A case to create Dorset National Park is gathering pace.
The Government has reaffirmed its commitment to create new National Parks and to start the designation process this year.


As everyone who lives, works or visits Dorset knows, the county is indeed a very special place, and this, in part, is why Dorset CPRE – The Countryside Charity, is calling for Dorset to be designated a National Park. However west Dorset MP Chris Loder says it is a terrible idea. During the last year of lockdowns, there has been a surge in appreciation for green spaces and the CPRE claims the environment is Dorset’s ‘greatest economic asset’ yet faces ‘enormous challenges’, most notably from development.

In a statement the CPRE said: “Many communities feel threatened by what they see as inappropriate development. Dorset’s relevant comparator is the South Downs National Park (SDNP) which is also a working, farmed landscape with many town and village communities. In the process of preparing its Local Plan, the SDNP worked in partnership with local communities to identify their needs for housing, economic development and local infrastructure. So, a National Park would help achieve the right development in the right places, where it is needed.”

If Dorset was designated as a National Park, the current Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) status would be replaced and Dorset Council would remain the lead local authority. Some 75 per cent of the members who would form a National Park Authority would be elected councillors from Dorset Council, the remaining third from parish and town councils.

A CPRE spokesperson said: “A National Park would bring additional resources
and enable Dorset Council funds to be released to spend on other county-wide priorities. A Dorset National Park, with its duties and funding to care for our unique environment and heritage, promote health and wellbeing, and foster the economic and social wellbeing of communities, would partner with Dorset Council.”

“It would bring additional resources and expertise, helping to secure a thriving, sustainable future for Dorset’s communities and economy; caring for Dorset’s environment and heritage; improving health and wellbeing; and helping us all to address the climate and ecological emergencies.”

However, Chris Loder MP said: “A National Park would be awful for us here in Dorset. It will turn half of Dorset into a museum whilst imposing mass development the rest. National Park areas have considerably less employment than non- national park areas. Dorset is not the stockbroker belt of the South Downs and should not be used as a comparison.”

“It is our home, one for decent, hard-working local people and we should not be making their lives harder, especially after covid. Increasing taxes to fund a whole new tier of government bureaucracy, when we only got rid of it in 2019, is just madness and so, as a local farmers’ son, I do not support it – at all.”

The calls from CPRE follow a leading review in 2019 by Glover Landscapes Review, an independent review launched by the Government, of areas of outstanding natural beauty.
The report recommended further assessment for Dorset to be given National Park status, which were welcomed by the Dorset & East Devon National Park Team (DEDNPT).

For further information, go to: dorsetnationalpark.com.

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