GROUPS supporting the inclusion of the Western Weald in the proposed South Downs National Park rallied to give their final messages - supported by author Bill Bryson - as the prolonged inquiry came to a finale last week. They now face an anxious wait for the outcome as the inspector compiles his report - with a verdict expected by the end of the year, before being handed over to the government for a final ruling. The inspector at the head of the inquiry heard representatives from Natural England, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the South Downs Campaign, which supported preserving the landscape of areas in the Western Weald, including Greatham, Liss, Hawkley, Petersfield, Buriton, Sheet and Steep. CPRE president and author Bill Bryson added his own written representation. The initial April deadline for the closure of the inquiry was pushed back as a wealth of evidence came forward from campaigners. The inquiry began in February and finally concluded last week in Worthing. A closing-statements' day saw the inspector taken through detailed summaries of the reasons why the Weald landscapes around Petersfield and Liss - with the Rother Valley and its market towns, heaths and commons - should be part of the new South Downs National Park. In the penultimate week of the inquiry, representatives from West Sussex County Council proposed a new park boundary, leaving out the Western Weald altogether and only including the Rother Valley chalkland. But supporters for the original boundary rejected the proposal. Christopher Napier, of the South Downs Campaign, told the inspector there was no reason why a national park in the South Downs should be confined to the chalk. Mr Bryson wrote, to the inspector, of the Western Weald: "Believe me, this is a jewel: please conserve it, preserve it and confer on it the status it deserves - that of a nationally important landscape for all to enjoy as a national park. If this beautiful landscape is left out of the South Downs National Park, I believe that it will run the risk of being picked off by developers and lost forever."