A message from David Turner, the new Chair of the Mendip Hills National Landscape Partnership

The Mendip Hills National Landscape Partnership has recently voted David Turner as the new of the Partnership and Cllr Theo Butt Philip from Somerset Council as the Vice-Chair. The Partnership is the committee that coordinates work to protect the nationally important landscape of the Mendip Hills. 

David lives near Wells and has a wealth of experience from senior positions in local authorities. David says, “It is both an honour and a challenge to be the new Chair of the Mendip Hills National Landscape Partnership and could I thank Andy Wear, the outgoing Chair, for his support and advice. I look forward to meeting all the different partners involved and working with them to manage this nationally significant Landscape.

“The Mendip Hills is an incredible place, a very special landscape rich in biodiversity and architectural heritage. It relies on a resilient and diverse farming community to deliver effective land management and stewardship. It supports a growing range of sustainable tourism and visitor services alongside nationally recognised and local business.

“Post Covid many more of us understand that it is a place that is at the heart of our well-being, be it for active sports, informal recreation, physical and mental relaxation and recovery. It is a place where the Partnership, by working together, supported by our skilled and dedicated National Landscape Team, as well as an amazing group of volunteers, has and is making a real difference.

“However, if the National Landscape is to continue to be a very special landscape, it has to respond to change; be it the ecological challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss, changes in farm funding, the need for improved accessibility to and through the Mendips, the need to extract positive benefits from development and robustly resist those schemes that threaten us and be responsive to changes in Local and National Government policy and funding.

“Whilst I cannot cover the full breadth of ambition outlined in the new Management Plan, I would like to highlight the things that particularly resonate with me:

Nature
The creation of the Mendip National Nature Reserve will secure ecological resilience and
coherence along the whole of the southern escarpment, guiding all that farm and own land within and adjacent to it and prompting a step change in understanding and volunteer activity.

Climate
Through the excellent work on Farming In Protected Landscapes and the potential of new farm
funding structures stemming from 2023 Environment Act around natural capital, conservation, and access we will place the farming community at the centre of how we work.

People
We need to be more inclusive and accessible, particularly in how we engage with young people
and those on low incomes. We also need to review our capacity to further develop volunteering activity and how we support the growth and outreach of voluntary organisations and bodies that operate within the Mendip Hills and how we can become an integral part of health and active lifestyle funding and delivery.

Place
It is now more important than ever that we work closely with the three Local Authority Planning
Services in resisting inappropriate development and secure the mechanisms to secure funding
from new development.

“Developing our work with local business particularly those providing sustainable tourism and
outdoor recreation is a key interest for me as is strengthening our focus on delivering a strategic network of multi-user accessible routes across the Mendips.

“To address these issues the Partnership needs to be fit for purpose. In 2023 the Partnership approved a review of governance and structure in response to government guidance on how we should be reformed to inspire and secure ambition and better reflect society. Whilst this doesn’t require us to go through wholesale change it does need us to ensure that we are aligned to achieving the Management Plan, have accountability, be forward facing and focused on implementation and have influence with local regional and national organisations. Further information on how we are looking to strengthen the Partnership and how it operates will be available shortly.”