Minutes of AONB Partnership Meeting held on Tuesday 5 December 2017 at 12.45pm at The Hotel, Esplanade, Fowey

In Attendance

Members:

Bob Kirby-Harris Chair (outgoing), Cornwall AONB Partnership Gill Pipkin Chair (newly elected), Cornwall AONB Partnership Dominic Fairman Cornwall Councillor Jim Flashman Cornwall Councillor Martyn Alvey Cornwall Councillor Rhiannon Pipkin Natural England Gary Lewis ERCCIS/Cornwall Wildlife Trust Helen Rawe Cornwall Heritage Trust Ainsley Cocks Cornish Mining World Heritage Site Lucy Morris Westcountry Rivers Trust Ann Preston-Jones Historic England Tim Light Fal River Cornwall Becky Hughes FWAG South West

Supporting officers:

Peter Marsh , Environment Service Director Ann Reynolds Cornwall Council, Historic Environment Colette Beckham Cornwall AONB Partnership Manager Jane Davies Cornwall AONB Development Officer Jim Wood Cornwall AONB Planning Officer Chris Coldwell Cornwall AONB Project Development Officer Karen Johns Cornwall AONB Office & Finance Manager

Claire Hoddinott, Fowey Harbour Commissioners, also attended to provide a presentation on the work of the Fowey Estuary Partnership.

Welcome

Bob Kirby-Harris welcomed everyone to the meeting. There were some new representatives, including the Cornwall Councillors who have been nominated to represent Cornwall Council on the Cornwall AONB Partnership: Cllrs Martyn Alvey; Dominic Fairman; Jim Flashman; Loic Rich (Loic Rich had given apologies for

1 this meeting). Gill Pipkin, was also welcomed, and will be the new Cornwall AONB Partnership Chair, succeeding Bob Kirby-Harris, when he steps down in 2018, after the March Partnership meeting.

1. Apologies

Sue James, Cornwall Councillor; Loic Rich, Cornwall Councillor; Ian Jones, Volunteer Cornwall; Ian Kemp, National Trust; Cheryl Marriott, Cornwall Wildlife Trust; David Rodda, Cornwall Agri-food Council/CDC; Jimmy Scobie, CLA; Nigel Blackler, Cornwall Council; Deborah Boden, World Heritage Site; Caroline Court, CC Public Health; David Edmondson and Louise Wood, Cornwall Council Planning; Stephen Horscroft, Cornwall Council Economic Growth; Patrick Aubrey-Fletcher, NFU; Jonathan Woods, Cornwall Council, Transport & Infrastructure

2. Fowey Estuary Partnership presentation

Claire Hoddinott, Environment Officer, Fowey Harbour Commissioners, attended the meeting to provide a presentation on the work of the Fowey Estuary Partnership (FEP). This informative presentation included the following:

• Fowey Estuary Management Plan – 5 year plan, non-statutory document, which aims to balance the needs and demands of the Estuary and its user groups with environmental issues etc. • Fowey Estuary is a small geographical area. Marine Coastal Zone (MCZ) – covers 2 areas of the Estuary - Upper Fowey and small community of Golant, and Pont Creek. Fowey Estuary Partnership is now looking at management options of the MCZ. • Commenting on Planning consultations and other consultations such as Special Protected Area for diving birds. • Working with Cornwall Wildlife Trust undertaking non-native species surveys and working with Natural England to survey Pacific Oysters and identifying possible control measures. Also working with Friends of Fowey Estuary Volunteers. • Readymoney Cove – designated bathing water beach – working with EA and SWW to maintain bathing water quality. • Further info about the work of the FEP contact [email protected]

Following the presentation, partners had discussions on related issues, such as:

• Natural England confirmed they have submitted a funding bid for management of Pacific Oysters. • Single use plastic waste is not currently a major issue for the Estuary as regular beach cleans by volunteers including using a Kayak is proving to be successful and businesses in Fowey are being encouraged to sign up to the Cornwall REFILL water bottles campaign. • Water run-off from farms is also not known to be a major issue in the area

3. Minutes of last meeting (11 Sept 2017) – AGREED to be a true and accurate record. Matters arising:

Page 2, item 2, Defra’s 25 year Environment and Food and Farming Plans - following up on the importance of this, and the AONB Partnership advocating for the combining of the 25 year Plans, the theme for the 2018 Annual Cornwall AONB Conference is going to be Environment, Food and Farming.

Page 5, Item 7, Bridge Planning application PA17/05087 – following the agreement at the last Partnership meeting, the planning case officer’s report for this application recommended approval, and the 2

AONB Unit therefore wrote to the Secretary of State requesting that the application be ‘called in’ for determination. But, this request for ‘call in’ was not granted, and the approval for the bridge will stand.

Actions

5. Election of Cornwall AONB Partnership Chair and Vice-Chair

This item was brought forward on the agenda (before item 4. Management Plan actions). The Exec Board on 22 Sept 2017 agreed the election process and role profile and the Chairperson role was advertised. Following interviews, Gill Pipkin, was appointed.

