SOUTH DOWNS NATIONAL PARK INQUIRY TO REOPEN
The South Downs Society gave a welcome to today’s news (25 October 2007) that the inquiry into the South Downs National Park will be reopened.
Jacquetta Fewster of the South Downs Society said: “We are pleased that the government has decided to reopen the National Park inquiry. It is very important that the subject of Midhurst, Petworth, Petersfield and the beautiful landscape of the rest of the western Weald, as well as the historic settlements including Lewes, are considered at the reopened public inquiry.”
The western Weald has been part of the proposed National Park for many years, and the National Park has enjoyed huge public support. However, when the first inquiry report was released in July, the South Downs Society and other members of the South Downs Campaign were surprised to find a recommendation that the Weald should be excluded from the National Park. It was also recommended that historic settlements such as Lewes and Ditchling be excluded. A public consultation then followed, during which hundreds of people wrote to the government to express their support for keeping these areas in the National Park.
The government’s statement today said that the inquiry would consider the formal issues that were part of the public consultation over the summer. In addition, the inspector has been asked by the government to indicate if any other points raised during the public consultation have caused him to change any of his recommendations.
“The landscape of the western Weald is very special. It has some of the most beautiful heathlands in the south of England, and the network of rights of way is excellent. It should be part of the national park” continued Jacquetta Fewster. “We expect the inspector to consider again this area at the reopened public inquiry, as well as the historic settlements including Lewes.”
“The very great danger is that if the western Weald is left out of the Park, it will be too small to merit its current status as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and it may lose that special protection it currently enjoys. Extreme pressure for new housing and other development would inevitably follow.”
The online petition to the prime minister about the western Weald continues to grow. It is at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/western-weald.