'Somerset Levels deserves national landscape status'

A SOMERSET councillor has called on the government to protect the future of the Somerset Levels by designating it as the UK's newest national landscape.

- DANIEL MUMBY Local democracy journalist

National landscapes were previously known as areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs) before being rebranded by Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government in November 2023.

Somerset is currently home to four national landscapes - the Blackdown Hills, Cranborne Chase, the Mendip Hills and the Quantock Hills, along with the Exmoor National Park.

But Councillor Henry Hobhouse (pictured inset) believes that the county is deserving of a fourth national landscape, arguing it will protect the Levels' historic character and enhance the natural environment.

Mr Hobhouse (who represents Castle Cary and the neighbouring villages) made his plea when Somerset Council's climate and place scrutiny committee met in Taunton on Monday morning (April 28).

Addressing representatives from the national landscapes’ management teams, he said: “I’m completely at a loss about this. We have the biggest Ramsar site outside of Norfolk, and it’s not down as a national landscape. Can you explain how we get this instituted as a national landscape?