Agenda item

Mid Devon District Council together with other local authorities has previously authorised the Blackdown Hills National Landscape Partnership to undertake a review of the current Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Management Plan on their behalf, as required under Section IV of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

Public consultation on the reviewed management plan took place in January to March 2025, and now adoption of the Blackdown Hills National Landscape Management Plan by Mid Devon District Council and the other relevant local authorities is required before the management plan is published and is submitted to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The Group had before it a report * from the Director of Place and Economy considering the Blackdown Hills National Landscape Management Plan.

The following was highlighted within the report:-

·       Part of Mid Devon District was situated in an area covered by the Blackdown Hills National Landscape formerly known as an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

·       The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 required that Mid Devon District Council (MDDC) along with other relevant authorities produced a Management Plan for the Blackdown Hills National Landscape to be reviewed at intervals of not more than 5 years.

·       The Blackdown Hills National Landscape Partnership had performed this duty on behalf of MDDC and the other relevant authorities which included Somerset Council and East Devon District Council.  The Partnership was led by officers at Devon County Council with some involvement from officers of other local authorities.

·       The Management Plan blended national and local priorities and sought to address them in a way that was right for the Blackdown Hills, the landscape, environment and communities to ensure the special character of the area was conserved and enhanced for future generations.

·       This included a vision which set out four main themes, each with objectives, guiding principles, polices, targets and priority actions. 

·       A draft Management Plan was previously reported to the Planning Policy Advisory Group in July 2024 and Cabinet in October 2024 and was subject to an 8 week public consultation from January to March 2025.

·       The Blackdown Hills National Landscape Partnership had now received confirmation from Natural England that the Management Plan met the statutory requirements and had broadly followed the guidance for preparing a strategy for the management of the national landscape and that it represented good practice.

·       Natural England commended the level of detail in the plan and recommended that some sections could be shortened or moved to an appendix annex.  The Partnership had taken those comments into consideration and had agreed that a supporting summary document could be prepared to explain the content and purpose of the management.

Tim Youngs, Manager at Blackdown Hills National Landscape also highlighted the following:-

·       The document, when complete would be web-based showing images and videos.

·       The main sections included place, people, nature and climate.

·       Places would include sustainable land use, farming, forestry, planning, infrastructure and the historic environment.

·       Nature would include habitat restoration, connectivity, species conservation and ecological networks which would link to the Local Nature Recovery Strategy and the Devon and Nature Recovery Plans.

·       Climate links to Mid Devon’s Climate Plan and the Devon Carbon Plan which addressed climate change mitigation and adaptation through nature based solutions.

·       Blackdown Hills was important for storing carbon and it currently stored 7 million tonnes of soil carbon.  Working with landowners was a priority to ensure that carbon remained locked up.

·       Many of those areas were really important for biodiversity.

·       The Framework had 10 targets which fed from the Government’s Environmental Improvement Plan and the Blackdown Hills was one of the protected landscapes charged with delivering ambitious targets.

Discussion took place regarding:-

·       Whether the delegated authority to approve editorial changes would dramatically change the document.  It was explained that those changes would be points of small technical detail to ensure consistency throughout.  It would not affect the policies or the actions outlined.

·       The low uptake with land managers adopting nature friendly farming and whether this was due to the lack of finance or that the land was not suitable?  It was explained that the area was environmentally sensitive and there was a shortage of farm advisory input and that a trainee had been recruited to help fill the gap as there was more work to be done.  A farm facilitation group had been set up with approximately 140 members which was farmer led. They were working at setting up workshops and training to raise awareness.

·       Carbon storage and how to increase it by sharing information with farms to help them change the way they work.

·       Whether any other areas could be promoted as a national landscape.  It was explained that this was not a quick piece of work but something that could be aspired to.

·       Flood prevention and the planting of trees to help absorb significant amounts of water and working with the farming community to ensure measures were being taken.

RECOMMENDED to the Cabinet that:-

1.     The Blackdown Hills National Landscape Management Plan (Appendices 1, 2 and 3) is adopted.

2.     That delegated authority be given to the Director of Place in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning and Economic Regeneration to approve any editorial changes made to the Blackdown Hills National Landscape Management Plan.

(Proposed by the Chair)

Reason for the decision

As set out in the report.

Note *Report previously circulated.