Government Proposals to Strengthen Protected Landscapes Announced
17th January 2022
The proposals, which will be subject to consultation, are set out in the Government’s response to Julian Glover’s independent Landscapes Review which looked at whether the protections for National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) are still fit for purpose. The Government’s response sets out ambitious changes to increase access to nature and ensure protected landscapes can deliver more for climate, nature, people and places for the next 70 years and beyond…
The review recognises that “AONB teams can bring substantial evidence and expertise to the planning process, and we wish to seek views on how the AONB teams can achieve better outcomes through the plan-making process.
The review also identified strong support for AONB teams to be granted statutory consultee status for planning applications. Whilst we acknowledge the resource implications this would place on AONB teams, we recognise the benefit of further strengthening their role and are seeking views on this potential change.”
Read more on GOV.UK
The public consultation: Landscapes Review (National Parks and AONBs): implementing the review runs until 9 April and can be found on GOV.UK here.