A wide range of organisations and interests play a part in managing the Norfolk Coast. They work together within the Norfolk Coast Partnership to co-ordinate management of the area.

This section gives information about how the Norfolk Coast Partnership operates and the partner organisations involved, with links to those organisations.

The Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is a large area, crossing several local administrative boundaries. Also, because what is covered by the term ‘natural beauty’ is broad, many different organisations and interests play a part in managing different aspects of the area’s natural beauty. To ensure that management is ‘joined-up’ it’s vital that this wide range of organisations and interests work together in partnership.

The Norfolk Coast Partnership was set up in 1991 to promote co-ordinate policies and action amongst its member organisations, to bring about sustainable use of the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Statutory duties

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty have been designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (1949).

Under the act, the primary purpose of designation is the conservation and enhancement of the natural beauty of the area.

Secondary objectives are:

To facilitate and enhance public enjoyment, understanding and appreciation of the area.
To promote sustainable forms of social and economic development that in themselves conserve and enhance the area’s natural beauty.

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act (2000), often know as the CROW Act, gave a legal duty to many public bodies and officers to ‘have regard to’ the purpose of designation of an AONB when undertaking any action that might affect its natural beauty.

In practice, this means that such bodies should be able to demonstrate, through an audit trail, how the conservation and enhancement of the AONB has been considered for any decision that may affect it.

The CROW Act also gave a duty to local authorities (local councils) whose area included an AONB, or part of one, to produce an AONB management plan setting out their policies for the AONB and to review this plan at least every five years. If more than one local authority is involved, they are required to act jointly to produce and review the management plan.