Protected Landscapes Duty topic paper

1. Introduction

1.1 The New Forest National Park was designated in 2005 and covers an area of 220 square miles within the counties of Hampshire and Wiltshire. National parks have two statutory purposes that set out the main reasons for their designation and describe the overall focus for their management. The two Park purposes as set out in primary legislation are:

• to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the New Forest; and
• to promote opportunities for the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the New Forest by the public

1.2 In taking forward the above two National Park purposes, national park authorities also have a duty under Section 62(1) of the Environment Act 1995 to seek to foster the economic and social wellbeing of local communities within the National Park.

1.3 The purpose of this paper is to express how the draft Local Plan, responds to the reinforced duty “to seek to further the statutory National Park purposes in undertaking their functions.” This reflects changes made by Section 245 (Protected Landscapes) of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (LURA) which amends the duty on relevant authorities in respect of their functions which affects land in National Parks, National Landscapes, and the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads (collectively referred to as Protected Landscapes) in England. This replaces the previous duty on relevant authorities to ‘have regard to’ their statutory purposes and represents a conscious strengthening of the legal duty.

2. New Forest National Park Local Plan Review

2.1 The New Forest National Park Authority is undertaking a review of the local planning policies covering the National Park – currently contained within the New Forest National Park Local Plan 2016 - 2036 (adopted August 2019).

2.2 Many key aspects of national policy, guidance and law relating to National Parks remain unaltered from the time the 2019 Local Plan was prepared, examined and adopted. Consequently, the Authority is undertaking a partial review of the Local Plan rather than preparing an entirely new Local Plan at this time. The Local Plan Review will cover the period 2024 – 2043.

2.3 The Local Plan aims to deliver the long-term planning vision for the New Forest National Park and forms a key part of the statutory ‘development plan’ for the area. National policy contained within the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and guidance within the National Planning Practice Guidance (NPPG) also form material considerations when preparing the Local Plan.

3. Key Changes in National Policy

3.1 Since the adoption of the first New Forest National Park-wide planning policies in 2010 and then the subsequent adoption of the current Local Plan in 2019 there have been significant changes in national policy, which continues to confirm that national parks have the highest level of protection in relation to landscape and scenic beauty.

3.2 The statutory National Park purposes originally established through the National Parks & Access to the Countryside Act 1949 remain and are supplemented by the Environment Act 1995. Changes introduced through Section 245 of the Levelling Up & Regeneration Act 2023 require ‘relevant bodies’ to seek to further these statutory National Park purposes in undertaking their functions. This strengthened duty applies to a wide range of bodies, including national park authorities, constituent local authorities and statutory undertakers.

3.3 In addition, the Environment Act 2021 introduced a new system of plans for nature recovery across England, known as Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS). These aim to map out areas for wildlife, identify opportunities for improvement, and prioritize local actions to restore and enhance nature, in partnership with local stakeholders and landowners. Regulations introduced in 2023 set out how these strategies will be prepared by responsible bodies – typically County Councils. The production of each Local Nature Recovery Strategy is evidence-based, locally led and collaborative, to create a network of shared plans that public, private and voluntary sectors can all help to deliver. Natural England lead the Government’s involvement and they work alongside each of the Responsible Authorities to help shape the strategy and ensure overall consistency. The preparation of each LNRS is also supported by the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission.

3.4 As the New Forest National Park covers two county council areas, two LNRSs will apply to the national park area. The draft Local Nature Recovery Strategy for Hampshire was published for consultation during May – June 2025, with approval of the final document scheduled for December 2025. The Wiltshire and Swindon LNRS covers the northern part of the national park, this was subject to consultation during March – April 2025 and was adopted by the Council on 21 October 2025.

3.5 Publication of a revised National Planning Policy Framework in December 2024, reaffirmed at paragraph 189 that, “…great weight should be given to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in National Parks, the Broads and National Landscapes which have the highest status of protection in relation to these issues. The conservation and enhancement of wildlife and cultural heritage are also important considerations in these areas, and should be given great weight in National Parks and the Broads. The scale and extent of development within all these designated areas should be limited, while development within their setting should be sensitively located and designed to avoid or minimise adverse impacts on the designated areas.” Paragraph 190 states, “…when considering applications for development within National Parks, the Broads and National Landscapes, permission should be refused for major development other than in exceptional circumstances, and where it can be demonstrated that the development is in the public interest. Consideration of such applications should include an assessment of:

1. the need for the development, including in terms of any national considerations, and the impact of permitting it, or refusing it, upon the local economy;
2. the cost of, and scope for, developing outside the designated area, or meeting the need for it in some other way; and
3. any detrimental effect on the environment, the landscape and recreational opportunities, and the extent to which that could be moderated

4. Protected Landscape Duty – key principles

4.1 With the introduction of the new duty in December 2024, the Government also published guidance on how the duty is intended to operate with principles expressed to enable relevant authorities including local authorities to comply. Of particular relevance to the New Forest Local Plan, is the need to apply the duty to the preparation of development plans and associated assessments and documents.

