A management plan is dynamic and contains the following up to date information.

• A description of the features and why they are important
• The condition of each feature and how it is to be measured
• The desired or favourable condition for each feature and the factors that have to be controlled to reach the target condition.
• A community  diary for controlling each factor, which states when work has to be done, the resource inputs required and what was achieved.
• An annual project record derived from the diary, which contains a summary of the work and a description of what was achieved (Fig 1).

The overall management system is not prescriptive with regards the actual format of the management plan and its diary entries. It can be organised with paper ‘to do’ lists, spreadsheets or an electronic diary.  However, there is a standard logic for making and operating conservation plans that has been agreed by the main UK conservation agencies and this should be the basis for the network.

Fig 1 A CMS based on a community diary