Section 6 Monitoring plan to evaluate progress and give feedback and appendices
Suffolk Coast and Heaths Management Plan 6.1 Performance on meeting plan objectives and implementing action targets 6.1.1 The AONB Partnership will be asked to report back at the end of each year on progress made with the actions and also on any relevant work that has moved forward the objectives. This will form the basis for the AONB s annual report and will be transmitted to the community forums. 6.1.2 The feedback will also be used to review the Action Plan regularly so that it can be updated according to progress, and changing priorities as reflected through public policy. 6.2 Trend changes monitoring the state of the AONB and the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) objectives. 6.2.3 There is likely to be a need for a regular picture of the health of the AONB. This will create a better understanding of such issues as whether the habitats and landscape features are improving or changing, and how the land is relating to people in terms of housing levels and visitor numbers. These are likely to be longterm trends and it may take longer than the current Plan period of five years before trends can be recognised. The AONB Partnership is thinking that a period of 10 years may be a relevant interval. Upon adoption of the new Management Plan, further investigation will be undertaken into what data is available, necessary and how it will be publicly shared and used. 6.2.1 It will be important to track the changes in basic data that give a picture of the AONB e.g. amount of heathland losses and gains. The AONB is unlikely to have sufficient resources to instigate regular data collection itself and will primarily have to rely on data collection by individual partner organisations. However there may be cases where a vital set of data is required as a clear indicator of success and progress. This will need to be part of a wider debate about creating the evidence base to ensure energy and resources are being directed effectively. 6.2.2 Currently, the suite of data available is not ideal. There are differences in methodology of its collection, how easily it can be related to the AONB with its unique boundaries, and how to measure some of the aspects of natural beauty that the AONB is seeking to influence. The Strategic Environmental Assessment report has highlighted some data trends that would be useful to record and should stimulate the necessary debate about the data to collect.
Appendices
Suffolk Coast and Heaths Management Plan Appendix A: Maps Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Suffolk County Council. Licence LA100023395 2008 Waveney District Suffolk Coastal District Ipswich Borough Babergh District Tendring District AONB Additional Project Area
Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB and additional project area: Simplified landscape character Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Suffolk County Council. Licence LA100023395 2008 Sand Dunes and Shingle Ridges Saltmarsh and intertidal flats Coastal Levels Valley Meadowlands Estate Sandlands Estate Farmlands Clayland edge Urban
Suffolk Coast and Heaths Management Plan 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Alde-Ore estuary Aldeburgh Brick Pit Aldeburgh Hall Pit Bawdsey Cliff Benacre to Easton Bavents Blaxhall Heath Buckanay Farm Pit, Alderton Chillesford Church Pit Crag Farm Pit, Sudbourne Crag Pit, Aldeburgh Crag Pit, Sutton Deben Estuary Ferry Cliff, Sutton Freston and Cutler s Woods Gedgrave Hall Pit Iken Wood Leiston-Aldeburgh Minsmere-Walberswick Heaths and Marshes Nacton Meadows Neutral Farm Pit, Butley Orwell Estuary Potton Hall Fields, Westleton Ramsholt Cliff Red House Farm Pit, Sudbourne Richmond Farm Pit, Gedgrave Rockhall Wood Pit, Sutton Round Hill Pit, Aldeburgh Sandlings Forest Sizewell Marshes Snape Warren Staverton Park and The Thicks, Wantisden Stour Estuary Sudbourne Park Pit Sutton and Hollesley Heaths Tunstall Common Valley Farm Pit, Sudbourne 35 16 6 30 22 29 27 17 24 10 3 2 18 5 28 31 20 36 8 10 33 9 13 25 15 1 11 34 12 26 23 7 14 19 4 21 32 Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB: Sites of Special Scientific Interest Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Suffolk County Council. Licence LA100023395 2008
Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB and additional project area: Special Areas of Conservation Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Suffolk County Council. Licence LA100023395 2008 Benacre to Easton Lagoons Minsmere to Walberswick Heaths & Marshes Staverton Park and The Thicks, Wantisden Orford Ness-Shingle Street Alde-Ore and Butley Estuaries Alde-Ore Estuary Benacre to Easton Bavents Deben Estuary Minsmere-Walberswick Sandlings Stour and Orwell Estuaries Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB and additional project area: Special Protection Areas Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Suffolk County Council. Licence LA100023395 2008
