Beith slams Government proposals to change National Park Authority

2.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 27th Jun 2008

Liberal Democrat MP Sir Alan Beith has slammed proposals to reduce the level of elected representation on the Northumberland National Park Authority.

Sir Alan Beith was speaking after DEFRA announced a consultation to reform the distribution of seats on the Authority. The consultation proposes that four members of the Northumberland National Park Authority are to be appointed by the Secretary of State rather than being locally elected councillors.

Sir Alan Beith said:

"We are now being told that not only do we have a single unitary authority imposed on us but also that one effect of the reorganisation is that central government can boost its number of representatives on the National Park Authority at the expense of local representation.

"Given that the Northumberland County Council has to make sure that the different parts of the National Park still need to be represented, I am sure the Council will need more than six places in order to do so, because it has to cover from the Scottish Borders down to Tynedale and the many different communities in the area.

"This move confirms many of our fears that local government reorganisation is being used to increase central government power and reduce the power of people living in the area affected."

Sir Alan Beith has commented on the consultation and has written to the Secretary of State about the proposals.

At present, 12 of the 22 seats on the Northumberland National Park Authority are filled by local councillors: six from Northumberland County Council, one from Berwick Borough, two from Alnwick District and three from Tynedale District. Four members represent the parishes which fall inside the National Park and the remaining six places are Secretary of State appointees.

Under the proposals, just six seats would be filled by elected councillors from the unitary authority for Northumberland. Of the remaining 14 seats, six would be filled by representatives for the parish councils, increasing their representation from four seats to six. The number of people appointed by the Secretary of State would rise from six to ten.

The consultation documents can be found online at:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/northumberland-npa/index.htm