National Park change is welcomed

The county council said some of its concerns had been addressed

The removal of an East Sussex town from the proposed South Downs National Park has been welcomed "whole-heartedly" by the county council.

The council said excluding Lewes from the park was an important development.

It said that national parks decided on planning applications within their boundaries, making the process slower, which would be "horrendous" for Lewes.

But it is objecting to the inclusion of land at Wilmington and an area from Newhaven Tide Mills to the A259.

It says the land north of the A27 at Wilmington is poor quality and might be needed in future to improve the road to allow growth to the east at Polegate.

I will continue to argue about the size and shape of the proposed park until they get it right Councillor Matthew Lock

And it says the land north of Newhaven includes two proposed developments - the port access road and Eastside business park, which both have planning permission.

The county council believes including this strip of land is contrary to the boundary-setting criteria.

The revised boundaries were published last month by Natural England.

A public consultation is now under way, which has been extended to 24 September.

East Sussex County Council opposed the National Park when it was first proposed in 2001 because it felt locally-elected people should be making decisions about how the South Downs was run.

"But some of our concerns have been addressed and we feel it is now time to look forward," said Councillor Matthew Lock.

"I will continue to argue about the size and shape of the proposed park until they get it right for the people who live in and around the South Downs."