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Fantastic News! - South Downs National Park approved with 99% of areas included

On Tuesday, 31 March the Government announced that a South Downs National Park should be created and that it should include the Western Weald, Ditchling and Lewes along with most of the additional areas that the Inspector had previously recommended be added. In addition, the Secretary of State, Hilary Benn who visited the Weald and Downland Museum on Tuesday with his Minister Huw Irranca-Davies, was consulting on 6 possible further additions to the National Park, the largest of which was Alice Holt Forest. This means that the final boundary will not be confirmed until later in the year. A National Park Authority is then expected to be up and running by April 2011. For more information on the detail of the announcement (decision letter, Inspector's report, maps, etc.) see the Defra website.

On Wednesday, 18 March, Bill Bryson handed over a giant (A0) version of the South Downs National Park postcard to government outside Defra's offices in Smith Square, London. The postcard was signed by himself along with Ben Fogle, Brian Blessed, Floella Benjamin OBE and David Dimbleby. The event, possibly the SDC's last, was attended by around 50 people who were herded by police into what looked rather like a sheep pen, making it awkward to get decent pictures of the delegation. Nevertheless we received widespread coverage. Pictured is Bill Bryson with Margaret Paren, SDC Vice Chair, holding the giant postcard.

On Saturday, 7 March, the Rt Hon Michael Mates, MP for East Hampshire, was handed the Western Weald petition, containing nearly 10,000 signatures, by the Mayor of Petersfield, Cllr Vaughan Clarke (see picture - courtesy of The Herald - copyright Farnham Castle Newspapers). Also pictured (left to right) are: John Venning, CPRE Hampshire, Cllr Andrew Shaxson, Chichester District Council, Cllr Mrs Susan Halstead, Liss Parish Council, Margaret Paren, Christopher Napier and Minette Palmer of CPRE Hampshire, and Dr Mairi Rennie.

Michael Mates submitted the petition to Parliament on 17 March. The South Downs Campaign would like to thank, not just everyone who signed the petition, but all its members and supporters who went to the trouble to collect so many signatures. It is hoped this will reinforce the message to Government that the Western Weald should be included in the South Downs National Park. Click here for more information.

That's the amazing total of South Downs postcards Defra had received by 27 January, less than 2 months after the campaign was launched. It represents nearly 2,000 postcards a week or nearly 300 postcards a day. The SDC is thanking everyone who has taken the trouble to send off a postcard and urging those who haven't done so yet to get theirs in the post today. The SDC would like the Government to receive well over 20,000 by the time it makes a decision in 'early summer'. This is likely to be at least 2 months away and possibly more so there is still plenty of time for people to distribute and send off their postcards. To order postcards or to find out more about them click here.

The number of postcards received by Defra was highlighted when the Government responded to a Parliamentary Question submitted by David Lepper, MP for Brighton Pavilion.

Paul Millmore, SDC Vice-chair and long-standing Lewesian has been busy counter-stamping the recently launched Lewes Pound (a local currency designed to stimulate local businesses and keep money circulating with the local economy) to highlight the case for Lewes to be included in the South Downs National Park. By adding a speech bubble to the note, Thomas Paine, perhaps Lewes's most famous resident, appears to say: "Keep Lewes in the National Park!". Thomas Paine's importance as an inspirational thinker and writer was seen this week when he was quoted by President Barack Obama in his inaugural speech. For more information click here.

On the 13 January Norman Baker MP (pictured left) and the Mayor of Lewes, Cllr Michael Chartier (pictured right), presented Hilary Benn's private secretary with the Lewes petition containing almost 3,000 signatures. They were part of a delegation that had travelled up from Lewes to press the case for the inclusion of this historic town in the South Downs National Park.

At the same time a petition on behalf of the residents of Hamsey, Offham and Cooksbridge was submitted calling on the Ouse Valley north of Lewes to be included in the National Park. The opportunity was also taken to hand in more postcards to Defra.

On the 11 December, the South Downs Campaign handed 1,000 postcards, collected in only one week, to Defra's offices in central London. This total was in addition to the many postcards that have been mailed direct to the Secretary of State, Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP. Click here for more information.

On the 1 December the South Downs Campaign launched its postcard campaign to urge the Government to come to a quick but 'right' decision on the South Downs National Park. It wants to see the four key elements (The Chalk Hills, The Western Weald, Ditchling and Lewes) that were in the National Park Designation Order in 2002 included in the final boundary.

