Downs Park consultation begins

THE Sussex Downs Conservation Board has welcomed the start of a three- month public consultation on the proposed South Downs National Park launched by the Countryside Agency this week.

Lord Renton, board chairman, said: 'This is a vital moment in the future of the South Downs which will shape the area for the next century. It is important that people get involved now.

The public consultation will give people living, working and enjoying the South Downs the opportunity to discuss the future of this nationally important landscape. This includes a draft National Park boundary and administrative arrangements proposed for the National Park Authority.

The Board is currently working on future budget plans and is anxious that the Government plans for the significant level of investment that the South Downs National Park Authority will need.

The Board is pressing the Countryside Agency to include details of the level of finance needed for the new National Park in its final recommendations to Government.

The National Farmers Union is also scrutinising the plans.

East Sussex chairman Michael Fordham said: 'Farmers are keen to make their views known as the bulk of the proposed park is on farm land, and without farmers a lot of the landscape as we know it would not exist.

'There has been a lot of grand talk about what farmers should and shouldn t be doing on the Downs, but the bottom line is that the agricultural industry is on its knees at the moment.

'The Government and the public have high expectations of the countryside but farmers must remain profitable to manage it positively.

l The Countryside Agency is holding roadshow meetings in East Sussex as part of its public consultation on the plans.

Among the venues are Lewes Town Hall on January 4; Downs Leisure Centre, Seaford, on January 11 and the War Memorial Hall, Alfriston, on February 6.