NONSENSE. That's the message Petersfield campaigners have to give an inspector who says the town is "too urban" to belong within the South Downs National Park boundary. The long-awaited reopening of the boundary inquiry is set to begin in Worthing on Tuesday (February 12). Evidence from The Petersfield Society has now been submitted to the South Downs Campaign for inclusion in their "proof of evidence" to be handed over to the inquiry inspector next week. Chairman of The Petersfield Society David Jeffery said: "Its main objectives are to refute the inspector's arguments that Petersfield should be excluded from the park by virtue of its urban aspects and its separation from the chalk downland. "The Society's submission has shown vigourously that the town is well-integrated into the surrounding Downs and Hangers, and that it is firmly "embedded" within the landscape. "Furthermore, it can be shown that Petersfield has not, contrary to the Inspector's claim, expanded into the countryside since the designation of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the 1960s. "The Petersfield Local Plan, written by Hampshire County Council and adopted in 1969, clearly shows that the areas allocated for development then (what became the Herne Farm and Galliford estates and the Ramshill and Kimbers developments) are precisely what have materialised since. "Nor has that plan's predicted population growth – of 14,500 – expected by the end of the 1980s, yet been reached today." Another key element of the arguments made by the civic group is that of the quality of the surrounding countryside and, indeed, within the town itself – low density and low-rise buildings; the landscaped areas and the Heath and Pond. Mr Jeffery added: "It is plainly nonsense to suggest, as the planning inspector has done, that Petersfield is in any way urban in aspect and that it is therefore dissociated from the South Downs. "The farms which surround us testify to its exclusively rural past, the compact nature of the town itself and the constant efforts made over decades to restrain the height and spread of the built environment have maintained the character of our historic market town. "The town would serve as a perfect gateway to the proposed South Downs National Park, and is the ideal starting point for ramblers, cyclists and others who wish to enjoy its beauty and tranquillity." At the reopening of the inquiry, it is expected that the question of the boundary proposed by the government inspector will arise and be debated – with a timetable arranged for declarations of interest. Mr Jeffery said: "Petersfield has been excluded from the Park by the "new" boundary and The Petersfield Society has taken up the cause of the town (for us to be included)." It is not just Petersfield which is affected by the decision reached at the end of the previous inquiry, which closed in 2005. Most of the surrounding villages on the A3 corridor area known as the Western Weald were also omitted, including Liss, Rogate, Greatham, Stroud, Steep and Sheet. Residents have been campaigning ever since to try and get the ruling overturned. The turnaround in reopening the campaign came after Hampshire County Council, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), the South Downs Campaign, Natural England and town and parish councils all lent their weight to the cause of reversing the controversial verdict. At a pre-inquiry meeting held in Hove in December, more than 150 residents and campaigners from the area turned out to back reinstating the areas left out in inspector Robert Parry's original report. Mr Parry is once again at the helm of the latest inquiry, and has set a deadline of early April to reach a final decision. In Liss they have also been collecting their evidence, but at a parish council meeting last month, councillors feared it could be in vain. They fear, as claimed before, that the inspector "paid little attention to them." Campaigners now have their final chance to get the Western Weald back in the national park and are prepared to fight all the way.
