Government warned against removing planning duty for national parks and landscapes

The call from charities, businesses, scientists, farmers, and landscape experts comes in response to reports suggesting the Government is considering amending or removing the protected landscapes duty under Section 245 of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023.

Relevant authorities must 'seek to further' the statutory purposes of National Parks and National Landscapes under the duty, replacing the previous duty on relevant authorities to 'have regard to' their statutory purposes.

However, such a change - which would come via amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill - has been described in the letter as "at odds with this proud history and values".

The signatories also argued that amending the Planning and Infrastructure Bill process without any consultation "would undermine parliamentary conventions and public trust, creating serious uncertainty for businesses and public authorities".

Elsewhere, the letter noted that national parks and national landscapes are "essential to delivering the UK's international commitment to protect and manage 30% of land for nature by 2030 and England's legally binding biodiversity targets".

It added: "Removing or weakening the legal duty on public bodies to help make these landscapes deliver more for people and for nature will erode what makes them special and undermine their economic and environmental potential."

The duty has been described by the chief executive of the North Yorkshire Moors National Park Authority, Tom Hind, as a "positive step" in fostering greater collaboration between public bodies to ensure National Parks and National Landscapes address nature depletion, habitat loss and public access to nature.

Hind, who is one of the letter's signatories, said the duty had also allowed the national park to build stronger partnerships with statutory undertakers such as water companies.

Instead of removing the duty, he called on the Government to look to use the provisions of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (LURA) that enable Government to more clearly interpret the duty."

Adam Carey