Archive News
2006
The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscapes go global!
Wave energy gets the landscape green light
The Sustainable Development Fund: A successful first year
Sttreeeettchhhhhh… Local Area Agreements are here!
THE ATLANTIC COAST AND VALLEYS PROJECT - The AONB unit lends a hand
Today the landscape of the North Cornwall coastal areas of the Cornwall AONB has a greater uniformity than ever before. Looking back some 60 years, the appearance of the coastal fringe was subtly different. This difference was mainly in the variety of habitats that existed, and the variety of wildlife therein, giving a more patchwork appearance to the landscape.
The Atlantic Coast and Valleys Project (ACVP) will revitalise the environment of the project area by returning to good health those coastal and valley-side rough ground habitats that have suffered from the suspension of grazing.The project will benefit local land owners and land managers by increasing the area of grazing land on farms and providing land managers with skills that can be used to manage traditional habitat and used to produce a better living through farm diversification.
Visitors and community alike will benefit from improved access arising from physical works, improved interpretation and information and the provision of activities and events. The landscape restoration works proposed by the ACVP will be sustained by land managers through stewardship payments for the management of land . Access improvements to rights of way, car parks and other facilities will be undertaken with the consideration of the whole landscape in mind.
With the development phase of the project drawing to a close, an enormous task faced North Cornwall District Council and the Atlantic Coast and Valleys Partnership in completing the second stage bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund and completing the project elements for the first stage of the project.
The Cornwall AONB Unit's Community Officer, Ed Thompson was seconded to North Cornwall District Council for 2.5 days per week from October to December 2006 to help finish the bid document for the next phase of funding to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), which had to be submitted by end December 2006. Together the project team worked very hard to develop an excellent second stage bid which was submitted to HLF at Christmas. Staff at NCDC hope to hear a positive result from HLF in June 2007 with work starting on the ground around September.
For further information:
North Cornwall District Council:
David Attwell, NCDC Countryside Officer - Tel: 01208 893333 or email: david.attwell@ncdc.gov.uk
Partnership Matters
The AONB Partnership meets quarterly to discuss matters relating to the AONB. The September 2006 Partnership meeting included a site visit for Partners to the Bedruthan Steps to Padstow section of the Cornwall AONB. Tourism was the theme and the group visited Constantine Bay; Mother Ivey’s Bay Caravan Park and Trevose Head where issues raised included design of beachside facilities e.g. toilet blocks and RNLI buildings, car parking, visitor management and the impact of tourism facilities upon the landscape.
In considering how the Partnership can address some of the issues discussed, it was agreed that the Officer Working Group should discuss this further with a view to the preparation of an audit of the AONB to identify priority targets and opportunities for landscape enhancement projects throughout the AONB. Outcome of their discussion will then be reported to the March 2007 Partnership meeting.
The December Partnership Meeting included a series of interesting and informative presentations from Mary Coombe - Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, Jemima Ball - The Fal River Links Partnership, Samantha Groom - Carrick District Council's Tourism Officer, Colette Holden - AONB Unit Assistant Officer and Amy Dinsdale - National Farmers Union. Click here for more details of these presentations.
All change at the AONB Unit
Sadly, our Community Officer, Ed Thompson left the AONB Unit at the end of March when his contract came to an end. Ed was a great favourite with staff, partners and community alike and we know that he was appreciated enormously by the AONB communities whom he helped with project planning and funding. Following the expiry of his contract with the Unit, Ed has been appointed by Restormel Borough Council as a Regeneration Officer, covering the Clay areas, St Austell and the Mevagissey area. Our loss is Restormel's gain and the Partnership wishes Ed all the best in his new role.
The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscapes go global!
The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape (Cornish Mining) became a World Heritage Site in July 2006, recognised as having cultural importance on a global level.
The decision was taken by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania following a submission by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on behalf of the World Heritage team.
Cornish Mining represents one of the longest histories of industrial heritage conservation in the world and is unique in being the first of its kind concerned with the mining and ore processing of tin and arsenic, together with copper and other industrial metals. Through these advances the industry contributed substantially to the industrial revolution in the rest of Britain.
Over 70 organisations have been involved in putting the bid together, which was the largest and most complex application ever submitted by the UK Government. Cornish Mining now joins the ranks of world-famous sites such as the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and the Grand Canyon.
The World Heritage Site covers mining landscapes dating from 1700 to 1914, when deep hard-rock mining was developed locally and major technological developments within the area helped to transform mining both locally and worldwide.