Gill Pipkin was asked to leave the room at this point for the Partnership to formally agree that Gill Pipkin be elected as the new Chairperson.

 AGREED that the Partnership accept the appointment of Gill Pipkin as the new Cornwall AONB Partnership Chair for a period of 2 years.  It was further AGREED that the election of Vice-Chair should take place at the next Partnership meeting, and that Vice-Chair nominations will be from members of the AONB Unit existing Partnership.

Gill Pipkin was invited back into the meeting, and provided a brief insight into her background of relevant experience and skills she will bring to the Chairperson role.

Bob Kirby-Harris and Gill Pipkin will co-Chair the Partnership for a handover period until after the next Partnership meeting. Bob Kirby-Harris is currently an ex-officio Trustee of the Cornwall AONB Trust, and discussion will be held with regards to Gill taking on a role as Trustee.

4. Management Plan actions: partner updates - partners were asked to provide any progress updates from their organisations against the list of 26 Management Plan actions (A-Z).

AONB Unit – Action B – Zennor, St Agnes and undergrounding schemes approved. I - Woodland Trust are co-ordinating a bid to submit to HLF – AONB Unit working with them to include Fowey area – orchards, strengthening wooded character of the Fowey Estuary L – developing Wheal Buzzy project – to encourage mining bees habitat on former mining sites – plan to submit a bid to HLF in New Year.

N – Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs) – working up a project with Historic England to bring SAMs back into better management.

Geographical Priorities – the West Penwith Landscapes Partnership Scheme funded by HLF – announcement from HLF on the funding of the Stage 2 project is expected tomorrow (6 Dec).

Bodmin Moor Peatlands Restoration Fund – the AONB Unit has been working with other partners to help South West Water to submit a bid to Defra for funding of a Peatlands Restoration Fund for Moor, Exmoor and Dartmoor.

Action A – Neighbourhood Plans – Jim Flashman said he knows some parishes have difficulty finding time and expertise to develop a Neighbourhood Development Plan, and asked if any partners can provide help? AONB Unit confirmed that CC Planning can provide help, and a small amount of funding is available for training for parishes from Locality funding.

Separate from the West Penwith Landscape Partnership Project, the AONB Unit confirmed that the AONB provided funding to Ludgvan Parish as a pilot to help resources of their

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Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP). If this pilot is successful, the aim for longer term is to work with all 11 Parishes in West Penwith on their NDPs. AONB Unit has also trialled NDP work in previous years – e.g. Roseland, and developed a toolkit.

Cornwall Heritage Trust - Helen Rawe is interested how CHT can be involved in any of the Management Plan actions. AONB Unit would welcome involvement from CHT in its SAMs project. Helen Rawe mentioned a letter in the Western Morning News yesterday about loss of chapels in Cornwall. A chapel in Flushing has just been sold – a perceived mis-use of former worship buildings. Chris Coldwell, AONB Unit, will follow up discussions on this with Helen Rawe AONB Unit as part of his SAMs project.

ERCCIS – Hedge Field Boundary Layer will be published next month, and the Land cover 2015 GIS Layer for funding partners will be available, hopefully by April 2018.

Natural England – Countryside Stewardship up-take – NE will be dealing with applications differently by encouraging applicants to be more involved and hands-on in the application process, freeing up time for Natural England officers to concentrate on providing technical advice expertise.

SW FWAG – B Hughes mentioned Hedgerows and Boundaries – and a new capital grant that will be available for up to £10K per holding.

6. Planning – Development Management Jim Wood, Cornwall AONB Planning Officer presented this item. It has become evident that the existing Planning Protocol between the AONB Unit and Cornwall Council is now defunct and it is not always clear if the consultation process is worthy. An action in the AONB Management Plan 2016-2021 is to revise the Planning Protocol (Policy MD17).

A first draft Planning Position Statement was discussed at the last Partnership meeting on 11 Sept, and subsequently, detailed discussions have been held with Cornwall Council to ensure the approach going forward is as positive and engaged as possible between Cornwall Council Planning and the Cornwall AONB Unit.

The Planning Position Statement (Agenda item 6, Appendix 1), sets out the roles and responsibilities of Cornwall Council and the AONB Unit. As the Cornwall AONB Planning Officer role is currently 3 days/per week, covering the whole Cornwall AONB, a new approach of using a series of ‘standard letters’ to address planning issues which are not sufficient to warrant detailed individual responses, is also included in the Position Statement.

Revised charging scheme for Pre Application Consultation advice (Agenda item 6, Appendix2) – the AONB Unit proposed a revised charging scheme which will allow at least full cost recovery with a limited profit, and has been considered in line with applicant affordability and Cornwall Council’s Pre Application Consultation process.

Martyn Alvey asked the AONB Unit to ensure it sends information about the pre-app advice AONB Unit service and the Planning Position Statement to all Parish and Town Councils for their awareness.

Rhiannon Pipkin mentioned the flat fee pre-application charging structure, and suggested a proviso clause should be added to say that additional costs may be charged for large or contentious schemes to cover costs of providing additional, more in-depth time on such schemes.

