David Lepper

Labour Party | Brighton Pavilion

Debate on National Parks

House  of Commons 13th July 2004

Mr. David Lepper (Brighton, Pavilion) (Lab/Co-op): I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Lawrie Quinn) on securing the debate. He is right that it is nearly four years since we last debated national parks, also at his instigation.

I am glad that he talked about the future of the national parks movement. I represent an area that does not yet have a national park, although a public inquiry is under way on the designation of the south downs as a national park. What is clear from the inspector's reports on the New Forest designation is his belief that area of outstanding natural beauty status is not enough to secure the protection that is needed for areas such as the New Forest and the south downs.

Reference has already been made to the widespread public support for designation in the area covered by the Sussex downs. There is public support because people see designation as a way of securing protection and conservation of a unique landscape through strategic planning. They also see it as a way of securing additional funding, through the EU or from the lottery, for example, to help with that conservation and protection. However, I want to mention one concern that is emerging in that public inquiry, although I would not necessarily expect the Minister to comment on it, because he is in a difficult position because of his quasi-judicial role.

Concern was expressed earlier about the narrowness of the boundary of the New Forest national park. There is concern that the boundary of the south downs national park might be more narrowly drawn than the Countryside Agency recommended.

It is well known that West Sussex county council is opposed in principle to the idea of a national park for the south downs. It has reportedly set aside a budget of £200,000 to fight designation. Its current tactic seems to be to suggest that there should be a south downs national park consisting of chalk landscape only. That would leave out many of those areas recommended by the Countryside Agency, which are important from the point of both landscape and history. There were 6,000 responses to the public inquiry into the south downs national park, compared with 420 for the New Forest; 90 per cent. wanted more land included within the boundaries rather than less. I do not necessarily expect the Minister to comment because of his role, but I flag up for his attention the genuine local concern about the possible spoiling tactics being adopted by West Sussex county council.

I have been asked, as have all hon. Members, to keep my comments brief. Support for the proposed designation grows day by day. My local authority has always supported it but other authorities have now become more sympathetic to the idea. I pay tribute to the work of the South Downs Campaign, which draws together nearly a hundred organisations including parish and district councils to put the case as strongly as possible for completing the work suggested in the Hobhouse report of 1947 to include the south downs in the family of national parks.