AONB Management Plan 2025 – 2030
Review of Cannock Chase National Landscape (AONB) Management Plan
Cannock Chase National Landscape (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) is one of England’s finest landscapes, and protected by law.
The Cannock Chase National Landscape Partnership is responsible for ensuring that the natural beauty of the Chase is conserved and enhanced. The way in which we look after Cannock Chase is set out in our Management Plan. This statutory document defines what makes Cannock Chase special, identifies the key issues facing this special place, and sets out our vision and priorities for conserving and enhancing its natural beauty for the next 5 years. It also describes the actions that we will take to deliver the vision, working in partnership with local communities and organisations.
Our current Management Plan covers the period 2019-2024 (extended to 2025), and is now due for review.
Consultation Draft
Views are now being sought on the Consultation Draft of the new Management Plan for 2025-2030. In particular we would like to know if people feel that our ambitions for Cannock Chase are realistic and achievable, and also if there is anything more that we could do. We also want to know if we have identified the right policies and actions needed to look after the area.
You can view or download the Plan here, and submit your comments to the online questionnaire here.
Supporting documents
The draft has been informed by a combination of:
• A review of the current AONB Management Plan 2019-2024 (extended to 2025).
• Evidence from the updated State of the AONB Report and Appendices.
• Public perceptions of key issues and priorities for the National Landscape.
• Government guidance for Protected Landscape Management Plans, and new targets and outcomes for Protected Landscapes.
• Input from the Task and Finish Groups and key stakeholders.
All comments must be submitted submitted by 27th January 2025.
The process and indicative timetable is summarised as shown here.
| Stage | By when | Task |
|---|---|---|
| Formalities and notification | March / April 2024 | Formal authorisation to undertake the review by the National Landscape Joint Committee and notification to Natural England. |
| Scoping | April/May 2024 | Update the State of the AONB report |
| April/May 2024 | Review the delivery and impact of the existing Plan, continuing relevance of policies and options, and gaps. | |
| April/May 2024 | Gather issues and priorities from online survey. | |
| July 2024 | Scope the scale of the review that is required. | |
| Review | August 2024 | Prepare the draft review. |
| August-November 2024 | Assess the environmental effects (Strategic Environment Assessment) of the draft and undertake a Habitats Regulation Assessment to determine whether or not there are any likely effects on the Cannock Chase Special Area of Conservation. | |
| Consultation and approval | December 2024 /January 2025 | Undertake public consultation on new draft plan / documents. |
| March 2024 | Final revisions and approval by the National Landscape Joint Committee. | |
| By 31 March 2025 | Send approved final Management Plan to Secretary of State. | |
| Delivery | From 1st April 2025 | Prepare first business plan of the new Management Plan and begin to deliver activities. |
Previous plans
Digital copies available on request:
AONB Management Plan 2014-19
AONB Management Plan 2009-14
AONB Management Plan 2004-09