The Conservation Board

The Chilterns Conservation Board is an independent body established by Parliamentary Order in July 2004, its members are all drawn from local communities.

Find out more about the Board’s role, its members, meetings and publications. You can read the Chilterns AONB Management Plan, produced by the Board to guide the work of all those who care for the area.

The Conservation Board’s purposes are given in Section 87 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000:

• It is the duty of a conservation board established in relation to an area in England, in the exercise of their functions, to seek to further—

  (a)the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the area of outstanding natural beauty, and

  (b)the purpose of increasing the understanding and enjoyment by the public of the special qualities of the area of outstanding natural beauty,

  but if it appears to the board that there is a conflict between those purposes, they are to attach greater weight to the purpose mentioned in paragraph (a).

• A conservation board, whilst fulfilling their duties under subsection 1, shall seek to foster the economic and social well-being of local communities within the area of outstanding natural beauty and shall for that purpose co-operate with local authorities and public bodies whose functions include the promotion of economic or social development within the area of outstanding natural beauty.