The postcard (as seen here) has been designed in the style of a traditional holiday postcard showing a variety of scenes of a particular destination or area. In total, nearly a quarter of a million postcards have been produced and distributed nationally, regionally and locally.

The South Downs National Park (re-opened) Inquiry Inspector's report was submitted to Defra on Friday, 28 November.

The South Downs Campaign has been informed that the decision on the South Downs National Park is most likely to be taken in the 'early summer' but that it is too early to say exactly when until the Government (Defra) has received the Inspector's report and knows exactly what he is recommending. The Campaign accepts that Defra will need some time to consider the Inspector's findings but is concerned at what will be seen by many as yet another delay to the process.

The South Downs Campaign submitted its response to the Secretary of State's proposed changes to the South East Plan on 24 October. It was particularly concerned about threats to the South Downs and other nationally protected landscapes. The Campaign also issued a press release.

While the Government reshuffle has left Hilary Benn MP as the Secretary of State for the Environment and ultimately the person who will sign off the decision on the South Downs National Park, Jonathan Shaw MP, the Defra Minister responsible for National Parks, and who would have led on the South Downs decision, has been moved to the Department for Work and Pensions. However, he remains Minister for the South East. Huw Irranca-Davies MP, the new Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defra, is the new minister responsible for National Parks and AONBs and will be the person who will decide on the principle and boundaries of the South Downs National Park. (His full title is Minister for the Natural and Marine Environment, Wildlife and Rural Affairs).

On 9 September, around 50 people attended the launch in Lewes Town Hall of the South Downs Campaign's final push to keep Lewes in the National Park. The event was kindly hosted by the Mayor of Lewes, Cllr Michael Chartier and supported by the Chair of Lewes District Council, Cllr Carla Butler (in the centre of the picture). A short presentation was given by Paul Millmore (on the left of the picture) followed by questions from an enthusiastic audience. People were urged to sign the Lewes petition, put up posters and to write to the Secretary of State. Also pictured, on the right, is Robert Cheesman, chairman of Friends of Lewes. Local MP, Norman Baker sent his apologies but supported the Campaign's efforts to keep Lewes in the National Park as did many other people unable to attend on the day.

The actress Honeysuckle Weeks (best known for playing Samantha Stewart in Foyle's War) is backing the campaign to get the Western Weald included in the National Park. Having grown up near Petworth and having gone to Roedean School she knows the South Downs well. She was due to come along to our Western Weald day on 20 July but unfortunately a late change in her filming schedule meant that she had to pull out. Nonetheless she sent a message of support to be read out on the day. She is the latest in a number of high profile celebrities who are backing the campaign including Bill Bryson, Ben Fogle and Brian Blessed.

Pictured are some of the 60 plus people who were present in Petersfield on 20 July, including (centre) Tom Franklin, new chief executive of the Ramblers' Association and the Rt Hon Michael Mates MP (Conservative MP for East Hampshire) who has agreed to submit the Campaign's Western Weald petition to Parliament.

Jason Sugarman, the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Lewes is throwing his weight behind the National Park and the campaign to keep Lewes in it. He said: "I fully support the excellent 'Keep Lewes in the Park' campaign to convince the Inspector to urgently re-consider his recommendation to exclude Lewes from the South Downs National Park. His conclusions make absolutely no sense at all. Lewes is completely embedded in the South Downs and is a historic town of great beauty. The National Park offers an opportunity to protect both our distinctive cultural heritage and our beautiful Sussex countryside. It will also have important impact on the tourism we need to encourage. I hope the Inspector will re-consider his decision which ignored so many fundamental points. As a former planning councillor on Lewes District Council I cannot understand how the Inspector came to his decision which took no account of Lewes's vital role in the heritage of the Downs."

The Campaign has also had the following feedback from Norman Baker the Lib-Democrat MP for Lewes who said:

4,753 people signed our online petition, which closed at midnight on 9 July 2008, a year after we had set it up. Many thanks to everyone who supported us and encouraged others to do so too. This is a very respectable total. The petition can still be viewed online. (Photo: shows Ben Fogle with Brian Blessed and South Downs Campaign members at Older Hill near Midhurst, advertising the online petition)

We are now aiming to get 10,000 signatures on our paper petition by December so if you haven't signed up please do so now.

