*AONBs have recently been rebranded as National Landscapes. Under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, Natural England would designate an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), not a National Landscape so this website will continue to refer to the area as a potential AONB. If designated, it would then be known as a National Landscape. Further information below.
Natural England is the public body responsible for conserving and enhancing the natural environment in England. One of Natural England’s responsibilities is to decide whether an area should be given special status and protection by designating it as a National Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Natural England recently held a Statutory and Public Consultation on the proposal to designate a new AONB in the Yorkshire Wolds. The consultation ran from October 2024 to January 2025 and provided everyone, from local authorities and infrastructure providers through to landowners, businesses, residents, and visitors, with the opportunity to have their say and to look at the work carried out to date and the proposals for a new AONB.
A number of documents (the Consultation Pack) were written, explaining the process and the proposals, and these were available to view online, or to take home from events that were held within the local area. In addition, copies of more technical documents (Supporting Information), such as the technical assessments that have been carried out, were also available to view online and within local libraries and local authority offices.
The purpose of this Frequently Asked Questions page is to help inform about AONBs and the Yorkshire Wolds Designation Project in particular; the designation process and Natural England’s role; as well as some of the implications for any area that may be designated as an AONB.
This Frequently Asked Questions page is divided into four sections:
AONB Background Information
Yorkshire Wolds Designation Project Information
The Designation Process
The Implications of Designation
Also included is a Glossary of terms page. Please note that words or phrases written in bold italic have their own entries within the Glossary, providing further information or explanation.
Note: These FAQs were updated in March 2025, after the closure of the Statutory and Public Consultation. Consequently, the information provided here is more up to date than the FAQs document published in Autumn 2024 as part of the consultation information available on the Yorkshire Wolds Proposed AONB Designation consultation website - https://consult.defra.gov.uk/ne-landscape-heritage-and-geodiversity-team/yorkshire-wolds-designation/.
A. An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is land protected by legislation, the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CROW) 2000, in order to ensure that its natural beauty is conserved and enhanced. The Act defines an AONB as: an area which appears to Natural England to be of such outstanding natural beauty that it is desirable that the provisions of CROW Act should apply to it for the purpose of conserving and enhancing the area’s natural beauty. There are currently 34 AONBs in England.
There is no existing AONB in the Yorkshire Wolds. If, as a result of this project, a new Yorkshire Wolds AONB is designated, it would be the first new AONB to be designated since the designation of Nidderdale AONB in 1994.
AONBs have recently been rebranded as National Landscapes, but as legally Natural England would designate an AONB, not a national landscape, this website will continue to refer to the area as AONB. See question below.
For more information about existing National Landscapes (AONBs) and the work that they do, please visit the National Landscapes Association website - https://national-landscapes.org.uk
A. Designation as an AONB provides statutory recognition of the national importance of the natural beauty of the area and makes it a legal requirement for the relevant local authorities, in partnership, to prepare and publish a management plan and for partners to contribute to their delivery.
In addition, Section 245 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2024 (LURA) places a duty on relevant authorities to seek to further the statutory purpose to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of an AONB. This means that local planning authorities, and other decision makers, will need to apply the duty when undertaking any function in relation to, or that might affect, land in an AONB, e.g. when preparing Development Plans or making decisions about planning applications.
See the ‘Implications of Designation’ section below for more detail.
A. Natural England is the government’s adviser on the natural environment, with special legal responsibilities for creating National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and for reviewing their boundaries. We also have a wide range of other responsibilities for the natural environment. More information about our work can be found at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england
A. It is Natural England’s responsibility to decide whether to designate an area as an AONB. Legally, Natural England has a discretionary power under S.82 of the Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act 2000, to designate Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Any decision will be made by Natural England’s Board, having considered the evidence and the results of the statutory and public consultation. However, any designation Order would not take effect unless, and until subsequently, confirmed by the Secretary of State (Defra), after a legal Notice Period has been undertaken. The Secretary of State has the power to call a Public Inquiry to assist in their final decision making if so minded.
A. In deciding whether to designate an AONB, or to vary an existing AONB boundary, Natural England must first consider whether the land has outstanding natural beauty; and then whether designation is desirable for the purpose of conserving and enhancing the area’s natural beauty. This decision requires Natural England to address three broad questions:
Does the landscape have sufficient natural beauty to be considered outstanding?
