England to get new national park

England will get a new national park as part of a government set of "nature pledges" to give greater access and protection to the countryside.
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Natural England will consider a list of possible sites, which could include the Chilterns, the Cotswolds and Dorset.

Some environmentalists gave the news a cautious welcome, as government funding for national parks has fallen in real terms, forcing service and staff cuts.

Funding worth £15m was also announced for a range of protected landscapes.  That will be shared by England's 10 existing national parks and 34 National Landscapes, formerly known as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The government said the £15m announced was new funding, with £10m to be released next year and a £5m pot made available this financial year from which national park authorities could bid for funding to improve rivers, lakes and water quality.

Thirty-four new landscape recovery projects will also be created under the ELMs farm payments scheme which will see 200,000 hectares of land managed to benefit nature and sustainable food production.

Further funding of £2.5m will be used to help give disadvantaged young people access to the countryside while £750,000 will be set aside for research into protecting England's temperate rainforests.

The package forms part of the government's final response to a 2019 review that criticised how such protected landscapes were managed and funded.

Julian Glover, the author of the Landscapes Review, which had called for three new national parks to be created, in the Chilterns, Cotswolds and Dorset, said he was thrilled to have "real progress backed with some extra money to help our national landscapes and national parks do more for people and more for nature".

Parks across the country have had to make cuts to staffing levels and visitor services as their core grant from government has fallen in real terms.