NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITIES WELCOME FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT

The Association of English National Parks today (Thursday) welcomed the news that the Government has decided to increase the grant to National Park Authorities by the rate of inflation for the next two years.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) supplies the majority of the cash to the nine National Parks in England and it announced at the beginning of the year that it was going to freeze the grants it makes to National Park Authorities. The news was greeted with alarm with many National Park authorities saying that important services would have to be cut and the progress made in partnership working in recent years would be put in jeopardy.

Welcoming the news the chairman of English National Park Authorities Steven Pugsley said: “Although one could always wish for more, the amounts proposed do at least mean that we should be able to hold our own in the coming months. Without it, it would have been increasingly difficult to maintain the National Parks Authorities’ essential roles in protecting our finest landscapes and supporting the communities that live within them.”

Dr. Nigel Stone, chief executive of Exmoor National Park Authority said: “This news means that we should no longer have to take money from reserves and it will enable us to response more effectively to the emerging priorities in the National Park Management Plan which is undergoing a review. We are grateful to the Minister for his efforts to secure this funding for National Parks.”