Is it desirable in order to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the area, to designate this landscape as an AONB?
Where should the boundary be drawn?
A. AONBs were recently rebranded as National Landscapes. Legally however, Natural England can only designate an AONB. To avoid confusion, all documentation and consultation material refer to AONB throughout. If an AONB is subsequently designated, then it would be known as a National Landscape.
A. The local authorities covering the Yorkshire Wolds have long considered that the Yorkshire Wolds should be designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Much of the area under consideration has been designated locally in recognition of its landscape value, either as Important Landscape Areas (in East Riding) or Areas of High Landscape Value (in Ryedale). Representations requesting the designation of this area have been made to Natural England and predecessor bodies over a number of years.
In June 2021, following the publication of the government commissioned ‘Landscapes Review’ (Glover Review), it was announced that Natural England would be taking forward the government’s commitment to designate additional landscapes and that they would be considering the designation of four new landscapes. This included the possible designation of a new Yorkshire Wolds AONB.
A. To be designated AONB, an area must have outstanding levels of natural beauty, and this is determined through a natural beauty assessment. The initial Area of Search covered land in National Character Area 27 (Yorkshire Wolds). This area of search stretched across North and East Yorkshire, from Hull in the south to Flamborough Head in the north-east and to the boundary of the Howardian Hills AONB in the north-west.
Following a detailed assessment of the natural beauty, the results of which are contained in the consultation material, two smaller areas were selected to become the potential AONB Candidate Area and are now being considered for designation:
Inland Area: Comprising the north and west escarpment of the Wolds, the foothills south of Malton and the High Wolds and their valley systems
Coastal Area: Extending between Reighton and Sewerby Rocks
A more detailed description of the areas being considered, and an explanation for why they have been included, can be found within the Consultation Pack documents and the Supporting Information documents.
A. Natural England sought the views of the public and key stakeholders on a provisional candidate area for designation during an early engagement exercise in June 2022. During this process, around 700 people visited the project website, over 450 attended events and around 250 written responses were received.
All comments were considered by the consultant team undertaking the assessments. As a result of the engagement further extensive field assessments were carried out informing the definition of the final Candidate Area.
For more information about the technical process of designation, please see section 3 below.
A. Letting local people and organisations have their say is an important part of the designation process. There are lots of opportunities for you to ask questions and say what you think about the proposal for a new Yorkshire Wolds AONB.
Natural England have been working collaboratively with local partners since the start of the project. Local people and organisations took part in informal engagement events held in 2022 and were able to contribute to evidence gathering as well.
Natural England recently held a Statutory and Public Consultation on the proposal to designate a new AONB in the Yorkshire Wolds, to give members of the public another opportunity to view the proposals and have their say.
The consultation ran from October 2024 to January 2025 and a special consultation website (https://consult.defra.gov.uk/ne-landscape-heritage-and-geodiversity-team/yorkshire-wolds-designation) was set up, providing links to a number of documents (the Consultation Pack and Supporting Information) explaining the proposals, as well as giving details of when and where online and in-person events would be held, and an online form to submit a response. Press releases and posters also provided information about the consultation; including events that were being held, how to request hard copies of the Consultation Pack, where copies of the Supporting Information documents could be viewed, and how to submit a response.
Now that the consultation has finished, Natural England and their consultants are considering all of the responses and evidence that has been received, and we look forward to sharing the results of this once completed. There are a number of different outcomes that can result from this stage of the process, depending on the responses and evidence received, as described in the next question below.
Eventually, however, a decision will be made about whether to proceed with the proposed designation and what should be included within that proposal. At this stage, if it is decided that the proposal to designate a new Yorkshire Wolds AONB should continue, the project will progress towards a formal stage in the process known as the Notice Period.
The Notice Period provides another opportunity for members of the public to view the proposals and have their say. Details of when the Notice Period is taking place, and how to view the proposals, will be widely advertised nearer the time. If you would like to be kept informed, you can email the designation team on YorksWoldsDesignationProject@naturalengland.org.uk and we will keep you updated.
For a list of useful contact details, such as websites, email addresses and telephone numbers, please refer to the ‘Have our say’ section of this website.