On 4 July, the Inspector formally closed (in writing) the re-opened public inquiry. He has announced that he intends to submit his report to Government by the end of November this year.

On 6 June, West Sussex County Council and Hampshire County Council submitted their closing statements in writing.

Although the inquiry has not yet been formally closed, Wednesday, 28 May was effectively the last day that the inquiry sat to hear evidence. It was the day that the SDC presented its closing statement, followed by Natural England who effectively drew the inquiry to a close. See our press release for further comment.

On Tuesday, 22 April, Professor Robert Tregay (pictured at the inquiry with Margaret Paren) presented evidence on behalf of the South Downs Campaign about the inclusion of the Western Weald in the South Downs National Park. He was strongly in favour of the SDC's line and during his presentation stressed how unusual it was to have such a large public show of support for a proposal (through the substantial size of the SDC) when normally at planning inquiries people were queuing up to object. See our press release for further comment.

His appearance was the culmination of a week of evidence that the SDC had brought to the inquiry on the Western Weald (15 - 17 April) that had been co-ordinated by Margaret Paren. It highlighted the many attributes of the Western Weald and why it meets the National Park designation criteria. The SDC also brought substantial evidence which questions many aspects of the advice that the Landscape Advisor gave to the Inspector.

On 4 April, local ramblers welcomed the annual conference of the Ramblers' Association to Winchester. To mark the occasion, they ran a stall at the conference with the South Downs Society to collect petition signatures for the SDC's Western Weald campaign. Pictured in the photo is Chris Smith, former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and currently President of the Ramblers Association, signing the petition along with Owen Plunkett, chair of Hampshire Ramblers' Association and vice-chair of the South Downs Campaign.

At the conference a motion calling for the Western Weald to be included in the South Downs National Park was passed with overwhelming support.

A combination of inadequate support for the Inquiry programme officer (by the Planning Inspectorate) and West Sussex County Council (WSCC) waiting until nearly a month into the inquiry, before demanding to present new evidence on the Western Weald, has caused the inquiry to be extended. It will not now finish at the end of April, but at the earliest at the end of May. To cap it all the supposed 'new evidence' from WSCC has so far almost entirely consisted of rebuttals to evidence presented in the first session of the public inquiry (by Natural England, Hampshire County Council and ourselves). The SDC firmly believes that if WSCC wanted to challenge this evidence it should have appeared in the first part of the inquiry and done it there. However, it chose not to. In effect, WSCC is seeking to drag out the inquiry going over old ground, wasting taxpayers' money in the process.

The Campaign has welcomed the Inspector's decision on the opening day of the inquiry (Tuesday, 12 February, 2008) to allow new evidence to be presented on including the Western Weald in the South Downs National Park. Otherwise the inquiry got off to a fairly quiet start. In the first week of the Inquiry (14 February), the SDC spoke on the impact of the legal changes and presented evidence as to why Ditchling and Lewes should be included in the National Park.

Inspector moves some way but concerns continue that inquiry will still not be a level playing field

The Campaign has welcomed the Inspector's announcement that he is prepared to receive written evidence on areas he recommended be deleted such as at Ditchling, Lewes, Land at Binsted (Hampshire) and other areas. He will also allow scrutiny of the landscape assessors' report and for his recommendations to be reviewed in light of the legal changes. However, he stopped short of allowing objectors to his proposals to exclude the Western Weald to appear in person and present new evidence. Instead he has said that he will review on the first day of the inquiry whether or not to allow people to appear on the Western Weald after he has seen what they have to say. See our press release for further comment.

A big thank you to everyone who came along to our demonstration before the start of the pre-inquiry meeting outside Hove Town Hall. There were around 150 protestors sending a strong message that people were very much in favour of the National Park and very firmly against the Inspector's recommendations to leave out the western Weald, Ditchling, Lewes, Titnore Woods, land at Seaford and many other areas. Inside the meeting, West Sussex County Council was a lone voice arguing against further sessions on the Western Weald.

