UP! - North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

allenge of managing the AONB
OVERSEEING the past, present and future of
the North Wessex Downs AONB is a team of
eight professionals – each with the
objective of conserving and enhancing the
natural beauty of the region.
It’s a challenging task – millions of visitors
come to enjoy the AONB every year
(Avebury World Heritage Site alone receives
around 400,000).
Then there are the 125,000 people who
live and work in the AONB (Lambourn is a
cornerstone of the British horseracing
AONB team members outside their Hungerford
base at Denford Manor.
Front Row:
Henry Oliver, Director; Liz Duquenoy, Office
Manager; Katie Wilson, Communications Officer;
Diane Nicolle, North Wessex Farmland Birds
Advisor (diane.nicollerspb.org.uk)
Back Row:
Oliver Cripps, acting Assistant Director and
SDF manager; Andrew Lord, Planning Advisor;
Caroline Kaneen, Information Officer; Corinna
Woodall, LEADER Programme Manager
(corinna.woodallwiltshire.gov.uk)
Other than Corinna and Diane, the email
style for AONB team members is:
fullnamenorthwessexdowns.org.uk
industry). Countless wildlife species also
rely on the AONB for habitat and homes.
Many lives beyond the AONB boundaries
are touched too by the farm produce grown
and reared within the North Wessex Downs.
It’s a challenging task – but not one
without its rural rewards. “When your ‘office’
is an AONB you are never far from fresh air,
fantastic views, amazing wildlife, and
wonderful people and places of interest,”
explains Henry Oliver, who heads the AONB
team at its Hungerford office.
Among those ‘wonderful people’ are
the supporters of AONB projects and
objectives, not least the Council of
Partners which oversees Henry’s team
in implementing the AONB Management
Plan*.
These supporters come from a wide
spectrum – government organisations,
councils, farmers, businesses,
environmental and recreational groups –
and each year the AONB team stages a
Forum to report on AONB activity,
achievements and plans.
Last October, North Wessex Downs
resident and local MP Richard Benyon,
Minister for the Natural Environment and
Fisheries, addressed the Forum. His brief
includes responsibility for AONBs, which he
described as “a living, breathing example of
the Big Society”. Howard Davies, CEO of the
National Association for AONBs, was also a
guest speaker.
At the Forum, Sir Charles Nunneley was
congratulated and thanked for his six-year
tenure as Chairman of the Council of
Partners as he stepped down from the role.
The new chairman is Byron Carron, a district
judge and former Vice-Chairman of
Wiltshire County Council.
*The AONB Management Plan can be viewed on
our website and at local libraries, and copies are
available from the North Wessex Downs AONB
Office, Denford Manor, Lower Denford,
Hungerford, RG17 0UN, Tel: 01488 685440.
Email: infonorthwessexdowns.org.uk
Web: www.northwessexdowns.org.uk
Byron Carron (left) is welcomed by Cllr Andrew
Bennett, Vice-Chairman of the Council of Partners
UP! On The North Wessex Downs | 17