Northumberland National Park could be forced to make cuts across the board after Government aid's could have decreased by as much as 56% between 2010 and 2025.
The Government's grant to Northumberland National Park has been frozen since 2019 and will remain so until 2025. This is despite the cost of living crisis, inflation, salary increases to keep pace with inflation, meaning that in real terms by between 2019 - 25 the Park Authority's funding will have been cut by 22% - on top of losing 40% between 2010 and 2019.
Northumberland National Park Chief Executive Tony Gates says that finances of National Parks across the country are on a "cliff edge" and are fast becoming unsustainable. £1.7m of next year's grant of £2.6m will be solely to make sure that the National Park can "open its doors" and perform its core functions.
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This leaves the authority with £900,000 to work as the planning authority for a large section of Northumberland, maintain the Park's rights of way, conservation, visitor facilities, ranger facilities and education services and outreach programmes which aim to engage as much of society as possible with the great outdoors. Tony Gates said: "All the things that you take for granted if you go for a nice walk in the countryside are threatened by cuts to our funding.
"The real sadness in all of this is at a time when we face a climate crisis with COP ongoing as we speak, at a time in which we face a decline in nature across the world, at a time in which we have a health crisis and we know how important access to nature and the outdoors is; national parks could and should be stepping up to help society deal with some of it's biggest challenges, we're being cut down and starved of the oxygen we need to address these challenges and we're being forced to look inwards to make cuts. We are having to look at every aspect of our business, everything from our management to our delivery on the ground."
Northumberland National Park is one of the smallest and least-populated in the country. And he claims that the Park has not had its fair share of funding, having been hit with a "double whammy" when the Government funding formula was set up in 2003, with Northumberland National Park said to receive £500,000 less than it should have.
According to Tony, Northumberland National Park is far beyond the stage where it is looking to make efficiency savings. It has increased its own commercial income from around £250,000 in 2012 to more than £1m in 2021, but that is "nowhere near" making up the shortfall in Government funding.
He added: "We're cut to the bone, this is not about looking to trim around the edges, this is about looking at whole lines of work that we may need to stop."
Should those cuts go ahead, it means that visitors will likely see a decline in services. This could include facilities and rights of way not being maintained.
The park has already lost two visitor centres since 2010, one in Rothbury and the other in the Ingram Valley, with the only remaining centre The Sill, close to Steel Rigg on Hadrian's Wall.
Tony continued: "I want to see a sustainable level of core funding for all National Park authorities. In the case of Northumberland, I think we slip below the sustainable minimum and I'd like to see that made up to allow us to operate and for that to keep track with inflation in years to come and not to be cut back in real terms as we have been over many years.
"The people of the North East are rightly proud of their environment and we enjoy great support from partners, local funders and philanthropists and Northumberland National Park can be one of the best in the country, but we need the minimum core resources from Government to allow that to happen and I think that's the real challenge now.
"The Government rightly has a strong expectation on National Parks to do more on nature and climate and engage more parts of society and support people with their wellbeing. However, to do this we need to be given more resources, and the Government are increasing their expectations without any willingness to give the resources."
Lastly, Tony challenged a quote in a recent article on the Guardian where DEFRA claimed to be "working with National Parks to identify additional sources of funding, particularly through private investment".
Tony added: "I think there's a basic misunderstanding as to what private finance will and won't do, and it certainly won't pay the core funding for a public body. It may pay for one off projects now and again, but it will not fill the gap that we're using in public funding."
A Defra spokesperson said: "We value the vital role that our National Park Authorities play in protecting and enhancing our most iconic national landscapes – that is why we provide £2.7 million per year in grant funding to support the Northumberland National Park.
"We understand the very challenging financial circumstances facing all sectors and the pressures that this is putting on our National Park Authorities in particular. We remain committed to supporting them and are working with them to identify additional sources of funding."
In a statement to the Chronicle, DEFRA also said that private finance can play a role in supporting some aspects of the work that National Park Authorities deliver, however its contribution to core operating costs would depend on the terms and conditions negotiated on a case by case basis and would therefore need to be alongside public funding to support essential local public services. The statement ended: "Defra is working with the English National Park Authorities to help them in transitioning to a more blended funding model."
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