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Chilterns Conservation Board CONSERVATION BOARD 2011/2012 A N N U A L R E V I E W O F T H E Chilterns Conservation Board Caring for the Chilterns An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD t has been another very full year for Conservation being achieved. Developing the Cycleway has also enabled Board members and staff, with the looming threat of the Board to work more closely with many tourism Ithe proposed High Speed 2 (HS2) railway inevitably businesses which we welcome. dominating much of the workload. The Board is taking a leading role in exposing the weakness of the case for HS2 As for all in the public sector, the financial climate is and in providing evidence of the huge and irreversible challenging but the Board is, so far, coping well. We are impacts it would have on the Chilterns AONB. We have grateful for the continuing support of the local authorities great concerns about the validity of the Environmental in this area, which are of course suffering their own cuts. Impact Assessment for the railway which is being squeezed We are also delighted that over 25 parish and town councils into a very short timescale by HS2 Ltd. Engagement by have given financial support to the Board. Government and HS2 Ltd with local communities along the route in the Chilterns has not always been Our partnership with The Chiltern Society effective and the Board, along with many continues to be vital and a stimulus for others, has doubts about how seriously much constructive work to care for the local concerns will be taken. The route Chilterns. At Government level the light changes announced in January, touch arrangements with DEFRA are working incorporating a longer tunnel through the well and are a sign of confidence that the, AONB, were an improvement but shallower still relatively new, Conservation Board is cuttings to the north of the tunnel will well established and being managed make the route noisier and more visible. efficiently. On a more positive note, the popularity of the Chilterns Cycleway increased even more in its second year. There has been good feedback from users and businesses along the route and it is clear that one of the aims of the Cycleway project, to increase visitor spending in the AONB, is Mike Fox, Chairman BARTON-LE-CLAY M1 THE CHILTERNS - Hexton AN AREA OF OUTSTANDING NATURAL BEAUTY Lilley HITCHIN DUNSTABLE LUTON he Chilterns was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1965, in recognition of its beautiful Whipsnade Ver T landscape which is amongst the finest in the country. Grand Union Canal Markyate HARPENDEN Aldbury The Chilterns AONB covers 833 sq kms and stretches TRING Gade Gaddesden AYLESBURY from Goring in south Oxfordshire through HEMEL HEMPSTEAD WENDOVER Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire to Hitchin in BERKHAMSTED M1 Bulbourne PRINCES M25 Hertfordshire. It has a population of 80,000. RISBOROUGH CHESHAM CHINNOR Gt. Missenden M40 PRESTWOOD Colne The primary duties of the Chilterns Hughenden Chess STOKENCHURCH Stream AMERSHAM WATLINGTON Misbourne Conservation Board are to River Thames HIGH CHORLEYWOOD BENSON WYCOMBE conserve and enhance the BEACONSFIELD Hambleden natural beauty of the AONB WALLINGFORD Brook Wye MARLOW and, in so doing, to increase M40 River Thames the understanding and HENLEY-ON-THAMES M25 GORING enjoyment by the public of its M4 special qualities and to foster the economic and social well-being of M4 READING N 0 5 10 Kilometeres local communities. 0 6 Miles ISSUES AND TRENDS ne of the purposes of an annual review is to pick Following two long and cold winters when the demand for out those changes which are notable and may be wood fuel rocketed, the milder winter this year resulted in Opart of a longer trend which we need to identify much lower demand. It is probably fair to assume that this and react to. Teasing those out from the short term blips is was a blip and that the long term trend is definitely to use tricky but part of the art. more wood fuel and, as more high tech wood burning systems are installed, that demand is likely to keep growing The past year was once again dominated by the proposed and to be more predictable. This should help bring more high speed railway and, again, we were left with the small woods into management as the economics stack up impression that the importance of the environment was better than for many years. being played down and the notional gains to the economy exaggerated. This was all despite the Secretary of State for The Chilterns Cycleway has passed its first anniversary and the Environment commending the newly launched National early indications are showing its popularity with good Ecosystem Assessment (NEA), one purpose of which is to feedback from accommodation providers and a billing on ensure that the value of the environment is given full the BBC website as one of the top ten cycle routes in the