Devaluing the currency
JULIAN GLOVER sensibly describes the Government’s proposal for another national park as ‘hardly a priority unless it can be funded and run differently’ (‘So much more than a walk in the park’, January 24). Also significant is that national parks cover more than 10% of the land area of England and nearly 20% of Wales, so there is a risk of devaluing the currency by adding more. All 12 of the areas proposed for National Parks in 1947, in the Report of the National Parks Committee under Arthur Hobhouse charged with investigating this, have already been designated, albeit with some-what different boundaries.
The enthusiasm for more national parks stems essentially from a widespread desire for extending the benefit of the more exacting planning controls and other commitments to protect landscape and the environment that apply there. A central message is, therefore, that the Government