A. Local authorities are responsible for preparing and publishing management plans for AONBs and have powers to carry out necessary management. However, they are not solely responsible for caring for AONBs. Partnerships are a valuable means of coordinating the management of areas of countryside in multiple ownership. They bring together interested parties and encourage a strong sense of ‘ownership’ to care for the area. AONB partnerships are often set up as local authority Joint Advisory Committees (JACs), some have been established as a conference, forum, trust or, as a joint local government committee. Since the CRoW Act, there can also be statutory conservation boards set up to manage an AONB, although this requires parliamentary time to develop an Establishment Order.
The work of an AONB Partnership is achieved through an AONB Management Unit taking forward a range of initiatives that promote the special character of the area, establish partnerships, secure funding, ensure implementation and monitor effectiveness. In recognition that AONBs are nationally important landscapes, 75% of the AONB Unit’s core costs are typically funded by central government through Defra. The remaining 25% of core costs are usually funded by the local authorities with land in the AONB, to reflect their statutory responsibilities towards the AONB. to reflect their statutory responsibilities towards the AONB. The degree of funding available varies considerably and would be decided by Defra and the local authorities once a new AONB is designated.
A. Natural England has appointed consultants experienced in this area of work who have been assisting throughout the process so far. This work has included evidence gathering with local people and stakeholders prior to undertaking the technical assessment of natural beauty; determining the desirability of designating a new Yorkshire Wolds AONB; and developing a proposed boundary which includes areas assessed as having outstanding natural beauty.
The following is a summary of the practical steps being followed (with indicative timescales for each):
Call for evidence on Natural Beauty of the Area of Search from Key Stakeholders - April 2022
Review of available evidence relevant to the assessment of natural beauty and technical assessment of natural beauty in the field - May 2022
Awareness raising workshops and webinars for key stakeholder organisations - June 2022
Public call for review of draft Candidate Area via an online engagement platform and project website, as well as via face to face drop in events - June 2022
Preparation of recommended Candidate Area and supporting justification and the natural beauty assessment report - December 2022
Assessment of desirability to designate - June 2023
Assessment to define a proposed boundary - December 2023
NE approval of technical assessments and approval to undertake the statutory consultation – September 2024
Preparation of documentation for and subsequent undertaking of the statutory consultation – October 2024 – January 2025
Going forward:
Review responses to the statutory consultation and produce Consultation Analysis Report – January – July 2025
Make any amendments to the proposals and technical documents resulting from the analysis of the consultation responses and evidence received (if necessary, run an additional statutory and public consultation on the amended proposals) – Summer - Autumn 2025
NE Board approval of the final assessments of whether Natural England should designate a new Yorkshire Wolds AONB and, if yes, approval of a draft Order designating a new AONB and approval to proceed to a formal period of Notice - dates to be confirmed currently working towards November 2025
Preparation for Formal period of Notice and analysis of responses - dates to be confirmed but currently working towards Winter 2025 – Summer 2026
Order made and submitted to the Secretary of State (Defra) designating a new Yorkshire Wolds AONB - dates to be confirmed but currently working towards Summer 2026
A. The process that must be followed when designating a new AONB is complex and can take a considerable length of time as a result.
Assuming that the timetable set out above is followed, and that it is decided that a new Yorkshire Wolds AONB should be designated, it is hoped that a designation Order would be submitted to the Secretary of State for a decision in the Summer of 2026.
However, it is not possible to say how long it will take the Secretary of State to make a decision, or whether they may call a Public Inquiry.
A. Now that the consultation has finished, Natural England and their consultants are considering all of the responses and evidence that has been received, and we look forward to sharing the results of this once completed. There are a number of different outcomes that can result from this stage of the process, depending on the responses and evidence received.
It may be that the proposals require changing in response to evidence provided during the consultation stage, such as changes to the boundary and whether an area of land is included, or not.
If, as a result of the statutory consultation, additional land needs to be included within the proposed boundary an additional statutory consultation will be required.
