Extending the boundaries of the Lakes and Dales

In the 1950s, the Park boundaries were drawn to follow out of date administrative and road boundaries, a strange anomaly which cuts the beautiful Howgill Fells in two with half in and half outside of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

CNP and others have long considered the boundaries of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Park to be ‘unfinished business’ and have campaigned for them to be reviewed. We gave a hearty welcome to the news that Natural England would be consulting on whether the boundaries should be extended.

Two areas to the east of the Lake District and two areas to the west and north west of the Yorkshire Dales are in the spotlight, along with the beautiful limestone country above Orton, which is proposed for inclusion within the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

See the maps for more detailed information

CNP strongly supports the proposed extensions as they are outstanding landscapes with excellent opportunities for walking, caving or simply soaking up their tranquillity. 

So what happens now? 

Natural England held two public consultations in 2011 before its Board decided to make the formal orders necessary to revise the boundaries.  There is now a six week consultation on which the public is invited to send its views to Defra. 

Find out how you can help our LakestoDales campaign to secure the extension of the boundaries so that these special places are protected for future generations to enjoy.

Further information can be found here and check this page for regular updates