The South Downs. Photo: Paul Stephenson

Campaign groups are celebrating today’s announcement by Environment Secretary Hilary Benn of the go-ahead for a new national park.

Almost 60 years to the day after it was first proposed, the South Downs national park is to become a reality. The boundary has been drawn largely along the lines proposed by campaigners, including the contested Western Weald, as well as Lewes and Ditchling.

As grough reported yesterday,  supporters of the establishment of the park had been pushing the Government to make a commitment. Mr Benn’s announcement ‘that there is an area which meets the designation criteria under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 and that the principle of a national park for this area has been established’ was roundly welcomed by the South Downs Campaign.

The group, which includes the Ramblers, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the John Muir Trust, Open Spaces Society and the Campaign for National Parks, had run a massive postcard effort resulting in more than 20,000 messages being delivered to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, including a giant one handed over by the CPRE president Bill Bryson.

The Ramblers’ South Downs campaigner, David Murray, said after today’s announcement: “The Government should be congratulated for providing such a great gift to the nation.

“National Parks are a huge walking asset, offering a myriad of walking opportunities. The South Downs in on the doorstep of millions of people and this decision will safeguard it for future generations.

“With nearly 40 million visits a year, more than any existing national park in the UK, the decision not to designate the South Downs in 1956 was clearly wrong.

Since then people have voted with their feet. We are sure that they will continue to do so and enjoy one of England’s finest landscapes in the process.”

Robin Crane, Chair of the SDC, said: “This is fantastic news. This decision vindicates the huge amount of work that everyone involved in the Campaign has done over the years. At times it has seemed like an uphill struggle but now it all seems worth it.

“We are very pleased that common sense has prevailed over the Western Weald. To have left it out would have been a national tragedy.

“We now hope that everyone will accept this decision and work together for the best interests of the South Downs. Challenging this decision would waste much time and money at a time when wastage can be ill afforded.

In many ways the hard work starts now with the establishment of a national park authority and preparation of new policies and plans to guide the future protection and enhancement of this very special area.”

Ruth Chambers, from the Campaign for National Parks, said: “This timely announcement comes on the 60th anniversary of the 1949 Act which established the concept of national parks in England and Wales.

“It shows that Sir Arthur Hobhouse and his committee in 1947 were right to recommend that the South Downs becomes a national park and is a welcome addition to the family of national parks which enjoys public support from all over the UK.”

Neil Sinden of the CPRE said:“This decision could not come soon enough for a landscape which is one of the most pressurised in the country.

“With the demands for new housing and large-scale development in the South East the national park authority will need to be a strong guardian of the South Downs. The pressures don’t stop here but this is an important step towards safeguarding this area for future generations.”

National park status will give increased environmental protection to the area and boost tourism on the downs.

The new park will stretch for 90 miles from the chalk cliffs of Beachy Head across a swathe of Sussex and Hampshire. A map of the proposed area can be seen on the Defra website.

Tory MP for Eastbourne Nigel Waterson called the decision ‘profoundly undemocratic’.