Farmers need cash for national park to work

3:56pm Thursday 13th July 2006

There is no point in a South Downs national park unless farmers get more cash to look after the landscape, the House of Lords has been warned.

Tory peer and former Mid Sussex MP Lord Renton of Mount Harry accused ministers who pledged to create the park four years ago of encouraging people to dream without making it clear where the money would come from.

Lord Renton, who chairs the Sussex Downs Conservation Board, spoke during a debate on the countryside.

He said since 1997 there had been speeches and reports on rural policy but "no clear decisions, no action and no money".

Great expectations had been aroused by the prospect of a new national park, described by John Prescott as a millennium gift for the nation.

Lord Renton, from Offham near Lewes, said: "Dreams have been dreamt that the stone curlew would come back, bee orchids would be widely seen again, sheep farming would become prosperous and footpaths would be extended."

But no one had given him details of the budget the ruling national park authority would have at its disposal.

He said: "There is no point whatsoever in becoming a national park unless there is more money available to help working farmers to improve the landscape, widen the bridlepaths, create conservation areas where birds, butterflies and rare flowers can flourish and also to deal with the problem of more tourists that are going to visit us."

Paul Millmore, a pro-national park member of the conservation board, said he understood why people wanted more certainty but insisted a park would attract far more money than the £2 million the board spends each year.

The Countryside Agency expected the park to have at least £5.8 million annually and the status could unlock extra funding from other sources.

Mr Millmore said: "It is a little bit rich for Tim Renton to say we don't know how much money there will be.

"We know more money will be available but what we don't know is precisely how much.

"The park will also have more clout and access to more funds than the board and therefore it will be able to do more on rights of way, interpretation and so forth."

Farmers fear the park could result in a surge of visitors and the stricter planning regime could make it difficult for them to diversify and cope with changes to the way EU subsidies are paid.

The conservation board is expected to operate until a national park is in place.

If the proposal is agreed after an inquiry currently under way, it would probably be after 2007.

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