National Park Authority Establishment Team begins its work
The team (left–right): Liz Ballard,Jim Redwood, Richard Shaw, Huw Davies,Fiona Mettam and Jane Schiller
Sep 30, 2009
We are the Establishment Team. Our task is to establish the new South Downs National Park Authority - an exciting project and a really important one to get right, for the people that live and work here and for those that enjoy the area.
Our interim Chief Executive is Richard Shaw and there are five other team members covering organisational set-up, project management, communications and planning as well as running our small office in Midhurst.
What has the Establishment Team been doing?
In preparing for the new organisation, we have been hearing views from a wide range of people about how the new Authority can best add value. We have met farmers and landowners, local authorities, parish councils, voluntary and community groups and many more. We have found a great love of the South Downs - its diversity of landscapes, villages and market towns. Many people have told us that they want the National Park Authority to:
What has the Establishment Team been doing?
In preparing for the new organisation, we have been hearing views from a wide range of people about how the new Authority can best add value. We have met farmers and landowners, local authorities, parish councils, voluntary and community groups and many more. We have found a great love of the South Downs - its diversity of landscapes, villages and market towns. Many people have told us that they want the National Park Authority to:
- recognise that the towns, villages and countryside of the South Downs are a working environment
- provide leadership and coordination, helping the many organisations in the Park to work more effectively together
- be in touch and respond to local communities
- use National Park status to attract additional grant funding
Notes to editors
The South Downs has been nationally recognised for its natural beauty and the opportunities it offers for open-air recreation, which is why it has been made into a National Park. For the first time, one permanent organisation, the South Downs National Park Authority, will take lead responsibility for keeping the South Downs National Park a special place.
The South Downs National Park
The South Downs National Park designation takes effect from 31 March 2010. The purposes of the South Downs National Park are:
1. To conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the area.
2. To promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the Park’s special qualities by the public
Covering an area over 1,600 square kilometres, the South Downs National Park stretches from Winchester in Hampshire to the chalk cliffs of Eastbourne in East Sussex, with over 107,000 people living in the area.
The South Downs National Park Authority
The National Park Authority’s role is to pursue the purposes of the National Park and in doing has a duty to:
To foster the economic and social well-being of the communities living within the National Park.
The South Downs National Park Authority begins its work on 1 April 2010 and has a year to prepare for taking on its full statutory powers and functions in April 2011.
For this first year, the Authority will decide on key policies and recruit the staff needed to help carry out the Park purposes. Once it becomes fully operational in April 2011, the Authority will be able to deliver programmes and take decisions as the Local Planning Authority.
The Authority is funded by central Government and run by a Board of Members who are comprised of:
~ 7 National Members appointed by the Secretary of State, Hilary Benn, through an open recruitment process.
~ 6 Parish council representatives nominated through hustings organised by SALC (Sussex Association for Local Councils).
~ 14 Local Authority nominees drawn from the 15 Local Authorities covering the Park area with Adur and Worthing opting to share a place.
The South Downs National Park Authority is currently based in Midhurst, West Sussex, but this is an interim arrangement until more permanent headquarters are found. No decisions as to the location of the HQ have been made as yet.
A small interim team is currently working with the Authority in its preparatory year and is headed by Interim Chief Executive, Richard Shaw.
National Parks
Britain's 15 National Parks are large areas of spectacular landscape that include mountains, meadows, moorlands, woods, coasts and wetlands. Known as Britain's Breathing Spaces, National Parks are areas of protected countryside that everyone can visit and enjoy. They are not owned by the Nation or managed only for their wildlife. They are mostly farmed landscapes where people live, work and shape the landscape.
For more information about UK National Parks please visit www.nationalparks.gov.uk
Contact Details
Please contact Jennie Saul, Interim Press & Publications Officer at South Downs National Park Authority, for more information: jennie.saul@defra.gsi.gov.uk, tel 0300 303 1053
If you would like to receive a copy of our regular newsletter then please contact the SDNPA Establishment Team by emailing: jane.schiller@defra.gsi.gov.uk
The South Downs has been nationally recognised for its natural beauty and the opportunities it offers for open-air recreation, which is why it has been made into a National Park. For the first time, one permanent organisation, the South Downs National Park Authority, will take lead responsibility for keeping the South Downs National Park a special place.
The South Downs National Park
The South Downs National Park designation takes effect from 31 March 2010. The purposes of the South Downs National Park are:
1. To conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the area.
2. To promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the Park’s special qualities by the public
Covering an area over 1,600 square kilometres, the South Downs National Park stretches from Winchester in Hampshire to the chalk cliffs of Eastbourne in East Sussex, with over 107,000 people living in the area.
The South Downs National Park Authority
The National Park Authority’s role is to pursue the purposes of the National Park and in doing has a duty to:
To foster the economic and social well-being of the communities living within the National Park.
The South Downs National Park Authority begins its work on 1 April 2010 and has a year to prepare for taking on its full statutory powers and functions in April 2011.
For this first year, the Authority will decide on key policies and recruit the staff needed to help carry out the Park purposes. Once it becomes fully operational in April 2011, the Authority will be able to deliver programmes and take decisions as the Local Planning Authority.
The Authority is funded by central Government and run by a Board of Members who are comprised of:
~ 7 National Members appointed by the Secretary of State, Hilary Benn, through an open recruitment process.
~ 6 Parish council representatives nominated through hustings organised by SALC (Sussex Association for Local Councils).
~ 14 Local Authority nominees drawn from the 15 Local Authorities covering the Park area with Adur and Worthing opting to share a place.
The South Downs National Park Authority is currently based in Midhurst, West Sussex, but this is an interim arrangement until more permanent headquarters are found. No decisions as to the location of the HQ have been made as yet.
A small interim team is currently working with the Authority in its preparatory year and is headed by Interim Chief Executive, Richard Shaw.
National Parks
Britain's 15 National Parks are large areas of spectacular landscape that include mountains, meadows, moorlands, woods, coasts and wetlands. Known as Britain's Breathing Spaces, National Parks are areas of protected countryside that everyone can visit and enjoy. They are not owned by the Nation or managed only for their wildlife. They are mostly farmed landscapes where people live, work and shape the landscape.
For more information about UK National Parks please visit www.nationalparks.gov.uk
Contact Details
Please contact Jennie Saul, Interim Press & Publications Officer at South Downs National Park Authority, for more information: jennie.saul@defra.gsi.gov.uk, tel 0300 303 1053
If you would like to receive a copy of our regular newsletter then please contact the SDNPA Establishment Team by emailing: jane.schiller@defra.gsi.gov.uk