National Parks [13 Jul. 2004]

Commons Hansard
13 Jul 2004

National Parks [13 Jul. 2004]

Mr. Lawrie Quinn (Scarborough and Whitby): It is a great personal pleasure and privilege to be allowed to introduce this debate, which I hope will enable us to consider the present activities and future mission of national parks in the United Kingdom. The debate will allow us to consider the issues surrounding national park authorities and their role in national conservation, recreation, tourism and rural regeneration agendas.

First, I thank you, Mr. O'Brien, and all right hon. and hon. Members who, with me, have requested an allocation of time to consider this important matter. This Adjournment debate is timely and I congratulate everyone who has been able to find time to attend this afternoon. I hope that we shall have a good debate and that we shall be able to give wide consideration to the important issues concerning national parks, which are one of the most important - indeed, vital - parts of national life. In an attempt to allow as many hon. Members as possible to participate, I shall make my opening comments as brief as possible.

I represent Scarborough and Whitby and live in one of the most beautiful parts of the United Kingdom. As the secretary of the national parks parliamentary group, I know only too well that there are many rivals for that tribute. I have been able to appreciate many different aspects of national parks throughout the country and, as I look round the Chamber this afternoon, I am pleased that I have had the opportunity on many occasions to visit national parks with my colleagues. We have had some very pleasant times indeed, but the jury is still out on which is the most beautiful part of the country.

I am sure that you are aware, Mr. O'Brien, that last week was the first national park week. That important period of celebration, recently concluded, was aimed at achieving a greater understanding and commitment at two levels; first, by encouraging people to visit and enjoy a range of events and sites, and secondly, to raise the profile of national parks nationally.

I am reminded of that old public information message that a dog is not just for Christmas. I passionately believe that the national parks are for every day of the year in every weather, and are not just for holidays. I am sure that my constituents and fellow residents of the North York Moors national park agree, as, I hope, do other Members of the House.

Our special week celebrated national parks and was given an excellent opening by the Minister who announced the Government's intention to confirm the designation of the New Forest as a national park.

Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West) (Con): The hon. Gentleman will be aware of my concern that the park as designated is too small to protect its sensitive core. The Minister has now decided to follow the inspector's recommendation and make it even smaller by excluding Lymington, Ringwood and other areas. I hope that the Minister will be open to representations on that score.

Lawrie Quinn : I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. From our previous encounters on the issue I know of his passion for the national parks movement and I am sure that the Minister has heard what the hon. Gentleman said.

The Minister for Rural Affairs and Local Environmental Quality (Alun Michael) : I want to make it clear that the points raised by the hon. Member for New Forest, West (Mr. Swayne) are not open to reconsideration. In my announcement, I sought to define clearly the New Forest national park according to the characteristics of the national park and the New Forest. He referred to urban areas. Urban areas such as Buxton in the heart of the Peak district do not need to be part of the national park area to be clearly engaged with and related to it. I suggest that both my hon. Friend and the hon. Gentleman read the details of the decision, which was clearly based on the inspector's report, the landscape expertise and the representations made during the seven months of public inquiry. The conclusions were reached carefully and the areas that remain concern three possible small additions that would improve the overall definition of the national park.

Lawrie Quinn : I thank my right hon. Friend for that quick response to the intervention. I am sure that the Official Report will be read by all of us in what I regard as the national parks family in Westminster. Indeed, it is from that sense of family that I give a warm welcome to everyone who will be part of the new national park in the New Forest; not only the residents but the authority and all the partners.

The debate will go on, with the words of the Minister regarding the remit and the necessity for designation ringing in our ears. I am sure that the future management of the New Forest will benefit from a focus not only at the national but the local level. Without doubt that national park designation can and, I believe will, allow greater community and public park participation. I want to encourage that.

The national parks movement goes back to the mid-19th century in north America. I have had the privilege and pleasure of visiting national parks across north America. It is my aim to try to emulate the high standards in national parks such as Yellowstone. It is important that we try to take a lead from the inspiration of the post-war settlement in terms of national parks to make sure that that place provides the tools for local communities to build a national park in their location in the way that they want.

