This week, Dame Cheryl Gillan, MP for Chesham and Amersham, writes exclusively to Bucks Free Press readers:

Should the Chilterns become the next new National Park?

Readers of this newspaper responded very positively to this idea earlier this year.

Now you have the chance to put your views direct to the government about it.

You have until December 18, 2018, and I want to urge as many people as possible to take part.

The run-up to Christmas is really busy, but this is a chance to determine the future of the Chilterns landscape.

If you type “Public to have say on new national parks” into your browser, this directs you to the gov.uk website and a short questionnaire. Individuals can have their say, as can businesses and organisations.

It’s an opportunity to explain what you cherish about our very special and fragile landscapes like the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Two million people in the UK live within AONBs or National Parks – yet more than half of the population live within half an hour of such places, so they provide a welcome haven to many.

As Chesham & Amersham’s MP, I recently met Julian Glover, who chairs this inquiry, and I also regularly meet Sue Holden, chief executive of the Chiltern Conservation Board which runs the Chilterns AONB, in order to maintain the pressure to preserve the environment in the Chilterns for future generations to enjoy rather than see it disappear under overdevelopment.

Also, as President of Bucks CPRE, I know it’s worth banging the drum for the Chilterns because the area will be under increased pressures from HS2 and the “arc of innovation” Cambridge-Oxford route with the intention to build 1 million houses.

What’s done now will set the scene for the next 25 years.

You can start by sending a photo of your special landscape – let’s have a whole gallery dedicated to the Chilterns!