Tory commitments to the British countryside are equivocal, particularly amongst local Tories.

History of broken promises 

In 2018 Michael Gove, then Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, commissioned Julian Glover to undertake a review of National Parks (NPs) and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs). Glover was given an extensive brief to review the areas’ statutory purposes and their alignment with the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan.

In July 2019 Glover published his interim findings, which included:

“… The message from all this work has been vigorous and clear. We should not be satisfied with what we have at the moment. It falls short of what can be achieved, what the people of our country want and what the government says it expects in the 25-year plan for the environment.

Some of this failure comes from the fact that our protected landscapes have
not been given the tools, the funding and the direction to do the job we should now expect of them.”

In November 2021 Owl reported that Natural England had been tasked by the government to assess the creation of a new National Park based on combining the East Devon and Dorset AONBs. This was in line with the “Ten Point” plan for a green revolution published a year earlier. [The proposal originally submitted to Natural England in 2013 covered the Dorset AONB and East Devon AONB]

Note East Devon “Build, build, build” Tories have consistently refused to countenance or engage with this proposal to combine the two AONBs into a National Park for fear of losing control over planning. As a result of this petty intransigence the proposal is generally described as “the Dorset National Park” and led from Dorset. For similar reasons East Devon lost the lead to Dorset on the Jurassic Coast with consequences for tourism.

In October 2023 Owl reported that the Government was blowing cold on the idea and were set to break their manifesto pledge to do so.

This was followed a few days ago by an email circulating introducing a “rebranding” of the East Devon AONB. 

Owl is always deeply suspicious of the opportunity this gives to water down commitments. 

“Today marks the start of a new chapter in the story of designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) in England and Wales.”

It will now be called East Devon National Landscape.

“The new name reflects our national importance: the vital contribution we make to protect the nation from the threats of climate change, nature depletion and the wellbeing crisis, whilst also creating greater understanding and awareness for the work of the whole National Landscapes family.

This is a significant milestone for the UK and the next step in fully realising our vision to be leading examples of how thriving, diverse communities can work with and for nature in the UK: restoring ecosystems, providing food, storing carbon to mitigate the effects of climate change, safeguarding against drought and flooding, whilst also nurturing people’s health and wellbeing.”

Is this a fudge to blur the distinction between AONBs and National Parks reducing all to the lowest common denominator?

Last minute volte face?

Following the sacking of Thérèse Coffey we now hear the proposal to create more National Parks might all be on again, though the number has been reduced to just one.

There is no official shortlist of locations and the decision process could take some time. But three areas have emerged as early favourites after a government-commissioned landscape review called for three new national parks to be created, in the Chilterns, the Cotswolds and Dorset and East Devon.

Labour’s 2019 manifesto called for 10 new designations of “National Nature Parks”.

Search to begin for a new national park in England amid criticism of ‘true state’ of UK’s landscapes

Report by news.sky.com 

The search for a new national park for England has been announced as part of a plan for nature set out by Rishi Sunak.

Critics have said the environmental package – which includes woodlands and food production covering 200,000 hectares of land – will be unable to hide the “true state” of the UK’s natural landscapes.

The scheme has received a lukewarm response because government funding for nationals parks has fallen by 40% in real terms in just the last decade, reported the Campaign For National Parks.

Critics also pointed to the state of the UK’s waterways, rivers and coastlines with increasing levels of sewage dumping, which the government has admitted is “unacceptable”.

Earlier this year, England’s environmental watchdog, the Office For Environmental Protection, strongly condemned the government’s record on climate and nature – finding the Tories were not “demonstrably” on track to meet a single target.

As part of the new project, an allocation of £15m will be shared by England’s 10 existing national parks and 34 National Landscapes.

Natural England will assess a list of possible national park sites, while there are plans to create two community forests in Derbyshire and the Tees Valley.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled the efforts “to protect these much-loved spaces” ahead of Thursday’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai.

But shadow environment secretary Steve Reed said the Tories had been overseeing the “destruction” of the British countryside.

He added: “Under their watch, the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and waterways face the highest levels of illegal sewage discharges in our history.”

Mike Clancy, the general secretary of the Prospect trade union, which represents a range of professions including engineers and scientists, also highlighted the conditions of the UK’s waterways – and Tory funding cuts to the Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs.

“Bold-sounding initiatives can’t hide the true state of our rivers, shorelines and natural landscapes,” he said.

“Without adequate funding for the guardians of our natural environment, there is little chance the government’s rhetoric will be able to meet its stated ambition.”

In August, environmentalist and author Guy Shrubsole, who lives near Dartmoor National Park, told Sky News “we need a balance of areas” to allow habitats to thrive.

He said: “Our national parks are in a pretty shocking state for nature… they’ve actually found that on average, they’re in a worse condition than nature is, outside our national parks.”