The possibility of extending the national parks designation to other areas is also important and I look forward to seeing more national parks closer to more heavily populated parts of the country. Given the dynamic nature of the economy in south-east England and this capital city of ours, I hope that the landscape and the opportunities that the south downs offer will allow for a designation in the near future, if not next year. The quality of that landscape deserves the high accolade of national park status of which I am sure everyone would be proud.

Mr. David Lepper (Brighton, Pavilion) (Lab/Co-op): I welcome the comments that my hon. Friend made about the south downs. Is he aware that a poll carried out by Meridian television showed that about 85 per cent. of people in the proposed south downs areas support the national park? There is a great deal of public support in the Sussex and Hampshire areas.

Lawrie Quinn : My hon. Friend has great experience and I recall that he had the opportunity to participate in a similar debate approximately four years ago, in November 2000. I wish him and his constituents well in bringing that forward.

The media involvement and interest in the issue gives credit to the national park movement, which has used national parks week to focus the significance of that vital part of national life across the nation. The hundreds of pieces of print and broadcast coverage during that week, both near to national parks and beyond, have allowed us to give the country a flavour of the wide variety of opportunities in national parks.

It is interesting to note that many other audiences were reached in different ways. The UK's largest outdoor retail store featured a national parks week window promotion in its 260 stores nation-wide. I am sure that that has prompted many people from urban areas to find out for themselves the great attractions that national parks have to offer.

Dr. Ian Gibson (Norwich, North) (Lab): I see that the hon. Member for Mid-Norfolk (Mr. Simpson) is present. We both enjoy the delights of the Norfolk broads, but the local council is attempting to close the toilets and demean other public facilities such as refuse collection. Is not the wonderful work taking place in Norfolk and other areas undermined by aberrant councils?

Lawrie Quinn : I thank my hon. Friend for that contribution to the debate. Perhaps hon. Members will recall the incident in my part of the world where Scarborough borough council tried to close public conveniences in the same way as my hon. Friend described. Famously, the local playwright, Sir Alan Ayckbourn, who was given the opportunity to comment on whether there should be public conveniences or extra grants for his local theatre, said he did not want to get himself involved in a debate that would consider the important question of luvvies or lavvies.

At the end of the day, public opinion will doubtless win through. I wish my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich, North (Dr. Gibson) and the hon. Member for Mid-Norfolk well with their campaign to ensure that people see sense about how to spend a penny. [Interruption.] I think we will forgo that comment on rendezvous in public toilets.

To return to the comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for Brighton, Pavilion, there was a lot of publicity during national parks week. The Association of National Parks commissioned public surveys, and the interest in national parks from the survey conducted by Meridian television that my hon. Friend has mentioned is supported by the national survey, which showed that 95 per cent. of people thought that national parks were an essential part of national life. For all of us politicians, a 95 per cent. approval rating of our work would be well received, but perhaps we can look to that only as a political holy grail.

The key point of the debate is to support the vital work within the national parks family and to further stimulate public awareness. That point was highlighted in the review of national parks authorities published last year. One strong recommendation was that the parks do a better job of promoting their activities. On the North York Moors national park, the parks authority, those who work in the park and the friends of the national park have taken up that recommendation and done a far better job of promoting their activities.

In my part of the world and in many national parks throughout the country, a crucial component is the management of natural resources within the parks. Fundamental to that is the participation of people who work in the agricultural industry and the industry itself. The industry defines, maintains and undertakes the important stewardship of the landscape.

Over the last bank holiday, I visited the Peak District national park and, without a doubt, the landscape has been worked to provide us with a national treasure and has the acclaim of being our first national park. From conversations with farmers in the Peak District national park, we learned that Parliament must closely monitor agriculture for the next 10 years, as the common agricultural policy mid-term reform and single farm payments scheme impacts on those vital landscapes and their communities.

I hope that everyone agrees that it is essential to sustain the farming communities in the national parks. They are some of the most isolated and hard-working communities and they receive very little reward. I know only too well from my constituency mailbag how much support we should give to those communities, and the work that DEFRA has embarked on is part of the process of encouraging farmers to make more of the benefits of national park designation. The park authorities want to work more with the farming community to help it become more sustainable, not only in terms of agricultural product, but in terms of the diversification of the activities that it is able to carry out.

