The YWT Consortium Charter — what we commit to, whatever is chosen on 30 April

On 30 April 2026, the 18 landowners of the Ure Dales Consortium will decide, alongside YWT, which of four SLE governance options the scheme will take. That decision rightly rests with the Consortium.

But there are things the Consortium members are entitled to know before that decision — commitments that are true no matter which option is chosen.

This charter sets those out. It is signed by YWT’s trustees before the workshop, so that the choice on 30 April is a choice between already-constrained options, not a decision to trust YWT in the abstract.

The Consortium does not need to trust YWT’s intentions to sign into this scheme. It needs to know what YWT is bound to — and what it is bound from. This document aims to make both clear.

YWT’s commitment to the scheme is not conditional on which SLE form is chosen. Under Option 1 (YWT Charity-Led), YWT is the SLE. Under Options 2, 3 and 4, YWT is the convening and sponsoring partner. In all four cases, YWT commits to remaining engaged with the scheme for its full 20-year duration, subject to the wind-down provisions of the governance document.

Whichever SLE form is chosen, YWT commits to operating the scheme through consent-based decision-making with the Consortium, not through YWT fiat. This includes:

• No material changes to the delivery plan on any holding without that landowner’s consent
• No material changes to scheme-wide terms without Consortium consent
• No sale, transfer, or disposal of scheme assets without Consortium consent
• No change of scheme purpose without Consortium consent

YWT commits to supporting the full independence of the ASC from YWT, from the SLE, and from the Consortium. YWT will not appoint ASC members beyond its proportionate share and will not direct ASC decisions.

YWT commits to the financial assumptions, the surplus distribution model chosen by the Consortium, and the payment flows set out in the financial model circulated before the workshop. Material deviations from that model will be brought back to the Consortium for consent.

YWT commits to the trustmark standards as set out in the trustmark documentation. The standards are the property of the Consortium and the ASC; YWT will not unilaterally raise, lower, or reinterpret them.

YWT commits to resourcing the shared-services function (procurement, insurance, veterinary, training, administration) at the level set out in the 20-year phased pathway. Any proposed reduction in shared-services capacity below that baseline will be brought back to the Consortium for consent.

YWT commits to treating the 14-day period after the 30 April workshop as a genuine ratification window. Consent offered on the day and not confirmed at Day 14 will be treated as “not yet”, not as implied agreement. Extended ratification on reasonable request will be supported.

YWT commits to honouring the exit provisions set out in the governance document — including the no-penalty exit from end of Year 3, the reversibility provisions, and the wind-down protections. A landowner who leaves the scheme within its terms is not disadvantaged by YWT; relationships remain intact.

YWT commits to annual financial reporting to the Consortium, open to all landowner members, on the scheme’s income, expenditure, reserves, surplus, and distribution. The report will include any YWT-side scheme costs that are charged to the SLE.

YWT commits to using its public voice — with DEFRA, with media, with the wider conservation sector, with potential buyers of trustmark-certified product — in support of the scheme’s standards and the Consortium’s commitments. YWT will not position itself publicly in ways that undermine scheme members.

YWT is the institutionally larger partner. It will not use that scale against any landowner member. Disputes will be resolved through the governance document’s dispute mechanisms (Article 11); YWT will not turn disputes into public-pressure contests or into legal proceedings that a landowner lacks the resources to defend.

YWT will not transfer, claim, or convert scheme assets — including delivered restoration, the trustmark, data, and financial reserves — into YWT’s own asset base. The scheme is the scheme; YWT is its convening partner.

YWT commits not to use its campaigning, communications, or advocacy capacity against any individual Consortium member, including in ways that might be read as environmental criticism of their farming practice, their holding, or their family.

YWT, as the current primary interlocutor with DEFRA, will not unilaterally renegotiate scheme-wide terms with DEFRA without first bringing any such proposed change to the Consortium for consent. This applies regardless of whether YWT is the SLE (Option 1) or an SLE-sponsoring partner (Options 2–4).

YWT will not feature individual landowners, holdings, restoration outcomes, or the trustmark in YWT’s own fundraising materials without the explicit consent of the landowner concerned and (where relevant) the Consortium. Scheme-level communications are a Consortium decision, not a YWT marketing channel.

Where a tension arises between YWT’s charitable objectives and the contractual obligations of the scheme to its members, YWT commits to honouring the scheme’s obligations and resolving the tension through governance dialogue rather than through unilateral interpretation.

• Any Consortium member may raise the breach through the governance document’s dispute mechanism (Article 11).
• A finding of breach, upheld by the ASC Appeals panel or by an external mediator agreed by both parties, triggers a remedy — set out in the governance document.
• Serious or repeated breaches are grounds for the Consortium to seek a change of SLE form or of convening partner, protected by the governance document’s scheme-continuation provisions.

This charter may be updated only with:

• Consent of the Consortium
• Consent of YWT trustees
• Notification to the ASC

The updated charter will be circulated and filed alongside the governance document.

YWT is signing this charter because the 18 landowners are being asked to commit to a 20-year scheme in which YWT is the institutionally larger partner. That asymmetry needs to be made visible and bound — before consent is sought, not after.

This charter exists so that a landowner can say to their family, their advisors, and themselves:

We mean what we have written here. We intend to be held to it.

• [Trustee 1 name, role, signature, date]
• [Trustee 2 name, role, signature, date]
• [Trustee 3 name, role, signature, date]

Witnessed by:

• [Witness 1 — Yorkshire Peat Partnership: name, signature, date]
• [Witness 2 — Consortium facilitator: name, signature, date]