When rural Sussex virtually closed during the foot-and-mouth outbreak it brought home how vital the countryside was to daily life.

People were unable to go for quick breath of fresh air over the Downs and were restricted to where they could take the children for a day out or walk the dog. It was a case of you can look but you can't touch.

Now open again, the Downs are looking better than ever. The moderate rainfall of the past few weeks coupled with hot spells, have given them a glossy look.

But it has been a bad eight months for the area. The flood plains of the Arun, Adur, Ouse and Rother were under water for a large part of last year and the foot-and-mouth crisis meant the closure of most footpaths from February to early June.

West Sussex has come off worst, some footpaths have been lost, footbridges have been washed away and riverside banks have collapsed.

East Sussex has fared better. There has been an increase in birds who bred more young during the enforced closure. The restrictions on grazing have led to changes in the colour of the landscape.

During the four-month closure, people realised the Sussex countryside was something we cannot take for granted. Its future was our future.

Paul Walton, eastern area manager of the South Downs Conservation Board, was keen to show me the beauty of the Downs under his control and how they were back in business following the unprecedented troubles.

As we climbed Firle Beacon, the highest point on the South Downs, and strode along part of the South Downs Way between Southease and Alfriston, he and Andy Beattie, visitors'

service manager at Seven Sisters Country Park, told me how they were working for the future of the Downs.

The walk is one of a number being promoted by the South East Walks Partnership, which has teamed up with councils and environmental agencies in the South East to promote walking by publishing details of routes in the region.

Both men realise the proposed South Downs National Park will afford Sussex an unrivalled opportunity to make the most of its most prized asset.

If all goes well, signs saying South Downs National Park could be erected within three years.

Maps showing the park stretching from Winchester in Hampshire, across the north of Sussex and encompassing a large section of East Sussex, will be on sale and distributed.

It will be the first National Park to be created in Britain this century, the last being the Broads National Park in Norfolk in the early Nineties.

The exact boundaries of the South Downs National Park have yet to be worked out. Planners are working on the basis that all areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) across the existing Sussex Downs and around the city of Brighton and Hove, as well as towns in coastal strip of East Sussex should be included.

The latest draft plans show the park covering the current AONB in West Sussex, thinning out north of Worthing and Brighton and excluding Henfield but including Newtimber Hill on either side of the A23.

It would then come south of Hurstpierpoint, include Cooksbridge, take in virtually the whole of Lewes town centre up to Hamsey Church, before taking in the current AONB to Eastbourne, including the Seven Sisters Country Park.

Specific areas which warrant extra discussion will be ironed out at a public inquiry.

One of the most contentious will be whether land currently in an AONB, and earmarked for Brighton and Hove Albion's proposed new stadium at Falmer, can be taken out of the proposed boundaries.

As it stands, the football club is putting in an application to build its much-needed new stadium in a proposed National Park.

This move is being greeted with incredulity by planners and environmental campaigners across the country.

The earliest we could have a National Park is 2003. A long public inquiry could lengthen that by as much as two years.

Other boundary issues will also be resolved at a public inquiry.

They include how much land north of Brighton, currently in the AONB be included, whether the entire town of Lewes should be within the boundaries and if the main railway line between Lewes and Hastings should come within the park.

Mr Walton is realistic about the future. "Our first priority is to get across the message the South Downs are fully back in business and here for the enjoyment of walking, cycling and riding.

"At the moment the South Downs, especially in the East, are looking particularly inviting.

"Then there is the problem of the cars.

"We have got to encourage more visitors to the Downs to use public transport and make more public transport schemes available to encourage walkers.

"People will leave their cars at home if they know there is a bus every 15 minutes and it is a reliable service.

"If people go on a walk, leave their car at home, or in a town centre, and then have to wait for a bus in the rain, which does not turn up, the next time they make a visit, they will come by car.

"Schemes such as our award winning Cuckmere Community Bus and the new Charleston Rambler are providing reliable bus services, encouraging walkers to leave their cars at home or at their hotels or bed and breakfast stops."

Mr Walton wants to see the new National Park boundary stretch beyond the A27 boundary, so it includes the rail line between Lewes and Eastbourne.

This, he said, would enable the promotion of greater bus-rail train links, secure the future of stations such as Berwick and ensure that maps of the park would include rail links.