Dorset National Park - Chris Loder's email to Parish Council Clerks on 28th April 2021
Further to my previous email asking for the Council’s view on the Dorset National Park proposals, some Parish Councils have asked me for an insight into my own view and I’m very pleased to be able to share that. I’m opposed to the Dorset National Park for the following reasons:
Therefore, I don’t support a Dorset National Park. In my opinion, the Dorset National Park proposal would make house prices higher still and make employment more difficult, make it more difficult for local people to live and work here. We’ve had the most severe economic shock since world war two and I, as your Member of Parliament, cannot support initiatives such as this that will make life more difficult for people who live here.
I hope this summary is helpful as you consider your own position.
Yours sincerely
Chris
Chris Loder MP
Member of Parliament for West Dorset
- House prices in the nearby New Forest National Park are 23% more expensive than in Dorset currently. This is common across all National Parks. I have no wish to increase house prices here in West Dorset any more than they are already, when Dorset house prices are already 20% higher than the England average. It is not difficult to foresee the inevitable increase in house prices should Dorset be classed as a National Park.
- Having lived in West Dorset nearly all my life, I have seen how house price inflation and second home ownership has changed village communities almost beyond recognition. A National Park would deplete communities of local people through a second home boom. Businesses that depend on the local population would struggle and unemployment would increase.
- A National Park would force young people to leave Dorset, seeking better living affordability and work opportunities elsewhere. The full-time employment rate in some of our neighbouring National Parks is 11% below average. National Parks worsen unemployment which has already been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
- Our planning system in West Dorset is bad enough as it is – I don’t want it to be any worse. At least currently, when the planning system isn’t working, your local elected councillor can be held responsible. If you’re a parish in a National Park area, that won’t be the case. Local government must be democratic to ensure it accurately represents the people it serves. Dorset Council has dedicated councillors with deep local knowledge. Given that a National Park Authority is not an elected body, it is an appointed body and is not democratic and therefore not accountable to us. We would therefore have much less influence over planning policy than they do today. Unlike other National Parks that are more sparsely populated, such as Dartmoor and Exmoor, Dorset is a living environment with homes and businesses spread across the whole expanse of land. It is important to the people of Dorset that they maintain democratic control of their local authorities.
- If you are a parish that is just outside the proposed boundary, in my opinion, you are likely to be severely impacted going forward by large housing quotas that will change the spirit of the community. I am concerned that the creation of a National Park would push housing quotas to areas just outside the boundaries of the protected landscape. Providing Dorset’s housing supply should be collaborative and sustainable – not about turning half of Dorset into a museum whilst imposing mass development on communities outside of the designated National Park area.
- Prior to being elected MP for West Dorset, I served on the West Dorset District Council. It was slow and bureaucratic. Many years have been spent developing a proposal and implementing a unitary authority in Dorset, to reduce bureaucracy, streamline spending and to deliver better services to local communities. The new unitary Dorset Council has responded dynamically to the coronavirus crisis and this dynamism will be essential to the county’s economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic. Having spent years streamlining the system, I do not believe it sensible to now add an additional bureaucratic body back into the mix, in the form of a National Park Authority.
- My priority is to ensure the sustainability of our village shops, primary schools, village halls, pubs, and parish churches. In order to do this, we will need to ensure a very modest level of development, enabling local people to afford to live in the area where they grew up. Placing Dorset villages under the control of a National Park Authority will, in my opinion, make sensible development so much harder, whilst National Park status concurrently inflates the price of existing housing stock further still and attracts second homeowners. This would hit low-income, local people the hardest and threaten the future of village amenities.
Therefore, I don’t support a Dorset National Park. In my opinion, the Dorset National Park proposal would make house prices higher still and make employment more difficult, make it more difficult for local people to live and work here. We’ve had the most severe economic shock since world war two and I, as your Member of Parliament, cannot support initiatives such as this that will make life more difficult for people who live here.
I hope this summary is helpful as you consider your own position.
Yours sincerely
Chris
Chris Loder MP
Member of Parliament for West Dorset
