Members received the report of the Planning Policy Manager which introduced the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Management Plan 2024-2029. The current AONB Management Plan was adopted by Cabinet in February 2019; each management plan covered a five-year period. This Plan would be the first edition of a new 20-year strategy, with a five-year implementation plan.

This new strategy took account of current issues such as the biodiversity crisis, climate change, fairer access to nature, and development pressure. This meant that the range of character components had broadened, and other aspects of the Plan had changed, including the inclusion of cross cutting themes: programmes, principles for action and an investment strategy 2024-2029.

The preparation of the Management Plan had been overseen by the High Weald AONB’s Joint Advisory Committee (JAC), which the Council’s Planning Committee Chair sat on. The JAC agreed the final Management Plan 2024-2029 and its supporting papers in March 2024 and recommended that individual local authorities formally adopt the Plan by the end of June 2024.

The Management Plan incorporated introductions, facts and figures and a Statement of Significance before explaining the Core Character Components that underpin the natural beauty of the High Weald AONB. It set out five cross-cutting themes: Restoring Soil Health and Regenerative Land Management; Nature Recovery and Biodiversity; The Climate Crisis: Achieving Net Zero; People and Access; and Planning and Development in the High Weald AONB. The Plan was supported by a Strategic Environmental Assessment; Habitats Regulations Assessment; Equality Impact Assessment; and a Consultation Statement. Members noted that the plan was not a development plan document, but it would be a material consideration in relation to the determination of planning applications.

Members had the opportunity to ask questions and the following points were noted during the discussions:

•     settlement nucleation, as detailed on page 25 of the Plan, had not actually taken place in Rother either prior or since the 13th century;

•     the Council, as the Local Planning Authority, set policies through its Development Plan, whereas the AONB Management Plan was a material consideration to help make planning decisions. The Management Plan was taken into account when preparing local and neighbourhood plans, to derive policies to protect the AONB;

•     more detail of the industrial history of Rother would be welcomed in the Plan;

•     officers from all the local authorities involved had made comments throughout the process of preparing the Management Plan;

•     the Plan gave context and highlighted themes and principles, relating to accessibility, active travel, protecting rights of way and transport for residents of villages;

•     the Plan should align with the Council’s Climate Strategy and be used to highlight what it means to live in the AONB;

•     both the East Sussex County Council Councillor and the Council’s Planning Committee Chair, who had sat on the JAC, had approved the Plan;

•     Members of the Committee would have liked to have seen the Plan earlier in the process for scrutiny;

•     national issues such as speed limits on country lanes being limited to 40 miles per hour should be taken forward;

•     parish councils should be encouraged to develop wildflower verges; and

•     the Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Planning, who was present at the meeting, was supportive of the Plan.

The High Weald AONB Management Plan 2024-2029 had completed all of the statutory stages of a review and had been subject to public engagement and scrutiny. Members of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee were happy to recommend to Cabinet and full Council that the Plan be approved and formally adopted, in line with the JAC’s recommendation.

RESOLVED: That the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Management Plan 2024-2029, reproduced at Appendix A to the report, be recommended to Cabinet and full Council for approval and formal adoption.

(When it first became apparent, Councillor J Barnes declared an Other Registerable Interest in this matter as Chair of Etchingham Parish Council and in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct remained in the meeting during the consideration thereof).

(When it first became apparent, Councillor Mrs Kirby-Green declared a Non Registerable Interest in this matter as a Board Member of the High Weald AONB Unit representing East Sussex County Council and in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct remained in the meeting during the consideration thereof).