THE future of Somerset's national landscapes, including the Mendip Hills, Quantock Hills, and Blackdown Hills, is uncertain following planned government budget cuts.

In addition to its national parks, the UK is home to 46 national landscapes, formerly known as areas of outstanding natural beauty or AONBs – which cover 15 per cent of England (including 20 per cent of the coastline).

But the future of these landscapes is under threat thanks to the government’s spending review, which will see Defra’s budget slashed, with national landscapes bearing the brunt.

Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves MP’s first budget, which was delivered on October 30, envisioned that Defra’s “departmental expenditure limit” (i.e. its day-to-day budget for predicted spending, rather than emergency events) will fall in real terms by 1.9 per cent from 2024/25 to 2025/26.

Reports in The Guardian since the budget have indicated that the resulting savings will be spread across all elements of Defra – and that the national landscapes teams have been told to plan for a 12 per cut to their funds.

Jim Hardcastle, manager of the Mendip Hills National Landscape team, said that cutting funding on this scale would make it much harder to carry out vital conservation work across the region and to meet the government’s own targets for environmental improvement.

“The potential cuts that ministers may apply to Defra and the national landscape teams will mean we’re going to struggle to deliver those solutions.”

National landscapes receive more visitors combined than all the UK’s national parks, and cover almost double the area of the parks put together.

However, they only receive around one-sixth of the core funding the national parks enjoy, and have already endured their budgets being cut by 40 per cent since 2010.

Further reductions in staff will make it harder to bid for external funding for individual projects – such as the ongoing upgrades to the Gorge Walk along Cheddar Gorge, being carried out by the National Trust in partnership with Heidelberg Materials.

Andy Wear, chairman of the Mendip Hills National Landscape Partnership, said: “Funding cuts will have huge ramifications for everyone on the Mendip Hills.

John Watkins, chief executive of the National Landscapes Association, added: “Twenty-five years ago, the new Labour government was advised by the Countryside Commission to increase funding for national landscapes to £19M (£35M in today’s money), but they didn’t heed that advice.

“Twenty-five years later, we are in the same situation with a new Labour government, but with the threat of further cuts in the face of a nature and climate crisis. We are calling on the government to truly invest in nature.”

Wells and Mendip Hills MP Tessa Munt met with representatives from the national landscapes teams shortly before the Christmas parliamentary recess, vowing that she would fight for their budgets to be protected.

On January 24, 2025, the Climate and Nature Bill (introduced by fellow Liberal Democrat MP Roz Savage) will receive its second reading in the House of Commons.