Page "National parks of England and Wales" Paragraph 15

The voluntary Standing Committee on National Parks first met on 26 May 1936 to put the case to the government for national parks in the UK.

After World War II, the Labour Party proposed the establishment of national parks as part of the post-war reconstruction of the UK.

A report by John Dower, secretary of the Standing Committee on National Parks, to the Minister of Town and Country Planning in 1945 was followed in 1947 by a Government committee, this time chaired by Sir Arthur Hobhouse, which prepared legislation for national parks, and proposed 12 national parks.

Sir Arthur had this to say on the criteria for designating suitable areas: