Welcome to issue five of Tir Teg (Beautiful Land), the electronic newsletter from the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The AONB consists of 12 separate geographical areas - ten stretches of coastline, the Camel Estuary and Bodmin Moor. Here you will find the latest news on and from 'the best bits' of Cornwall.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THE CORNWALL AONB UNIT

The Cornwall AONB celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2009 and where better to launch the celebration than at the prestigious Cornwall Lecture?

The Lecture, given at the end of November by Professor Robert Tregay, was entitled ‘Could Cornwall have it all?’. It took as its theme the enduring relationship between the Cornish landscape and its people as well as the landscape’s importance to our County’s economy.

Naturally the ‘best bits’ of the County – the nearly 30% which makes up the Cornwall AONB – were featured prominently during the Lecture. The designated landscape’s importance to tourism, farm production, inward investment and wealth creation was highlighted throughout.

The Lecture also stressed the national and international importance of our protected landscapes and emphasised the fact that they have the same legal status as a National Park.

Professor Tregay concluded his address, which captivated a packed Hall for Cornwall, with a plea to put landscape at the heart of all policy as we move to a unitary authority. He suggested a ‘Cornwall Test’ be applied to both strategies and the delivery of Cornwall’s future. This test requires that all new forms of development, all changes in land management, the economy and social investment should only be implemented if they:

• Enrich the beauty and productivity of Cornwall’s landscape, towns and villages
• Contribute to sustainable economic development
• Strengthen the social, physical and cultural identity of Cornwall.

As Professor Tregay reiterated: “Cornwall has natural and cultural landscapes that give it its special quality and identity and, in marketing terms, define the branding of Cornwall as an excellent place to live and work.”

Driving through Cornwall .........
Exercise of the brain is as important as exercise of the muscles. As we grow older, it's important to keep mentally alert. If you don't use it, you lose it!
Read the question below ONCE only, adding up as you go along if you wish, then give your answer. Do not look back at the question again.
The answer is on the website www.cornwall-aonb.gov.uk/latestnews.html#answers
OK, relax, clear your mind and begin.

Question: Without using a calculator try this: You are driving a bus from Penzance to Bude via various main towns. In Penzance seventeen people get on the bus. In Hayle two people get on and five get off. In Camborne six people get off the bus and nine people get on. In Redruth two people get off and four get on. In Bodmin eleven people get off and sixteen people get on. In Camelford three people get off and five people get on. The bus finally arrives at Bude. What was the name of the bus driver?

EUROPARC's European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas is a practical management tool which helps protected areas to continuously improve the sustainable development and the management of tourism taking account of the needs of the environment, the local population and the local tourism businesses.

The Charter is not a typical quality or eco-label but a ‘process-oriented methodology’ that can be used and applied by all kinds of protected areas. The Charters' focus is on initiating and assisting a process of sustainable tourism planning which will lead to sustainable development step by step. The Charter assists this process by providing a 'strategy development kit' which contains principles, a methodology and check-lists for the protected areas to work with. The implementation of the Charter methodology increases the awareness of and support for European protected areas.

CoaST, the Cornwall Sustainable Tourism Project, is working closely with the Cornwall AONB and is submitting our bid for Charter status to the Europarc Federation this month.

At a meeting in Birmingham in November, the National AONBs Communications Working Group (CWG) brought together AONB teams to discuss the strength of a strong ‘family’ brand. Any new brand would not be imposed on AONBs and their Partnerships but Communications Officers are working together to produce a product that could be adopted as appropriate by individual AONBs.

One of the outcomes of the meeting and the feedback forms was a need to take what was discussed at the Birmingham meeting to a wider audience (including AONB teams and partnerships). Cornwall AONB Unit will be offering a presentation at the next partnership meeting. The Birmingham meeting found that there was a strong belief that a joint family brand would empower AONBs to appear more professional and therefore encourage better funding. The CWG also believe that the family brand will be the key foundation of the national communications strategy that is currently being worked on.

It was also felt at the meeting that the AONB acronym is gradually achieving wider recognition. “What does AONB stand for?” was recently a quiz question in the Observer Sunday magazine – hopefully there are now tens of thousands more people who know the answer.

Cornwall AONB Planning Officer, June Crossland is currently reviewing and developing a planning protocol to be signed between the Cornwall and Tamar Valley AONB Units and the new Planning Authority. This will set out how and when the AONB Unit is involved in advising on planning applications and engaging in consultations on Development Plan Documents. This will result in joint working with the new Planning Authority on AONB planning issues.
The AONB Unit has recently responded or is due to respond to the following applications.