weight whenever considering any development. It seems UK. We hope it is no blip either as recreational cycling that the application of the NEA to HS2 is a test of whether continues to grow in popularity and the reputation of the the Government intends to take it seriously or not. Chilterns Cycleway goes further afield. We were also alarmed recently to read that the Secretary The uncertainty of the impact of the Government's draft of State for Transport thought we could mitigate the loss of planning policies was eventually lifted. The revised version ancient woodland by replanting it. Once again it was a was a great deal clearer and more robust than the early wake up call as to how poorly we protect our ancient draft. The intent to safeguard AONBs from inappropriate woodland - less than 20% of it is designated as an SSSI. In development seems to be intact – perhaps the greater fact, we know that the national inventory prepared in 1991 concern is to ensure that development visible from the is not accurate. We have spent the last two years re- Chilterns is also appropriate. The massive, and highly surveying all ancient woodland and have identified another visible, new factory being built near Aston Clinton suggests 1,200 hectares, bringing the total to over 11,000 hectares - we need to remain vigilant. an astonishing 13% of the AONB. Steve Rodrick, Chief Officer Ancient woodland at Sibleys Coppice near South Heath which will be partly destroyed by HS2 1 Conservation and Land Use une 2011 saw the publication of the Government's much-heralded White Paper on the natural environment: 'The Natural Choice: securing the value of nature'. The first environment white paper for over 20 years, building on the JLawton Review, cemented a raft of new terms in our lexicon including Ecosystem Services, Biodiversity Offsetting and Green Infrastructure. Already a range of initiatives and pilot projects have emerged and the Conservation Board is engaged with four new Local Nature Partnerships (LNPs) which, in future, will represent the collective voice of environmental organisations at a county level. While for some, the white paper was seen as a 'rearranging of the deck chairs', the Conservation Board welcomes the recognition of the value of our designated landscapes and conservation initiatives at a landscape scale. The Board's bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for a four In November the Board published the third State of the year Chilterns Commons Project was successful, with Chilterns Environment report to inform its own work and £400,000 awarded in June 2011, which secured another to influence wider decision making. £100,000 from other partners. Project Officer Rachel Over 50 people attended the Chalk Grassland Managers' Sanderson was appointed in August, and the Project Day in June at Dancersend and Aldbury Nowers nature launched in September at Totternhoe Knolls with over 80 reserves near Tring. Topics included the benefits and people in attendance. management of scrub for butterfly populations, ant hills, scrape creation and sward enhancement. Chilterns Commons Network activity – four e-bulletins, site visits and support for practical works - continued The Board contributed to the management of over 50 ha alongside the new Project. of chalk grassland this year across eight sites including Oakley Hill, Prestwood LNR, Houghton Regis chalk pit and 150 people attended the 'Our Common History' seminar in Millfield Bank. January, enjoying a number of very interesting presentations on the rich history of commonland in the Over 70 professionals and enthusiastic volunteers Chilterns. attended the annual Chilterns' scrub bash, hosted this year by the National Trust at Dunstable Downs. Field Farm, Lewknor, hosted the Chilterns Farmers' Forum in February where 30 gathered to hear Chiltern A number of Chiltern farms opened to the public for farmers update on their farming sectors, enjoy a light Open Farm Sunday on 12th June – five of these events hearted quiz and tasty local produce. were supported by the Board and the events proved popular. 2 Launch of the Chilterns Commons Project at Totternhoe Knolls Woodlands he Chilterns is one of the most heavily wooded areas in the UK with 21% woodland cover. A full re-survey of ancient woodland was completed in early 2012. This work was jointly commissioned by the Conservation Board, TNatural England and Forestry Commission. The survey was also extended to cover all of Chiltern District, Dacorum Borough, Wycombe District and South Bucks District. The Board has been campaigning to stop the loss of ancient woodland which will occur if the high speed railway is built. The survey identified that the total area of ancient The Board's primary means of promoting woodland woodland in the Chilterns AONB is 11,058 ha, up from management was by providing office accommodation and 9,827 ha – an increase of over 12%.
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