National Landscape

Purpose

The purpose of an AONB designation in England and Wales is to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the designated landscape.

There are two secondary aims: meeting the need for quiet enjoyment of the countryside and having regard for the interests of those who live and work there. To achieve these aims, AONBs rely on planning controls and practical countryside management. As they have the same landscape quality, AONBs may be compared to the national parks of England and Wales. National parks are well known in the UK; by contrast, there is evidence to indicate many residents in AONBs may be unaware of the status. However, the National Association of AONBs launched initiatives to increase awareness of AONBs in local communities, and, in 2014, successfully negotiated to have the boundaries of AONBs in England shown on Google Maps.

Statistical overview

There are 48 "Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty" in the United Kingdom in total, 33 in England, four in Wales, one on the England–Wales border, and a further eight AONBs in Northern Ireland. Those in England and Wales are branded as "National Landscapes".

The first AONB was established in 1956 on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales, and the most recent to be designated is the Tamar Valley AONB, established in 1995. More recent changes include the Clwydian Range AONB being extended in 2012 to form the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB, and in Northern Ireland, the Strangford Lough and Lecale Coast AONBs were merged to form a single AONB in 2010.

AONBs vary greatly in terms of size, type and use of land, and whether they are partly or wholly open to the public. The smallest AONB is the Isles of Scilly, 16 km² (6.2 sq mi), and the largest is the Cotswolds, 2,038 km² (787 sq mi). AONBs cover around 15% of England and 4% of Wales.

Legal status and organisation

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England and Wales (now also National Landscapes) were originally created under the same legislation as the national parks, the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. Unlike AONBs, national parks have special legal powers to prevent unsympathetic development. AONBs in general remain the responsibility of their local authorities by means of special committees that include members appointed by a minister and by parishes, and only very limited statutory duties were imposed on local authorities within an AONB by the original 1949 Act. However, further regulation and protection of AONBs in England and Wales was added by the Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act 2000, under which new designations are now made,

In the National Planning Policy Framework (March 2012), the government stated that AONBs and national parks have equal status when it comes to planning decisions on landscape issues. Two of the AONBs (the Cotswolds and the Chilterns), which extend into a large number of local authority areas, have their own statutory bodies, known as conservation boards. In 2019, the Glover Report made various recommendations regarding the future of AONBs – the report's 'central proposal' being to bring National Parks and AONBs together as part of one 'family of national landscapes'. Following the report the Cotswolds Conservation Board announced in September 2020 that they were re-styling the area name and it is now known as the Cotswolds National Landscape. The UK Government later accepted the report's recommendation for the AONBs in England to use "National Landscape".

All English and Welsh AONBs have a dedicated AONB officer and other staff. As required by the CRoW Act, each AONB has a management plan that sets out the characteristics and special qualities of the landscape and how they will be conserved and enhanced. The AONBs are collectively represented by the "National Landscapes Association", previously the "National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty" (NAAONB), an independent registered charity in England and Wales acting on behalf of AONBs and their partners, which had used the slogan "Landscapes for Life".

AONBs in Northern Ireland are designated under separate legislation, originally under the Amenity Lands (NI) Act 1965; later replaced by the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (NI) Order 1985. The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (part of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs of the Northern Ireland Executive) is responsible for designating AONBs in Northern Ireland, and facilitates their management.

On 22 November 2023, following a 2022 Landscapes Review policy paper by Julian Glover, the AONBs in England and Wales adopted the National Landscapes name, and subsequently rebranded. The name "area of outstanding natural beauty" is still the designated legal term. The review did not extend to Northern Ireland, and its AONBs did not adopt the new name.

Threats

There are growing concerns among environmental and countryside groups that AONB status is increasingly under threat from development. The Campaign to Protect Rural England said in July 2006 that many AONBs were under greater threat than ever before. Three particular AONBs were cited: the Dorset AONB threatened by a road plan, the threat of a football stadium in the Sussex Downs AONB, and, larger than any other, a £1 billion plan by Imperial College London to build thousands of houses and offices on hundreds of acres of AONB land on the Kent Downs at Wye. The plan was eventually abandoned in 2006 after sustained local opposition. However, in September 2007 government approval was finally given for the development of a new football ground for Brighton and Hove Albion within the boundaries of the Sussex Downs AONB, after a fierce fight by conservationists. The subsequent development, known as Falmer Stadium, was officially opened in July 2011. The Weymouth Relief Road in Dorset was constructed between 2008 and 2011, after environmental groups lost a High Court challenge to prevent its construction.

Writing in 2006, Professor Adrian Phillips listed threats facing AONBs, which he says include uncertainty over future support for land management, increasing development pressures, the impacts of globalization, and climate change. More subtle threats include creeping suburbanization and horsiculture.

Celebration

Poet Laureate Simon Armitage wrote a poem "Fugitives", commissioned by the National Association of AONBs, which he read on Arnside Knott on 21 September 2019 to launch the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act.

List of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

National Landscapes

England

Former Areas

South Hampshire Coast AONB

The establishment of the New Forest National Park in 2005 meant the subsumption of South Hampshire Coast AONB into it.

East Hampshire AONB and Sussex Downs AONB

East Hampshire and Sussex Downs AONBs were replaced in 2010 by the South Downs National Park.

Wales

Northern Ireland

Notes

Proposed areas in England

The following are formal proposals for new AONBs submitted to Natural England:

• Cambs Ouse Valley
• Churnet Valley
• Forest of Dean
• Herefordshire Marches
• Northants Ironstone Uplands
• Yorkshire Wolds

The 2019 Landscape Review Report additionally favourably mentions proposals not listed in Natural England's list: from Sandstone Ridge and the Vale of Belvoir. The Cheshire Sandstone Ridge was subsequently shortlisted for AONB designation in 2021.

On 8 October 2024, Natural England launched a statutory and public consultation for proposed plans to designate part of the Yorkshire Wolds as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).