Engaging with decision-making
What 'In development' means, and how different kinds of stakeholder can engage with a decision that is still being formed.
The Ure Dales scheme is being built through a series of decisions made by the consortium of eighteen landowners and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, working with specialist advisors and reviewed by DEFRA. Some of these decisions are close to being made. Some will take years.
If you have arrived here from a page marked “In development”, it means the decision described on that page is still being formed. This page explains what that means and how you can engage.
What decisions are being made
The scheme’s development phase produces six plans — Land Management, Project Management and Governance, Blended Finance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Stakeholder Engagement, and Site Access. Each plan represents a set of decisions about how the scheme will work across its twenty-year life.
The closest decision at the time of writing is the governance decision— who holds the scheme, how it is legally structured, and how money and responsibility move between the participating landowners and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. That decision is being taken at a consortium workshop on 30 April 2026.
Other decisions — about the detail of the Land Management Plan, the structure of the Blended Finance Plan, the Monitoring framework — follow through 2026 and into 2027.
How decisions are made
Decisions on the shape of the scheme are made by the consortium. Different kinds of decision use different processes.
Governance decisions are made by the consortium as a whole, working through structured sessions with a facilitator. At the 30 April 2026 workshop, the consortium uses a consent-based approach: a decision moves forward when no member has a substantive objection, and members have a further 14-day window to raise any unresolved concerns before the decision is formally ratified.
Technical decisions— for example about ecological monitoring methods or the detail of a land-use change — are made by the landowners involved in that part of the scheme, with advice from ecologists, finance specialists, and legal counsel as needed.
Operational decisions— how the consortium’s day-to-day work is organised — are made by whoever has the delegated authority to make them under the governance arrangement the consortium adopts.
In every case, decisions are recorded in writing and communicated through this website and through direct communication with affected parties.
How you can engage
Different engagement routes exist for different kinds of stakeholder.
If you are a landowner in the consortium, you are part of the decision-making process directly. The facilitator and YWT’s consultancy team will be in touch about the sessions, pre-reads, and ratification windows.
If you are a neighbour, tenant, or local resident, the Stakeholder Engagement Plan (itself one of the six plans being developed) will set out the routes through which you can raise questions, register concerns, or offer views. In the meantime, you can contact Yorkshire Wildlife Trust through the contact details on this site.
If you are an interested member of the public, you can follow the scheme’s progress on this website. Each plan page updates as decisions are made — the banner at the top of the page flips from “In development” to “Decision reached” and a summary and (in time) a downloadable PDF of the finalised plan becomes available.
If you are a researcher, journalist, or policy professional with specific questions about the scheme, please contact Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. The consortium welcomes inquiry grounded in the published record.
Back to the plan pages
If you arrived here from one of the six plan hub pages, the direct route back: