Focus on the Glover Review, Farming in Protected Landscapes and recreational access.
Minutes:
A welcome was given to Chris Woodruff, Manager of East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Chair of the Advisory Board of the Pebblebed Heaths National Nature Reserve.
The main themes of the Glover Review 2019 were outlined. These shone a good light on the AONBs and potential opportunities. The Review listed twenty-seven proposals, some related to access and improving people’s connection with the landscape. There were five main themes.
· Landscapes alive for nature and beauty
· Landscapes for everyone
· Living in landscapes
· More special places
· New ways of working
The Ministerial Statement on the Glover Review mentioned designating four new AONBs:
1. A new Yorkshire Wolds AONB
2. A new Cheshire Sandstone Ridge AONB
3. An extension to the Surrey Hills AONB (where initial work had already begun)
4. An extension to the Chilterns AONB, alongside consideration of the potential for strengthened management and governance arrangements.
Should these areas meet the designation criteria, they would contribute substantially towards Government’s ambitious pledge to protect and improve 30% of our land for nature by 2030, delivering over 40% of the additional 4000 square km required.
The Review focussed on complementing protection alongside new approaches to driving nature recovery and people’s access to nature, especially in environmentally deprived areas in and around cities.
Defra was currently undertaking research into children and young people’s engagement with the natural environment through a series of scoping exercises and case studies covering ethnic minorities, disability, schools, partnerships, long term engagement, under-represented children and rural children.
The National Association of AONBs was carrying out a lot of work and was vocal about the need to retain the local dimension, even if there are benefits arising from a proposed centralised National Landscape Service structure. Increased liaison was taking place with National Parks and this had been positive with sharing of different approaches.
Funding was being explored through increased private investment, particularly by diversifying funding sources to include emerging markets in natural capital and other commercial opportunities.
One suggestion was that the AONBs should change their name and be called National Landscapes and the Chilterns had already adopted this. It would be more than a branding exercise and full recommendations and a consultation were expected shortly.
Glover Proposal 5 states there would be “A central place for national landscapes in new Environmental Land Management Schemes.” The government had agreed to do more to support public access and the new Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme would provide additional investment to allow farmers and other land managers to work in partnership with National Park Authorities and AONB teams “to improve public access, and deliver bigger and better outcomes for the environment, for people and for places.”
Many AONBs had no direct experience of working with farmers so this constituted a big step change.
Over the three-year programme there was over £50m to support the Agricultural Transition Programme. Projects would need to:
1. Support nature recovery
2. Mitigate the impacts of climate change
3. Provide opportunities for people to discover, enjoy and understand the landscape and its cultural heritage
4. Support nature-friendly, sustainable farm businesses (place), and
5. Deliver National Park/AONB Management Plan objectives.
The programme will be delivered in house by AONBs/NP staff with Local Assessment Panels. In Devon a minimum grant of £1,000 - £2,000 had been set locally, up to a maximum of £250,000. Local Assessment Panels would meet on an eight-week cycle to determine applications. The current application window was from 1 July 2021 - 30 January 2022, with a subsequent window from April 2022 to January 2023.
There were five AONBs in Devon (Blackdown Hills, East Devon, North Devon, South Devon and Tamar Valley). Budget pots for the scheme ranged from £115,000 to £342,000, based on AONB area and proximity to urban areas. Staffing was a mix of internal staff backfilled (part-time), new staff (part and full-time) and contractors for the FiPL Advisor role and administrative role.
Members of the Local Assessment Panel included farmer and Natural England representatives and a mix of other members, for example AONB Board members, the Local Authority, NFU, National Trust, RSPB, Woodland Trust, Duchy of Cornwall and wider advisory networks such as the Forestry Commission, Environment Agency and Highways England. The DCAF and Public Rights of Way team might be asked for advice where appropriate.
18 – 25 expressions of interest had been received per protected landscape across the themes, including permissive access projects.
The People Theme looked at access in the broadest sense and stated intentions were:
· there are more opportunities for people to explore, enjoy and understand the landscape;
· there are more opportunities for more diverse audiences to explore, enjoy and understand the landscape; and
· there is greater public engagement in land management, for example through volunteering.
Under the Farming in Protected Landscapes scheme some key examples of what might be considered under the PEOPLE theme included:
· Funding additional educational access/activities beyond the current Countryside Stewardship limit of 25 days per annum.
· Improvements to promote easier/all ability/wheelchair/all-terrain mobility access e.g. fencing a field boundary to link up with other access routes.
· Creating a series of short self-guided farm trails exploring different aspects of the landscape, farming and food production; improving an old hard-standing to provide car parking and renovating the old dairy building to provide an indoor teaching space with toilets and additional hand washing facilities.
People could apply for projects extending over a three-year period to include feasibility studies.
Members made reference to the increasing tension and dichotomy between renewables, climate change and the landscape. Chris acknowledged that there was more pressure with the climate change agenda around renewables and tree planting and potential landscape transformation. East Devon District Council had appointed a Climate Change Officer. FiPL could support renewables where the site can be used as a demonstration site. Some small-scale and appropriate schemes were in place which were sustainable and non-intrusive. Projects had to be looked at on a case-by-case basis. Other future matters included the greater exploitation of water energy and opportunities arising out of the need to supply electric vehicle charging points.
Chris confirmed there was no general requirement to have a rights of way person on assessment panels but the advice is there can be such a person. In East Devon a representative does cover access and engagement and specific queries can be referred to the Public Rights of Way team or the DCAF. People on the Assessment Panel were selected by the AONB.
Chris said take-up was from both estate and family farms. It was likely that estates would encourage participation by tenants. Chris reported that some Environmental Land Management Scheme advocacy work was undertaken by the AONBs/NPs in the early 2021 to help farmers prepare for the planned changes in farming. Surveys from this work showed in East Devon AONB that beef/sheep farmers were the least prepared and most concerned. Dairy farmers were the opposite. Valley farmers in the East Devon AONB were likely to be more intensive and less interested than farmers in the steeper valleys. There was a lot of inertia in farming systems, currently compounded by labour and material problems faced in carrying out any large-scale projects. It was hoped by AONBs that the FiPL scheme would extend beyond its initial three years.
The distinct lack of emphasis on food production was raised. Chris said this should be possible to highlight under FiPL and indicated the fund could support schemes aimed at improving the understanding and perception of farming and he cited the positive experiences following an AONB farm visit to Gittisham Farm in 2019.
Reference in the example FiPL proposals list to mobility scooters was positively noted. Users of mobility scooters can often cope with rough surfaces, despite expectations otherwise. The major obstructions were gates and boulders across path entrances. Small changes should be factored in when improving access. Chris said he was very aware of these issues.
From prior work in the Forest of Bowland, Chris had experience of Quiet Lanes which tie in with the Glover Review, FiPL and safe access to the countryside and queried DCC’s position. It was confirmed there had been an earlier project, Country Mile, which explored the safety of rural roads. Richard Walton undertook to follow up on this as the PROW team lead on category 12 road maintenance. There may be opportunities to see whether there can be a more integrated recreational offer.
Other counters sited on the East Devon Way at Woodbury Common, Colyton and Gittisham showed much higher use at Colyton, close to a larger population where the trail could be accessed without a car. Figures had also noticeably increased at Colyton compared with pre pandemic.
Chris was thanked for his presentation.
It was agreed to put Quiet Lanes on the agenda for the next meeting.
Action: Forum Officer