People of south east at risk of being sold short again by national park boundary
[17 July 2007]
Once again the people of the South East are in danger of being sold short by the erroneous view that all areas in a National Parks have to be identical. The Inspector involved in the South Downs Inquiry has recommended excluding a large chunk of the Low Weald to make only the chalk ridges of the Downs a national park.
The Ramblers’ Association (RA) is marking the 60th anniversary of the Hobhouse Report (tomorrow Wednesday 18th July) - which called for a National Park at the South Downs – by calling on the government to grant the area the protection it deserves.
In 2004 the New Forest was designated a National Park yet huge swathes of beautiful countryside around the edges including the Avon Valley were ignored. The national walking charity does not want the government to miss a trick a second time by accepting the Inspector’s assessment. Excluding the Low Weald in Hampshire and West Sussex will mean that these beautiful areas will be more vulnerable to development and damage than the surrounding National Park.
The National Parks Committee Report, spearheaded by Sir Arthur Hobhouse in July 1947, advised that the South Downs be one of 12 National Parks in England and Wales. All of the areas recommended by the report now have National Park status apart from the South Downs.
Patrick Grady, Countryside Campaign Manager, at the RA said: “Walking in the rich and varied landscape of the South Downs is a sustainable form of recreation and exercise. It is very short sighted of the Inspector not to recommend that as much of this landscape as possible should be protected for ourselves and future generations.”
Owen Plunkett, an RA volunteer from Hampshire and vice-chairman of the South Downs Campaign, said: “ We have waited 60 years, so are most anxious that the South Downs National Park is created without delay, but it must include the Western Weald. In recent years there have been a number of public consultations on the issue and in each case there has been overwhelming support.”
The Ramblers’ Association is part of the South Downs Campaign, a campaigning group including the South Downs Society, The Council for National Parks, CPRE, and over 100 other regional and local organisation.