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Countdown to national park begins

Monday, March 22, 2010

Source: Catherine Deshayes

The creation of the South Downs National Park on 31 March 2010 will provide a significant boost to landowners with opportunities for tourism and is likely to increase house prices but it will put further pressure on affordable housing for local people and planning will be more restrictive says Adams & Remers solicitors...

The South Downs National Park, which has taken 60 years to come to fruition, will be unique among England's 10 existing National Parks. Approximately 85 per cent of the land is under management with 60 per cent given over to arable and it will include more than 320,000km of footpaths. More than 120,000 people will live within the Park boundary and approximately eight million people live within one hour of its boundary. It is expected that the South Downs National Park will become England's most visited National Park.

Katherine Haslam Associate at Adams & Remers solicitors comments: "There will be significant opportunities for landowners with the influx of tourism and through property rentals however the lack of affordable housing and the planning restrictions the new park designation brings could cause an issue for agricultural and key workers in what is already an expensive part of the country."

The very nature of the South Downs National Park and its sheer size, together with the large number of people living and working within its boundary, together with the tightening DEFRA budgets to National Park Authorities and the Conservative Government's election pledge to return power to local communities, may mean that the South Downs National Park Authority has no choice but to delegate a significant proportion of responsibilities back to local authorities, including that of planning.

Andrew Pawlik, partner and litigation expert at Adams & Remers comments: "It is usual that a National Park Authority becomes the planning authority for all planning applications within the Park boundary.

However they do have the ability to delegate some or all of their powers regarding planning to an established local authority in some circumstances and it has been suggested that this may be the case with the South Downs National Park. If so, this could be good news for home owners and businesses in the Park boundary."

Andrew continues: "Local authorities that border the South Downs National Park may also take some comfort from this as well, as there is always the danger that they become a ‘dumping ground' for development that would not typically be allowed within National Park boundary."