Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Designation Project

Description

Natural England has powers under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CRoW) to consider which areas meet the statutory criterion for designation as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), and then to designate such areas. In July 2020 Natural England's Board committed to testing and trialling a new approach through the next designation project. This decision follows recognition by Defra Minister, Lord Gardiner, and in the 'Glover' Landscapes Review (commissioned by Michael Gove, when Secretary of State at Defra) that the current National Park and AONB designation processes are complex, prescriptive, time consuming and expensive. Natural England recognises these issues and has already begun to identify opportunities to enable the process to be more collaborative, engaging and streamlined. At its meeting in May 2021, Natural England confirmed that the next landscape designation project will be to determine a proposed extension to the Surrey Hills AONB. A suitable contractor is now required to assist in determining the case for an extension to this AONB. Suitably qualified and experienced landscape consultants are required to assist Natural England in this task by developing a new process of facilitated engagement with stakeholders and participatory evidence gathering using new technologies, for example participatory GIS web apps. An important aspect of the Surrey Hills Designation Project therefore will be to test the new process, including opportunities for further improvement and time efficiencies, and trial new and innovative approaches under the existing legislation. In this project particular emphasis is being placed on: - a co-designed collaborative engagement process; and - the use of the latest available technologies in the gathering of evidence and mapping.