£7.8m Cannock Chase conservation plan backed

A £7.8million conservation plan to protect Cannock Chase's landscape and wildlife has been backed by Staffordshire County Council.

The authority 's cabinet has agreed to implement its part of a 15-year conservation plan put forward by the Cannock Chase Special Area of Conservation Partnership.

The Cannock Chase Special Area Conservation Partnership (SAC) is a consortium of local authorities that receives S106 and CIL money from housing developers, plus interested parties such as Staffordshire County Council, Forestry England and Cannock Chase AONB.

Using £7.8 million of funding from housing developers, money will be spent on a wide range of conservation projects, including improving trails and way signs and providing conservation education in schools and with children 's groups.

It also includes a car parking strategy across all the landowners on the Chase to reduce footfall where the landscape and wildlife are most vulnerable and increase parking capacity in the more robust locations.

Victoria Wilson, Staffordshire Council 's cabinet member for Communities and Culture, said: "We want people to enjoy Cannock Chase, but in a few years ' time we expect there will be around three million visits every year and most users travel there by car.

"Visitors should understand that almost everything that we do there, whether it 's dog walking and rambling, cycling or horse riding, potentially has an adverse effect which we have to manage.

"We have a legal and moral duty to protect the Chase, especially the vulnerable wildlife and landscape, and the conservation plan we backed today sets out how we and others will do that for the next generation, while maintaining open access for the growing number of visitors. ”

The conservation proposal includes closing up to 51 parking locations in the most sensitive areas, including 33 small areas which have space for four cars at most.

But by the end of the process there will be more parking than now, including around 50 free parking locations with 500 spaces.

Disabled access will be maintained, improvements made to an existing disabled access trail and Blue Badge parking will remain free on our car parks.

Charging will be considered at up to 12 car parks from next year at the earliest. Where charging is introduced, it will be no more expensive than at Chasewater, which currently costs £3 for a day, or less than 10p per day with an annual permit. Any surplus will be reinvested in maintaining Cannock Chase.