Annual Review 2015/2016
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www.nidderdaleaonb.org.uk NidderdaleWelcome to Annual Nidderdale Review 2012 ANNUAL REVIEW 2015/2016 Your AONB Enjoy Wildlife & Habitats Get Involved Living & Working Heritage Flock of sheep at Scar House Reservoir, Upper Nidderdale © Sally Wilson One of the AONB Family Nidderdale AONB Annual Review 2015/2016 Nidderdale AONB Annual Review 2015/2016 Contents AONB Facts and Figures 2 Highlights from 2014/15 - at a glance 3 Foreword 4 Preface 5 Part 1 - Setting the Scene 6 The AONB Joint Advisory Committee and AONB Team 8 Part 2 - Performance: People, Policy & Partnerships 10 Performance: Conserving Natural Beauty 12 Financial Summary 14 Appendix: Statistics 16 01 Nidderdale AONB Annual Review 2015/2016 Nidderdale AONBNidderdale Annual Annual Review Review 2015/2016 2012 AONB Facts and Figures Highlights from 2015/16 - at a glance • The AONB covers 603 km2 of land in the foothills of • The population of the AONB is 15,671. 68% is in During the period from April 2015 to March 2016 we: the Pennines in North Yorkshire. employment, 12% is aged between 16 – 29 and 15% is retired. • Completed restoration of a former icehouse at the • Nidderdale AONB shares its western boundary with Upper Nidderdale Landscape Partnership scheme’s Flagship Heritage Site at Fishpond Wood near Bewerley the Yorkshire Dales National Park. • 20% of the households in Pateley Bridge do not have access to private transport; there has been a 13% • Provided financial and logistical support, together with • 95% of the AONB falls within Harrogate District increase in traffic flow on ‘C’ roads in the AONB since management resources, to the summer 2015 NiddFest of with a smaller share in Richmondshire and Hambleton 2001. nature writing that attracted leading authors from across Districts. The AONB is wholly within the County of the county to Nidderdale in August North Yorkshire. • 30% of towns and villages have access to a bus service providing 4 journeys per day • Attracted over 500 people to 41 events in the AONB’s • The AONB is administered by Harrogate Borough 2015 events programme Council. It is overseen by a Joint Advisory Committee • There are 820 kms of public rights of way in the • Produced and circulated 25,000 copies of ‘Visit (JAC) that in 2015/16 had 23 members from 14 AONB. Nidderdale AONB’ organisations representing local authorities, parishes, landowning bodies, community groups, business • An estimated 35% of the AONB is accessible to • Created a new AONB website interests and government agencies. walkers in accordance with provisions contained in the Countryside & Rights of Way Act 2000. • Organised a computer and IT skills training course for • There were 11 members of the AONB Team in farmers in Upper Nidderdale 2015/16 (8.5 full time equivalents). The team is based in Pateley Bridge, the only town wholly within the AONB. • Administered the River Nidd Catchment Sensitive Farming programme and provided advice and obtained £112,275.07 grant aid within the AONB to help farmers • 22,132 hectares (36%) of the AONB was moorland manage Diffuse Water Pollution from agriculture in dominated by heather in 2010. Nidderdale Images: Top - restored icehouse at Fishpond Wood, Bewerley; • 24,195.91 hectares of the AONB’s moorlands are of • Hosted visit by a delegation of Norwegian farmers to Bottom left - Nidderdale Conservation Volunteers raking a grass international importance, and designated as a Special see catchment management work carried out by the AONB verge at Glasshouses; Bottom right - children enjoying an AONB Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation. event. • Won a Grant of £15,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund for development of a natural history recording project • The Fountains Abbey World Heritage Site is situated in partnership with the University of Leeds and submitted a in the AONB. Stage Two grant bid for a project worth £350,000 • Consulted farmers, community groups and residents • There are 14 Conservation Areas, 126 Scheduled • Provided conservation advice, including practical help on an action plan for the ‘Natural Nidd – A Noble Cause’ Ancient Monuments and 545 Listed Buildings in the with form-filling and grant applications, to 136 farmers project AONB. • Launched a Pollinator Pathways project in Wharfedale • Organised an archaeological excavation of a World and the Washburn Valley following award of a £50,000 War One hospital site by staff and students from York • 1,106 people were employed on 503 farms covering grant from Biffa to the Friends of the AONB charity University’s Department of Archaeology 71% of the AONB in 2010. • Organised a programme of wildlife events for children • Planted 3.5 hectares of new woodland • There were 191,057 sheep in the AONB in 2010. in