EAST Hampshire District Council voiced a formal objection to the new South Downs National Park boundary, at their full meeting last Thursday. It is feared that great stretches of East Hampshire, including the Woolmer and Longmoor area of Bordon will be at the mercy of developers if they are not included in the new South Downs National Park. And the council sent out the strongest message it could by unifying against the plans, in a bid to show support for residents and conservationists alike. Councillors also called for a public inquiry and stressed that they wanted to appear at the inquiry. Deputy chief executive for EHDC Daphne Gardner, warned councillors at the start of the meeting: "The Government wants us to have more houses in the South East. "People in East Hampshire could be vulnerable to pressure for more housing, particularly the A3 corridor, if it is not in the national park and does not have area outstanding natural beauty (AONB) status." She said the advent of the Hindhead Tunnel could lead to even further pressure on the immediate area as it would be more accessible." During the evening of the meeting protesters staged a banner-waving demonstration objecting to the proposed new park boundary, as district councillors prepared to hold their emergency meeting to give a formal response to the issue. Many protesters fear the U-turn on the boundary lines – particularly the exclusion of the western Weald which includes Woolmer Longmoor; Liss, Petersfield, the Rother Valley, Steep and Stroud – is a political ploy to squeeze yet more new homes in the area. Patrick Burridge, chairman of the council's development policy panel, said he supported the widest possible national park boundary and objected strongly to the current proposal to cut it back to the chalk ridge area. He warned that EHDC was in danger of being 'thrown much larger housing numbers' if it didn't fight the boundary. In its submission to Defra, the council has 'strongly objected' to the exclusion of the non-chalk ridge areas from the proposed park. These include the A3 corridor, the Rother Valley; the northern hangers, the Wealden heaths, Woolmer, Longmoor, Liss and Petersfield. The council argued that these areas were 'excellent in quality and beauty, were integral to the wider South Downs landscape, and offered good opportunities for countryside recreation'. The council criticised the inspector's report for not defining accurately the A3 corridor. It recommended that a clear definition be published, to enable the public to comment properly. The council also noted errors and inconsistencies in the inspector's report and recommended the inclusion in the park of: – land to the west of Blackmoor. – land at Buriton, including important sunken lanes. – land north of the B3004 (Kingsley, Worldham, Binsted). And if the inspector's plans were approved, the council argued strongly that the status of AONB should be retained, to protect the land from development.
