Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
The Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Management Plan 2011 - 2016
Planning & Development
Visions
• Planning policies and an implementation
framework that protects and enhances
landscape character, attaching appropriate
weight to the Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty whilst encouraging appropriate
forms of social and economic
development.
• High quality development which is in the
right place and of the right scale, which is
in harmony with the protected landscape;
absence of intrusive tall structures and
incongruous development. A tranquil
place for quiet enjoyment with
dark night skies.
Background
The Cornwall AONB is protected by the planning system whereby a suite of national
and local policies apply to ensure that the characteristics that make the AONB special are maintained for future generations. The new government will be revising national policy and placing emphasis on the localism agenda and the Big Society. Planning authorities have a major role in influencing the character and diversity of the AONB landscape. Local Development Frameworks and development management decisions must reflect the needs of the communities that live in the AONB and ensure that the development will further the purposes of the AONB in the long term. Allowing only sustainable development is the key to the long term care of the AONB landscape.Planning and Development is cross cutting and many of the policies outlined in the other sections of the Management Plan are affected by or will be implemented through the planning process. Therefore the policies set down below need to be viewed in the context of the other policies in the Management Plan.
Management Framework
• The ‘European Landscape Convention’ should be taken forward in a strategic landscape spatial policy framework embedded in the emerging Local Development Documents
• The need to attach appropriate weight to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the Cornwall AONB, as set down in the Countryside and Right of Way Act 2000 - Section 85, is an essential requirement for the management of development in the Cornwall AONB
• National planning guidance for AONBs is set down in Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 7: Sustainable Development in Rural Areas (paragraph 21 and 22) and supplemented by PPS 1 and 12. Planning Policy Statement 7: Sustainable Development in Rural Areas sets the framework for balancing the conservation of natural beauty and the social and economic needs of the area
• Mineral Policy Statement 1: Planning and Minerals does not permit major mineral developments in the AONB except in exceptional circumstances. Planning Policy Statement 10: Planning for Sustainable Waste requires that the need for waste management facilities is assessed against environmental criteria including the protection of landscapes of national importance
• A National Planning Framework is to be prepared to replace the current Planning Policy Statements/ Guidance
• The preparation of the Cornwall Core Strategy, the Cornwall Minerals Development Plan Document (DPD) and the Affordable Housing Development Plan Document provides the opportunity to create a positive policy framework for the management of development in the Cornwall AONB. The AONB Management Plan can be viewed as being a spatial planning tool. Accordingly, AONB Management Plan preparation and the Local Development Framework are considered to be complementary processes
• The ‘Connecting Cornwall’ Local Transport Plan 2011-2030 (LTP3) provides an opportunity for new transport initiatives to be planned in a way that respects the environment or introduce measures to mitigate against the negative impacts of transport upon the AONB.
• Integrated Management Zones (IMZ) which facilitates a holistic approach towards the planning and management of the different elements of the coast should be embedded in the new Cornwall Core Strategy and the management of the coastal sections of the Cornwall AONB
• New housing development in the settlements which are closely related to parts of the AONB provides the opportunity through the Green Infrastructure Strategy for good management and increasing accessible links to the protected landscape. The preparation of the Cornwall Design Guide - Village Design Guides would help promote high quality sustainable development. Guidance should be provided for the Cornwall AONB to enable the local chapter guiding principles to be taken forward
• The policies in the Management Plan are a material consideration in the determination of a planning application. The Management Plan is awarded greater weight if taken forward as a Supplementary Planning Document. A joint planning protocol with Tamar Valley AONB Unit and Cornwall Council will enable these polices to be taken forward in the emergence of future development policy and development management.