Once proposals are finalised, the project moves towards an important stage of the designation process - the Notice Period. Preparation for the Notice Period requires a number of key tasks to be completed:
Drafting a legal document called a Designation Order
Seeking Natural England Board approval
Publishing a legal Notice of Natural England’s intention to make (sign and seal) the Designation Order
During the Notice Period details of the final proposals will be published, including a draft copy of the designation Order and maps, and supporting information. The Notice Period will last for a month and will provide another opportunity for members of the public to view the proposals and have their say.
The final stage in the process is for the Secretary of State to decide whether to confirm Natural England’s designation Order. The Secretary of State may call a Public Inquiry to assist in their decision. The Secretary of State can decide to:
confirm the Order as it is, or
confirm the Order with amendments, or
decline to confirm the Order.
There is no set timescale for this process.
A. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act requires Natural England to undertake a statutory Local Authority consultation of all county, unitary, district and borough councils affected by the proposals prior to reaching a final decision. In this case, the relevant bodies are East Riding of Yorkshire Council, York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority and North Yorkshire Council. Natural England intend to consult with the new Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority in Summer 2025, following completion of the response evaluation from the Statutory and Public Consultation that closed in January.
However, it is common practice for Natural England to consult more widely than just the statutory consultees, and the consultation that ran from October 2024 - January 2025 was open to anyone with an interest in the project, including the public.
A. Whilst the landscapes of the proposed Yorkshire Wolds AONB and the Howardian Hills National Landscape are located next to each other and share a boundary, their character and special landscape characteristics are different. Away from the shared boundary, the Yorkshire Wolds becomes increasingly influenced by the chalk which defines it, and which clearly sets it apart from the limestone landscape of the Howardian Hills. Having a separate Yorkshire Wolds AONB means that each area can retain their own unique identity and have separate management plans and funding to deal with their different issues and priorities.
A. Natural England follows an established procedure when carrying out designation work to ensure that they fulfil their statutory responsibility. Natural England policy sets out the key stages of the process that are needed to meet the requirements of the relevant legislation. In addition, National England has produced a guidance document which sets out the process to be followed when assessing landscapes for designation as a National Park or AONB. The Guidance* is a technical document that takes account of landscape designation legislation, as well as previous designation work, public inquiries, and court cases.
In deciding whether to designate an AONB, or to vary an existing AONB boundary, Natural England must consider three key questions:
Does the landscape have sufficient natural beauty to be considered outstanding?
Is it desirable in order to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the area, to designate this landscape as an AONB?
Where should the boundary be drawn?
*Guidance on Assessing Landscapes for Designation as National Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Natural England, June 2021. This document can be viewed online, or as a hard copy within the Supporting Information folders available to view at local libraries and local authority offices.
A. Natural beauty is a subjective characteristic of a landscape. Therefore, when considering whether an area has sufficient natural beauty, Natural England must make a value judgment and evaluate how people are likely to perceive the landscape.
To make these judgments in a transparent and consistent way, Natural England uses several criteria. These criteria are set out in the Guidance and include; landscape and scenic quality; relative wildness; relative tranquillity; and contributions made to natural beauty by natural and cultural heritage features and associations.
The relevance of these factors has been established and confirmed through 70 years' experience of landscape designations.
The natural beauty assessment process is described in more detail within the Consultation Pack and Supporting Information documents.
A. Even though an area has been assessed as having sufficient natural beauty, it does not necessarily mean that it will be designated as an AONB. It must also be decided that it is desirable to designate the area as an AONB.
To make this decision, several questions are considered:
Is there an area which satisfies AONB technical ‘natural beauty’ criterion?
Is the area of such significance that the AONB purpose should apply to it?
What are the issues affecting the area’s special qualities, understanding and enjoyment, and what effect would designation have on these issues?
Can AONB purposes be best pursued through the management mechanisms, powers and duties which come with AONB designation?
Are there other relevant factors which tend to suggest whether it is or is not desirable to designate the area?
Having considered these questions and relevant evidence, Natural England decides whether it is desirable, or in the best interests of the landscape, to be designated as AONB.
A. Setting the boundary is the final task to be completed in the technical assessment stage of a designation project. It only happens once Natural England has decided that an area has sufficient natural beauty and that it is desirable to designate it as AONB.
