Some of Britain’s finest and most exceptional landscapes will be celebrated during National Parks Week (22-29 July 2005) and the Ramblers’ Association (RA) fears that people of the South East will be short changed if a national park is created at the South Downs that does not reflect the rich diversity of its natural habitats.
The South Downs, the Cinderella of national parks, holds the record for the length of time it has had to wait to be designated. Over half a century ago, it’s richly diverse landscapes of flower-studded chalk grassland, ancient woodland, flood meadows, lowland heath and rare chalk heathland, was proposed for National Park status. The national charity for walkers is also concerned that it will meet the same fate as The New Forest which ended up with a boundary even smaller than the Countryside Agency intended.
The creation of national parks is steeped in the RA’s history since its formation in 1932. In its infancy it campaigned for the creation of national parks and secured The National Parks and Access to the countryside Act in 1949 before the first national park was created in the Peak District in 1951.
Sarah Williams, Head of Countryside Protection at the RA said: “The Public Inquiry has ended so there’s no reason for the Government to delay in granting national park status to the area. It’s vitally important that when this happens our youngest national park includes the many varied landscapes that the area is fortune to possess. The people of the South East deserve it”.
RA members are organising walks in many of our fourteen national parks.
