.

Although they still maintain some say in the decision making, Herbert states, this committee should have been given more power to manage its own affairs.

Ultimately, he and many others feel, declaring the South Downs a National Park will simply tie up the system.

He believes that the countryside will have no more protection than before, when decisions were made by local committees and local governments.