Identifying Downland Research Contract

Following a statutory process of consultation and appeal, the Countryside Agency (CA) issued in 2004 and 2005 eight conclusive maps of open country (land consisting wholly or predominantly of mountain, moor, heath or down) and registered common land (RCL) in England, which became the basis of the open access rights that the public now enjoys over the mapped areas, subject to the limitations set out by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW).     Natural England (NE) has a duty under CROW section 10 to review these maps and ensure they correctly reflect the land types in question today. While the parts of the CROW maps relating to RCL and to areas of mountain, moor and heath have in general been regarded as reasonably accurate and fit for purpose, there have been repeated criticisms from some stakeholders that the maps failed to capture most of the downland landform, and that as a result in the areas in question they are fragmented, inconsistent and of little use for public access purposes. NE now wishes to take a fresh and evidence-based look at what down-like land should rightly appear on the maps, and whether any particular types of down-like land should be excluded from them, and if so why. NE has therefore concluded that some new fact-based investigation is required to provide it with a firmer footing for agreeing a working definition of "down" to guide NE's review of the existing conclusive maps in relation to their downland component. Accordingly, NE now wishes to commission a new piece of objective research to:    A. take a fresh, independent, evidence-based look at the concept of downland and its relevance to different parts of England; B. propose in the light of that evaluation exercise how NE should define downland for the purposes of its review of the statutory maps;   C. propose how existing evidence or datasets could be used to support the efficient and cost-effective capture of qualifying land on the reviewed maps, in line with the proposed definition; and  D. identify any related practical issues or difficulties that may arise in mapping such land, and make workable recommendations for addressing these.