Suffolk Coast and Heaths Management Plan Appendix B: Summary of AONB Data Landscape character types (source: SBRC) Area (ha) % of AONB Ancient estate claylands 685 1.69 Ancient estate farmlands 1,422 3.52 Coastal dunes 680 1.68 Coastal levels 6,348 15.74 Estate farmlands 7,457 18.49 Estate sandlands 15,423 38.25 Open coastal fens 488 1.20 Plateau claylands 1 0.002 Plateau estate farmlands 838 2.07 Plateau estate sandlands 392 0.97 Plateau farmlands 31 0.07 Rolling valley farmlands 673 1.66 Saltmarsh and intertidal flats 2,140 5.30 Urban 286 0.70 Valley meadowlands 353 0.87 Valley meadows and fens 432 1.07 Wooded fens 1,037 2.57 Wooded valley meadowlands 110 0.27 Estuaries 1,565 3.88 Total 40,358 100.00 Main habitats (source: SBRC/NE) Area % of AONB Saltmarsh 957 2.37 Vegetated shingle 587 1.45 Grazing marsh 3,899 9.67 Reed bed 713 1.76 Heathland 2,051 5.08 Ancient woodland 315 0.78 Wet woodland 293 0.72 Secondary woodland 2,974 7.37 Freshwater 664 1.64 Saline lagoons 117 0.29 Agricultural area 26,000 64.42 Total 38,570 95.56
Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Wildlife designation (source: SBRC) Area % of AONB County Wildlife Site 4,743 11.76 Special Area of Conservation 4,057 10.06 Special Protection Area 10,371 25.72 RAMSAR 6,693 16.60 SSSI 11,427 28.31 Note: Some locations have multiple Wildlife designations Condition of SSSIs (source: SBRC) Area % of AONB % of SSSI Favourable 7,330 18.16 64.17 Unfavourable Recovering 2,020 5.01 17.69 Unfavourable No Change 246 0.60 2.14 Unfavourable Declining 1,831 4.54 15.99 Total 11,427 28.31 100.00 Ownership of Nature Reserves (source: SBRC) Area % of AONB Number Local Nature Reserve 47 0.11 2 National Nature Reserve 2269 5.62 4 Suffolk Wildlife Trust 1153 2.86 23 RSPB 1991 4.93 5 National Trust 898 2.22 5 Total 6358 15.74 39 Other land statistics (Source: SBRC/FC) Area % of AONB Number Historic Parkland 748 1.85 12 Open Access Land 4,311 10.68 Forestry Commission Land 3,107 7.69 Geological Sites of importance N/A N/A 1 Quarries and Mineral Sites 50 0.12
Suffolk Coast and Heaths Management Plan Land in Agri-environment Schemes (source: NE) Area % of AONB Number of agreements Entry Level Stewardship 8,735 21.64 52 Organic Entry Level Stewardship 639 1.58 5 Higher Level Stewardship (only) 70 0.17 2 Entry Level Stewardship and Higher Level Stewardship 749 1.86 7 Organic Entry Level Stewardship and Higher Level Stewardship 164 0.41 2 Countryside Stewardship 5,168 12.81 33 Environmentally Sensitive Area scheme 4,615 11.43 113 Total 20,140 49.90 214 Soil Classification by Agricultural Type (source: SBRC) Area % of AONB Grade 1 1,169 2.89 Grade 2 2,862 7.09 Grade 3 10,763 26.67 Grade 4 11,206 27.77 Total 26,000 64.42 Water Abstraction (source: EA) Licenced quality (MI/d) Licensed quantity ( 000 m³/yr) General agriculture 0.4 135 Spray irrigation direct 46.8 9,123 Spray irrigation storage 16.1 2,626 Top up water (amenity/environmental) 1.2 193 Mineral industry 0.5 195 Golf courses 0.5 100 General industry 0.1 21 Private water supply/undertaking 0.1 44 Public water supply 1.5 541 Totals 67.2 12,976 Total licences 160.0 Surface water licences 72.0 8,218 Groundwater licences 88.0 4,758
Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Estuarine and River Water Quality (source: EA) for details of quality standards see over. Estuary Length (km) Class A Class B Blyth 7.5 100% 0% Alde/Ore 26.5 100% 0% Deben 16.0 100% 0% Orwell 21.5 81.4% 18.6% Stour 29.0 93.1% 6.9% Total 100.5 94.3% 5.7% River Length in AONB (km) River quality objective Chen Bio Phos Nit Lothingland Hundred 9.5 RE3 D a 3/5 4 Easton Broad 3.5 RE2 E c 5 5 Wang 3.3 RE3 D b 6 6 Wenhaston Watercourse 9.0 RE3 C b 5 5 Minsmere 3.5 RE2 D a 4 4 Leiston Brook 4.5 RE3 E b 6 6 Thorpeness Hundred 4.0 RE3 E a 5 3 Butley 6.0 RE1 C b 1 4 Tang 4.5 RE1 C b 2 4 Shottisham Mill 4.5 RE1 A b 2 6 Black Ditch Hollesley 4.0 RE5 C b 4 5 Holbrook 2.0 RE3 B c 4 6 Highways (source: SBRC) Length (km) % Highways A Roads 27 7.58 B Roads 61 17.13 C Roads 268 75.28 Total 356 100.00 Rights of Way (source: SBRC) Length (km) % Footpaths 490 75.15 Bridleways 97 14.88 Byways 36 5.52 RUPPs 29 4.44 Total 652 100.00
