Issue - items at meetings - South Downs

The Assistant Director of City Services, Gillian Marston, began by informing the Committee that the Shadow National Park Authority (NPA) was in place and would be fully functioning from April 2011. The boundary had been an important issue and 40% of Brighton and Hove’s land would be in the National Park.

Ms Marston went on to highlight some of the key issues for the National Park which included:

·        The Downland Initiative which was aimed at securing a more sustainable management for the tenanted farms belonging to the council and surrounding the City.

·        The management of rights of way, including footpaths.  Local authorities could delegate these powers to the National Park or keep them separate. Both West Sussex and Hampshire have indicated their wish to maintain their rights, while East Sussex was not decided. 

·        Planning as National Parks have usually taken on the full planning functions. Due to the potential number of applications, they would be likely to delegate these down to Local Authorities as far as possible - but would have the right to call in certain decisions. This was less of a concern for Brighton & Hove, as they have relatively few applications, but would be a very big issue for district councils such as Chichester. 

·        Location of the South Downs National Park Offices – it was expected that once the shape of the organisation had been decided by the NPA in summer, this would determine the size and number of offices it would need. This could include a number of regional offices.   

The Council had been part of the Steering Group to establish the National Park which has met regularly to discuss issues such as Gateway Sites to the Park.

In response to a question about rights of way, the Committee heard that there used to be a dedicated officer who had good local knowledge of the area.

resolved:the Committee agreed to note the report.