PLANS for new maps of the open countryside will be unveiled at a meeting of the Forest of Bowland Advisory Committee.

Members of the public are invited to attend the meeting, to be held at 2pm on Friday October 12 at Whitechapel Village Hall, near Preston, when the Countryside Agency will give a presentation on the preparation of the new maps of open country and registered common land being prepared under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

Proposals for an extensive public consultation process will also be heard.

The Forest of Bowland has been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

The Committee will also consider reports relating to the Countryside Agency's new funding arrangements for such areas. Members will also discover the progress of a Heritage Lottery Fund bid 'Sustaining Bowland's Heritage' and about arrangements to continue the successful parish lengthsman scheme in the Ribble Valley and Pendle Hill areas.

Reports will also be presented on a range of other initiatives within the AONB, including a quiet roads and greenways Initiative in the Chipping and Slaidburn areas and RSPB activities including work with schools and communities over the last year.

The AONB Officer and Countryside Officers for the AONB area will report progress on landscape, conservation and access projects.

Agenda papers can be inspected in the offices of Lancashire County Council's Resources Directorate, Christ Church Precinct, County Hall, or Ribble Valley, Pendle and Preston Borough Councils.