The Council Business Committee of Lancaster City Council is scheduled to meet on Thursday, 16 October 2025, at Morecambe Town Hall. The main item on the agenda is the consideration of a proposed response to the open consultation on the Arnside & Silverdale National Landscape Draft Management Plan 2026-2031. The committee will also review the minutes from previous meetings.

Arnside & Silverdale National Landscape Draft Management Plan Consultation

The committee is expected to discuss and consider a proposed response to the consultation on the draft Arnside & Silverdale National Landscape (ARNSIL NL) Management Plan 2026-2031. The report pack includes a draft of Lancaster City Council's response to the consultation, which is included as Appendix 1.

The report states that Lancaster City Council has a duty, as outlined in Section 89 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, to prepare and review management plans for National Landscapes within its area. The Forest of Bowland National Landscape is also within the council's area. The draft management plan for Arnside & Silverdale sets out how stakeholders can work together to conserve and enhance the National Landscape.

The draft Management Plan is structured around three themes:

• Place: A landscape alive with nature and beauty
• People: A landscape for everyone
• Partnerships: Working together for the landscape

These themes are further divided into 10 Strategic Objectives, including Landscape and Seascape, Geodiversity, Biodiversity, and Historic & Cultural Heritage.

The report highlights that the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (LURA) amended the duty of relevant authorities regarding their functions affecting land in Protected Landscapes¹. These authorities must now 'seek to further' the statutory purposes of Protected Landscapes, replacing the previous duty to 'have regard to' these purposes.

The council's proposed consultation response includes several suggested amendments to the draft Management Plan. These include:

• Clarification of references to local heritage lists.
• Ensuring citations are provided for information within Strategic Objective 6.
• Clarifying that the Local Plans for both Lancaster City Council and Westmorland and Furness are being fully updated and will replace the currently adopted Arnside & Silverdale AONB DPD².
• Referencing the Planning & Infrastructure Bill, which is progressing towards enactment.

The consultation response also highlights that the plan's targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 relative to 1990 levels do not align with Lancaster City Council's (2040) or Westmorland and Furness's (2037) targets. The council suggests that the Management Plan could be more ambitious regarding the contribution of new development towards climate mitigation.

Additionally, the response suggests that the Management Plan should address drought and increasingly hot summers, and specifically mention children and young people and accessibility improvements as indicators of success.

The consultation on the draft Management Plan runs from 1 September 2025 to 17 October 2025. The report pack states that once all responses have been received, the National Landscape Partnership Unit will produce a consultation report. A finalised version of the Management Plan is anticipated by the end of the year, with adoption by the Arnside & Silverdale National Landscape Executive Committee and Lancaster City Council's Cabinet expected by early Spring 2026.

Other Business

The committee is also scheduled to approve the minutes of the meetings held on 29 May and 31 July 2025.