Councillors in East Sussex have renewed their opposition to a national park on the South Downs.

The county council's ruling cabinet voted yesterday not to back park status because it said councils should not lose existing planning powers.

They were told a park was unnecessary and might attract more visitors, although officials said it would be unwise to campaign against a park until formal proposals were published.

Telscombe councillor David Neighbour warned that if developments on the Downs, such as an incinerator at Beddingham, near Lewes, won planning consent, it could weaken the council's case.

He said many councillors and officials were privately alarmed at the Beddingham proposal, which the council chose as a site for a burner instead of at Newhaven in December.

He said: "The warning shot I am sending to this cabinet and this council is be very careful about being stampeded into taking planning decisions."

Chris Todd, of Brighton and Hove Friends of the Earth, said a park was needed to stop the Downs suffering "death by a thousand cuts". He said: "The county council itself has been guilty of taking developments away from industrial sites and on to the South Downs."

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