Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
& National Scenic Areas
A
n AONB is designated for its landscape and scenic beauty. 
This
means that an AONB is not necessarily an area of high nature conservation value,
but in practice it often includes many areas which are. AONBs and National Parks
are actually of equal importance for landscape and scenic beauty, the difference
is that National Park Authorities exist and have special powers to conserve
and enhance National Parks. With a few exceptions, no such authorities or powers
exist for AONBs at the moment.
AONBs are designated by the Natural
England
,
in England, and the Countryside
Council for Wales
in Wales. The Scottish equivalent of an AONB is a National
Scenic Area,
designated by Scottish Natural
Heritage.
NSAs are not exactly the same as AONBs, and this difference is likely to become
more pronounced since devolution.
The designation usually covers a wide area and many types and
uses of land. Not all parts of an AONB are necessarily open to the public. In
fact, most are not, as they are privately owned just like anywhere else. Towns
and villages are sometimes included, and often small areas which are not at
all beautiful get included too.
An AONB usually has special funding to help promote good management
and sustainable development within it. It also may have planning restrictions
to prevent unsympathetic development (see below). Local authorities within an
AONB often employ an AONB officer or team to support this. However, there are
very limited statutory duties on local authorities to do anything in an AONB.
This is where AONBs differ from National Parks.
AONBs vary greatly in the degree and type and level of funding
and activities found there. Some AONBs, such as the South
Downs, and Chichester Harbour,
have their own authorities and are in some ways similar to National
Parks.
Others have no dedicated staff at all.
National Scenic Areas
were first identified in the report "Scotland's Scenic Heritage",
published by CCS in 1978, and were accepted as the practical basis for landscape
conservation in Scotland. They cover about one million hectares, or approximately
one eighths of the land and inland water area of Scotland. As in an AONB, protection
is achieved in two ways: through planning control and by encouraging sustainable
land management.
• Natural
England: includes maps of AONBs and lots of other info.
• National Park and
AONB UK portal site (unofficial): a very good resource- loads of very
up-to-date stuff.
• The
Association of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
• Map of protected areas in Wales including AONBs (131k).
• The United
Nations List of National Parks and Protected Areas 1993 has a list of
British AONBs and NSAs up to 1993.
In June 2000, the Government made this statement about protection
of landscape in AONBs:
"The Government accepts the view put by the
then Countryside Commission in section 4 of their publication Protecting our
finest landscapes: advice to Government (1998), that the landscape qualities
of National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) are equivalent.
Conserving and enhancing the beauty of the landscape are objectives for both
types of designation.
The Government therefore believes that the protection given to both types
of area by the land use planning system should also be equivalent.
The Government's planning policies for AONBs are set
out in Planning Policy Guidance Note (PPG) 7: The Countryside – Environmental
Quality and Economic and Social Development (Revised February 1997). PPG7
states that "The Government regards National Park Designation as conferring
the highest status of protection as far as landscape and scenic beauty are
concerned." This reflects the National Park Authorities' primary objective
to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage
of the Parks. It does not mean that the landscape beauty of AONBs is in any
way inferior to that of National Parks. AONBS should therefore share the highest
status of protection in relation to landscape and scenic beauty.
In relation to major projects, it is the Government's
view that, henceforth, the assessment required in paragraph 4.5 of PPG7 in
National Parks should also apply in to proposals for major development in
AONBs. Such proposals should be demonstrated to be in the public interest
before being allowed to proceed.
Consideration of applications should therefore normally
include an assessment of:
- the need for the development, in terms of national
considerations, and the impact of permitting it or refusing it on the local
economy;
- the cost of and scope for developing elsewhere outside the area or meeting
the need for it in some other way;
- any detrimental effect on the environment and the landscape, and the extent
to which that should be moderated.
The guidance in the preceding paragraph therefore replaces
the last two sentences of paragraph 4.8 of PPG7."
The original reference for this statement is Hansard [125979]
but you can also find it, plus a lot of other stuff, in the DETR News Release
416: 13 June 2000.
Pages marked with this symbol are exclusively written for
Naturenet