Latest news with #SouthDownsNationalParkAuthority
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'Outrage' over unauthorised works in South Downs
Caravans and motorhomes have appeared in a field in the South Downs National Park which was levelled and turned into an unauthorised work site. Workers cleared the site before adding gravel and what appears to be a septic tank on land near Blind Lane in Lurgashall, Petworth, over the weekend despite Chichester District Council officers serving a notice to stop. A council spokesperson said: "As the notice has been breached, and caravans have now entered the site, we are taking further legal steps including seeking an injunction through the courts." Opponents including South Downs MP Andrew Griffith criticised the works as an "illegal breach of all respected planning standards and behaviour". The council added: "We take these matters incredibly seriously. We have planning rules in place to protect areas of countryside in our district, including the South Downs National Park, and if harmful development is carried out then we will take appropriate enforcement action. "We want to assure the community that we are doing everything in our power to respond to this. We will also be working with those on the site, local parish councils, and the local community, to offer support." A digger and a septic tank at the site [Eddie Mitchell] Workers arrived at the site on Friday with machinery and cleared and levelled the green site in the middle of the South Downs National Park, which the council described as "unauthorised engineering operations". A council planning officer later posted a second notice on the gate of the site on Monday while three men continued working. Stricter planning regulations exist in national parks such as the South Downs, with applications submitted to the National Park Authority rather than the local council. A spokesperson for the South Downs National Park Authority said it was "appalled" by the works and was working in partnership with Chichester District Council on the issue. The council added: "We take breaches of planning and unauthorised development very seriously and will continue to work together to resolve the situation." A council officer delivering a stop notice to the site [Eddie Mitchell] Mr Griffith, MP for Arundel and the South Downs, said: "I completely share the outrage and concern of residents about this illegal breach of all respected planning standards and behaviour. "It makes a mockery of a system where we all jump through lengthy and costly hoops to install a dormer window when such brazen breaches happen unchecked." A spokesperson for Sussex Police said officers had also attended the site but that the issue was a civil matter and it was liaising with local authorities. Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. More on this story Related internet links
BBC News
24-04-2025
- BBC News
Instagram hotspot boss faces Seven Sisters rewilding challenges
The new chief executive of the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) has shared the challenges of managing the Seven Sisters due to its popularity as an "international hotspot". The SDNPA took over the management of the Seven Sisters Country Park in 2021 from East Sussex County Council. Siôn McGeever told Radio Sussex it has close to 850,00 visitors a year and the Seven Sisters was one of the top travel internet searches in China. "We have become a serious international hotspot but it comes with pressure in how we manage it," he said. "We have put in some great investments, we spent £2m investing in facilities and we are proud of that."The big challenge now is re-naturing the area. We want to show what the best natural landscape can look like."Mr McGeever said the national park authority's goal was to connect people with restoration and nature recovery."We want to focus on how we manage the land and how we manage the chalk grassland," he of the SDNPA's rewilding initiatives is conservation grazing where ponies, cows and sheep help protect and enhance the chalk grassland, he added. It is also working with a number of national trusts, wildlife trusts and local authorities to create a Seven Sisters National Nature Reserve (NNR).Sussex Wildlife Trust, Sussex Wildlife Trust, South East Water, National Trust, Eastbourne Borough Council, Forestry England and Natural England are involved in the scheme to create the "super nature reserve".The project's objectives are to protect drinking water resources, chalk geology and habitats, and protect biodiversity."We are waiting to hear back from National England, if they approve we would be very excited," said Mr McGeever."It would signal to people that the Seven Sisters isn't just a beautiful place to have a nice photo on Instagram, but it's also about the area's natural habitats and wildlife including the birds and butterflies."
