A group of MPs have come together to call on Natural England to upgrade the North Wessex Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty into a National Park.
Led by South Swindon MP Sir Robert Buckland, MPs including Laura Farris MP, Member of Parliament for Newbury, Danny Kruger MP, Member of Parliament for Devizes, Sir Alok Sharma MP, Member of Parliament for Reading West, and Kit Malthouse MP, Member of Parliament for North West Hampshire, have written a joint letter to Chair of Natural England, Dr Tony Juniper CBE, calling for the upgrading of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which runs through all of their constituencies.
The North Wessex Downs was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1972 and lies at the heart of the chalk band that stretches across southern England, it includes other protected landscapes such as the Chilterns, Cranborne Chase and the South Downs.
In the joint letter to Natural England, the MPs state that although National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty have the same protection in law, as confirmed by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, there are, however, major differences in purposes, governance, planning protections and powers, and Government funding.
The North Wessex Downs Area of Natural Outstanding Beauty is ringed by towns across the MPs’ constituencies, most are which are expanding towards, and in some cases across the National Landscape boundary. For example Wantage, Didcot, Wallingford, Pangbourne, Basingstoke, Andover, Ludgershall, Devizes, Lambourn, Calne and Swindon.
In the joint letter to Natural England the MPs make the point that there are increasing recreational pressures on the landscape from this that the current governance, management, and resourcing arrangements are not sufficiently equipped to deal with, and at the same time, the land is also under pressure to produce food, timber and energy, store carbon, prevent flooding, mitigate climate change impacts, filter water and support restored wildlife.
The MPs firmly believe that National Park designation would confer a second, recreational purpose and highlight the resources needed to fulfil that.
Although National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty have the same “highest” level of protection in national planning policy from damaging development (NPPF 2023, para 182), in practice AONBs suffer much more harm from built development within their boundaries and in their setting than National Parks.
Local planning authorities in whose area AONBs lie are also subject to housebuilding targets, and the MPs state in the letter to Natural England that all too often they are seeing planning applications which take little account of the area that is covered by a nationally protected landscape, or the capacity of the landscape to accommodate change without harming the qualities for which it was designated. The MPs also say that they increasingly have to object to planning applications which they believe would be harmful to the area.
Leading the campaign, South Swindon MP Sir Robert Buckland commenting of behalf of the group of MPs said:
“The North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is undoubtedly among Britain’s most beautiful landscapes. Straddling the boundaries of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, and Wiltshire and covering 173 parishes, and indeed all of our constituencies, this is the third-largest national landscape in the country.
“As Members of Parliament across the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, we are extremely keen to work together to protect and preserve the area for all of our constituents.
“The upgrading of the North Wessex Downs into a National Park would offer further protection to the area from the many towns expanding towards and in some cases across, the National Landscape boundary.
“Not only would upgrading the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to a National Park offer the area far greater protection, but it would also mean that the area would benefit from vastly greater core funding from DEFRA.
“The North Wessex Downs are treasured and enjoyed by people throughout all of our constituencies, and it is our firm belief that we all have a responsibility to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the area for all of our constituents and indeed our future generations to come.
“The upgrading of the North Wessex Downs into a National Park would offer one of Britain’s most beautiful landscapes the greater protection it urgently needs and is the best way to achieve this.
“We hope that Natural England will agree and take the necessary steps to upgrade the area into a National Park.”
