§ Baroness Byfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
Since the publication of the Countryside Commission's Protecting our Finest Countryside: Advice to Government in 1998, how much progress has been made on its recommendations to:
- (a) place an explicit statutory obligation on all public bodies to have regard to the need to enhance the natural beauty of areas of outstanding natural beauty; and
- (b) apply incentives for woodland management across all national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty; and
- (c) arrange for priority allocation of Heritage Lottery funds to areas of outstanding natural beauty; and
- (d) return to greenfield status the disused military airfield at RAF Brentwater on the Suffolk coast and heaths area of outstanding natural beauty. [HL4719]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (Lord Whitty)Since 1998, the Government have brought in Section 85(1) of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 which requires that, "In exercising or performing any functions in relation to, or so as to affect, land in an area of outstanding natural beauty, a relevant authority shall have regard to the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the area of outstanding natural beauty" Relevant authorities are listed at Section 85(2) of the Act and include any public body.
Incentives for woodland management are provided for the Government by the Forestry Commission which provides incentives for woodland creation and management through its Woodland Grant Scheme on a national basis, not just in designated areas. A challenge fund provides further incentives to create new native woodlands in national parks (nearly 1,300 hectares were approved over the past 5 years). In addition, the commission has signed an accord with the association of AONBs setting out how it will maximise uptake of existing woodland incentives whilst ensuring woodlands contribute to AONB objectives.
Through the Heritage Lottery Fund's strategic plan 1999–2002, the Government support landscapes of outstanding importance to national heritage through acquisitions, management and access projects. One of the three priorities for land was targeted on AONB applicants. Such awards were known as area 142WA partnership schemes and by April 2002 about £7 million had been committed to AONBs. This initiative will continue under the strategic plan 2002–07 but will be known as landscape partnerships.
The disused military airfied at RAF Bentwater is no longer in Crown (MOD) ownership. It was sold in the mid-1990s to a development company. The land has since been divided and sold separately. It is being used as an industrial estate, redeveloped for housing or restored to agriculture (including informal recreation). All of these uses are within the agreed planning brief for the site.