The AONB Unit welcomes the commitment to establishing an evidence base to inform the new Plan. Given the 2011 published date of the existing Medway Landscape Character Assessment, consideration should be given to updating this. The Landscape Character Assessment Update of the Kent Downs AONB (2020) could also form part of the evidence base, as should the AONB Management Plan 2021 to 2026. This is supported in the landscape section of the PPG on natural environment where it is advised that AONB Management Plans ‘ help to set out the strategic context for development’ and ‘ may contain information which is relevant when preparing plan policies’ (Paragraph: 040 Reference ID: 8-040-20190721). As also advocated in the PPG (Paragraph: 037 Reference ID: 8-037-20190721), ‘to help assess the type and scale of development that might be able to be accommodated without compromising landscape character, a Landscape Sensitivity and Capacity Assessment can be completed.’ This would be considered particularly helpful where there are any potential allocations impacting on the AONB and its setting.