Natural England uses well-established boundary making principles to define a suitable boundary. Key considerations include the following:
Transitional areas
Types of boundary
Other administrative boundaries
Settlements
Incongruous development
Proposed development
Features of interest
Wherever possible, a clear physical feature should be chosen to define the boundary. It is also important to note that landscape and scenic quality rarely changes suddenly. Where there is an area of transition, the boundary is drawn towards the high-quality end of the area of transition, excluding areas of lower quality.
A more detailed description of the boundary setting process is included within the Consultation Pack and Supporting Information documents.
A. Designation as an AONB provides formal recognition of the national importance of the natural beauty of an area and, as a consequence, there are a number of associated implications:
Statutory Duty: Once an area is designated as an AONB, relevant authorities have a statutory duty to seek to further the statutory purpose to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of an AONB. This means that local planning authorities, and other decision makers, will need to ensure that any decisions made that could have an impact on an AONB meet this statutory duty, e.g. when preparing Development Plans or considering planning applications.
Management Plan: Within three years of designation, the constituent local authorities must produce an AONB Management Plan, setting out the vision and management priorities for the AONB. This provides the basis for a more co-ordinated and integrated management approach in the area.
Specialist Advice: The establishment of a dedicated AONB Management unit will provide access to a team with specialist skills and expertise, helping to conserve and enhance the area’s special qualities.
Funding: Designation as an AONB provides access to sources of funding not available to non-designated landscapes. A current example is the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) scheme.
Planning: Please refer to separate question below
Access: Please refer to separate question below
Farming, Landowners & Land Managers: Please refer to separate question below
Nature Conservation: Please refer to separate question below
A. All planning decisions will continue to be made by the existing local planning authorities. However, designation as an AONB does mean that an area will be subject to some increased controls on development.
The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) 2024 (as amended) states that ‘great weight should be given to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in National Parks, the Broads and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty which have the highest status of protection in relation to these issues’. This affects planning within an AONB in several ways. The NPPF states that:
the scale and extent of development within an AONB should be limited
development within their setting should be sensitively located and designed to avoid or minimise adverse impacts on the designated areas
permission should be refused for major development other than in exceptional circumstances and where it can be demonstrated that development is in the public interest.
Some Permitted Development Rights are also withdrawn or restricted in AONBs. This means that certain types of development that could have been carried out without requiring planning approval before designation would now require planning approval. However, it does not necessarily mean that planning approval would be refused. If you would like more information about this please contact the project mailbox or your local Planning Authority.
A. No, there will be no changes to access rights as a result of designation. Access rights will remain the same as those that already exist.
In December 2024, the government announced an intent to grant new powers to Protected Landscapes to boost nature’s recovery and access to the outdoors. The proposed new legislation and guidance would give Protected Landscapes a clear mandate to widen the public’s access to nature through strengthened purposes and making changes to improve their governance. Full details of the announcement can be found online using this link: Protected landscapes to be strengthened with new legislation and guidance to protect nature. As further information regarding these changes is published, we will keep this page updated.
A. Whilst ownership of land will remain unchanged, designation as an AONB can mean a number of things for landowners and land managers, for example:
Landowners and managers may be able to benefit from grant schemes targeted at designated landscapes, such as the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) scheme.
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (Agriculture) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2006 classifies land within an AONB as a ‘sensitive area’ and government guidance classifies land within an AONB as a ‘Semi-Natural Area (SNA)’. This means that:
increasing the productivity of land within an AONB may require a screening decision; and
screening thresholds for ‘restructuring projects’ within an AONB are reduced.
If you would like more information about this, then please contact Natural England or your local farming advisor.
A. The natural beauty of an AONB includes its natural and cultural heritage features. Future management of the area will subsequently seek to ensure that important wildlife and habitats that are intrinsic to its natural beauty, are conserved and enhanced. The integrated management approach taken by an AONB Partnership will also assist with the management of any potential conflicts which may arise between wildlife and recreation.
In December 2024, the government announced an intent to grant new powers to Protected Landscapes to boost nature’s recovery and access to the outdoors. The proposed new legislation and guidance would give Protected Landscapes a clear mandate to widen the public’s access to nature through strengthened purposes and making changes to improve their governance. Full details of the announcement can be found online using this link: Protected landscapes to be strengthened with new legislation and guidance to protect nature. As further information regarding these changes is published, we will keep this page updated.