A conservation group says there has been an "avalanche" of planning applications by people hoping to beat the stricter controls of a new national park.

The Society of Sussex Downsmen says it has seen a huge increase in the number of applications in parts of Sussex that look likely to be included in the proposed South Downs National Park.

The society is one of the organisations which is routinely consulted by councils on planning issues which might affect the Downs.

Anthony Kennedy, district officer for the Downsmen, thinks many of these applications have been put forward by people hoping to beat the starting gun before the park comes into being in 2002 or 2003.

He said: "The first person who alerted me to the increase was my postman, who pointed out I was getting an awful lot of mail.

"Then the two ladies who work in the office said there were a lot more applications than usual coming in.

"Usually, I am asked to comment on one or two applications a week but in the last few months it has been three or four a day.

"Obviously there will be much stricter planning guidelines when the national park starts and people are getting their applications in now to have more chance of getting them through.

"The applicants must be thinking they had better get them in quickly because they wouldn't stand a chance under the national park authority."

Mr Kennedy said most of the applications were for changing agricultural caravans into houses, small bungalows into bigger houses and former agri-cultural buildings into dwellings and holiday homes.

There were also a lot of appli-cations for the erection of large, modern agricultural buildings.

He said: There have been applications for anything and everything, from vast mansions to whole rows of houses.

"About 30 per cent of these seem to be replicating applications that have been turned down during the last five years and have been resubmitted.

"If they did all go through, the impact on some downland vil-lages could be unpleasant.

"The Downs are already under terrific pressure because it is the only strip of land in southern England which has not been developed."

Lindsay Frost, head of plan-ning and environmental services for Lewes District Council, said there had been an increase in planning applications but he did not know why.

He said: "Generally, it seems applications are up but we are putting it down mostly to economic factors, for example people staying put and extending their houses rather than moving.

"We have no evidence to sug-gest it is because of the national park proposals."

Stephen Cantwell, planning control manager for Arun District Council, said he had no evidence of an increase in applications.