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PHOTOCALL
Media representatives are invited to attend a photo call with Bill Bryson on Wednesday 18th March, from 12.15pm – 12.45pm outside Defra’s Nobel House office, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR (see map) where Bill will be presenting a giant ‘petition’ postcard to Defra officials. Please contact the Campaign to Protect Rural England press office on 0207 981 2880 for further information.

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Bill Bryson, author and President of CPRE, will present a giant postcard to the Government on behalf of the South Downs Campaign [1] a network of over 150 organisations pressing for a South Downs National Park. The postcard is one of 18,500 sent to Government calling on it to confirm the widest possible boundary. [2]  The postcard is also signed by Ben Fogle, Brian Blessed, Campaign for National Park President and Vice President respectively, Floella Benjamin OBE, Ramblers’ President and David Dimbleby.

Bill Bryson said:

‘The postcard campaign has inspired a huge response from the public who support the National Park.  It shows the Government how important it is to confirm the South Downs National Park with the widest possible boundary.

‘The four areas shown on the postcard – the Western Weald, the chalk downland, the town of Lewes and the village of Ditchling are greatly deserving of National Park status.  We hope that the Government will listen to the many thousands of voices that support this.’

The Government is expected to announce its decision on the South Downs National Park in early summer [3] almost ten years after it promised the National Park as a ‘gift to the nation’ in 1999. [4]

Bill Bryson continued:

‘This is the landmark 60th anniversary year of the legislation that established National Parks. [5]  The then Labour Government described the Act as “... the most exciting Act of the post-war Parliament”.  We hope the Minister in 2009 makes a similarly historic decision with regards to the South Downs.

‘I hope that the giant postcard that I’m giving to the Government on behalf of the South Downs Campaign will find a happy home with the thousands of postcards that have already been sent in.  We’re calling on the public to help show support for the South Downs National Park by sending in their own electronic postcard to the Government, which can be found at www.cpre.org.uk [6]  This is history in the making – have your say now!’ 

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NOTES FOR EDITORS

1.  The South Downs Campaign is a network of over 150 national, regional and local organisations who are working together to secure the establishment of a South Downs National Park. CPRE, the Ramblers, the Campaign for National Parks and the Youth Hostels Association are amongst its more active national members within the Campaign. More information: www.southdownscampaign.org.uk 

2.  Around 18,500 postcards were sent by members of the public to Defra since 1 December 2008.  David Lepper, MP for Brighton Pavilion, kindly asked a Parliamentary Question on behalf of the South Downs Campaign. View the question here.  A 1,000 postcards will be handed in on 18 March.

3.  A decision could be made by Government as early as April this year.

4.  The South Downs National Park, alongside the New Forest National Park, was promised as ‘a gift to the nation’ by the Government in 1999. John Prescott MP, then Deputy Prime Minister, announced Labour’s plans for two new National Parks at the Labour Party Conference in September 1999. The New Forest National Park was confirmed in 2005. The full text of the speech can be viewed at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/460795.stm

5.  The 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act was designed to preserve and enhance natural beauty and provide recreational opportunities for the public.

6. The electronic postcard can be viewed on the CPRE website home page: www.cpre.org.uk or:  http://www.cpre.org.uk/campaigns/landscape/national-parks/national-parks-take-action  Paper copies of the South Downs National Park postcard can be ordered from the South Downs Campaign website: www.southdownscampaign.org.uk