Management Plan - North York Moors National Park

Contraction of ResourcesThe National Park Authority and most of its public sectorpartners are facing a period of change and shrinking of staffand financial resources. This is a significant change sincethe publication of the last Management Plan and affects theprojects and activities that can be delivered not just by theAuthority but all publicly funded organisations whose activitiesaffect the National Park.1.9 How the Management Plan will beDeliveredThe Management Plan has four sections dealing with theEnvironment, Understanding and Enjoyment, Business andLand Management and Communities. Whilst the concept ofecosystems services is embedded within the Plan, to avoidrepetition the chapters have not been structured aroundthe main ecosystems. There are overall aims for each topicarea and more specific policies setting out the approach toachieving those aims. The means of achieving policies are alsoidentified such as through specific projects, activities or otherstrategies. This includes reference to the important work ofother organisations, communities, businesses and landownersin delivering the policies of the Management Plan. There maybe other projects or organisations which will also help to deliverthe policies which have not been specifically identified at thetime of writing.Actions arising from the policies contained within theManagement Plan must be undertaken in accordance withstatutory National Park purposes and, where necessary, theSandford principle 10 must be applied which requires greaterweight to be attached to the purpose of ‘conserving andenhancing’ if it appears that there is a conflict between thetwo National Park purposes. In line with the requirements ofthe Habitats Directive 11 the Plan should be implemented ina way which will ensure that there will not be any significanteffects that would harm the integrity of Natura 2000 sites(Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas) inrecognition of the legal status of the Natura 2000 sites. Detailedmitigation measures are contained within the AppropriateAssessment report which accompanies the Management Plan.This should be referred to in producing any further plans orcarrying out any projects relating to the policies of the Plan. Forpolicies which relate to development, planning permission willnot be granted for development that would harm the integrity ofNatura 2000 sites, in accordance with the Habitats Directive.Gaining a clear commitment from partners of all kinds to worktowards the Management Plan’s aims and to prioritise resourcesto achieve the targets as far as possible is essential. Nationaland/or local agreements between the National Park Authorityand other bodies including Natural England 12 , EnvironmentAgency 13 , Forestry Commission 14 and English Heritage 15 are orhave been in place. The National Park Authority has agreed withthese partners that signing up to protocols is the most effectivemeans of delivery. Local protocols and joint action plans havebeen identified against relevant policies where appropriate,some of these are yet to be prepared. In addition the NationalPark Authority manages the rights of way network under aDelegation Agreement with North Yorkshire County Counciland Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council.Regular discussions will be held with key stakeholders to checkprogress on delivering the Management Plan. Alongside the workof the National Park Authority and other stakeholders, there maybe a need to secure wider external funding to deliver the policies.A variety of ways will be used to publicise the Plan and reporton its progress, for example through Moors Messenger.As a new approach which reflects the principles of‘ecosystem services’, and in addition to strategic topic basedpolicies, this Management Plan looks at what the NationalPark could accommodate without harming the specialqualities. The Plan is not specifically aiming to achieve theselevels of change and separate targets have been set basedupon what could realistically be achieved by 2017. Thetable overleaf shows how these changes could be achievedwithout harming the special qualities and without hinderingthe achievement of each other. At this strategic level it isnot possible to quantify or be precise about exactly whatthe impacts might be, but this will help in drawing up moredetailed plans at a later date. The table also flags up whatthe potential negative impacts might be if these changes didnot happen in the correct way, and could act as a guide toimplementing some of the Plan’s policies. It is consideredhowever that the policies in the Management Plan willensure that such issues are addressed.10 Introduced in legislation in the 1995 Environment Act11 Directive 92/43/EEC12 Natural England and English National Parks Authorities Association:Protocol on Collaboration for Environmental Land Management Delivery13 Working Together Agreement between the Environment Agency, theEnglish National Park Authorities Association (ENPAA) and the WelshAssociation of National Park Authorities (WANPA)14 An Accord between the Association of National Park Authorities andthe Forestry Commission and Local Accord Between the ForestryCommission and the North York Moors National Park Authority whichwas updated into a Joint Action Plan 2009-2012 (these have expired butthe intention is to update)15 Joint Statement on the Historic Environment in the National Parks ofEngland, Scotland and WalesNorth York Moors National Park Management Plan17