Suffolk Coast and Heaths Management Plan Population (source: SRBC) Number Population within AONB 36,292 Population within 15 miles of the boundary 456,306 Parish Plans (source: Suffolk Acre) Number % of Parishes Completed parish plans 21 31.34 Underway 4 5.97 Considering 3 4.47 Parishes in AONB (or partly in AONB) 67 Estuarine Classification Scheme The Environment Agency reports estuarine water quality in England and Wales every five years. This is based on an assessment and classification scheme prepared by the Classification of Estuaries Working Party (CEWP) in the 1970s. Estuaries are classed as Good, Fair, Poor or Bad, based on: Biological quality presence of certain fish species Aesthetic quality evidence of aesthetic pollution, e.g., sewage-derived litter Chemical quality in terms of dissolved oxygen concentrations. A score is calculated for each of these categories according to set criteria. These scores are added to determine the overall class. Estuary classes at a glance Class A B C D Quality Good Fair Poor Bad This scheme is due to be improved in the near future. Estuary quality will be reported to meet the requirements of the new European Community Water Framework Directive. This will classify the ecological status of estuaries using information on water quality, hydrology, plants, fish populations and benthic fauna.
Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty River quality criteria River Ecosystems (RE) scheme provides a nationally consistent basis for setting water quality targets or River Quality Objectives (RQOs) for rivers. There are five RE classes reflecting the chemical quality requirements of communities of plants and animals in our rivers. The standards defining these classes reflect differing degrees of pollution by organic matter and other common pollutants. The 5 RE classes can be summarised as follows: RE1 Very high quality water suitable for freshwater fish species RE2 High quality water suitable for all freshwater fish species RE3 Fair quality water suitable for high class coarse fish populations RE4 Fair quality water suitable for coarse fish populations RE5 Poor quality water which is likely to limit coarse fish populations East Suffolk rivers were 66% compliant with RQOs. Appendix C: Partnership operation and commitments The AONB Management Plan is supported by a wide range of organisations that are committed to finding ways of retaining the special qualities of the AONB. By becoming a signatory to this Plan they are committing themselves to supporting the objectives and policies within it, seeking ways to ensure the action plan is implemented and directing their own activities to bring benefits to the AONB. Babergh District Council Country Land and Business Association East of England Development Agency East of England Tourism English Heritage Environment Agency Essex County Council Forestry Commission Haven Gateway Partnership Ipswich Borough Council National Farmers Union Natural England Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Suffolk ACRE Suffolk Association of Local Councils Suffolk Coastal Business Forum Suffolk Coastal District Council Suffolk County Council Suffolk Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group Suffolk Preservation Society Suffolk Tourism Partnership Suffolk Wildlife Trust Tendring District Council The Crown Estate The National Trust Waveney District Council The AONB Partnership is the mechanism to enable the AONB Management Plan to be taken forward. The Partnership meets at least twice a year to take a strategic look at the management of the AONB setting long and mid term goals as well as overseeing the implementation of the Action Plan and championing its conservation (even if at times any partner organisation may have conflicting needs to meet their own work aims and priorities). All public bodies have a duty to have regard to AONB objectives conferred by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act, and should therefore seek to minimise, mitigate or compensate where there is an over-riding need to follow a different policy. When signing up to the AONB Management Plan, the organisation is committing itself to providing annual information to the AONB Unit about progress in implementing the Plan. The Partnership will provide advice to the Joint Advisory Committee (JAC) the Committee formed by a Memorandum of Agreement between the funding local authorities and Natural England to oversee the spending and work of the AONB Unit and to meet the Countryside and Rights of Way Act requirements of the local authorities to help the JAC in fulfilling its role to conserve the AONB and to oversee the activities of the AONB Unit. The Partnership itself will be informed through regular community forums bringing together wider interests in the AONB and the working groups established to guide the detail of the various aspects of the AONB Plan. There is a growing interest for management choices to be determined by robust data. Currently there is relatively little local data collection that properly reflects the (often long-term) changes being targeted. When it is collected it is more likely to relate to other administrative boundaries than that of the AONB. It is also likely that for many of the objectives in this plan, the time-scale for seeing change is greater than its five year life. This suggests a that 10 year span for State of the AONB environment is more realistic, and new data collection work is needed before it can be completed.
