The Farmers' Union of Wales today expressed its disappointment with the Welsh Government's decision to confirm a designation order to extend the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley area of outstanding natural beauty.
FUW Denbighshire and Flintshire counties executive officer Marian Jones said members would be disappointed that the union''s objections and concerns over the impact the designation would have on farming and local communities within the area had been ignored.
She said: "It has long been recognised that farming has helped to create and maintain the landscape in this area of Wales.
"We are naturally very disappointed that despite the majority of respondents objecting to the plans outlined in the draft designation order consultation, the Welsh Government will allow the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) to pursue its proposal to extend the Clwydian Range AONB.
"It is the farming systems employed by generations of farmers which have created the landscape so cherished by the visitors who contribute significantly to the economy of the local area."
The FUW formally objected to the extension of the Clwydian Range AONB on the basis that sustainable development, both on-farm and within rural communities, would be stifled by the more onerous planning controls applied in designated areas.
"The union also believes that, given the number of existing designations in the area, any further designation is unnecessary and will only serve to increase the bureaucracy and red tape encountered by farmers.
"For rural communities to prosper and survive they need to be able to continually evolve and develop over time. The union is concerned that the increasing levels of statutory designation in rural areas could have a negative effect on development in these areas and encourage the stagnation of the Welsh countryside at the expense of thriving rural communities and its indigenous industries.
"Rather than considering further designations of any kind, which can foster resentment in rural areas, more effort should be made to encourage a partnership approach to conservation through positive policies, such as agri-environment schemes, encouraging diversification and working with rural people."