Mayor Luke Campbell MBE welcomes a major step towards national recognition for the Yorkshire Wolds, saying farmers, rural businesses and local communities must remain at the heart of what comes next.
Natural England has formally submitted proposals to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to designate approximately 463km² of the Yorkshire Wolds as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which would be known as the Yorkshire Wolds National Landscape.
If confirmed, it would be the first new Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to be designated in England for more than 30 years. The Secretary of State can confirm the proposal, make changes or refuse it, and there is currently no fixed timetable for a decision.
Hull and East Yorkshire Combined Authority previously supported the proposed designation, recognising the national significance of the Wolds landscape and the potential benefits that greater recognition could bring to the area.
A major step towards national recognition
The proposal follows several years of technical assessment, consultation and engagement with communities, landowners and other organisations. Natural England says support across the consultation process has been strong, while objections have also been received and will form part of the evidence considered by Government.
The statutory purpose of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty designation is to conserve and enhance natural beauty. If the Order is confirmed, the area would become known as the Yorkshire Wolds National Landscape.
Natural England also says designation could support nature recovery, climate resilience, public health and wellbeing and local tourism, and would lead to the area's first coordinated management plan.
A working countryside, not a museum
Mayor Luke has welcomed the milestone but said recognition must work for the people who live, farm and run businesses across the Wolds as well as protecting the landscape.
That position builds on conversations the Mayor has already had with the rural economy. Earlier this year, after three business roundtables, he wrote to Government after farmers and rural firms raised planning as one of the barriers holding back practical investment.
The concerns were not about major speculative development. Businesses raised examples including basic agricultural infrastructure such as grain stores, adapting existing premises, creating additional workspace, improving visitor facilities and making modest changes that could help farms and rural businesses remain viable.
Mayor Luke Campbell MBE said -
“The Yorkshire Wolds is one of the best parts of our region and it deserves to be recognised nationally.
“But the Wolds is also a working countryside. People farm it, produce food on it, run businesses there and employ local people.
“I’ve sat down with farmers and rural businesses and heard directly about the problems they face. Some are struggling to get permission for basic things like grain stores or to make sensible changes that help their businesses survive and grow.
“Landscape protection matters. But it shouldn’t mean every sensible business improvement is treated as a threat.
“The Wolds isn’t a museum. We should protect what makes it special while backing the farmers and businesses who have looked after this countryside for generations.
“And if Government is saying this landscape is nationally important enough to protect, then that protection should carry real weight when major development is proposed too.
“Protect the landscape, back the people who look after it and make sure the rules are fair.”
What rural businesses told the Mayor
In his letter to Government, the Mayor called for national planning policy to treat small-scale rural business and agricultural development proportionately in protected landscapes, while maintaining proper landscape protection.
His argument was that practical development needed for food production, rural employment and business diversification should not automatically be treated in the same way as major development.
The Combined Authority does not determine routine local planning applications. Those decisions remain with the relevant local planning authorities. The Mayor's role is to use the region's voice to make the case for national policy that supports sensible rural growth while protecting the qualities that make the Wolds special.
Protection and growth can reinforce each other
The same balance runs through Hull and East Yorkshire's wider economic plans.
The Local Growth Plan identifies agri-food and agri-tech as one of the region's four growth-driving sectors, reflecting the importance of farming, food production, manufacturing, logistics and the wider supply chain to the regional economy.
Culture and the visitor economy are also identified as having further growth potential. The Wolds, coast, market towns and rural communities are part of the region's visitor offer and help support local jobs, spending and business confidence.
The Plan also recognises the natural environment as an economic asset. The aim is not to choose between protecting the landscape and supporting prosperity, but to make sure growth is shaped in a way that respects place and allows rural communities to benefit.
What happens next?
The Secretary of State will now consider the evidence submitted by Natural England, including consultation responses and objections, before deciding whether to confirm the Order as submitted, confirm it with changes or refuse it.
There is no fixed timetable for that decision and the Yorkshire Wolds will not receive National Landscape status unless and until the Secretary of State formally confirms the Order.
Mayor Luke has said HEYCA will continue working with local authorities, farmers, rural businesses and other partners while the proposal moves through the Government process.
Find out more
- Access Natural England's announcement on the proposed Yorkshire Wolds National Landscape for the latest official information on the designation process.
- More detail on the process, maps and background is available from the Yorkshire Wolds Designation Project.
- Access the Hull and East Yorkshire Local Growth Plan to see how rural growth, agri-food, the visitor economy and the region's natural assets fit into the wider economic strategy.