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Friends of the South Downs – Volunteers appeal

The Friends of the South Downs is the membership charity whose aim is to campaign, protect and conserve the landscape of the park, so it can be enjoyed by everyone for future generations.

They are looking for volunteers to help review planning applications and matters relating to peaceful enjoyment of the South Downs National Park local to Fittleworth. Please see a summary of the post from the group below;

Friends of the South Downs Volunteer District officer

Founded in 1923, we have over 1500 members and campaign to protect the natural beauty and public enjoyment of England’s newest national park.

 What will you be doing?

Help us keep an eye on and comment on planning applications and work with us on conservation issues. We offer a chance to make a positive contribution to improving your local area. This role would suit someone with a planning or environmental conservation background. The Friends of the South Downs act as a “critical friend” of the Park Authority, focusing on upholding its purposes and duty. To do this we have formed a planning and conservation group made up of members from across the Park.

What are we looking for?

We are looking for an individual with a passion for the environment and the South Downs, who wishes to make a difference in and around their local area. It would be beneficial for them to have a background in planning and/or environmental conservation to assist in protecting the landscape and beauty of the South Downs National Park. You would work as part of a volunteer team, with support and guidance from the Friends of the South Downs Policy Officer and the office team.

 What difference will you make?

We make no bones about it, it’s difficult keeping an eye on the thousands of planning applications across the park in all of its 176 parishes. The South Downs National Park Authority processes far more planning applications than any of the other 15 national parks in Great Britain. We believe we’ve made it easy for people to volunteer a little bit of their time to check planning applications on a weekly or monthly basis. We have divided up the area of the Park into about 25 small ‘districts’. Each volunteer checks on their own district. This only takes about an hour or two each week. Our office circulates the planning lists to all our committee members and the District Officer just has to look for the ones on their patch and send in an email with a note of concern to our office, basically that’s it!

Please visit their website for further information

Volunteering – Friends of the South Downs