• Partners AGREED to accept and adopt the Cornwall AONB Planning Position Statement

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and Revised Pre Application Consultation charging, and further AGREED to add the AONB Unit proviso clause to state that larger schemes may be subject to additional charges.

7. Proposal for Boundary Extensions for the Cornwall AONB

In July 2014, Natural England (NE) contacted the AONB Unit with a request to put forward known suggestions for boundary review as part of a review of historic suggestions for boundary changes. The AONB Unit lodged an expression of interest for 3 areas with Natural England: • Gannel Estuary to Penhale Sands (proposed new section); • Whitesands Bay (extension to section); and • Gwithian Towans (extension to Godrevy- section).

In addition, Natural England and the AONB Unit have been contacted by a member of the public about the inclusion of a small parcel of land adjacent to the AONB at Blisland ( section).

Another area, not yet lodged with Natural England, but which may be of interest to the Partnership is Widemouth Bay.

Should the Partnership wish to go ahead and request NE to take the proposals forward, NE would consult Cornwall Council, as the sole Local Authority. Community consultation would need to take place with Parishes and local people to ensure that any proposed additions are fully supported by local communities and individuals. Proposals that do not have community support will not be pursued. The AONB Unit would then need to survey the areas against criteria set down by Natural England, to properly define new boundary lines.

Tim Light queried the timing of considering the boundary extensions, in view of diminishing resources of the AONB Unit, as funding is currently only secured from Defra at current funding levels until 2020.

Dominic Fairman – mentioned any possible extension to the SSSI on Bodmin Moor, and perhaps this would be more beneficial on Bodmin Moor than extending the AONB, particularly as there would be financial benefits. AONB Unit confirmed that NE is responsible for any SSSI boundary extensions.

Peter Marsh cautioned that the Partnership needs to be clear on the rationale for doing this, need evidence of why selecting areas to go forward and why not other areas.

The AONB Unit confirmed that Crantock Parish Council has put forward the Gannel Estuary to Penhale Sands section to the AONB Unit, and this would be a new additional area, whereas the other suggested areas are extensions to existing sections of the AONB.

AGLVs– Becky Hughes mentioned. AONB Unit confirmed that the AGLV boundaries, although they still appear on the Cornwall Council Interactive Mapping, AGLVs are not included in the Cornwall Local Plan.

Natural Capital work – unfortunately the recent Cornwall AONB Natural Capital project was based on 2015 Land-cover Data, but once revised Land-cover Data is available, the Natural Capital study findings could be used to strengthen the potential extension of specific areas.

Ann Preston-Jones, Historic England, questioned whether any current AONB areas would actually be worth considering as de-designating as AONB? AONB Unit confirmed that they are not aware of any AONB areas being de-designated in the UK to date, and that this was not the focus of the

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 Partners AGREED that the AONB Unit should undertake some further investigation AONB Unit work with local communities, with a preliminary view of taking forward the potential of any boundary extensions. The AONB Unit will meet with Natural England to take AONB Unit/ forward and report back at the next Partnership meeting with further information Natural England before any formal request to Natural England is made.

8. Cornwall AONB Partnership Business Plan 2018-2020

C Beckham presented this item. The Plan is a 2 year Business Plan which takes the Partnership and AONB Unit to 2019/20 and the point by which the Cornwall AONB has a funding commitment from Defra. The budget which supports the Business Plan is contained in Appendix 7.

The Business Plan was been discussed in detail at a Special meeting of the Cornwall AONB Executive Board on 10th November 2017.

The Business Plan outlines the desired outcomes for Partnership Activity and details collaborative activity for the AONB Unit and Partners. This activity is based upon the delivery plan contained within the Management Plan and the development of the AONB in terms of structure, governance and future funding.

Jim Flashman, mentioned the bees at Mount Edgcumbe, although they are in a hive, they are native Cornish bees. Chris Coldwell, AONB Unit will contact Mount Edgcumbe to discuss any AONB Unit potential links to this project.

 Partners AGREED the Business Plan 2018-2020 and accompanying budget, as the basis of the annual Funding Application which the AONB Unit will submit to Defra by 15 AONB Unit January 2018.

AONB Unit confirmed in Appendix 7, the Budget Forecast, under Total Core Costs the expenditure figures £14,240 should read ‘Penwith Landscape Partnership’ funding. AONB Unit AONB Unit will amend.

9. Any Other Business – Annual Report 2016/17 – the AONB Unit had produced the Annual Report and a copy was circulated to Partners at the meeting. Partners suggested a map of the AONB Unit Cornwall AONB be included in future would be beneficial. Copies will be circulated to all Cornwall Councillors and all Parish/Town Councils in the AONB - a map of the Cornwall AONB will AONB Unit be inserted before distribution.

Falmouth Bay to Bay Special Protection Area (SPA) – Rhiannon Pipkin, Natural England, reported that the Government has just announced this new marine SPA, which is a 24 mile stretch of coast and an important site for wintering birds, particularly the black throated diver. This new protection will help to minimise disturbance to the feeding areas and marine habitats the birds rely on, providing a safe haven where they can spend the winter.

10. Date of Next Meeting – dates to be scheduled for 2018 AONB Unit

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