National Landscapes and the duty on decision makers
The rebrand changed nothing in law, but the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act did. What the duty on public bodies now asks, and how a scheme in a National Landscape builds its landscape evidence.
A National Landscape is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The name changed in 2023, the designation did not, and the statutory framework is still Part IV of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. What did change, separately and more importantly for national landscape planning, is the duty on public bodies: the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 replaced a duty to have regard to the purpose of conserving and enhancing natural beauty with a duty to seek to further it.
That is a shift from passive consideration to active pursuit, and it applies to the council determining your application.
What the change of name did and did not change
The renaming was an identity exercise led by the designated bodies themselves. It did not alter boundaries, designation criteria, the designating authority or any statutory test.
So legal documents, older local plans, land registry entries, section 106 agreements and most council validation lists still say Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the two terms describe the same thing. Using both on first mention in a planning statement avoids an unnecessary exchange with the case officer.
What has changed in practice is presentational weight. The word "landscape" in the name has made it slightly easier to explain to clients why a proposal that is invisible from a public road can still be objectionable, because the designation protects character rather than views alone.
The statutory duty on public bodies
Section 85 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 places a duty on relevant authorities when exercising or performing any functions in relation to, or so as to affect, land in a designated area. As amended by section 245 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, the duty is to seek to further the purpose of conserving and enhancing natural beauty.
Two points follow for an application.
The duty applies to functions affecting land in the designated area, which reaches proposals outside the boundary that affect land inside it. A development on the edge of a National Landscape is not outside the duty because the red line is outside the boundary.
And a duty to seek to further is harder to discharge by a paragraph of acknowledgement. Officers are expected to show what the decision does to further the purpose, which in practice means the scheme itself has to contribute something: restoration of a boundary, removal of an intrusive structure, native planting, dark sky lighting, the removal of hard standing.
Check when the amended duty came into force, and any statutory guidance issued under it, at the point you rely on it. Guidance in this area has been developing.
Management plans and their evidential role
Each National Landscape has a management plan, prepared and reviewed under the 2000 Act on a regular cycle by the relevant local authorities working with the partnership body.
For an applicant, the plan is the most useful document available and the most commonly ignored. It defines the special qualities of that particular landscape, which is the currency the assessment has to deal in. It identifies forces for change, sets objectives, and often contains position statements on the topics that decide applications: agricultural buildings, conversions, renewable energy, lighting, equestrian development, boundary treatments.
A landscape assessment that addresses the plan's stated special qualities one by one is far more persuasive than one that works through generic landscape receptors. Many partnerships also publish design guidance or a position statement on specific development types, and a scheme that has plainly been designed against that guidance starts ahead.
The plan is not part of the development plan and does not carry the weight of an adopted policy. It is a material consideration, and a well-evidenced one.
Major development in a National Landscape
National policy gives great weight to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in National Landscapes and National Parks, and treats these areas as having the highest status of protection in relation to those issues.
For major development the Framework goes further, requiring refusal other than in circumstances the policy describes as exceptional, where the development is shown to be in the public interest. The assessment considers the need for the development, the cost of and scope for developing outside the designated area or meeting the need another way, and any detrimental effect on the environment, the landscape and recreational opportunities, together with the extent to which that effect could be moderated.
What counts as major development here is a matter for the decision maker on the facts, taking account of the nature, scale and setting of the proposal. It is not the same as the definition used for fee purposes or for the ten-dwelling threshold, and applicants who assume otherwise are frequently surprised.
Landscape and visual work that satisfies officers
A Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment prepared to the third edition of the Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment is the standard evidence base, and in a designated area the landscape effects section matters more than the visual effects section.
Build it on the published landscape character assessment for the area and on the management plan's special qualities. Set out the baseline, the receptors, the magnitude of change and the significance of effect with reasoning rather than a matrix alone, and cover construction, completion and the position after 15 years of planting growth.
Photomontages need a stated methodology. Viewpoints should be agreed with the council's landscape officer where one exists, and should include the unglamorous ones: the footpath that looks straight at the site, the lane that rises above it, the view from the settlement rather than towards it.
Lighting deserves its own document. Dark skies are a stated special quality of most National Landscapes, and a Lighting Assessment against the Institution of Lighting Professionals guidance on obtrusive light, with environmental zone classification and a commitment to the relevant curfew, addresses an objection that otherwise arrives late.
Design responses that succeed
Patterns repeat across designated areas.
Siting below a ridge rather than on it, using existing landform and vegetation, and keeping the building footprint compact rather than sprawling. Roof form and pitch that follow the local vernacular, with material palettes drawn from the immediate area rather than a national catalogue. Boundary treatments that restore hedgerows and stone walls rather than introducing close-boarded fencing. Access tracks that follow contours and use bound gravel rather than tarmac. Lighting that is downward, warm, low level and switched off.
Curtilage is where applications lose. A well-designed building surrounded by a large domestic garden, gates, lamp posts and a turning circle imports suburban character into a rural landscape, and officers assess the whole intervention rather than the building alone.
Where the site also carries a nature designation, the two assessments have to be consistent, and the approach to working within a protected site boundary is covered in our note on SSSI consent inside the boundary.
Boundary questions and setting
Boundaries were drawn decades ago and follow field edges, roads and parish lines rather than visual logic. A site just outside can be more prominent from within the designated area than a site just inside.
Check the boundary against the published mapping rather than against a local assumption, note the distance and the intervisibility, and address setting explicitly in the assessment. Where the proposal is outside but visible from within, expect the duty to be engaged, and deal with it rather than waiting to be asked.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which supporting documents a scheme in or near a National Landscape is likely to need.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. For specialist technical reports, qualified professional input may be required. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Is a National Landscape the same as an AONB?
Yes. National Landscape is the name adopted in 2023 for what remains, in law, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty designated under Part IV of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. Boundaries, designation criteria and statutory tests were unchanged. Both terms still appear in legal documents and validation lists.
What is the duty on councils in a National Landscape?
Section 85 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 applies to relevant authorities exercising functions affecting land in the designated area. Following amendment by section 245 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, the duty is to seek to further the purpose of conserving and enhancing natural beauty rather than simply to have regard to it.
Does the duty apply to sites outside the boundary?
It applies to functions exercised in relation to, or so as to affect, land in the designated area. A proposal outside the boundary that affects land inside it engages the duty. Deal with setting and intervisibility explicitly in the landscape assessment rather than treating the red line as the end of the question.
What counts as major development in a National Landscape?
It is a matter for the decision maker on the facts, taking account of the nature, scale and setting of the proposal. It is not tied to the ten-dwelling or 1,000 square metre thresholds used elsewhere in the system, so a scheme well below those figures can still be treated as major development in a designated area.
How much weight does the management plan carry?
It is not part of the development plan, so it does not carry the weight of an adopted policy, but it is a material consideration and it defines the special qualities the assessment has to address. Designing against its position statements and addressing its special qualities directly is the most effective use of it.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.