National planning policy
National planning policy is set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The latest NPPF is from December 2024.
The NPPF applies as a whole to National Landscapes as it does to non-designated areas and sets out that planning policies and decisions should [inter alia] recognise the intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside. However, two paragraphs refer specifically to National Landscapes: paragraphs 189 and 190. The NPPF and the accompanying Planning Practice Guidance form important material considerations with regard to development management and confirm that:
- the scale and extent of development in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) should be limited;
- the presumption in favour of sustainable development does not automatically apply within AONBs (where the application of policies in the Framework that protect areas or assets of particular importance provides a clear reason for refusing the development proposed, OR where any adverse impacts would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits, when assessed against the Framework taken as a whole);
- there is a presumption that planning permission should be refused for major development in AONBs other than in exceptional circumstances and where it can be demonstrated that the development is in the public interest;
- policies for protecting AONBs may mean that it is not possible to meet objectively assessed needs for housing and other development in full (where the application of policies in the Framework that protect areas or assets of particular importance provides a strong reason for restricting the overall scale, type or distribution of development in the plan area);
- AONBs are unlikely to be suitable areas for accommodating unmet needs arising from adjoining, non-designated, areas.
Local planning policy
Each of the relevant local and minerals planning authorities has policies aimed at supporting the conservation and enhancement of the North Pennines’ natural beauty and cultural heritage. As this management plan ‘formulates the policy of local authorities in relation to their AONB’ (as worded in CRoW 2000) it is anticipated that it will guide further National Landscape-specific policy in any reviews of Local Plans, and guide the day to day approach of local authorities to issues affecting the National Landscape.
The Protected Landscapes Duty
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act (2023) amended S.85 of the Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act (2000) to place a new duty on Relevant Authorities to seek to further the purpose of designation in National Landscapes, rather than simply having a duty of ‘regard’ as previously. This is a significant, beneficial change. The list of Relevant Authorities runs to several thousand, but chief among them are all public bodies (including local authorities and Arms-Length Bodies) and utilities. Seeking to further the purpose is not a passive duty, and is not ‘business as usual’. It actively requires those to whom it applies to take positive action to seek to further the purpose, and to be able to evidence how they have done so.
This management plan provides outcomes and measures that help to identify what constitutes ‘seeking to further the purpose.’
30x30 – the North Pennines contribution
Governments around the world have committed to protecting 30% of their land area by 2030 (hence 30x30). The target requires areas to be effectively conserved and managed while integrated into the wider landscape and respecting the rights of local communities. Protected Landscapes such as the North Pennines, and their dedicated teams and partnerships, are at the forefront of national work to conserve, protect and restore nature-rich habitats across our landscapes.
The North Pennines already has areas of interconnected nature-rich habitat with many areas in sympathetic low input management. Through protecting these areas and their inter-connectivity, along with improving the quality of habitats through investment via agri-environment schemes and other conservation and enhancement programmes, the North Pennines could further contribute to 30x30 objectives.
The approach in the North Pennines should:
- identify wildlife-rich areas, protecting them and preventing damage from drainage, pollution, pesticides, ‘nature-negative’ management, over-exploitation, invasive species, disturbance, and habitat destruction, and manage them to enhance biodiversity;
- buffer and link core sites, and manage nature, to support a connected and resilient ecological network; and
- restore wildlife richness to its pre-industrialised farming baseline across the wider landscape by, for example, fostering management of land for multiple objectives, investing in approaches that maximise nature recovery alongside food production, allowing natural processes to flourish, and creating structural diversity.
The Government's Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP)
The new Protected Landscapes Targets and Outcomes Framework (PLTOF) identifies metrics that will help show how protected landscapes (as places, not the teams) will contribute to the EIP. Three of the targets (1 – new priority habitat restored or created outside SSSIs; 7 – restored peatlands; 8 – increase in woodland and tree cover) are directly apportioned to each Protected Landscape; for the rest, Natural England will lead on monitoring the impacts of actions in each place. See the Measuring progress section of this plan.
The Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3)
Developed under the Climate Change Act (2008) and covering 2023 to 2028, NAP3 states that all Protected Landscape must have a Climate Change Adaptation Plan by 2028. Such a plan, focused on working with nature to adapt to our changing climate, will form a formal appendix to this management plan and will be consulted on accordingly.
Local Nature Recovery Strategies
Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) in England are established under the Environment Act 2021. They are created on administrative (at least county or unitary authority) boundaries and are intended to map out and guide actions for restoring and enhancing nature across the whole country. The North Pennines National Landscape has its own Nature Recovery Plan (the Nature Recovery section in this management plan), which is recognised by partners locally as both influencing, and being influenced by, the LNRS for County Durham, Cumbria and North of Tyne. The associated mapping in this plan and the LNRSs is guidance rather than prescription. Implementation monitoring for this plan will be used to feed into LNRS monitoring, and vice versa, wherever possible. The Local Authorities charged with producing the three relevant LNRS are members of the North Pennines National Landscape Partnership.