The National Landscape is now the name for all areas across the country which were formerly known as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. This expansive area broadly extends north to Warminster, east to Salisbury, south to Wimborne and west to Shaftesbury. The Plan outlines a vision, ambitions, outcomes and policies for this National Landscape for the period 2025-30, however it does not yet include a Delivery Plan; that will be produced very soon. The deadline for responses is the 25th February 2025.
Three key issues are highlighted: (1) Nature’s decline and the ecological crisis, (2) The climate emergency, and (3) Health and peoples’ engagement with the natural environment. Mention is made of the need to sustain village facilities and services as well as providing more affordable homes and employment for local people.
Associate Director, Alan Davies explained; I welcome the acknowledgement that this is a living and working landscape and therefore there is a need to provide adequate homes and employment for the people who form and maintain it.