Made up of ten distinct areas where the physical remains of mining from this period are best represented, the Site includes the mines themselves, the remains of the early infrastructure and the surviving evidence of its social and economic consequences including distinctive settlement patterns.
Several of the sites which make up the World Heritage Site in Cornwall are within or partially within the AONB, particularly within West Penwith, St Agnes and the south east of Bodmin Moor. There are also significant areas in the Tamar Valley AONB who are working with the WHS Partnership to implement the multimillion pound Tamar Valley Mining Heritage Project. See http://www.tamarvalley.org.uk/index1.htm for more details.
Adam Paynter, Chair of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site Partnership, said: “This is fantastic news and I am over the moon that our bid has been successful. A lot of organisations and people have been involved in the bid and I am delighted everyone’s hard work has been rewarded in such a fabulous way.
“World Heritage Inscription seeks to identify, protect and preserve the world’s cultural and natural heritage considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape now officially belongs to the world and we are the custodians charged with ensuring our heritage is preserved for the enjoyment of future worldwide generations.”
For further information contact Beverly Skilton, Cornwall County Council:
01872 322512 or 07800 610 688 bskilton@cornwall.gov.uk
For more information log on to www.cornish-mining.org.uk
More information relating to World Heritage is available at http://whc.unesco.org/
Wave energy gets the landscape green light
The Wave Hub Project is a major initiative to see Cornwall as the first area in Europe to commercially harness wave power to contribute to the country’s energy needs.
This groundbreaking renewable energy project, supported by the SW Regional Development Agency and a host of other partners, aims to create the UK's first offshore facility for the demonstration and proving of the operation of arrays of wave energy generation devices.
As part of the development process, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required by law and is a process that considers the likely environmental effects in order to assist decision-making on consent applications. The Cornwall AONB Partnership was successful in encouraging landscape impacts to be assessed as part of the process.
The EIA process for Wave Hub considered the construction, operation and decommissioning of the project and, where appropriate, assessed the potential environmental impacts against likely and worst case scenarios for some aspects of the project, such as the use of different types and arrangements of the wave energy devices which might plug in to the hub.
The EIA is now published and can be accessed via the SWRDA’s website.
With respect to landscape impacts, the investigations determined that the onshore site of the Wave Hub’s substation is not of high landscape value. Wave Hub’s subsea cable and electrical infrastructure will be on the seabed and will not be visible. However, the wave energy devices and navigation aids will be visible from high points along the coast within the Cornwall AONB.
The assessment found that the visual impact of the wave energy devices, even under the worst case scenario, will be relatively low and an impact of minor adverse significance was predicted. At night time, the site will be visible due to the lighting that is needed to mark Wave Hub and an impact of minor to moderate adverse significance is predicted.
The AONB Partnership has welcomed the findings of the EIA and will continue to work with through the Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership to support the process.
For more information on the wave hub contact:
Nick Harrington
Operations & Development Manager
South West of England Regional Development Agency
North Quay House
Sutton Harbour
Plymouth, PL4 0RA
nick.harrington@southwestrda.org.uk
The Sustainable Development Fund: A successful first year
The new grant fund for AONB’s got off to a flying first year in Cornwall. Our grant fund of £100K was completely allocated to local sustainability projects in the AONB, responding to local needs.
The 2005-2006 projects included: The restoration of Ethy Park Orchard and the installation of solar water heaters at Chyvarloe volunteer station by the National Trust; Access improvements and conservation works at Pol Hill, St. Agnes with St Agnes Parish Council and in West Penwith via the Penwith Access and Rights of Way Forum (PAROW); Community events and activities and interpretation on the Helford River with the Helford Marine Conservation Group; Reduce, reuse and recycling project at Fowey 3 R’s and coast path accessibility works on the Roseland with the Cornwall Sustainable Tourism (CoaST) Project; Garden Trail Improvements with the Pengersick Historic & Education Trust; and A Cornish Hedges Education Pack with the Guild of Cornish Hedgers
Everyone involved with the projects worked incredibly hard to complete them in the time allocated. The projects accomplished a wide range of outputs and outcomes which benefited the AONB by reducing energy consumption and waste, enhancing areas, improving education and increasing access over a number of Cornwall AONB areas.
To download a PDF report on the 2005-2006 projects click here
Our 2006-2007 projects are now well underway, building on the good work carried out in 05-06. For more information on these projects contact
Ed Thompson, Cornwall AONB Community Officer on 01872 322350.
