Lord Bracknell
On fire
The Government have just written to people who made representations to the South Downs National Park Public Inquiry, advising them that "there will be a delay in reaching the decision", because of "uncertainties over the interpretation of the relevant legislation".
This all flows from a High Court Judgement relating to the New Forest National Park that potentially changes the way in which the criteria for National Park status have been generally understood since the 1950s.
The Secretary of State is considering appealing against the Court's decision and possibly introducing new legislation in parliament. That can take years to come into effect.
The outcome - as I see it - is that any decision on the South Downs National Park boundary will be totally irrelevant to the status of land at Falmer, since the planning issue will have been completely settled and the stadium will be built before the boundary is decided.
From the Defra website:-
Designation Order for a South Downs National Park and Public Inquiry
A Designation Order for a South Downs National Park was submitted by the Countryside Agency to the Secretary of State on 27 January 2003 and placed on public deposit until 28 February 2003 for receipt of objections and representations to the Order. Around 6,000 responses were received.
A public inquiry into the Order ran from 10 November 2003 to 23 March 2005. Details of the Inquiry can be found on the Planning Inspectorate's website.
Defra received part of the Inspector’s report in June 2005 on the principle of creating a South Downs National Park and had expected the rest of the report on the boundary and administrative arrangements in March 2006. However, a recent High Court judgement on the New Forest National Park designation appears to have implications for the South Downs.
Defra is seeking leave to appeal against that judgement and may need to put the South Downs process on hold until that appeal has been heard. No decision has yet been made on the "principle" of a South Downs National Park.
This all flows from a High Court Judgement relating to the New Forest National Park that potentially changes the way in which the criteria for National Park status have been generally understood since the 1950s.
The Secretary of State is considering appealing against the Court's decision and possibly introducing new legislation in parliament. That can take years to come into effect.
The outcome - as I see it - is that any decision on the South Downs National Park boundary will be totally irrelevant to the status of land at Falmer, since the planning issue will have been completely settled and the stadium will be built before the boundary is decided.
From the Defra website:-
Designation Order for a South Downs National Park and Public Inquiry
A Designation Order for a South Downs National Park was submitted by the Countryside Agency to the Secretary of State on 27 January 2003 and placed on public deposit until 28 February 2003 for receipt of objections and representations to the Order. Around 6,000 responses were received.
A public inquiry into the Order ran from 10 November 2003 to 23 March 2005. Details of the Inquiry can be found on the Planning Inspectorate's website.
Defra received part of the Inspector’s report in June 2005 on the principle of creating a South Downs National Park and had expected the rest of the report on the boundary and administrative arrangements in March 2006. However, a recent High Court judgement on the New Forest National Park designation appears to have implications for the South Downs.
Defra is seeking leave to appeal against that judgement and may need to put the South Downs process on hold until that appeal has been heard. No decision has yet been made on the "principle" of a South Downs National Park.
