Chris Baker's article on tourism and the South Downs National Park (The Argus, October 25) made the assumption many people misguidedly make, that National Park status will automatically increase visitor numbers.

We can be sure, though, the increasing population in the South East is likely to lead to more people visiting the South Downs, just as building new roads through the South Downs, as the South Coast Multi-Modal Study and local councils are proposing, is going to encourage more people to visit by car.

These pressures threaten the South Downs, not National Park status, which offers us some hope of being able to protect this nationally important landscape for the future.

I am sure a National Park will change the approach to tourism and strengthen the rural economy but it will do this without necessarily having to encourage more people to visit the area.

The downs already receive more visits a year than any existing National Park but without a body properly able to protect the area. Unsuitable development proposals and the crisis in farming are also a threat to this vulnerable landscape.

A South Downs National Park Authority, whose primary purpose would be the protection and enhancement of the area, would address these complex issues and should be welcomed with open arms.

-Robin Crane, Chairman, South Downs Campaign, Brighton