Arnside and Silverdale AONB - Introduction Page home

Conservation

The Arnside and Silverdale AONB service is made up of a dedicated professional staff unit working to conserve and enhance the area. The AONB boundary is shown on the area map, which is linked from the button on the left here. The area covers 75 square kilometres, on the eastern side of Morecambe Bay and the Kent estuary, straddling the counties of Cumbria and Lancashire.
The Service carries out small-scale projects, safeguarding sites of nature conservation, improving the landscape quality and helping to maintain the public rights of way network. The Service provides advice to Partner Organisations, land managers and individuals on a range of conservation issues and acts as an Advocate for the AONB, locally and nationally. Work of a practical nature is also undertaken and includes conserving ancient calcareous limestone grassland, managing woodland, coppicing, pond management, rebuilding dry stone walls and carrying out research, surveys and monitoring.

Recreation

The Service promotes a greater understanding, awareness and enjoyment of the special qualities of area by providing educational resources and information about the AONB.
Leaflets, Education packs and Reports are available from the office and we organise events, guided walks, open days, talks and lectures. Waymarking, Signposting and Maintenance of the Public Rights of Way network promotes appropriate quiet recreation in the area by the public - walking, riding or cycling.

Working with Volunteers

The Service is assisted and supported by a local volunteer workforce of all ages who regularly carry out conservation tasks two days a week (Tuesdays 10am-4pm and Thursdays 10am-12.30pm) and often help out on other occasions. The volunteers from the local community are an invaluable support, bringing a mix of experience and skills from many walks of life. For further information refer to the volunteering page.

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Administration

The wider implementation of good practice in conservation and land management within the Arnside/Silverdale AONB is a responsibility shared by all.

The four local authorities with responsibilities in the area, Lancaster City Council, South Lakeland District Council, Cumbria County Council and Lancashire County Council commit to supporting the Arnside/Silverdale AONB and it's management. Major national funding support of the functioning of the AONB is provided by Natural England on behalf of the Government. Further funding and support comes from Defra, the Arnside/Silverdale AONB Landscape Trust, each of the six Parish Councils in the area and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

These bodies all provide support and guidance to the service through participation and involvement with an Executive Committee and AONB Conference. Further funds are obtained from private contributions and by the Arnside/Silverdale AONB Service charging for its work when appropriate.

Lancaster City Council acts as the lead authority, employing the staff of the Service, although the work of the Service is directed by the AONB Executive Committee. This committee is currently chaired by the chairman of the Joint Parish Committee. Following the changes introduced as part of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, regarding the management and administration of all AONBs in England and Wales, work previously carried out by The Countryside Management Service has become the responsibility of the AONB Service, which was formally established in April 2002.

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Staff

The AONB Manager heads up the Service and provides the organisational drive and ensures that the objectives of the Service are met. The Manager also has a strategic role, alongside planners and advisory committees, in developing the Service and making sure that it adapts to changes occurring in the Arnside/Silverdale AONB and the wider countryside. He acts as the principal contact for planning and development control issues on which matters the AONB Executive is a consultee.

The AONB Countryside Officer facilitates a programme of countryside management by volunteer work parties on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Countryside Officer manages works, liases with on site supervisors and communicates with landowners regarding the work programme requested. The Countryside Officer's duties include building links with other groups and bodies in the area and developing communication between the large number of volunteers active within the area. A major source of communication is achieved through the production of a monthly volunteer newsletter, called 'Waymarker'. The Countryside Officer has an essential role in maintaining and enhancing the conservation and landscape interest of the area by developing awareness among all in the area of their involvement and through sensitive implementation of management work.

The AONB Officer has the responsibility for preparing the statutory management plan for the area and undertaking review of the plan at regular intervals. Since publication and adoption of the Management Plan the role has evolved into one of implementation. Work includes managing the AONB Sustainable Development Fund, leading on Sustainable Development, Tourism and Business liasion, advising the Executive Committee on policy matters, developing visitor survey and monitoring schemes and managing the AONB Website. Additionally the role involves liasing with government departments, local authorities, conservation organisations, utility companies and other key bodies to ensure they implement policies which conserve and enhance the AONB.

The AONB Administrator, fulfils the essential role that is common to most offices of managing the administrative and financial recording systems that ensure the provision of an efficient service. The role plays a central part in the production reports and leaflets as well as providing minutes of all our meetings and provides the initial point of contact for the majority of people who contact the AONB office, providing information to the public and to those associated with the Service.

The Service is also supported by a number of contractors, volunteers and students on work placement, who have been employed to carry out a variety of activities, including:

Office administration
Wardening
Dry stone walling
Arboriculture
Grassland management
Providing grazing animals
Reports, research and surveys
Management planning
Writing and producing leaflets
Producing interpretative panels

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Limestone Heritage Project Officer.

Following the successful bid by the Countryside Management Service to the Heritage Lottery Fund to set up the Limestone Heritage Project - an Area Partnership Scheme - a Project Officer post was created within the AONB Service in November 2001 with responsibility for the implementation of the five and a half year Project. The Project ended officially on 31st March 2007, and the Project Officer then worked for the AONB Service until September 2007 in a part-time role - administering the Sustainable Development Fund (also being employed by Forest of Bowland AONB part-time).

The AONB Service will actively seek to maintain the Limestone Heritage Project outcomes into the future.

The Limestone Heritage Project consisted of four interlinked programmes of work:

Rebuilding dry stone walls
Restoration of lime kilns
Conserving rare ponds and wells
Improving "access for all" and interpretation in the AONB

The Project budget totalled more than £750,000 over Projects lifetime up to April 2007, funded by a grant of £506,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, with partnership funding from :

The Countryside Agency
Lancaster City Council
South Lakeland District Council
Cumbria County Council
Lancashire County Council
The National Trust
English Nature
The Arnside/Silverdale AONB Landscape Trust
RSPB

AONB Administration

The implementation of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, brought about changes to the funding and management of all the AONBs in England and Wales. Two of the larger AONBs now have a separate small authority unit, known as a "Conservation Board" to carry out the statutory duties with regard to the conservation and management of the AONB. This will help deliver management objectives by streamlining responsibilities and is especially welcome in those AONBs that have a large number of County and District Council authorities within their AONB boundary. All AONBs now have a professional staff unit, who are guided and supported by a Joint Advisory Committee, drawn from the partner bodies and local authorities.

The administration of countryside management within the Arnside/Silverdale AONB will remain a shared responsibility with the local District and County Councils and the Countryside Agency. This is principally because the area is small and a stand-alone AONB body would not deliver a more effective management structure within the area. Lancaster City Council will remain the lead authority for the Service.

Within the Arnside/Silverdale AONB the Executive Committee fulfils the role of a Joint Advisory Committee guiding the work of the Service and providing a focal point for the area. An annual Conference will act as a forum for debate and developing a vision for the future of the AONB. As part of the re-arranged responsibilities within the area, a statutory management plan has been prepared, published and adopted. The Plan, which runs until 2009 identifies the policies and priorities needed to protect the area into the future, in line with Government guidelines.

The Management Plan is subject to a statutory review every five years and work is now in progress to carry out this periodic review in time to submit a revised and updated Management Plan to Government by 31st March 2009. Opportunities to comment on the extent and content of the review will be available on-line from early January.

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