The parks are addressing the facilitation of the nation's sustainable development agenda. That has been helped by one of the Minister's personal initiatives; the sustainable development fund strategy. If he will forgive me for saying so, it is a passion of his. It is an exciting initiative, which involves communities and businesses in sustainable development at a practical level, and instead of just talking about the topic, it is delivering practical results in the nation's national parks.

In the North York Moors national park, a small engineering company was supported in the development of a small, environmentally friendly boiler, which is now a leader in the world market. That all started because of the support and the considered judgement of the park authority. Through agricultural and industrial support, the national parks have become an exciting place to do business. Many other organisations could take a leaf out of the national parks' book and follow their lead. They are all about teamwork and partnership and ensuring that such engagement continues into the future.

My right hon. Friend the Minister is respected among the family of national parks, principally because of his personal interest in the national park movement. I have been pleased to welcome him to my constituency on the occasions when he has visited the national park that covers 60 per cent. of my constituency. I particularly remember the fine day when we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the North York Moors national park. With typical style, we had a brisk ministerial moorland walk. The Minister impressed all who accompanied him on that day, not least the park rangers, who had allotted double the time we actually took to travel the route, which is a tribute to the years of training the Minister had on the slopes of Snowdonia. Without a doubt, on that day in North Yorkshire, he was not only well briefed but well booted. Many people, including rangers, still mention that day to me, and the way that he was able to get involved with discussions in the park.

For the record, we were also able to bring parliamentary colleagues from the national parks group to North York Moors national park in May 2003. There were many highlights to that trip, but one of the important things was the drive towards bringing sustainable tourism to the national parks in North Yorkshire. Last year, more than 8.5 million visitors spent time in the North Yorks Moors national park. Most would agree that that figure illustrates the importance of tourism to the area. Without a doubt, after the ravages of foot and mouth - which happily stopped halfway down my constituency, but none the less damaged many local businesses, many of which were linked to tourism - the North Yorks Moors national park sustainable tourism project allowed local businesses to understand what a special product they had and to develop the proposition that it is great to come to the North Yorks Moors national park.

The popular village of Goathland in my constituency is well known as Aidensfield in "Heartbeat" and it acts as a magnet for many people coming into my part of North Yorkshire. The special role that North Yorks Moors national park is able to perform in stimulating effective management of transport systems, effective promotion, and, above all else, a real partnership with the local community, allows us to look forward positively to the future.

I am conscious of the time. I want to allow many other colleagues to take part in the debate, but it would be remiss of me not to mention the tremendous work that has been done to debunk the ideas relating to social exclusion in national parks. People in areas such as Teesside, Humberside and other parts of West Yorkshire - people from ethnic communities in particular - have not felt that they would be afforded a welcome and hospitality when they visited a national park. The authority has done tremendous work in North Yorkshire and the Minister may recall seeing a presentation on it. It has made a huge difference and has made our national park feel like a national park, so Muslims from Teesside or Hindus from Hartlepool can come and enjoy the wonders of the fantastic moorland.

I want to mention a particular concern of mine that is exemplified by the ongoing debate about the future of RAF Fylingdales in the North Yorks Moors national park, which has made me particularly aware of the specialist and tremendous work that national park planning officers do. It gives me some concern that, as a nation, we are perhaps not sustaining and developing that particular group of professionals to allow them to undertake their specialist work of sustaining and keeping the national park together for the future.

I hope that the Minister will consider speaking to his colleagues in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to examine whether there will be a development, both professionally and in terms of the training opportunities that can be afforded to that special group of people. Over the years, I have seen planning officers who have been trained up, and have become very effective in their role of working for local communities, but who have been almost seduced away from the delights of the national park movement towards private practice. That puts pressure on the ability of planning officers to work effectively for the future. The debate on RAF Fylingdales has shown me what an excellent job such people do in contributing to the viability of national parks.

There is so much that I could say, but I will finish with one final point. The Minister took over from the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin), who set in train a debate about the future of national parks. At the end of 2003, an action plan for the review of the English national parks authorities was published. At the end of the debate, perhaps the Minister could take the opportunity to highlight where we are up to with the action plan, what has been achieved and whether there are any lessons to be learnt. Above all, what role can be played by local MPs, who serve these wonderful communities around the country, to keep the action plan alive and relevant and to service the needs of not only local residents but the nation?