Sttreeeettchhhhhh… Local Area Agreements are here!
Local area agreements (LAAs) are made between central and local government in a local area. Their aim is to achieve local solutions that meet local needs, while also contributing to national priorities and the achievement of standards set by central government. Local Area Agreements represent a radical new approach to improve co-ordination between central government, local authorities and their partners.
LAA’s will focus on a range of agreed outcomes that are shared by all the delivery partners locally and which they all agree to work towards achieving. They will simplify the number of additional funding streams from central government going into an area, help to join up public services more effectively and allow greater flexibility for local solutions.
Local Area Agreements should complement the AONB and help to deliver the policy objectives in the AONB management plan. This approach to integrated area management should also help to focus in on the 12 separate areas of the AONB, focusing on individual local solutions to the particular issues in each of the 12 areas.
Cornwall has been successful in its application to be a part of the LAA initiative focusing on four main themes.
1. Safer and stronger communities – linked to all Home Office funding to Crime and Disorder Partnerships, neighbourhood wardens etc.
2. Children and Young People - linked to 'Every Child Matters' and covering education, social care, health and crime
3. Healthier communities and older people – linked to PCT heath needs assessments, National Framework for Older People and health inequalities
4. Economic development - linked to key regeneration
Each theme will have target outcomes – some national and some local. Local priorities should be identified in the Community Strategy and be based on community consultation. Local priorities can be cross cutting and targeting deprived neighbourhoods will be a prerequisite. On the agreed priorities for improvement locally, the Government will negotiate targets to ‘stretch’ performance beyond what would have been expected anyway, and will offer a reward grant for achieving that extra performance. The targets will be called ‘stretch’ targets
The Cornwall Strategic Partnership is the Local Strategic Partnership for the whole of Cornwall and works to co-ordinate the delivery of the Cornwall Community Strategy and the LAA process. Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) are multi sector / multi agency bodies who work together toward jointly agreed goals. LSPs are non executive, non statutory organisations operating at a level which enables strategic decisions to be taken but are also close enough to the individual neighbourhoods to allow actions to be determined by the community. The role of Local Strategic Partnerships in this process is to broker and achieve agreement on outcomes and ensure delivery by agencies.
For more information (and weekly updates) on Local Area Agreements and the Cornwall Community Strategy, visit the Cornwall Strategic Partnership’s website or contact the Local Area Agreement Project Team
LAATEAM@cornwall.gov.uk|
Tel: 01872 326951
Fax: 01872 354473
Perfect planning
Over the past year, the AONB Unit has been working to provide comments and contribute to the new raft of Local Development Plans which are currently being prepared by the District Authorities. The new planning system of Local Development Frameworks has been designed to streamline the local planning process and promote a proactive, positive approach to managing development. The key aims of the new system are:
• Flexibility;
• Strengthening community and stakeholder involvement in the development of local communities;
• Front loading of key decisions in the preparation of plans;
• Sustainability appraisal;
• Programme management; and
• Soundness - testing the plan against simple criteria to show it is fit for purpose.
If these steps are all implemented to appropriate standards then the new system of local development frameworks will speed up the plan making process and be more transparent to members of the public. General information on Local development frameworks can be found on the website of the government Department for Communities and Local Government
The AONB Unit has just completed its comments on Restormel Borough Council’s Core Strategy and Development Control submission documents and now turns its attention to Kerrier District Council who have just published their Core Strategy.
To find out more about your District Authority’s Local Development Framework, click on the links below.
Caradon District Council
Carrick District Council
Kerrier District Council
North Cornwall District Council
Restormel Borough Council
Penwith District Council
Partnership Matters
The AONB Partnership meets quarterly to discuss matters relating to the AONB. The July partnership meeting saw the Partnership take a trip to Bodmin Moor, where Partnership members visited the farm of Stephen Sandercock, the Chairperson of St Cleer and District Commoners Association. Stephen kindly gave the partners a guided tour of his farm, parts of which are in DEFRA’s Countryside Stewardship Scheme. Goerge Brew of DEFRA’s Rural Development Service added further information on the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and the new Environmental Stewardship Schemes which replace it, and John Holmes, Deputy Manager of English Nature’s Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Team was on hand to provide biodiversity expertise.
Stephen gave the partners a crucial insight into the workings of an upland farm and a better understanding of the difficulties facing farmers at the present. Following the visit, the partners met at the Stert’s Centre at Upton Cross to discuss the issues raised on the farm and possible work for the Partnership to assist farming in the AONB.
