A commuter car park in Essex is to be one of the first test cases of whether the government will enforce new legislation aimed at protecting national parks and landscapes in England.
Dedham Vale is a designated “national landscape” on the border of Essex and Suffolk, home to increasingly rare species including hazel dormice and hedgehogs. Within it is Manningtree station, where the train operator Greater Anglia built an extension to the car park to cope with increased traffic.
Campaigners say the 200-metre long wall and a bike shed built as part of the extension inhibits public access to St Edmund Way, an ancient pilgrimage path, generates light pollution and threatens habitats. They are now locked in dispute with the planning inspectorate over whether the development should be allowed to stay and have applied for a judicial review, which is likely to be heard early next year.
The seemingly localised case has much wider implications because it will be a test for new legislation that requires local authorities and all other public bodies in England to “seek to further” the aims of protecting landscapes in every decision taken that could have an impact on those landscapes.
Campaigners want to use this duty, contained in section 245 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, to force public bodies to take much greater action to improve national parks and protected landscapes, formerly known as areas of outstanding national beauty.
In the case of Dedham Vale, the local preservation society said the legislation, which came into force late last year, should mean the end of the 200-metre wall, arguing that the government’s planning inspectorate did not take into account the new duties when deciding the extension to the car park could stay.
Charles Clover, the chair of the Dedham Vale Society, and a longstanding environmental campaigner and writer, said: “There are shades of Mr Bates and the Post Office about this. If the protections of national parks and national landscapes are to be held too lightly by officialdom, we will fight to our limits to have them reaffirmed.”
Dedham Vale is not an isolated case – the widening of the A66 in the Pennines, and the M3 junction project near Winchester, Hampshire, are also being objected to on similar grounds.
Rose O’Neill, the chief executive of the Campaign for National Parks, said: “[The change in regulations] is an absolute game-changer, requiring all public bodies that own land or make decisions affecting protected landscapes to take action to conserve and enhance wildlife and natural beauty.”
O’Neill said she was worried the legislation was not being enforced and that the Labour government could try to ignore this. “There’s now multiple examples of public bodies ignoring the law,” she said. “They must know the law has changed, but they’re happy to keep their heads in the sand. This wilful blindness is vandalising the UK’s most iconic and nature-rich landscapes.”
O’Neill added: “The government needs to ensure compliance right now. It urgently needs to make a statement and bring forward guidance and regulations to give the legislation teeth and ensure all public bodies redouble their efforts to enhance national parks and landscapes, and ensure they are protected from harm.”
A government spokesperson said: “Progress to restore nature has been too slow and our precious national parks and national landscapes are in decline. That is why we will protect our most beautiful landscapes, create more nature-rich habitats and help our national parks become wilder, greener and more accessible to all as we deliver our commitment to protect 30% of land for nature by 2030.”
