Welcoming the new South Downs National Park

The new park '“ England's ninth national park '“ will take in the unique chalk hills that run across Southern England from Beachy Head to Winchester.

When the Labour Government of the 1940s passed the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act in 1949, it never expected that there would be a 48 year gap between the creation of the seventh and eighth national parks. Sixty years on from that historic legislation, the Government is preserving more of our countryside for future generations.

This is an immense local asset, wonderful countryside which makes us so lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the country. Yet bizarrely, the Conservatives opposed the protection of this Sussex gem. Following the announcement, Nick Herbert, Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, described the creation of the South Downs National Park as "the wrong decision". He went on to say, "I intend to keep the effectiveness of the new park under review".

So where does Greg Barker stand? Does he really stand by the Conservatives' position that we should not be preserving the South Downs for future generations, and for wider public use?