THE future of national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty are to be reviewed by the Government.

An eight-week consultation on the topic will close on December 18 and report in 2019.

An independent panel will examine whether national parks and AONBs meet the needs of the 21st century and whether they could expand.

Cumbria is home to the Lake District and part of the Yorkshire Dales national parks.

The county also has two AONBs at Arnside and Silverdale, and the North Pennines.

The review panel will be led by writer Julian Glover OBE, a former special advisor to David Cameron.

Mr Glover visited the Lake District in August with two members of the panel.

He met members of the Lake District National Park Partnership (NPPP), community figures in Glenridding and farmers in Ullswater.

The review closes on December 18 and will report in 2019 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act.

Richard Leafe, chief executive of the LDNPA, is expected to update members at a full meeting of the authority in Kendal on Wednesday (December 24).

The LDNPA plans to respond to the review as an organisation and jointly with the National Parks England, the association for the country’s 10 national parks.

Mr Leafe said: “We are anticipating a call for evidence to the enquiry in November. We have been developing general messages through National Parks England.”

The Government has promised it has no plans to reduce the size of national parks or the protections for designated landscapes.

It said: “The review aims not to diminish the character or independence of our designated landscapes, or to impose new burdens on them and the people who live and work in the areas they cover.

“Instead, its purpose is to ask what might be done better, what changes could assist them, and whether definitions and systems – which in many cases date back to their original creation – are still sufficient.”

The review is described by the Government as a key commitment in a 25-year plan to improve the environment.

To take part in the review, go to https://consult.defra.gov.uk/land-use/landscapes-review-call-for-evidence/