SHOCKED East Hampshire conservationists are reeling from the news that plans for the South Downs National Park have been halted. The boundaries of the national park currently stretch from Eastbourne in the east to Winchester in the west and it is proposed to further take in wide areas of East Hampshire. Conservationists believe this extension would have far-reaching effects on the future planning of the district. District councillors were informed last week by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) that it had decided to stop the national park designation process because of a High Court judgment concerning the designation of the New Forest National Park. The drastic action has been taken following the High Court ruling that the Countryside Agency and the inspector had misinterpreted the two key criteria for creating a national park. The former leader of EHDC, Elizabeth Cartwright, has taken a leading role in the consultation process surrounding the proposals for the new South Downs National Park. This week, a shocked Mrs Cartwright told The Herald: "This is a complete bombshell. "It's absolutely staggering and it puts the whole proposal for the South Downs on ice for the moment" "The inspector who held the South Downs National Park public inquiry cannot now report until next year. If it is found that the criteria for creating a national park are wrong, not only our park, but anything else designated since l949 is also thrown into doubt." Mrs Cartwright added: "This is unbelievable. If this judgement is upheld at appeal, I would guess that the inquiry will have to start all over again." The two key criteria at the centre of the controversy are "natural beauty" and "opportunities for open-air recreation". And the High Court found that the Countryside Agency and the inspector looking at the New Forest proposals had misinterpreted them when they included a listed building and surrounding parkland (Meyrick Estate) . Explaining the situation to town and parish councils this week, EHDC's deputy chief executive Daphne Gardner said: "Defra defended the interpretation of these criteria, but it lost the case and the High Court refused it the right to appeal." "Defra says that the High Court judgment has potentially changed the way in which the criteria for national park status have generally been understood since the l950s" said Miss Gardner, " It is now seeking leave to appeal from the Court of Appeal itself. In addition it is seeking to clarify the National Parks legislation by amendments to the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill that is currently progressing through parliament." Defra expects the amendments to the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill to be considered by parliament during the next two to three months and it should hear in the near future whether it has been granted leave to appeal. But Miss Gardner added: "It does not know how long any appeal to the Court of Appeal would take to be heard but it might take as long as a year." She said when the parliamentary process and the outcome of the appeal allowed, the designation process would be restarted. "Defra says that in restarting the process, the minister will consider whether any changes made mean further representations should be allowed. "If the minister does allow further representations to be made, consideration will be given as to whether the inquiry should be reopened." She estimated that the delay would add at least six months to the South Downs national park designation process "although it could be considerably more if an appeal is heard and the inquiry has to be reopened." Miss Gardner told the parish council that an optimistic timetable would not see the creation of the new national park until 2008, and the setting up of the new park authority, not until the following year.
