This report was commissioned by the Countryside Agency's Countryside Around Towns Team, which saw countryside management as key to both maintaining the environmental and recreational fabric of the fringe and to unlocking the full sustainable potenti...

The delivery of Countryside Management in England

Countryside Management, whether delivered through distinct Countryside Management services or via a range of local authority services and departments, is hugely important to the urban fringe.

This report was commissioned by the Countryside Agency's Countryside Around Towns Team, which saw countryside management as key to both maintaining the environmental and recreational fabric of the fringe and to unlocking the full sustainable potential of this landscape. However, the report is certainly not limited to countryside management in the urban fringe and provides an overview of how it is being applied across the whole of the English countryside. The study also presents an informative history of countryside management which presents its development in its full social and legislative context.

The study is presented through four documents.  

The Executive Summary.  

Part 1 is 'the Historical Context', which explains how countryside management emerged.   This report actually constitutes a useful briefing note on the development of countryside policy and the sector generally.  

Part 2 presents the results of a survey of local authorities' delivery of Countryside Management, both through distinct Countryside Management Services and across a range of local authority departments. 

Part 3 is a collection of  technical appendices and case studies.

NOTE: The two central reports each contain individual and slightly more detailed exec summaries of their own.