Work on moorland restoration has benefited walkers

Slashing spending on Britain’s great outdoors will have a devastating effect, a campaign group has warned.

Cutting expenditure on the countryside will have a marked impact on people’s lives for little financial benefit, according to the Open Spaces Society.

And Britain’s national parks, which have had a five per cent cut in their budgets, offer good value for money, according to the OSS’s general secretary Kate Ashbrook.

Speaking at the society’s open day at Nettley Abbey, Hampshire, Ms Ashbrook said: “Whether swingeing cuts in public expenditure, of one quarter to one third, are necessary at all is a big question.

“But even if they do have to be made, they should not penalise our unique environmental assets which already suffer from lack of resources. The actual savings from environmental cuts will be small, but the impact on people and places will be devastating.

“For instance, green spaces, close to communities, are absolutely vital for people’s health and wellbeing.  They need to be created, maintained and cherished, not neglected or smothered in development.

“Last week the Government announced a five per cent cut in its budget for national parks. That will save about £5 million – tiny in the scheme of things – but severely damaging to the national park authorities who give such good and innovative value for money.

Kate Ashbrook: 'dire consequences'

“Ironically, the national park cuts were announced only the day after the Government’s adviser, the Commission for Rural Communities, asserted that ‘upland landscapes [of which 75 per cent are designated as national park or area of outstanding natural beauty] represent and contain important natural assets, which generate valuable public goods’. So is the CRC’s expert advice to be ignored?

“It is all too easy to slash environmental spending without appreciating the dire consequences. We must protect our breathing spaces or we shall all suffocate.”

The Peak District National Park today announced it would have almost £½m less to spend on its services in the present financial year. It said staff numbers would be cut and a pay freeze was likely. Visitor centres, car park maintenance and spending on other facilities would see a reduction.

Job losses would be either through voluntary redundancy of natural wastage, it said.

Narendra Bajaria, chair of the Peak District National Park Authority, said: “We are doing everything possible to minimise the impact on frontline services.

“We have always had a culture of providing value for money services so through careful financial management we are able to cushion some of the impact.

“However, the national park authority is already a lean organisation so it is difficult to make savings of this scale without any impact on jobs and projects to enhance the national park.

“We are in detailed talks with staff directly affected by the new budget and have also kept union and staff committee representatives fully informed.”

The Roaches. Photo: Peak District National Park Authority

Meanwhile, the Ramblers urged the Peak authority to put the public first after it announced it was considering selling off one of its most popular walking and climbing areas.

As grough reported yesterday,  The Roaches, near Leek in Staffordshire, is earmarked for possible sale – after the national park announced it was looking for partners to manage the area.

Most of the area is open access land, granted after years of campaigning that resulted in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act in 2000.

Graham Rothery, chair of the Staffordshire Ramblers, said: “The Roaches is a unique and iconic beauty spot, and we urge the park authority to place the thousands of people who walk and climb on it, top of their plans.

“The Ramblers welcome anything that improves management and funding of parks and supports anything which improves or protects the rights of walkers.

“The authorities have a huge task making sure that all interested parties can be supported in their use and enjoyment of The Roaches.

“We are calling on the authority to consult with the Ramblers, and the public, at every stage of their plans. The charity is keen to offer practical help and expertise to make sure these plans are successful.”

Harry Scott, footpath secretary of the Staffordshire Ramblers, added: “The Roaches is a popular base for walks and climbing, as well as a most important geological site. This is a living landscape where local communities rely on the land, the opportunities that leisure brings and the unique habitat for the wealth of the biodiversity.”