RECENTLY, the North Peninnes have been marketed to tourists as "England's Last Wilderness" - an allusion to the windswept and isolated nature of the landscape.

The irony of this was not lost on some residents who have enjoyed living in an area which is arguably the equal of the neighbouring Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland uplands, but without the visitor numbers experienced in the two national parks

Now with the idea of a North Peninnes National Park, including the Durham Dales, being mooted by the chief executive of the Northumbria Tourist Board, Peter Sloyan, the chances of the area remaining England's last wilderness recede a little further.

Mr Sloyan anticipates the reservations of landowners, farmers and many residents. National Park designation brings with it tensions, usually arising out of a more restrictive planning regime. And then there is the controversial "democratic deficit" enshrined in all national park authorities - namely the members appointed by Whitehall to protect the national interest.

But Mr Sloyan rightly points out the economic benefits of national park designation - principally tourism - to initiate a debate about the pros and cons. The people of the North Peninnes have to consider whether the constraints and the occasional tensions of being within a national park represent a price worth paying for the economic benefits designation would bring.

With the farming industry in marginal areas like the North Peninnes still in a state of what seems like terminal decline, can the area afford to hang on to the "last wilderness" sobriquet?