Northumberland Coast AONB
by Robin Dower
A long narrow strip of Northumberland’s dramatic coastline, from Berwick in the North to Amble in the South was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1958.
Under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 provision was made to set up AONB Partnerships between relevant local authorities, the Countryside Agency (now Natural England), representatives of local communities and other stakeholders to prepare a Management Plan for each AONB.
The first Management Plan for the Northumberland Coast AONB was published in 2004. One of its first supplementary documents was a Design Guide for the Built Environment, published in draft form in 2006. This has been followed by a Design Guide for the Maintenance and Management of Roads circulated as a Consultation Document in January this year. The Society was sent a copy and the County Committee has been impressed.
We warmly welcome the explicit recognition that roads, their signage, verges and boundaries form an essential constituent of the character of the AONB and that a light touch is needed to avoid damage to rural character. We argue that this will actually cost less than the sometimes over-enthusiastic extension of ‘garden’ management beyond the settlement boundaries or the introduction of more urban features such as concrete kerbs and traffic management signs. We also believe that there is a strong case for doing less even where tourism is the driving interest: few villages need ambitious ‘Gateway’ features when a simple sign will tell the visitor what the settlement is called and it is unnecessary to have repeated signs to features that loom large: only in the thickest sea fret do you need a sign to such prominent features as Bamburgh and Warkworth Castles!
The County Committee chose for comment one subject that causes concern about its impact in the AONB: summer and holiday season parking. Physical and visual damage to road verges and significant inconvenience and danger to pedestrians and drivers could be avoided if the AONB Partnership could develop management agreements with landowners to provide overflow or even year round parking in areas under pressure. Appropriate landscaping and screening could be undertaken on the assurance of long-term agreements.
Although the Design Guide has been prepared by Highways Design specifically for the AONB, we commended the substance of the policies and action proposed as being relevant, with very little adjustment, to a Highway Design and Management approach to all rural areas of Northumberland. We hope this view will be accepted and that we may look forward to benefits from a widespread sensitivity throughout the County.
City and County
May 2009
