Due to the legally protected status of AONBs (under the CRoW Act 2000), land within nationally designated AONBs has the highest status of landscape protection and must be treated differently to land outside the designated areas. Unlike a National Park, the North Devon AONB Partnership is not a planning authority but an advisor to the statutory undertaker (e.g. the Local Planning Authority) with regard to planning applications and policy that may affect the designated AONB.
There are four key areas of work:
- Advising and commenting on significant planning applications that may have a negative effect on the designated AONB
- Providing pre-application advice to the local planning authorities
- Advising local authorities on formulating policy that takes full account of the designated AONB, including national policies such as the National Planning Policy Framework and documents such as the Local Plan
- Assisting in producing documents to inform planning decisions, for example the Landscape and Seascape Character Assessments, and Village Design Guides
Comments on planning applications from the AONB Partnership are posted on local authority planning portals.
Should you be concerned about a specific planning application, please advise us by email (aonb@devon.gov.uk) or letter and include the following information: Application number, name of site and the reasons for your concern. We will then forward your comments to our advisors.
Links to Publications:
- State of the AONB 2014 – 2018 – Planning, Development and Infrastructure indicators
- North Devon AONB Management Plan & Delivery Plan
- Landscape Character Assessment for Devon
- Joint North Devon and Torridge Landscape Character Assessment
- North Devon and Exmoor Seascape Character Assessment
- Hartland Design Guide Pages 1-20
- Hartland Design Guide pages 21-40
- Hartland Design Guide pages 41-60
- Hartland Design Guide pages 61-80
- Hartland Design Guide pages 81-100
- Hartland Design Guide pages 101-119
