RESIDENTS of Hinton suspect that The Countryside Agency's draft National Park boundary specifically excludes an area where there have been proposals to extract gravel.

Its authors, Dr Brian Curwain, Mary Davies and John and Liz Lloyd, say that despite the CA's claim that that it has tried to fix the draft boundary by using 'easily identifiable features' it has drawn an irregular boundary which excludes the site of proposed gravel extraction.

"It is clearly in our interest, and that of Walkford residents who overlook the fields, or make use of the footpath across them, to suggest to The Countryside Agency that the boundary of the National Park follows a more logical route," says the letter.