Sir Martin Doughty, Chair of Natural England visited the Western Weald on a fact-finding tour of the area on 6 December. He visited Midhurst, where he met Colin Hughes, Chairman of Midhurst Parish Council (pictured - picture courtesy of Natural England/Paul Keene-Avico Ltd), Older Hill (Woolbeding Common, West Sussex) and Longmoor in Hampshire. He was very taken by what he saw and was strongly reassured, despite the bad weather, that the area should form part of the South Downs National Park. Natural England is the successor body to the Countryside Agency which designated the South Downs National Park in 2002, and is responsible for designating National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

A week after issuing a press release on the subject, West Sussex County Council eventually published its legal advice on the future of the western Weald. The Campaign has now had time to study the advice and comment on it. The advice confirms the Campaign's belief that you cannot just designate an area an AONB - it has to deserve that designation. However, the advice confines itself to commenting on a possible process and does not address the real issue: that the Inspector and his Landscape Advisor have said that substantial parts of the western Weald do not deserve AONB status as they don't meet the natural beauty criterion. However, Councillor Henry Smith is claiming that the legal advice states categorically that no part of the western Weald is under threat, which it clearly doesn't. The South Downs Campaign has challenged his claims (see our press release for more info) as well as demanding an apology for an inference that we were scaremongering about the threat to the future of the western Weald.

The South Downs Campaign has welcomed the re-opening of the public inquiry as an opportunity to make the case for a number of areas recommended to be excluded from the national park to be left in it. The biggest of these is the western Weald but the Campaign is also concerned at the recommended removal of a number of the settlements and other areas. See our press release for more information or the Defra website for more detail about the announcement.

The new President for the Council for National Parks (CNP), the TV presenter and adventurer, Ben Fogle lent his weight to the national park campaign when he visited Older Hill, Woolbeding Common, near Midhurst in West Sussex, with CNP Vice President Brian Blessed, on Wednesday 10 October. While they were down they also recorded a piece for Radio 4's You and Yours. For more information see our press release.

The South Downs Campaign was pleased to welcome Chris Huhne MP, Lib-Dem Shadow Environment Secretary to Longmoor in the western Weald on Wednesday 3 October. The trip was organised by Lib-Dem Councillor and East Hampshire parliamentary candidate Adam Carew. Chris Huhne confirmed his backing for the South Downs National Park and for the inclusion of the western Weald. See press statement for more information. (Picture is of Chris Huhne signing the Campaign's western Weald petition with Councillor Adam Carew in the background.)

On Wednesday, 19 September, Natural England issued a press statement, urging the Government to include the western Weald in the South Downs National Park and warning that if it wasn't included it risked losing its current protection. Natural England firmly believes that the smaller boundary (excluding the western Weald) that it was told to draw up by Defra is wrong. On Friday of the same week, Sir Martin Doughty chairman of Natural England also spoke at the Association of National Park Authority (ANPA) conference, reiterating the same message.

On Wednesday, 19 September, over 80 people attended the South Downs Campaign's public meeting, held with the Sussex Wildlife Trust, about the exclusion of the western Weald from the South Downs National Park. Meeting at the Leconfield Hall in Petworth people heard Dr Peter Brandon espouse the virtues of the area and why it was nonsensical to exclude it from the national park. Many people expressed their concern, not only about the threat to the western Weald but also the conflicting and inaccurate information they were being given by local officials.

On Tuesday, 11 September, the author, Bill Bryson, was taken on a tour of the western Weald by local CPRE members. This was his first big visit in his role as President of CPRE nationally and he certainly created a stir, generating a huge amount of interest in the plight of the western Weald, leading to four articles in the national press. This has given a big boost to the campaign and really put it on the national agenda. After his tour, he also took the time to drop in on the South Downs Campaign's executive meeting where he pledged to do whatever he could to help the campaign. Thanks must go to Bill Bryson for finding the time in his busy schedule to come down and see the area and to CPRE for organising the day. To hear what Bill had to say about the western Weald and the South Downs National Park click here. (Photo © CPRE: Bill Bryson signing the western Weald petition).

On Friday 27 July, 2007, Jonathan Shaw MP, the new Minister in charge of National Parks agreed to extend the current consultation on the South Downs National Park. The original consultation period was due to end on 13 August but has now been extended until midnight on 24th September. The Campaign has praised his swift action in a news release and is grateful for everyone who took the trouble to write in. Despite this small victory, the Campaign is urging people to continue writing to the Minister about the exclusion of the western Weald and any other issues they feel are important.