Planning & Development Policies
| PD1 | Ensure the purposes and objectives of AONB
designation are fully recognised in the development
and implementation of Cornwall Local Development
Framework and other public policies, strategies and programmes |
| PD2 | Ensure that the Green Infrastructure Strategy
provides alternative natural greenspace to address
risks to AONB features from tourism development and outdoor recreation facilities, and promotes the reduction of surface runoff and improving water quality by the inclusion of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) |
| PD3 | Encourage local communities to identify
local needs and assist in the conservation and
enhancement of local distinctiveness through the preparation and development of Village Design Statements and other initiatives |
| PD4 | Support the provision of affordable housing to meet identified needs of local people in locations with access to employment and local services. Ensure that the selection and development of affordable housing sites within or in the setting of the Cornwall AONB has appropriate regard to landscape and settlement character |
| PD5 | Support the provision of identified local employment
needs in settlements within or in the setting of
the Cornwall AONB that has appropriate regard to protected landscape and settlement character |
| PD6 | Support tourism development that conserves
and enhances the diverse local landscape
characteristics of the sections of the Cornwall AONB. Ensure that in the development of tourist facilities the scale, design and use of materials has appropriate regard to the character, sensitivity and capacity of the protected landscape |
| PD7 | Promote in telecommunication and power
infrastructure provision appropriate site selection
and design of developments; and where possible the reduction and removal of power and telecommunications lines |
| PD8 | Ensure that any necessary development in
or within the setting of the AONB is high quality
sustainable development that: • is appropriately located, of an appropriate scale and addresses landscape sensitivity and capacity • is compatible with the distinctive character of the location described by the Landscape Character Assessment, with particular regard to the setting of settlements and the rural landscape • maintains semi-natural corridors • promotes the conservation of the historic environment as a whole and in particular those designated heritage assets and their setting; including the Conservation Areas and World Heritage Site • is designed to respect quality of place in the use of distinctive local building styles and materials, dark skies and tranquillity; and ... • protects trees, other important landscape features and semi natural habitats, in order that it can contribute to the conservation and enhancement of the natural beauty of the protected landscape Particular care will be taken to ensure that no development is permitted in or outside the AONB which would damage its natural beauty, character and special qualities or otherwise prejudice the achievement of the AONB purposes |
| PD9 | Support the introduction of additional
measures at existing mines and quarries within the
AONB, and those affecting its setting, to protect and enhance the AONB. These measures can be achieved by imposing appropriate new planning conditions through the Review of Mineral Planning Permissions |
| PD10 | Promote the re-use and recycling of building materials to reduce demand for minerals and extraction and its potential adverse impact on natural beauty |
| PD11 | Support the use of local stone in built development, if necessary by the small scale and sensitive reworking of local quarries, ensuring appropriate policy and guidance within the Local Development Framework |
| PD12 | Encourage the Local Planning Authority
to direct Community Infrastructure Levies and
Developer Contributions towards appropriate AONB Management Plan objectives and activities |
| PD13 | Promote the adoption, use and, when appropriate, revision to the Planning Protocol for the Cornwall AONB and the Tamar Valley AONB with Cornwall Council to ensure that effective consultation is achieved on policy preparation and major or significant development within and in the |
Planning & Development Actions
A/PD1
Environment Service and Cornwall Council Planning and RegenerationA/PD2 Promote the use and, if required, develop further the methodology set down in ‘Affordable Housing in Protected Landscapes: Assessing the Landscape Suitability of Potential Sites’ in the selection of affordable housing sites – Cornwall Council Planning and Regeneration A/PD3 Consider the option recommended in the ‘Taylor Review’ (Recommendation 21) for the possibility, and legal basis, for trialling planning rules limiting change of use of full time homes to part time occupation (as second homes or holiday lets) in the community that has the greatest percentage of second homes – Cornwall Council Planning and Regeneration A/PD4 Pursue opportunities in conjunction with Western Power Distribution to ‘underground’ overhead lines – Cornwall AONB Unit and Cornwall Council Planning and Regeneration A/PD5 Support the preparation of a Cornwall Design Guide as a Supplementary Planning Document and promote the establishment of local design principles that take full account of historic character, local distinctiveness and natural quality for the 12 sections of the Cornwall AONB – Cornwall Council Environment Service and Cornwall Council Planning and Regeneration A/PD6 Based on the local design principles, promote the preparation of planning guidelines for the 12 sections of the AONB in order to provide more detailed guidance in relation to the siting, design and materials for new buildings and conversions – Cornwall Council Environment Service and Cornwall Council Planning and Regeneration A/PD7 Promote the adoption of the planning guidelines for the Cornwall AONB as a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) – Cornwall Council Planning and Regeneration A/PD8 Promote, through the use of the ‘Cornwall Landscape Character Best Practice Guidance’ and the ‘Development Management Toolkit’ or other appropriate methodology, the management of development in order to encourage appropriate site selection, high quality design and materials – Cornwall Council Planning and Regeneration A/PD9 Support, in the preparation of planning guidance for Community Infrastructure Levy/ Planning Obligations, the promotion of Developers Contributions towards appropriate AONB Management Plan objectives – Cornwall Council Planning and Regeneration A/PD10 Deliver planning protocol and monitor consultation on emerging planning policy and selected planning decisions – Cornwall Council Planning and Regeneration
Further Information
Further information on condition, predicted trends, management framework and monitoring can be found in the web based appendices to this chapter http://www.cornwall-aonb.gov.uk/management-plan/further-planning-and-development.html