Remembering Angus Lunn MBE, former Chair

Published: 19 January 2026

Angus Lunn, Chair of Campaign for National Parks for ten years, and more recently a Vice President, is remembered warmly by his former colleagues and friends. Angus died last year after a long career as a wildlife conservationist, geologist, educator and champion of National Parks.

Angus lived in Northumberland and was passionate about the protection of that special landscape and the North Pennines where he had a family home at Alston. He was one of the founder members of the Northumberland and Durham Naturalists’ Trust, which morphed into the Northumberland Wildlife Trust in 1971 and came to Campaign for National Parks via that organisation. He remained active for the Trust and had recently been celebrating the acquisition of a major estate in the Simonside Hills.

Angus led Campaign for National Parks during the 1990s, when Sir Chris Bonington was President, and the campaign for National Park legislation was in full flight. After a formidable campaign, clauses to set up independent National Park Authorities and update their statutory purposes were included in the 1995 Environment Act. The passage of the bill through Parliament saw battles on the meaning of ‘quiet enjoyment’ following the public inquiry on a 10mph speed limit for Windermere and the major development test. Angus was also at the helm for most of the long campaign to secure a South Downs National Park in 2010. That had been recommended in 1929, revitalised as an objective in 1990 and grew to embrace 159 organisations. Angus’s steady hand ensured Campaign for National Parks’ role was crucial to that success, building on the earlier successful campaign on the designation of the New Forest National Park.

He also ensured that Campaign for National Parks stood up to damaging development proposals, including the test case Spaunton quarry extension in the North York Moors National Park, on which we persuaded the government to back Campaign for National Parks’ case and not that of the developer or the National Park Authority. This strengthened national planning policy and created the space for Campaign for National Parks to work with the aggregates industry to secure the giving up of several old dormant planning permissions, ensuring that precious sites such as Ribblehead in the Yorkshire Dales were protected for nature.

But Angus was most hands on in the Battle of Otterburn. The Northumberland National Park was faced with a major Ministry of Defence military training proposal for more roads and firing with heavy artillery. Angus entered in this David and Goliath battle with gusto, helping gather a coalition of local organisations. He looked after the staff and barrister, David Wolfe KC, who represented the group throughout a two year Planning Inquiry. Despite Goliath winning on this occasion, Campaign for National Parks was invited to advise the MoD on improving its environmental performance across its training estate and it’s noteworthy that the MoD has not sought such major changes in how it uses its training estate in National Parks since Otterburn.

Angus was fully behind the initial effort to get the Mosaic project off the ground, inspired by the 1999 conference themed on ensuring that National Parks are accessible to all – a bold move taking Campaign for National Parks in a new direction which has remained a strength to this day.

The staff who worked alongside Angus remember him for his kindness and generosity – with his wife Jean welcoming us into his home, providing lifts and sharing news on his beloved Newcastle FC and cat.