East Hampshire District Council votes to object strongly to the exclusion of western Weald

It was refreshing to see district councillors given the information and the opportunity to ask questions about various aspects of the latest national park proposals in a 2 hour seminar held before the Council meeting on Thursday, 26 July, 2007. Subsequently, the District Council voted strongly against the new boundary and for the original (wider) Designation Order boundary - i.e. for the inclusion of the western Weald in the national park. This in stark contrast to what happened in Chichester District Council on Tuesday which voted to exclude more of the Weald (see below) with little debate.

In between the seminar and the Council meeting the South Downs Campaign held a 'supportive' demonstration with around 60 people outside the Council offices. Also present were the two (Conservative) Hampshire MPs James Arbuthnot and Michael Mates (see photo) and Conservative East Hampshire parliamentary candidate Damian Hinds, to whom we are grateful for their support.

Chichester District Council votes to exclude more of the western Weald from the national park

On Tuesday, 24 July, 2007, Chichester District Council voted for a national park boundary closer to the chalk hills, in effect pressing for more of the western Weald to be excluded from the national park. This was despite the warnings from one or two councillors that if the Council was successful in getting the national park boundary drawn further back, more land in the western Weald (currently designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)) could be at risk of losing its long term protection.

While the Council did vote that it requires a guarantee that the remaining land would be reinstated concurrently as AONB, this is highly impractical. Apart from the fact that to reinstate a new AONB would require a whole new boundary setting exercise, there is no guarantee that land currently designated as AONB would be re-designated as such, particularly after the inspector's and landscape assessor's mauling of the A3 corridor and the 'sandy arable farmlands' of the Rother Valley. This exercise would be likely to lead to massive delays and a further public inquiry (in addition to any re-opened inquiry on the national park) with uncertainty hanging over the area for some considerable time.

The South Downs Campaign is urging anyone who lives in the area to contact their local district councillor and ask them which way they voted. If they voted for a narrower national park boundary and to place more of the western Weald at risk, challenge them to justify their stance and how it represents the views of their area. To find out who is your Chichester District councillor and how to contact them click here.

South Downs recommended as national park but concern at exclusion of western Weald

On 22 June, 2007, the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) sent a letter to interested parties stating that it was seeking views on a number of areas as follows:

Implications of NERC Act;
Implications of Meyrick and Court of Appeal Judgments;
A possible alternative boundary from Petersfield to Pulborough (to exclude the western Weald);
Possible additional areas of land (approx 25 sq. km) to be included in the park.

The latter two points came out of recommendations in the inspector's report which was published on 2 July.

The good news

The inspector has recommended that the South Downs becomes a national park and has recommended that 30 additional areas (around 25 square kilometres of land) be added to the park, much of this being land that the South Downs Campaign supported being included. The inspector also recommended that the law be changed to allow national parks to extend into marine areas.

The not so good news

The inspector is recommending that the Minister considers leaving out a sizeable chunk of the western Weald in West Sussex and in East Hampshire and excludes Petersfield, Liss, Midhurst and Petworth (point 3) from the national park. The inspector and his landscape assessor are claiming that the cumulative impact of development (including roads and traffic) and modern agriculture have degraded a swathe of land down the A3 corridor and along the 'sandy arable farmland' of the Rother Valley. They say that there is high quality land to the north and east of these strips but that these degraded areas are too large to be included and therefore neither can the land beyond. They also say that the land beyond is too far away from the chalk downland.

What is not clear is what will happen to this potentially excluded land. If is not part of the national park, after its mauling by the inspector and landscape assessor, there is a very real risk that some of this land will lose its protection altogether, either immediately or in the longer term. In any case, if this is not part of the national park, there will have to be another round of public consultation and public inquiry to establish the boundary of any new Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) that is proposed and there is no guarantee that land currently designated as AONB will be included. Not proceeding with the national park is also not certain to protect this area in the long term as its public mauling could lead for calls for it to be removed from the AONB and developers are likely to push for more development here. The only sure way of securing its future is to ensure that the case made by the inspector and his landscape assessor is firmly rebutted at public inquiry and that the is area kept within the South Downs National Park.

The other bad news is that the Inspector is also recommending a further 24 areas be deleted from the national park including all the market towns but most surprisingly the village of Ditchling. In total these areas amount to a far greater area of land than he is proposing to add. The Campaign is supporting local people in Ditchling and Lewes and elsewhere fight for their inclusion in the national park.