Issue - meetings

To consider the head of planning’s report. 

Cabinet considered the head of planning’s report, which sought the adoption of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Management Plan 2019-2024. 

The production of a management plan was a statutory requirement.  All nine constituent councils within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty had responsibility to adopt the plan, which had been produced by the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’s Council of Partners.  This had councillor and officer representation from each constituent council. 

The plan was split into key themes covering landscape, rural land management, biodiversity, the historic environment, natural resources, development, communities, tourism leisure and access.  Climate change was a cross-cutting theme also.  The policies and actions in the plan supported the fight against climate change.  For example, policies aimed at supporting landscape scale habitat restoration and providing habitat linkages both helped the natural environment to adapt to the impacts of climate change and were tackling the causes with the creation of new habitats.  Cabinet welcomed this. 

Cabinet supported the recommendation to adopt the management plan. 

RESOLVED: to adopt the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Management Plan 2019-2024.