3 the Character of the South Bucks Landscape

3 The Character of the South Bucks Landscape

3.1 The character of South Bucks District has been created by a combination of physical, historic, natural, social and economic processes. The diversity is recognised in the identification 8 landscape types. Each of these landscape types has a distinct and relatively homogenous character with similar physical and cultural attributes, including geology, landform, land cover and historic evolution. The landscape types are further subdivided into component landscape character areas. The character areas are discrete geographic areas that possess the common characteristics described for the landscape type. Each character area has a distinct and recognisable local identity. 3.2 The landscape classification for Buckinghamshire is set out in Appendix 5 and illustrated on Figure 3.1. 3.3 The landscape types and character areas which lie within South Bucks are set out in Table 3 and illustrated on Figure 3.2. The classification and boundary mapping has been undertaken using GIS, with mapping at a scale of 1:25,000.

Table 3: The South Bucks Landscape Classification

Landscape Character Type (LCT) Landscape Character Area (LCA)

18 Rolling Farmland 18.2 Penn 19.1 High Wycombe 19 Settled River Valley 19.2 Lower Misbourne 20.1 St Giles 20 Undulating Farmland 20.2 Burnham 22.1 Beaconsfield 22.2 Chalfont St Peter 22 Mixed Use Terrace 22.3 Tatling End 22.4 Iver Heath 23 River Valley 23.1 Alder Bourne 24.1 Burnham Beeches 24 Wooded Terrace 24.2 Farnham and Stoke Common 25 Lowland Fringe 25.1 Stoke and Langley Park 26.2 Dorney 26 Floodplain 26.3 Colne Valley

9 Land Use Consultants

Figure 3.1: Buckinghamshire Classification

1.1 1.2 Key 2.1 1.5 1.3 1.4 3.1 1.6 Buckinghamshire County boundary 1.7 2.3 2.6 2.2 District boundaries 2.4 2.5 4.4 4.5 2.7 3.1 Settlements 4.7 4.3B 4.1 Buckinghamshire Landscape Character Assessment 4.3A 4.6 5.1 4.8 5.3 6.1 4.9 6.2 1: Wooded Ridge 5.2 4.2 5.5 4.10

4.12A 4.12B 2: Incised Valleys 4.11 5.4 3: Valley Bottom 5.6 7.3 4: Undulating Clay Plateau 7.1 5.7 5.8 4.13 7.2 5: Shallow Valleys 9.1 Aylesbury Vale 8.2 8.3 6: Greensand Ridge 8.1 9.2 9.3 7.4 4.14 7: Wooded Rolling Lowlands 8.4 8.5 4.15 8.7 8: Vale 5.9 10.1 10.2 9.11 11.1B 9: Low Hills and Ridges 8.8 9.4 8.6 11.1A 10.3 12.1A 10: Chalk Foothills 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.10 7.5 11: Chalk Escarpment 5.10 8.10 5.11 9.9 10.4A 12: Chalk Dip Slope 10.5 9.8 11.1C 8.11 13: Chalk River Valleys 8.9 10.4B 12.1B 8.12 11.1D 14: Wooded Plateau

8.13 13.1 15.1 15: Undulating Plateau 17.2 11.3 16.5 16: Settled Plateau 14.1

10.6 17: Dipslope with Dry Valleys 16.2 11.2 18.4 16.4 18: Rolling Farmland 13.6 Chiltern 13.5 13.3 19: Settled River Valley 13.4 16.3 18.3 20: Undulating Farmland 17.1 Wycombe 18.2 21: Valley Slope 16.1 22: Mixed Use Terrace 19.1 20.1 19.2 13.2 22.2 23: River Valley

18.1 22.1 24: Wooded Terrace

15.2 South Bucks 26.1 23.1 25: Lowland Fringe 24.1 22.3 21.1 24.2 26: Floodplain 20.2 26.3

25.1 22.4 / 0 2 4 8 Km 26.2

Date: 19/08/2011

Reproduced from Ordnance Survey information with the permission of The Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office, Crown Copyright, Land Use Consultants, Licence Number 100019265 File: S:\5000\5014 Bucks LCAs and HS2 Sensitivity study\B Project Working\GIS\Themes\ArcGIS9\5014-01_062_Bucks_LCA.mxd

Figure 3.2: South Bucks Classification

Chiltern Key

18.2 23.1 20.1 Buckinghamshire County boundary

District boundaries

Landscape Character Areas

Settlements

19.1 18: Rolling Farmland

18.2: Penn Wycombe 19.1 22.1 19: Settled River Valley 22.2 19.1: High Wycombe

19.1 19.2: Lower Misbourne

20: Undulating Farmland 19.2 20.1: St Giles

24.1 20.2: Burnham 22.3 22: Mixed Use Terrace 23.1 22.1: Beaconsfield

24.2 22.2: Chalfont St Peter

22.3: Tatling End

22.4: Iver Heath 26.3 20.2 23: River Valley

23.1: Alder Bourne 25.1 24: Wooded Terrace

24.1: Burnham Beeches 22.4 24.2: Farnham and Stoke Common

25: Lowland Fringe

25.1: Stoke and Langley Park

26: Floodplain

26.2: Dorney 26.2 26.3: Colne Valley

Note: LCA boundaries have been digitised at 1:25k but are shown on a 1:50K OS base / 0 0.5 1 2 Km

Date: 19/08/2011