South Downs National Park decision welcomed
13 April 2000
The Council for National Parks (1) welcomed the Countryside Agency’s decision today to proceed with the designation of the South Downs as a National Park.
CNP’s President Libby Purves said "We are delighted that the Agency has decided to go forward with the designation of the South Downs as a National Park. CNP has been campaigning for the protection of the South Downs for over 50 years. This designation is a step towards ensuring that they get the recognition they deserve."
The decision comes after the Government indicated last September that it was kick starting the process of designation of new National Parks in the South Downs and the New Forest. (2) The Countryside Agency’s decision to proceed with the designation is in recognition of the area’s natural beauty as well as its importance for recreation. An estimated 32 million visits a year are made to the South Downs, more than any existing National Park.
CNP believes that a South Downs National Park needs:
A National Park Authority with full planning powers to protect it properly (3), and
A boundary that includes at least the whole of the existing Sussex Downs and East Hampshire Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. (4)
CNP will continue to work alongside the wide range of other organisations that support National Park status for the South Downs to help ensure the best administrative arrangements are put in place and to help people understand what National Park status will mean for the Downs.
Notes to editors
1 The Council for National Parks is the national charity that works to protect and enhance the National Parks of England and Wales and areas that merit National Park status, and promote understanding and quiet enjoyment of them for the benefit of all.
2 On the 29 September 1999 the Deputy Prime Minister asked the Countryside Agency to consider designating new National Parks in the South Downs and the New Forest. In the case of the South Downs the Agency was asked to review the policy criteria by which it identifies potential new National Parks. The Agency agreed a new policy at its meeting in February 2000.
3 CNP strongly believes that a South Downs National Park Authority should be the planning authority for the area. The National Park Authority being the planning authority means that it will:
- look holistically across the whole area (including by drawing up a Park wide Local Plan),
- give the National Park a greater voice in the regional arena,
- be responsible for strategic planning across the area (crucially important given the pressure that rural areas are under from housing and other developments),
- bring an element of consistency and clarity to decision making that is currently not possible in AONBs.
There are numerous examples where the current array of 15 different planning authorities has introduced an inconsistency in the level of protection, and the granting of permission for various developments that should not have been allowed in an AONB. A recent example is West Sussex County Council granting itself permission for a waste management site at Sompting. While the Sussex Downs Conservation Board has done much to improve the management of the Sussex Downs it has only limited powers and influence. A key consideration is that during the last 18 months, 40% of planning applications objected to by the Board were either granted or unsatisfactorily amended. Most of these are too small to warrant the intervention of the Secretary of State. However their cumulative impact is very damaging and will only be tackled by a South Downs National Park Authority that is the development control decision-making body. It is also of concern that the current Development Plans contain worrying inconsistencies in policies on the South Downs.
4 CNP and others believes that a South Downs National Park should at least include the two existing AONBs, This is because
- The area has already been recognised as being of highest landscape quality and the boundary has been identified through rigorous public scrutiny
- The relationship between the chalk outcrop of the Downs and the west Weald is very important. The views between these two areas are integral to the special qualities of the two areas.
- The Sussex Downs Conservation Board is already managing recreation and conservation throughout the Sussex Downs AONB
- The lowland heathland and ancient woodlands of the greensands and clays are of international importance and are used extensively for recreation
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