National Landscapes
(asked on 2nd July 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 30 May 2025 to Question 55440 on National Landscapes, for what reason work has stopped on the (a) Cheshire Sandstone Ridge and (b) Chiltern National Landscapes.
Answered by
Mary Creagh
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Natural England has the statutory responsibility for identifying areas for new or extended National Landscape designations.
Given the pressures on public finances, Defra has had to make difficult decisions about funding. It was not affordable to continue Defra funding to Natural England to continue the new National Landscapes designations programme in 25/26. As such, Natural England have made the decision to keep working on some of the planned programme – including the Chilterns boundary review and the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge assessment. Other elements of the programme, including the Surrey Hills boundary review and potential new National Landscape in the Yorkshire Wolds, are being maintained and progressed as the work was further advanced.
Defra is prioritising supporting our existing Protected Landscapes to ensure they remain a source of national pride. We are committed to empower them to become greener, wilder and more accessible.
The existing boundary for the Chilterns National Landscape is unaffected and remains in place.