• Davidstow Windfarm (North Cornwall District Council)
• Crimp Windfarm, Morwenstow (North Cornwall District Council)
• Harrowbridge wind turbines (Caradon District Council)
• Redlands wind turbine (Caradon District Council)
• Zennor Communications Mast (Penwith District Council)
• Tintagel and Boscastle Sewage Treatment Works (Cornwall County Council)
• Treen agricultural building (Penwith District Council)
• Goldenbank Pitch and Putt, Swanpool, Falmouth (mixed use and housing) (Carrick District Council)

A Marine Bill to protect the UK's ocean wildlife and improve public access to the coast was included in this month's Queen's speech after years of campaigning by conservation groups. Cornwall, as the UK county with the longest coastline, is likely to be a major beneficiary.

The Marine and Coastal Access Bill is a new approach to managing the marine environment that will include conservation zones, a new planning system, reform of fisheries and access to the coasts. It will also include the establishment of a new organisation to manage the seas around the UK. Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) will protect nationally important habitats and species such as eelgrass beds, seahorses and sea fans. According to the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), there are more than 6,000 Sites of Special Scientific Interest on land, but only 3 sites protecting habitats of national importance at sea.

The present Cornwall AONB Communications Plan expires at the end of this year (2008). A monitoring activity will take place early in 2009 to measure success over the past three years, followed by a review which will allow all partners, sub-partners and interested parties to identify changes required. The work will be undertaken in consultation with the group of local authority officers currently undertaking the Cornwall AONB Management Plan review. Based on the current Plan, the key questions are:

• Is the overall purpose of our communications strategy adequate?
• Are the current objectives sufficient or do they need addition or expansion?
• Are the target groups identified correct and are we reaching them?
• Are the key messages accurate?
• Are the actions to be undertaken under each objective correct and sufficient?
• How will the communications strategy deliver the AONB management plan?

Anyone who would like to contribute ideas to our new Communications Plan during 2009 can contact the Communications Officer on 01872 322350 or e-mail pmaxted@cornwall.gov.uk

Following our item in the last issue of Tir Teg, Western Power Distribution has now agreed in principle to include selected under-grounding of power lines within AONBs and National Parks. This is a direct result of a concerted response to their Business Plan consultation by the protected landscapes of the South West. Many thanks to all those who put forward their views.

The concept of green links between protected, or wilderness, areas has recently moved up the national agenda. Green corridors connecting landscapes are something environmentalists have long advocated and a way forward in terms of biodiversity, protection, education and much more.

In his Cornwall Lecture, Robert Tregay floated the idea of a Cornwall National Park. There are twelve separate sections of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; linking them up with green corridors could be a key ingredient of such a development and could be a benchmark for the way we might improve the ‘wildness’ of the whole of the UK.

The Annual Report for 2007/08 has been published. It is available electronically as a PDF document. To be environmentally friendly, paper copies have not been produced again this year, although a one-page paper summary is available.

View the report on the Cornwall AONB website via http://www.cornwall-aonb.gov.uk/latestnews.html#Annual_Report

The South West Protected Landscapes Forum has produced a DVD showcasing 4 SDF projects for 2007/08 which included the renewable energy project at Gorran School, part funded by the Cornwall AONB. A link to the DVD is available from the Cornwall AONB website or from http://www.southwestlandscapes.org.uk/SDF.asp

Paul Walton, AONB Partnership Manager, left the AONB Unit at the end of September to take up a job with the National Trust (seen here trying on his National Trust apparel!) We wish him all the best in his new post.

As part of the publicity for its 50th anniversary, the Cornwall AONB Unit has produced a new banner and a number of poster maps. The banner is a highly portable two metre high display – suitable for meetings and small functions. The poster maps are A1 size on pvc board and satin laminated. If anyone would like to borrow these (or indeed the interactive display currently in the Long Gallery at New County Hall), please contact Pete Maxted at the AONB Unit – 01872 322350.

The seven projects in this year’s Cornwall AONB Sustainable Development Fund are all nearing completion.

Two books are being published. One is the Gerrans & Portscatho Old Cornwall Society’s guide to local wells, springs and shutes and the other is a guide to Bodmin Moor by the Best of Bodmin Moor Group. The Duchy College is carrying out research on the spread of the Hottentot Fig while the West Country Rivers Trust is working on reinvigorating the fish spawning beds of the Fowey. The National Trust is running two projects – environmental improvements to a campsite near Polruan and an arts project at Bosigran in West Penwith. And on the Helford, a series of events is being held to encourage awareness of the marine conservation area.