4.2 The guidance advises that the duty is an active duty which for plan making means:

• take appropriate, reasonable, and proportionate steps to explore measures which further the statutory purposes of Protected Landscapes;
• seek to avoid harm and contribute to the conservation and enhancement of the natural beauty, special qualities, and key characteristics of Protected Landscapes;
• be able to demonstrate with proportionate, reasoned, and documented evidence the measures to which consideration has been given when seeking to further the statutory purposes of Protected Landscapes to be able to proper discharge the duty by the relevant authority;
• for development plan making and development management decisions affecting a Protected Landscape, a relevant authority should seek to further the purposes of the Protected Landscape - in so doing, the relevant authority should consider whether such measures can be embedded in the design of plans and proposals, where reasonably practical and operationally feasible.

4.3 The guidance then includes matters for consideration – such as:

• Do measures which would further the purposes align with and help to deliver the targets and objectives in the Protected Landscape’s Management Plan?
• Are such measures appropriate and proportionate to the type and scale of the function and its implications for the area? For instance, are measures in keeping with the natural beauty, the special qualities and key characteristics of the Protected Landscape?
• Could the measures contribute to the conservation and enhancement of the Protected Landscape’s wildlife, ecological value and quality, geological and physiographical features, water environment, cultural heritage, dark skies, tranquillity, opportunities for access to nature, and landscape character for which the area was designated?

4.4 There is also reference to the Biodiversity Duty as introduced by the Environment Act 2021.

4.5 Given the location of the New Forest National Park in the south of England with large areas of urban development in close proximity, the duty also applies to functions undertaken outside of the designated boundary which affects land within the Protected Landscape.

4.6 In addition, there is the Protected Landscapes Targets and Outcomes Framework (2024), that sets out a series of targets deemed appropriate to promote the actions that are most needed to achieve positive changes, these include:

4.7 A further Government ambition is to conserve 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030, (30by30), through nature recovery. For the purposes of 30by30 on land in England, Protected Areas include the following designations:

• Sites of Special Scientific Interest
• National Nature Reserves
• Ramsar sites
• Special Areas of Conservation
• Special Protection Areas
• National Landscapes
• National Parks
• the Broads

4.8 In terms of the New Forest National Park 56% is designated of international value for nature conservation – the highest proportion of land in any planning authority area in the country. The New Forest Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Area (SPA) and Ramsar sites cover more than 300 square kilometres in the core of the New Forest, including the most extensive area of heathland and valley mire in lowland Europe. Much of the coastline is similarly designated. The focus of the 30by30 initiative is based around:

1. Purpose – be able to demonstrate that their purposes or management objectives will ensure the delivery of in-situ conservation outcomes;
2. Protection - be able to demonstrate that in-situ conservation will be sustained over the long term (at least 20 years), and that the area will be protected against loss or damage to important biodiversity values;
3. Management - areas should be effectively managed and able to demonstrate overall progress towards in-situ conservation outcomes.

4.9 Whilst the local plan can reflect these actions and requirements where there is direct correlation with land use, the reality is that most of the criteria/targets will be achieved through the implementation of the Authorities Partnership (Management) Plan and other strategies such as Local Nature Recovery Strategies.

5. How the New Forest National Park Local Plan seeks to further its Protected Landscape Duty

5.1 The New Forest National Park Local Plan Regulation 18 (part 2), is a full draft local plan, with a Vision, Strategic Objectives and various policies and site allocations.

5.2 Throughout the local plan there are references to the New Forest National Park Partnership Plan and the National Park’s Special Qualities, indeed the special qualities1 are specifically annexed to the local plan. Of particular note is the reference at the start of each of the topic-based chapters to the relevant strategic objectives, Partnership Plan themes and special qualities. This helps to emphasise the synergies between the Local Plan and these other key documents in delivering the purposes and duties of being a designated National Park.

5.3 The following assesses the content of the draft local plan with regards to furthering the protected landscape duty. Not all policies are listed given the nature of a local plan as a land use planning document and policies covering a common theme may be listed together. Therefore, some of the draft policies have been omitted from the list below:

1 The special qualities of the New Forest are those qualities that define it, make it unique and immediately recognisable and when taken together, distinguish it from all other parts of the country. Nine special qualities are set out in Annex 1 to the Local Plan.

6. Conclusion

6.1 Preparation of the local plan review has provided the opportunity to reassess a number of the local plan policies, with regard to both creating stronger links to the New Forest National Park Partnership Plan and placing greater emphasis on the New Forest special qualities.

6.2 Being a land use document the policies are expressed to enable development proposals to be considered in accordance with National Planning Policy, and other relevant legislation, but to also address local matters.

6.3 The above assessment demonstrates the number and range of policies which explicitly refer to location, setting and impact on landscape character, to ensure that proposals manage, conserve, enhance or mitigate any negative impacts given the protected landscape status. The delivery of the two statutory National Park purposes is the ‘golden thread’ running through the draft Local Plan and this is reflected in the table at Chapter 3 of the draft Plan which sets out the relationship between the draft local planning policies and the National Park purposes and duty (see Annex 1 of this document).

Annex 1 : Extract from New Forest National Park Local Plan synergies between National Park Purposes and Duty, New Forest Partnership Plan Themes and Special Qualities