NATIONAL PARK FACT-FINDING MISSION

He was on the trail of a threat to sever almost a quarter of the land originally included in the National Park boundary near Petersfield.

Mr Bryson said: "I was shocked to see the Planning Inspector's argument to exclude from the National Park a large tract of land known as the western Weald because it's a different type of landscape from the nearby chalk downland. This countryside is some of England's finest and one of the glories of the English landscape is its huge variety."

He continued: "If this beautiful landscape is left out of the National Park, it will run the risk of being picked off by developers and lost forever.

"It has also been recommended that the historic market towns of Petersfield in Hampshire, Midhurst and Petworth and part of Arundel in Sussex, be excluded from the National Park. The same is true of unspoilt villages such as Ditchling. Where is the sense of excluding these settlements which have such strong historic and cultural links with the South Downs, and can contribute so strongly to the economic and community life of the new National Park?"

For full story see West Sussex Gazette September 12