Protestors at the Cissbury rally
Protestors joined a walk yesterday to land in Britain’s newest national park that is threatened by a sell-off by the local council.
The land in West Sussex is next to Britain’s second biggest Iron Age hillfort in the South Downs national park. Worthing Borough Council, which owns the land at Tenants Hill, adjacent to the National Trust property including the fort, announced this week it was to review its decision to sell off the land.
The rally heard speakers condemn the plan to sell off the land, which was farmed by a tenant who died and was subsequently earmarked for sale by the council, along with a parcel of land to the West, overlooking the Findon valley.
Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society, which is supporting the Stop the Cissbury Sell-Off campaign, told the gathering: “Public landholdings are vital to the new South Downs National Park – and no more so than at Cissbury Ring.”
The protestors took part in a 7¼km (4½-mile) walk around the disputed land. Ms Ashbrook said the proposed sell-off had implications for other areas in the South Downs national park, which was confirmed by Secretary of State Hilary Benn on Thursday.
She said: “There is much downland on the southern fringe of the new national park, which is owned by the local authorities and provides a grand landscape setting for the coastal conurbations. The land was acquired for the people of the towns; it is their place for relaxation and quiet enjoyment.
Protestors walk across access land below the Cissbury Ring
“But now, in these financially-stringent times, the authorities too easily forget why they acquired the land in the first place. It is shortsighted to sell it for a quick buck, when it means so much to so many people – and will have a vital part to play in linking the South Downs national park to its neighbouring populations.
“We are delighted that the leader of Worthing Council, Paul Yallop, has agreed to review the sale of its downland around Cissbury Ring. But we fear that this may merely be a stay of execution. We want the council to revoke that decision and to resolve not only to retain the downland, but to restore it to its former wildlife- and wildflower-rich landscape.
“People have the right to walk on only one third of that downland, but they have traditionally enjoyed the whole area – voting with their feet for Worthing to retain it for the public.”
Ms Ashbrook spoke of the fact that much downland had been excluded from open access land when the right-to-roam laws were introduced. That needed to be corrected, she said.
“We look to Natural England’s forthcoming review of access land, under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, to ensure the access maps embrace land which should have been included first time round. We should have the legal right to enjoy all the land around Cissbury Ring, and the many other areas of open country on the South Downs,” she told the gathering.
Stop the Cissbury Sell-Off said about 400 people took part in the protest. The review of open access land is due to start in 2012.
