Countryside Agency designates National Park

At the May 5th meeting of the Countryside Agency, the Board agreed that additional land in the North West meets the statutory designation criteria for a National Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The Board instructed officers to identify draft boundaries for Designation (Variation) Orders for the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District National Parks, and to consider other proposals for change to AONB boundaries in the region at a later date.

Countryside Agency chairman, Stuart Burgess, said: “The Countryside Agency has a statutory duty to designate and conserve areas of outstanding landscape quality and to encourage the conservation of landscape character everywhere.

“ This landscape has repeatedly and consistently been recognised as being of the highest quality, and therefore worthy of national landscape designation. Much of the distinctive landscape character of this area crosses existing National Park boundaries, which were drawn primarily on administrative grounds, and were proposed for designation in the Hobhouse report (1947).

“As a result of the landscape’s unique qualities and the public interest in tackling ‘unfinished business’ in this area, the Countryside Agency will now begin work to identify draft boundaries for variation orders for the Lake District³ and Yorkshire Dales National Parks.”

The Countryside Agency will be reviewing the boundaries in the following areas:

· Mallerstang, Orton Fells, the northern Howgills, parts of the Lune Valley, Middleton Fell, Barbon Fell, Leck Fell and the Cold Cotes area are proposed as a variation to the Yorkshire Dales National Park;

· Birkbeck Fells Common, Whinash, Borrowdale, Whinfell, and an area near Brigsteer and River Kent are proposed as a variation to the Lake District National Park;

Changes to the following AONB boundaries will be reviewed at a later date:

· Skirwith, Dufton and Stainmore are proposed as a variation to North Pennines AONB; and

· Hutton Roof and Farleton Fell are proposed as a variation to Arnside & Silverdale AONB.