Much of the work in the early stages of the review concentrated on establishing the validity of the vision statements as they stood in the existing Management Plan, and what needed to be changed for the plan to remain relevant and effective over the five years from 2009 - 2014 and indeed beyond that as the Visions are looking at least twenty years into the future. The original plan contained an Overall vision statement and eight theme visions. Since publication of the Plan in 2004, it had become obvious that we had missed developing Objectives regarding Sustainability and Renewable Energy. In 2005 the Executive Committee sought to address some of the omissions with the adoption of a statemenmt on energy conservation and renewables. It was clear that the review of the Plan would result in the inclusion of a new section to set out the AONB wide response to these important issues. There was also recogniton that the original plan had not really devoted much attention to the imposing seascape of Morecambe Bay. It was felt that the existing Plan was rather weak in the way it addressed the issues of the coastal and marine management. The AONB incorporates a large area of inter-tidal habitat and over 40% of the AONB is part of Morecambe Bay, virtually all of which is designated under both International Convention and European Directives. The review has taken up this challenge and developed a comprehensive set of policy responses and management objectives. This is also a greater priority in the light of the UK Government's Marine and Coastal Access Bill, which continues to make progress through Parliament towards enactment at the present time. A final eleventh Theme vision has been added to the list, following feedback from the 6 week public consultation exercise on the draft Management Plan. This "new" vision provides the direction for the eleventh theme within the Plan, and concerns the Organisation and Management of the AONB Partnership. Several of the original vision statements were amended as a result of the consultation feedback. The revised Overall vision is shown below and has been updated to reflect the minor changes suggested during the review. Lower down the page, there is a link that will take you to a downloadable document that sets out all eleven visions.

1. Overall Vision for the Arnside and Silverdale AONB The Arnside and Silverdale AONB is a valued, distinctive and living landscape, rich in wildlife. Each element of the intimate landscape mosaic of low limestone hills, woodland, wetland, pastures, limestone pavements, extensive intertidal mudflats, coastal cliffs, saltmarsh and distinctive settlements that characterise the area are conserved, enjoyed and cherished by all who live, work or visit the Area. The high quality landscape and rich bio-diversity supports and is supported by a vibrant rural economy and strong diverse local communities. Change, including the threats posed by climate change, demand for development, agricultural change and other pressures are sensitively and effectively managed in the AONB, in ways that integrate the sustainability of local communities with the conservation and enhancement of this internationally important landscape and its rich bio-diversity.

Management Plan Review - The Revised Visions Click this link to take you to the AONB Theme Visions Document . This document sets out the initial version of the visions that were established early in the review process and follows the process adopted to complete the revision and refinement of the visions. It then shows the vision statements which were presented to the AONB Executive Committee at their January 2008 meeting. At this meeting, these vision statements were adopted and the extent of the Management Plan review was agreed. However a number of minor changes have been made to the wording of the visions. The pre-adoption Management Plan contains the updated Visions, which supercedes those in the Presentation. Consequently the document concludes with the final Visions statments from the Pre-adoption Management Plan. The information relating to the Executive Meeting is set out in the Extent of the review report and the AONB Executive - Decision Paper. Return to the page menu | Up to the top of the page