The Blackdown Hills National Landscape management plan:
- Describes the special qualities of the Blackdown Hills National Landscape
- Explains why the Blackdown Hills National Landscape is important
- Sets out an agreed vision for its future
- Identifies the challenges and opportunities for the area, and how these will be tackled.
The management plan is reviewed every five years and is supported with an annual business plan. Blackdown Hills National Landscape’s annual business plan is an internal working document. It sets out the key activities, core work and projects to be undertaken by the National Landscape team and the key members of Blackdown Hills National Landscape Partnership to contribute to delivering the management plan.
Download Introduction to managing Blackdown Hills AONB (pdf) for an overview of the framework for the work we do to manage Blackdown Hills National Landscape (the new name for the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB)). Each year, a summary of our work is published in our annual review.
National Landscape management plan review
Every five years, we create a Management Plan to help guide the work and activities of all organisations, groups and individuals with a responsibility or interest in the Blackdown Hills National Landscape.
We are currently undertaking a review of the existing management plan to identify the key issues and opportunities that need to be addressed, and the focus for partnership action over the next plan period. The review was to be completed by March 2024 but this deadline has been extended by Defra to 2025 as a result of anticipated changes for National Landscapes as a result of the Landscape Review (Glover Review).
So far the review has included gathering evidence on the state of the Backdown Hills’ special qualities, and canvassing views through a public opinion survey. We have also held workshops with delivery partners. Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the online survey or filled in a questionnaire at an event, a summary of the results can be seen below. Many people provided thoughtful and inciteful additional comments in their responses – all of which is helpful in drawing up a new plan.
A draft Management Plan is being produced and we will hold a public consultation on this in summer 2024, before it is formally adopted by our local authority partners in spring 2025.
Further information and updates will be posted on this website as the review progresses.
State of the National Landscape 2023 [9.5MB pdf]
2019-2024 management plan
Blackdown Hills National Landscape Partnership leads on the review of the management plan on behalf of the responsible local authorities. The latest plan was adopted by the local authorities in spring 2019 and will run on to 2025.
Download a copy of the management plan 2019-2024. (Note that since publication of the plan Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty has been renamed to Blackdown Hills National Landscape)