Suffolk Coast and Heaths Management Plan Particular Objectives for the Partnership in this Plan period By 2013 to have: Met regularly to provide a strategic direction for AONB Management Held regular meetings open to the wider public to ensure stakeholders are able to contribute to the direction of AONB Management Produced regular reports to the partners and wider community about the monitoring of progress with the Management Plan Established an AONB designation for the Stour estuary and its southern shore as detailed in the Tendring District Local Plan Contributed to the formation of a sustainable approach to integrated coastal zone management Established a robust framework for the data required to sensibly measure the state of the AONB; identified how it will be collected, and initiated new processes where required. Appendix D: Feedback from the Strategic Environmental Assessment process This Management Plan for the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) has been written to meet the requirements of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. As such, it falls under the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive that requires the plan to be assessed to see if there are likely to be any adverse environmental impacts if the aims, objectives and actions are followed through. The SEA was undertaken in-house, with Partnership support, and took place in parallel with the drafting of the Management Plan. It was subject to public consultation at the same time as the draft Management Plan. The statutory consultees of the SEA were Natural England, Environment Agency and English Heritage. re-cycling and recovery reduce the use of landfill To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourage sustainable forms of energy production To promote sustainable flood risk management To safeguard human health and Quality of Life To avoid any significant adverse impacts created by the interrelationships or cumulative effect of the above. The SEA objectives were chosen to represent environmental concerns (not full sustainability) and reflect that this strategic level assessment sought only to explore the impact of AONB Management Plan objectives on the environment. The aims of the AONB Action Plan were, however, developed with a mind to wider sustainability issues. The 31 objectives in the draft Management Plan were compared against the SEA Objectives and assessed according to six possible outcomes: very positive, some positive, some negative, very negative, no significant effect applicable and unsure. None was found to have a very negative impact or even some negative impact. The bulk of the conclusions are that no significant effect will occur (48.75% of the matrix) and just over 41% of the matrix demonstrated some positive effect should occur. If the very positive effect (9.67%) is combined with some positive effect then just over 50% of the impacts have a direct positive effect. The impact on wildlife from objective 3a ( Develop Historic Landscape Characterisation as a tool to further historic asset management ) was assessed as uncertain effect. This result comes from the fact that it might be possible for an historic asset to be managed in a way that restores its character but does not help the wildlife values (e.g. clearing trees from the top of a bronze age barrow to restore its integrity and protect it from windthrow damage which may also remove wildlife habitat). The SEA environmental objectives used as the basis of the assessment were: To safeguard the landscape To safeguard habitats, fauna and flora To safeguard areas or features of historical, archaeological and cultural importance To safeguard the environmental quality of land, air and water resources through the use of sustainable practices To minimise waste and through re-use,
Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Appendix E: Public engagement process to develop this Plan A comprehensive public engagement process was carried out to review and develop this Plan. This included: Introductory piece and opportunity to return simple form in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths newspaper about issues (50,000 copies circulated) Promoted review process with opportunity to comment on issues included in all public talks and community based meetings since start of 2006 Exhibition of 50 landscape photographs of AONB toured to several locations. The exhibition was staffed most of the time, and public encouraged to return comment forms/discuss their issues and concerns about the AONB with staff. Exhibitions at Snape (2 weeks), Aldeburgh (2 weeks), Sutton Hoo (2 weeks), Easton Farm Park (nearly 4 weeks), Ipswich - Suffolk County Council headquarters (1 week). Review process raised to all ward councillors to help increase involvement in the process. The draft Management Plan was subject to a formal public consultation between September and November 2007, the results of which were considered by the AONB Partnership and JAC. A revised draft was issued in February 2008 for final approval and adoption by the Local Authorities and other partners in the Partnership, prior to publication. A full list of summarised consultation comments and the responses to them is available from the AONB Unit.
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