National parks facing battle to keep landscapes

National park chiefs have claimed their already beleaguered budgets are being stretched further as the swingeing cuts to the public sector begin to bite deep.

The stark warning comes as the largest ever single investment in an English national park moved a massive step forward with the announcement of the proposed site for a £1.7bn potash mine in the North York Moors.

The Yorkshire Post revealed yesterday the mine-head would be within the national park near Whitby, and a 27-mile underground pipeline would then carry potash to a processing plant on Teesside.

The North York Moors National Park Authority’s chief executive, Andy Wilson, admitted his organisation faces a “significant challenge” in dealing with the planning application, which is due to be submitted by the end of the year.

He said: “We are very aware of the importance that people are attaching to the plans to bring the mine to the area in terms of jobs and the boost to the economy. It is an issue of extreme importance, and it is critical that we handle the process correctly and fairly.

“There is an increasing amount of development across the country, which gives an added importance to the nation’s protected areas. It is important to recognise that a development which was given the go-ahead in the past will not necessarily be given approval now. If it did, then it could destroy the fabric of rural England. We need to take the decision that is right for the 21st century.”

The task in dealing with the application for the mine comes as the park authority’s grant is being slashed by 21.5 per cent from £5.1m in the last financial year to £4.3m by 2014/15. This amounts to a real term reduction of 35 per cent once inflation and the loss of funding from external organisations are taken into account.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s chairman, Carl Lis, admitted conflicting issues such as addressing the need for affordable housing while preserving the treasured landscapes are being amplified by the Government’s spending cuts.

His own authority has launched the first strategy of its kind in the hope that more than 200 properties will be built in the Yorkshire Dales National Park before 2025.

Coun Lis, who is also the chairman of the UK Association of National Park Authorities, said: “The pressure that is being placed on budgets is enormous. While all the public sector is enduring cutbacks, national park authorities are facing some very specific challenges. Funding is reducing but we still have to make sure these wonderful areas are protected. If we don’t and development is allowed to happen without the necessary checks, then the landscapes will be lost forever.”

The proposed potash mine on farmland near the village of Sneaton is expected to create as many as 5,000 jobs and provide a multi-billion pound boost to the coastal economy, which is one of Yorkshire’s unemployment blackspots. Exploratory drilling work in the national park has pinpointed one of the world’s most extensive seams of potash, which is a key component in fertiliser and is vital to helping satiate global food demand.

Sirius Minerals, the international firm behind the proposed mine, has secured mineral rights spanning the next 140 years between Whitby and Scarborough. The company stressed it is attempting to alleviate the pressures on the North York Moors National Park Authority and has agreed to pay for independent consultants to analyse data ahead of the planning application’s submission.

The managing director of Sirius Minerals, Chris Fraser, said: “We are doing things the right way, and engaging closely with the national park. What happens with the application is dependent on the quality of the information we provide, and we are doing all we can to aid the process.”

The Department for Communities and Local Government stressed “every bit of the public sector” has to play its part to tackle the national deficit, and claimed “fair and sustainable funding settlements” are in place.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs maintained while “difficult decisions” need to be made on spending, millions of pounds are continuing to be invested in national parks.

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