North Pennines AONB

An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is designated for the purpose of conserving and enhancing its natural beauty, which includes landform and geology, plants and animals, landscape features and the rich history of human settlement over the centuries.

The North Pennines contains some of England's wildest places. A beautiful and dramatic landscape of settled pastoral dales nestling between vast open moorland ridges and high brooding summits. It was designated as an AONB in 1988 and became Britain's first UNESCO European Geopark in 2003.

North Pennines AONB Management Plan

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 introduced a statutory duty on local authorities and Conservation Boards to produce a Management Plan for an AONB. The Plan contains policies and actions to conserve the natural beauty of the AONB and to help everyone enjoy it.

The North Pennines AONB Management Plan 2019 to 2024 is adopted statutory Council policy, and it forms part of the evidence base and justification for planning policy creation.

North Pennines AONB Management Plan 2019-2024

The AONB Management Plan is produced by the North Pennines AONB Partnership Staff Unit on behalf of the five local authorities of the North Pennines.

The first statutory AONB Management Plan for the North Pennines was produced by the AONB Partnership in 2004. The current Management Plan sets out the agenda for the conservation and enhancement of the AONB for the 5 years between 2019 and 2024.

View the North Pennines AONB Management Plan 2019 to 2024 on the North Pennines AONB website.