The committee responsible for overseeing the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty has said it welcomes public involvement in planning after coming under fire for being "arrogant, autocratic and averse to risk".

The statement came after the latest stage of a concerted campaign designed to force the AONB Partnership Committee to "use its teeth" and object to more planning applications.

Bob Harvey, a partnership committee member representing amenity groups in the area, has been working for several months to persuade fellow members to be more proactive in planning. Mr Harvey has also called for local people living in the AONB or using it to be given a greater say in planning matters.

At the most recent meeting of the committee, Mr Harvey for the second time made a series of demands of the partnership committee and AONB staff unit. At the heart of his argument is the belief that the AONB is given the highest level of protection by law, and staff should therefore prioritise defending it from development above all else.

Following the meeting, the AONB said there had been "great support and agreement for the need to conserve and enhance the AONB" and the partnership "recognises the importance of the protected landscape". Mr Harvey however called the way the partnership committee and staff had reacted to his demands "once again arrogant, autocratic and averse to risk".

He said: "As expected, the council-dominated meeting decided to delay, defer and delegate future action, if any, to the AONB officers.

"The AONB residents must now make their decision: do they continue to fight for their quality of life in the AONB using different strategies? Or do they grovel and kowtow and take comfort in the common palliative of simply snipe-and-gripe - and do nothing?"

A spokesman for the AONB responded: "The committee, which comprises eight community members representing various sectors including farming and tourism in addition to elected councillors and those from statutory and other agencies, emphasised that it welcomes public involvement into planning and development."

The spokesman listed specific ways for the public to get involved: contact the AONB unit via [email protected] if a local application is of concern; use the new AONB Planning Guidance when planning or discussing developments; respond to consultations on planning applications, local plans and neighbourhood plans direct to planning authorities; contact councillors or one of the eight community representatives on the partnership committee to feed into partnership matters. Their contact details can be found on the South Devon AONB website.

The AONB noted the meeting also agreed the new project officer will respond to planning applications, supplementing the work of the AONB manager, with the estuaries officer continuing to respond to relevant applications.

The meeting also saw committee members formally adopt the new Planning Guidance document, which the AONB says will be used in numerous different ways to aid consistent and good quality plan making and decision taking by local planning authorities.

The AONB Unit is organising a launch of the guidance document in May, together with a series of workshops. Further details will be published shortly, and everyone is welcome.