Urgent call for national park status for South Downs
05/07/2007
Walkers from all over the South East are expected to flock to Harting Down in the South Downs on Sunday July 8th to mark the 60th anniversary of the Hobhouse Report, which recommended that the South Downs be made a National Park.
The campaigning group - the South Downs Campaign - made up of the Ramblers' Association, the South Downs Society, the Council for National Parks, CPRE, and over 100 other regional and local organisations, want the government to grant the area the protection it deserves.
The actor Brian Blessed, President of the Council for National Parks, will be among those gathered to demonstrate their support for protecting the South East's 'green lung', enjoyed by millions of people yet worrying still under threat from development.
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 except the South Downs.
The Department of Food and Rural Affairs announced that it would restart the designation process with a 6 week consultation which started on 2 July but campaigners are concerned that areas that need National Park protection such as Petersfield, Liss, Midhurst, Petworth and the precious countryside of the Western Weald will be excluded.
Patrick Grady, Countryside Campaign Manager, said: "Walking in the South Downs is a pleasure that should be open to everyone. Making the South Downs a National Park will protect this historic landscape so that generations of walkers from all over Britain can enjoy its beauty and tranquility."