The North Wessex Downs National Landscape (NWDNL) has launched a new five-year Management Plan – with a commitment to protecting the countryside from development.
The North Wessex Downs National Landscape (NWDNL) has published a new five-year Management Plan that pledges to protect the countryside from inappropriate development.
The plan says the biggest challenge is climate change, but it opposes large-scale solar farms on farmland which, it warns, "can have a significant effect on landscape character, shifting from a rural to industrial landscape". It does support roof-based PV and small-scale solar arrays to help meet net zero targets. Wind turbines are also flagged as harmful to four different types of landscape.
The document covers parts of nine local authority areas (though planned local government reorganisation could change that) and names towns that sit just outside the Downs: Newbury, Thatcham, Swindon, Wantage, Didcot, Reading, Basingstoke, Andover and Calne. It warns that "the agricultural economy on these urban fringes is under pressure due to uncertainty over the future, marginal viability and suburban pressures including vandalism and litter dumping."
The plan sets out principles for managing the nationally protected landscape, priorities for the next five years, targets for nature recovery and policies to guide planning decisions. It is the first plan since the law changed to give stronger protections to National Parks and National Landscapes, and the first to include specific nature targets.
One key target is to increase wildlife-rich habitat, tree canopy and woodland by 3,400 hectares by 2030.
Tony Vickers, chairman of West Berkshire Council and vice-chairman of the NWDNL Council of Partners, said: "This plan will help increase understanding of countryside issues within the council, bring people together to work collaboratively, and build on the already high value of local authority spending on the National Landscape.
"For every pound of local authority contribution an additional £22 funding is secured, but the value is even higher if the hours spent by volunteers on funded projects with NWDNL partners is included."
Henry Oliver, director of the NWDNL, added: "This Management Plan isn’t just for the NWNL team or the local councils.
"Delivering it is the responsibility of everyone whose actions and decisions affect the varied landscapes of the North Wessex Downs.
"At our Annual Forum we heard from speakers from local groups and communities who were truly inspiring with the energy, passion and dedication they brought to the event.
"Their example will inspire and encourage many others to do things that help to deliver the new NWDNL Management Plan."
National Landscapes (formerly Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) were created in 1949 to protect countryside access and beauty. The North Wessex Downs is sparsely populated, with 59 residents per square kilometre across it.
Planning law requires decisions to follow the development plan, and the National Planning Policy Framework says planning policies and decisions should recognise the intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside. It states that "great weight" should be given to conserving landscape and scenic beauty, that these designated areas have the highest status of protection, and that the scale and extent of development should be limited. In particular, major development should be refused in National Landscapes, except in exceptional circumstances and where it can be demonstrated to be in the public interest.
Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter
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