There is a process that Natural England will have to go through. This will include consulting on a proposed boundary line, and potentially a public inquiry, before making recommendations to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The last extension we worked on – for extensions to the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Parks took approximately 12 years as the decision got caught up on Minister’s desks for various reasons.

This time around Friends of the Lake District commissioned a ‘Landscape Analysis and Boundary Recommendations Report’ which was submitted with our proposal. This is a report that would normally be commissioned by Natural England as part of its evaluation process so our hope is that by commissioning and completing this work ourselves, and by already having a lot of support from many local parish councils, we may be able to shorten the timeline. We are also awaiting the recommendations of the independent Glover Review into designated landscapes – one of the things they are looking at is how to shorten the timelines for designation extensions.

See weblink for detailed information on Natural England timing and process for last extension: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140605100409/http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/designations/new/northwestdesignationproject/background.aspx