GOVERNMENT REPORT THREATENS REGION'S OPEN SPACES
The report, commissioned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, makes recommendations to change the planning system in England to help businesses. One of the central recommendations in the report calls for a relaxation of the greenbelt to allow for more development.
Jon Martin, chairman of the Society, said “We are pleased the report recognises that national parks remain in need of particular protection. However, it is very disturbing that the report opens the way for more development on precious greenbelt land. This will have a particularly damaging effect on natural beauty, wildlife and public enjoyment in these areas, and could also impact on the area likely to be included within the South Downs National Park in the Low Weald of Hampshire.”
Jacquetta Fewster, director of the South Downs Society, continued “It is vital that land around the proposed National Park is not buried under concrete and tarmac. Many of these sites provide important foraging areas for wild creatures, and wildlife populations on the Downs could be severely harmed. Unsightly development so close to the National Park would spoil the enjoyment of people exploring the South Downs.
“If the report’s recommendations were implemented, we could well see the bulldozers destroying precious countryside at Ansteadbrook, Ramsnest Common and other green areas to the east of Haslemere, on the border of the South Downs National Park.”