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| Allow more development in England's national parks, says planning minister | Allow more development in England's national parks, says planning minister |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| More development should be allowed in national parks to stop villages within them becoming museum pieces, a Tory planning minister has suggested. | More development should be allowed in national parks to stop villages within them becoming museum pieces, a Tory planning minister has suggested. |
| Speaking to MPs, Nick Boles said there was a danger of some rural communities in protected areas becoming "embalmed" if they were not allowed to grow. | Speaking to MPs, Nick Boles said there was a danger of some rural communities in protected areas becoming "embalmed" if they were not allowed to grow. |
| He said he was considering allowing more development in national parks because they should be more than just a wilderness. | He said he was considering allowing more development in national parks because they should be more than just a wilderness. |
| The minister's comments are the latest signal that the coalition is becoming more open to building in protected areas. Earlier this year, Boles said people must be realistic about the need for more housing, which would mean building on "environmentally uninteresting" green spaces. | |
| He has also provoked the ire of countryside-lovers by suggesting housing provides more human happiness than fields. At the same time, campaign groups have raised fears that the coalition's new planning guidelines make it easier to build on green spaces because they include a "presumption in favour of sustainable development". | He has also provoked the ire of countryside-lovers by suggesting housing provides more human happiness than fields. At the same time, campaign groups have raised fears that the coalition's new planning guidelines make it easier to build on green spaces because they include a "presumption in favour of sustainable development". |
| Boles made his latest remarks during a debate on planning policy in parliament. He told MPs: "Communities [in national parks] will only retain their appeal and retain life if they are allowed to change and to develop." | Boles made his latest remarks during a debate on planning policy in parliament. He told MPs: "Communities [in national parks] will only retain their appeal and retain life if they are allowed to change and to develop." |
| "If people are able to get jobs and to set up businesses, that is a necessary underpinning of a national park not just as a wilderness, not like Yosemite, but as a living, breathing set of communities." | "If people are able to get jobs and to set up businesses, that is a necessary underpinning of a national park not just as a wilderness, not like Yosemite, but as a living, breathing set of communities." |
| The minister said there should be more of a debate about "the balance between growth, development, economic and social development and protection of the landscape" in national parks. | The minister said there should be more of a debate about "the balance between growth, development, economic and social development and protection of the landscape" in national parks. |
| He said he wanted to find out "whether current legislation properly captures what we are trying to achieve and what communities in national parks want to see". | |
| England has 10 national parks covering nearly 5,000 square miles, including the Peak District, Dartmoor and the Lake District. Each one is administered by its own national park authority, funded by the taxpayer to "conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage" of the protected areas. |