partnership with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust • Devised a scheme for pre-application planning advice • 7% of the AONB is woodland including 1,200 • Enabled Nidderdale Conservation Volunteers and the in the AONB AONB’s Drystone Walling group to devote over 4,770 hectares of Ancient Woodland, 2,450 hectares is planted volunteer hours to conservation work in Nidderdale conifer woodland and 1,400 hectares is broadleaved. • Administered the Greenhow Conservation Grant Scheme on behalf of Hanson Aggregates 02 03 Nidderdale AONB Annual Review 2015/2016 Nidderdale AONBNidderdale Annual Annual Review Review 2015/2016 2012 Foreword Preface The Joint Advisory Committee’s goal is to ensure that: • Stewardship of natural beauty is a priority for everyone • Tranquility and opportunities for quiet enjoyment of nature are protected • Biodiversity is valued for its own sake • The legacy of the historic environment is celebrated • Local distinctiveness is maintained • The livelihoods of local communities are protected The purpose of this Annual Review is to record progress made by the Joint Advisory Committee, the Traditional stone barn © Paul Harris Committee’s partners including farmers, community groups, local authorities, government agencies and AONB staff. I would like to take this opportunity to expand on the It was vital that AONBs were in the Government’s mind brief reference in this Annual Review to Nidderdale’s in the run-up to the Spending Review announcement It contains a summary of work carried out in involvement with the National Association for AONBs in November 2015. We were very concerned that accordance with priorities set out in the AONB during 2015/16. The Association represents the interests Nidderdale’s comparatively modest grant from central Management Plan that covered the period to March of the family of 46 AONBs in Britain (33 wholly in Government via Defra, which provides a stable 2016. Detailed targets that underpinned this work were England, four wholly in Wales, one which straddles the foundation from which to launch bids for funding identified in the annual Delivery Plan approved by the Cows in Upper Nidderdale © Paul Harris English/Welsh border and eight in Northern Ireland) to support the AONBs work on behalf of the local JAC in March 2015. The Committee received a detailed and they cover 18% of Britain’s countryside. The community and the farming industry in particular, report on progress towards meeting these targets in Association’s Board, which is made up of representatives would be cut again. It wasn’t, and AONBs can now look March 2016. The report is available to download from from across the AONB family, has become a distinctive forward to three years of relative security. The reason it the AONB’s website. voice that is more and more frequently heard in the in wasn’t cut was due in no small part to the tireless work the national discourse about protected landscapes in of Howard Davies, the National Association’s Chief general (the Association has a strong and productive Executive, and the rest of his team. We are incredibly relationship with the National Park family) and about grateful. AONBs in particular. It regularly takes part in national consultations initiated by the UK Parliament and by Councillor Nigel Simms its Welsh counterpart, and its small team of staff and Chairman, Nidderdale AONB Joint Advisory members of the Association’s Board command respect, Committee both from elected politicians and from senior Civil Servants. The Association performs a vital role. Without it, individual AONBs like Nidderdale would find it difficult to get a hearing in the cacophony created by all manner of organisations and individuals who are continually competing for the attention of politicians and policy makers. Climber at Brimham Rocks © Paul Harris 04 05 Nidderdale AONB Annual Review 2015/2016 Nidderdale AONB Annual Review 2015/2016 Part 1 - Setting the Scene AONB Special Qualities Ecosystem Services Landscape character is a distinct, recognisable and Conservation of the AONB’s landscape is a priority in consistent pattern of elements in the landscape that its own right, but protected landscapes like AONBs and makes one landscape different from another, rather National Parks have a variety of wider purposes. The than better or worse. It gives rise to a ‘sense of place’ idea of ecosystem services originated in the Millennium that defines people’s understanding and appreciation Ecosystem Assessment that was launched by the of these elements in their surroundings. Protected United Nations in 2001 to assess the consequences of landscapes like AONBs are designated because they ecosystem change for human well-being. It identified possess special qualities that generations have come four categories of ecosystem services: to value, and which therefore