PETERSFIELD town councillors have been told it's time to form an opinion on the controversial South Downs National Park proposals.

Dr Phillip Humphries was reporting to the planning committee on Tuesday on a national park meeting which was held in the Festival Hall.

But John Crowhurst urged the council to take a cautious approach to the issue.

He said: "I would like to see this town council take time to listen to the various organisations involved and not come to a hasty decision.

"I would not like to see us dragged along by a neighbouring organisation. "We must form an opinion ourselves."

He added: "We must look carefully at what sort of organisation this national park is going to provide. Members will be appointed and not elected.

"I believe that the South Downs National Park is a fact that has been decided by the government. But we might still have some influence over what form it takes."

Dr Humphries told councillors: "There are a variety of groups that have been looking at every aspect of the national park. We have not been plugged into the process yet.

"Our decision is not whether we should be in the park or not, it is whether we should be in the park or just outside it."

He explained: "If we are on the edge of the park we will be affected by everything that happens inside and we will not have any say on this."

Elsa Bulmer questioned how much impact councillors would have even if Petersfield was included in the park.

She said: "I think we would be a very, very small cog in a large wheel."

Dr Brian Keefe warned councillors that "we cannot escape the consequences of this" but said that the town may be able to benefit from the park.

He said: "What is unusual about this proposal is that I don't think there is a national park which has a town larger than Petersfield in it.

"We have to come to judgment on this issue. It could well be that this is a terrific opportunity for Petersfield."

Chris Jenner reminded councillors that nothing was known about how the park would work or how it would affect Petersfield.

He described the issue as "possibly the biggest thing to happen in Petersfield this century".

Mr Jenner suggested that the council should hold a special public meeting to gauge the opinion of people in the town.

Members of the planning committee decided to elect Dr Humphries as the town council's spokesman on this issue.

He was due to attend a discussion on the national park at East Hampshire District Council's annual general meeting on Wednesday night.