Meyrick Estate Management Ltd and others v. Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [electronic resource]

[2007] EWCA Civ 53, 01 February. The appellant secretary of state appealed against a decision quashing in part an order confirming the designation of land in the New Forest as a National Park. The respondent estate management company had originally objected to an order by the Countryside Agency to designate the whole of the New Forest as a National Park when the criteria for such a designation depended upon the site meeting the criteria for natural beauty and opportunities for open-air recreation as prescribed in the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. As the estate management company owned 800 acres of the estate through which there would be no public access and also for the reason that this particular area had no special natural beauty, the original objection had been upheld. The secretary of state argued that the term "opportunities...for open-air recreation" should also include opportunities that may exist in the future as well as those that already exist. "Held": it was far from self evident that it was possible to promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the area's special qualities by the public in the absence of public access. It was unnecessary to consider the natural beauty criterion. Appeal dismissed.