Lib Dems pledge to create new National Parks

EMBARGO: 22:30 Friday 7th June 

• The Liberal Democrat manifesto will include a pledge to create at least three new National Parks, with additional funding to boost the National Parks budget

• Ed Davey said that the proposals would help “protect our beautiful countryside for the next generation” and make good on the “broken promises of the Conservative Party”

• The party sets out plans where the Chilterns, Surrey Hills, and North Downs could be among the first new National Parks created in 14 years

The Liberal Democrats have pledged to create new National Parks across England, Ed Davey will announce today.

The policy would lead to an expansion of National Parks by adding at least three new parks to the existing ten in England, with new funding of £50m a year for new and existing National Parks.

The party stated that new National Parks could be created in the Chilterns in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Other areas could include a new Park in Somerset including the Mendips, Cotswolds and Quantocks, or designating the Surrey Hills, Northumberland Coast or Dorset as new National Parks.

Liberal Democrats have also committed to boosting funding for existing Parks, helping them protect and enhance the natural environment, to enable them to become National Nature Parks. This follows the 2019 Glover review which said that National Parks didn’t do enough to enhance nature and needed greater support.

Planting 60 million new trees a year will also be a manifesto commitment for the party. It would aim to reverse the trend of declining tree planting, decreasing from 30,000 hectares per year in the late 1980s to just 3,000 per year in 2022/23. 

The Conservatives pledged to create one new National Park in their 2019 manifesto but have failed to clarify where that Park would be, having waited to start the search until 2024.

The Conservatives have signed off on new gas drilling in the Surrey Hills National Landscape and reopening a previously closed site near Winchester in South Downs National Park. Liberal Democrats would ban onshore oil and gas drilling in National Parks and other protected landscapes.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

“Our National Parks are some of the most beautiful parts of our country, and that’s why I’m delighted that LiberalDemocrats will create three new National Parks across England.

“This Conservative party has broken too many promises to protect our countryside. Over the last few weeks, whilst travelling the country, I have heard from people about how important natural spaces are to families. It is hard to overstate the difference things like National Parks can make to entire communities.

“Liberal Democrats promise to create new National Parks, which could include areas like the Chilterns, as well as ensuring that our existing parks, beloved by people across the country, are protected for generations to come.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

The full text of the Glover review can be found here. 

60 million trees: Liberal Democrats would allocate £4.5 billion of capital investment over the next five years to plant 60 million trees a year.

New national parks: Defra funding to national parks was around £53m in 2022-23. Liberal Democrats would provide an additional £50m a year to provide additional resources, including enhancing nature and supporting the creation of three new national parks.

The funding increase will be paid for by a crackdown on tax avoidance and evasion. Under the Conservatives, the amount of taxes going uncollected for reasons including avoidance, evasion and criminal activity has reached £35.8bn a year [HMRC]. The Liberal Democrats’ plan to narrow the tax gap would raise a net £7.2 billion a year by 2028-29, facilitated by a £1 billion a year investment into HMRC.

What are National Nature Parks?

The Glover Review into protected landscapes highlighted that National Parks and AONBs (now called National Landscapes) highlighted that they had not done enough to protect the natural environment.

We would ensure any new National Park has restoring our natural environment at its heart and would work with existing National Parks and National Landscapes to improve the work they are doing to champion nature.