ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTER ASSESSMENT AND KEY ISSUES ‘LANDMARKS AND SIGNS’ COGENHOE PHOTO-CONSTRUTION 8’ X ‘4 JOHN HARPER 2005 CONTENTS 1.0 PREFACE 03 1.1 Introduction 03 1.2 Linking People and Place 04 1.3 Uses of the ECA 05 1.4 Key Issues 05 2.0 INTRODUCTION 06 2.1 Appointment and Brief 06 2.2 Characterisation in Practice 07 2.3 Approach and Methodology 07 3.0 NORTHAMPTONSHIRE’S ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTER 08 3.1 Introduction 08 3.2 Northamptonshire’s Environmental Character Areas 08 1. East Northamptonshire Claylands 09 2. Collyweston Plateau 12 3. Rockingham Forest 14 4. Welland Valley 19 5. Lower Nene (Aldwincle to Wansford) 22 6. Middle Nene (Northampton to Aldwincle) 25 7. Upper Nene Catchment and Watford Gap 28 8. Central Northamptonshire Plateaux and Valleys 31 9. Yardley Chase and Salcey Forest 35 10. Whittlewood 38 11. Tove and Ouse Catchment 40 12. Croughton Plateau 43 13. West Northamptonshire Uplands 45 14. Cherwell Valley 48 15. Vale of Rugby 50 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 53 ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTER ASSESSMENT AND KEY ISSUES 1.0 PREFACE 1.1 Introduction The county of Northamptonshire extends over an area of approximately 2360 km2 and has a population of more than half a million people. It is located in the East Midlands Region, and includes seven District and Borough Council Administrative Authorities. The greater part of the county retains a strong rural character, and comprises agricultural land and isolated villages, hamlets, and country estates. The landscape bears the marks of changes which have taken place over many hundreds of years, with evidence of agricultural improvement, transport infrastructure, settlement, industry, mining and woodland management. Despite large areas being managed as agricultural land, significant nature conservation interest is evident in a range of semi natural habitats, ranging from acid grasslands to ancient woodlands. Urban areas amount to approximately 4% of the land cover of the county. Many urban centres contain historic cores of great age and character, with typical peripheral development of industry, modern housing and retail development evident, often extending out along the main arterial routes that link towns Decorative use made of contrasting local together and to other regional and national centres. stone and Collweston stone slate The River Nene is the principal river catchment in Northamptonshire. It rises in hills in the west of the county from where it flows eastwards, progressively swollen by numerous smaller rivers and streams. Much of its course is bordered by rural pastures and farmland. Between Northampton and Thrapston, however, the restoration of significant areas of gravel extraction has resulted in the creation of a modern landscape of artificial lakes and woodland. Of lesser influence on the character of the county are a number of other major rivers, comprising the Welland on the northern boundary of the county, the Avon and Cherwell to the west, and the Tove and Ouse to the south. These are less influenced by extraction and often retain a quiet pastoral character. The county’s diverse landscapes echo the complexity of physical and human influences that have shaped them. The most appropriate level at which to describe the overall character of the county’s landscape is generally at the regional scale, as set out in this document, the countywide Environmental Character Assessment (ECA). This will offer the top tier of a hierarchy of landscape character in the county developed as part of the Northamptonshire Environmental Characterisation Process. Below this top tier sit a range of more detailed assessments. A number of these, namely the Current Landscape Character Assessment (CLCA), the Biodiversity Character Assessment (BCA), the Historic Landscape Character Assessment (HLCA) and the Physiographic and Land Use Studies, have directly influenced this assessment, with the Environmental Character Areas described here representing an aggregation of landscape, historic landscape and biodiversity types at a county scale. Other forms of assessment, yet to emerge, will occupy the more detailed end of the hierarchy and include Village Design Statements, Parish Plans and local scale assessments of landscape character. The County ECA and its component parts (CLCA, BCA and HLCA) will offer a strong and robust framework for more detailed assessments. In time, as more detailed assessments are undertaken, they will be able to feed information back into the upper tiers of the hierarchy to improve their accuracy and ensure that the rolling programme of updates to the ECA, CLCA, HLCA and BCA more effectively recognise the contribution communities can make to Lowick Church the assessment process, and ensure that the continued evolution of the landscape is recorded in a structured and robust manner. ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTER ASSESSMENT AND KEY ISSUES 3 1.0 PREFACE The assessment has been undertaken in accordance with the most up to date guidance and methodologies and has pioneered new methods of assessment as part of an innovative approach to undertaking studies of this nature. It has been produced on behalf of the Northamptonshire Character Assessment Partnership and has benefited from the input and guidance of a great number of committed individuals, the names of which are listed in the back of this report. Grendon Church 1.2 Linking People and Place It is people’s perceptions that turn ‘land’ into ‘landscape’ and as such it is only through engaging people with their environment that the link can be forged between ‘people and place’. The County Environmental Character Assessment is designed to represent the entrance portal to the more detailed assessments that sit beneath it in the hierarchy. Its short, non-technical descriptions are intended to inform and enthuse residents and visitors to the county, and to foster their engagement with the environment. Some of the Environmental Character Areas, for example Rockingham Forest, are well established and evoke strong images. Others are perhaps less familiar, but have a comparable strength of character that needs to be recognised and understood through reading the relevant descriptive text, or by exploring the more detailed assessments that sit beneath this study in the hierarchy. It is through this process that understanding and pride in the environment can be fostered. This in turn Thrupp Bridge - Great Union Canal will lead to a more informed community that will demand higher standards of design and development in the county. Former Railway Line ENVIRONMENTAL CHARACTER ASSESSMENT AND KEY ISSUES 4 1.0 PREFACE 1.3 Uses Of the ECA Ultimately the Environmental Character Assessment and the individual assessments that inform it will be used as a basis for developing policies and guidelines that will help protect, enhance and improve the environment, the landscape, biodiversity and the historic and cultural heritage in the coming years and help manage the enormous change and challenges that all rural and urban areas will face in the future, in particular those in the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Sub Region. These forces for change are many and varied and include climate change, changes to agricultural management, and the need to accommodate new growth and development, with significant new housing and employment areas and associated infrastructure. By having in place a strong understanding of the character of the county, along with policies and guidelines specifically designed to enhance the county for the benefit of all, positive decisions can be made with more certainty and confidence than ever before. The flexible framework of the assessment hierarchy, and the extensive bank of baseline environmental information gathered as part of the study, will also provide the basis for undertaking assessments at the strategic, national and regional scale, down to local, parish and village level. These studies will further enhance knowledge and understanding of the landscape and assist in the production of important planning and management documents including Regional Spatial Strategies and Plans, Local Development Frameworks and Documents including Site Specific Allocations and Area Action Plans, Design Guides, and Concept Plans and also inform planning and design at all scales. 1.4 KEy Issues The Environmental Character Assessment describes the sixteen Environmental Character Areas that can be found in the county (including urban areas). Each description seeks to evoke what sets one area apart from any other in the county and put into words the images that are conjured up when we consider them. The Environmental Character Areas have evolved over thousands of years, as a consequence of the subtle interaction of numerous human and physical forces. It is acknowledged that the character of the county continues to evolve and that the pace and extent of change is now greater than perhaps at any time in history. In some instances the forces for change are significant, and their effects cannot be accurately predicted. Examples include changes in farming practices that directly affect the ways that the countryside functions and subsequently how it appears and contributes to biodiversity, and our understanding of the past. Global climate change is now acknowledged as a profound force for change, the impacts of which will only become clear in the coming decades. In this way, the descriptions found in this assessment represent only a ‘snap-shot’ of the county at the turn of the twenty first century. Whilst a periodic review of some of the underlying assessments will help monitor change, there is also an opportunity to identify the key issues that affect the character of the landscape in order to help guide change Undulating Landscape with replanted gap that will enhance the character of the landscape at the strategic level. Key Issues are therefore presented for each of the Environmental Character Areas and follow on from the descriptive text. They are aimed at Local Planning Authorities and Local Delivery Vehicles, developers and land managers, as well as other organisations and individuals who have the ability to influence and implement land use changes across the county.