Landscapes ‘must stay in local control’
COUNTRYSIDE lovers are being urged to join a campaign to keep precious West Country landscapes under local control.
The Government is considering proposals to scrap the National Park Authorities and create a new national quango to run their affairs.
Under the plans England’s ten national parks – including Dartmoor and Exmoor – and the nation’s 34 designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty would come under a single National Landscape Service run out of London.
It could mean an end to local representation on the way the parks are managed, from planning decisions to the best way to attract more visitors, care for the wildlife and support for farmers and landowners.
Senior Tory MP Sir Gary Streeter has thrown his weight behind a growing campaign to see the plans scrapped.
Sir Gary, who is chairman of the All Party National Parks Committee, said: “The middle classes, the early retired, the people who love our national parks – as I do – will rise up with one voice to say that this is not the way to go. I am confident that the government will come to its senses on this issue.”
The South West Devon MP said that in his 29 years in public life he could not think of a single example where taking a small organisation and giving its responsibilities to a larger body has ever been a good idea. “I simply can’t see why the government would want to do it,” he added.
The proposals come following a review by Julian Glover who was commissioned by the Government to investigate improvements to the way Britain’s protected landscapes are run. The Landscapes Review looked at the scope of the existing AONBs and National Parks, whether they effectively meet their existing statutory purposes, and how protected landscapes could do more for biodiversity.
A spokeswoman at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said no decision had yet been taken. But evidence, seen by BBC Countryfile, points heavily towards the current national park authorities being axed and England’s protected landscapes coming under one Westminister-run organisation. She said an announcement was expected in due course.
Critics fear the changes proposed would remove local control and influence over the way each national park and its unique qualities are managed.
Kevin Bishop, chief executive of the Dartmoor National Park Authority, said: “For 70 years the management of Dartmoor National Park has involved the local community and other stakeholders. Establishing a central quango is a potential reform in the wrong direction: it would reduce or remove local accountability; remove a powerful champion for Dartmoor and its communities; weaken the local partnership working that is essential to almost everything we do; hamper our ability to respond quickly to meet Dartmoor’s needs; and reduce the resources available for Dartmoor National Park.
“We are not against reform, we can see merit in a National Landscapes Service that is a small but powerful advocate, at the heart of Government, for our most treasured landscapes. A ‘Landscapes Commissioner’ akin to the Children’s Commissioner – protecting and empowering our landscapes, securing additional resources and holding us to account would be a positive change.”
MPs on the All Party National Parks Committee are due to hear from Enviromment Secretary George Eustice on the proposals on April 19.