Northumberland National Park: Funding pressures mean tough choices

A national park boss said an ongoing funding freeze combined with not receiving millions of pounds it was due meant tough decisions had to be made.

Northumberland chief executive Tony Gates said a funding formula from 2003 had "never been applied fairly".

Along with the funding freeze he is having to consider closing visitor centres and cutting ranger services.

The government said it would work with national parks to find additional sources of funding.

Mr Gates said: "Back in 2003 the government came up with a formula of how the 10 national parks would be funded and the fact is that formula has never ever been applied fairly to Northumberland.

"There was a set of criteria - almost like a basket of eggs - of how many ancient monuments do you have in the park? How many people visit, what's the population of the park?

"When you apply the formula Northumberland National Park should be getting about half a million pounds more each year and should've had since 2003 but we've never seen that money and it's just unfair."

The Northumberland park receives a government grant of £2.6m a year from a national budget of £49m for the 10 parks in England.

That is the smallest allocation of government money as it gets one of the lowest amounts of visitor numbers.

The park has 700 of miles of footpaths and rights of way, including Hadrian's Wall.

Mr Gates said he believes the funding freeze on national parks in place since 2019 is "unnecessary".

Although he is looking at other ways of making income from commercial and other fundraised sources he said it "won't plug the gap."

"I have to look at every aspect of all the things the park does, all the core statutory things we must do to comply with the law, but also essential things like our ranger services, our farming team, our education work, the sites maintained by the park, rights of way, car parks and visitor centres," he said.

A Defra spokesperson said: "We understand the very challenging financial circumstances currently facing all sectors and the pressures that this is putting on our National Park Authorities in particular.

"We remain committed to supporting our National Park Authorities and are working with them to identify additional sources of funding, particularly through private investment."

Anna Charlton, who runs the Hesleyside Huts luxury glamping site, said: "It does worry me that funding is being cut, national parks are our legacy and our inheritance.

"They were gifted to the nation and we've got to look after that gift."

Steven Upton, who runs Newcastle Hiking, said he believed national parks were vital for wellbeing.

"The outdoors literally saved by life, without it I wouldn't be here - I went through a rough patch several years ago and a friend of mine showed me the outdoors."

Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].