Land South of Green Lane East, Rackheath

Landscape and VisualImpactAssessment Rackheath Land SouthofGreenLaneEast July 2015

Liz Lake Associates Chartered Landscape Architects Stansted: Chapel Hill, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, CM24 8AG Bristol: 1 Host Street, Bristol, BS1 5BU t +44 (0)1279 647044 e [email protected] www.lizlake.com t +44 (0)117 927 1786 e [email protected] www.lizlake.com

Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment

July 2015

Prepared by: Christopher Jackson

Position: Chartered Landscape Architect

Qualifications: CMLI, MA (Hons), BSc (Hons)

File name: LVIA DRAFT DOC.docx

Date issued: 10 July 2015

Checked by: MF

Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment: Rackheath

CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION 1

2 METHODOLOGY 2

3 EXISTING SITUATION 3

3.1 Context 3

3.2 National Character Area: 3

3.3 District Character Assessment: 4

3.4 Contribution to the Local Laandscape Character 5

3.5 Statutory Designations 5

3.6 Visual Resource 5

3.7 Surrounding Developments 10

4 THE PROPOSALS 11

4.1 General Principles 11

4.2 Proposal 12

4.3 Approach to Mitigation 12

5 ASSESSEMENT OF LANDSCAPE EFFECTS 14

5.1 Identifying the Landscape Effects 14

5.2 Susceptibility 15

5.3 Significance of Landscape Effects 15

6 ASSESSEMENT OF VISUAL EFFECTS 17

6.2 Identifying the Visual Effects 17

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6.3 Significance of Visual Effects 18

7 CONCLUSION 23

APPENDIX A FIGURES 1-8

APPENDIX B PUBLISHED LANDSCAPE CHARACTER ASSESSMENTS

APPENDIX C LIZ LAKE ASSOCIATES LVIA METHODOLOGY

APPENDIX D SURROUNDING DEVELOPMENTS PLANS

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1.1 This Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) has been prepared by Liz Lake Associates on behalf of La Ronde Wright to address the landscape and visual issues relevant to land off Green Lane East, (the Site). The site lies addjacent and south west of the existing settlement of New Rackheath.

1.1.2 The principal objb ective of thhe assessment is to identify the landscape and visual issues of the potential development site and to identify the likely landscape and visual effects of the proposed development and to assess the significance of those effects.

1.1.3 The report considers the existing baseline conditions and seeks to identify the relevant landscape and visual issues applicable to the Site. A Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) has been undertaken to assess the likely effects upon the landscape resource, speciific views and visual amenity. A landscape and visual strategy has been defined including a suggested approach to mitigation.

1.1.4 The assessment was made by Christopher Jackson, Chartered Landscape Architect in October 2014. The weather was overcast. Visibility was good.

1.1.5 All photographs were taken with a digital camera, a Canon EOS 400D with a 30mm fixed lens. The 30mm lens is the digital equivalent to a standdard 50mm focal length lens with a single lens reflex camera.

1.1.6 Liz Lake Associates is a multi-disciplinary environmental and design consultancy with over 28 years’ experience of master planning, landscape, eecology, urban design, heritage and environmenttal impact assessment. The company is a registered practice of the Landscape Institute.

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2 METHODOLOGY

2.1.1 An LVIA of the Site and the development proposals has been prepared, encompassing the ‘Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impaact Assessment’ (GLVIA) 3rd edition (published by the Landscape Institute and the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment 2013), and ‘Landscape Character Assessment: Guidance for England and Scotland’ (published by the Countryside Agency and Scottish National Heritage 2002). In summary, the approach combines information and desktop reviews with onn-site surveys and appraisal. The Liz Lake Associates LVIA Methodology is included in Appendix C.

2.1.2 The Site based assessment involves the recording of both objective description and subjective impressions of the landscape, as well as details off the existing landscape condition. It includes an assessment of the extent and nature of views to and from the Site and the type of receptors that experience these views..

2.1.3 The following relevant studdies and documents have been considered as part of the desk based review and subsequent assessment:

 Countryside Agency – Character Area Map of England (1998-1999)

 Broadland District Landscape Character Assessment (2013))

2.1.4 The landscape & visual assessment of the proposed development has been based upon the proposals illustratted on drawings, as follows:

 Indicative Masterplan GT19

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3 EXISTING SITUATION

3.1 Context

3.1.1 The Site is located to the immediate south and west of Green Lane East and the existing settlement at New Rackheath. The site is just over 8 heectares in size.

3.1.2 The site comprises a singgle arable field, roughly rectilinear in shape. A linear woodland belt runs along the south west and south east boundaries, between 12 and 15 metres in width and commprising of a mix of coniferous and deciduous trees. The north eastern boundary is lined with several semi mature oak trees and scattered smaller trees. The north western boundary is predominantly open, except for a few scattered saplings.

3.1.3 Salhouse Road runs adjacent to the northern Site boundary and connects with Green Lane East to the east of the Site, forming a roundabout immediately north of the Site. A series of detached dwellings, predominantly single storey wiith occasional first floor dormer windows, lie on the northern side of Green Lane East. The Sole and Heel public house lies adjacent to the roundabout, at the north end of Green Lane East.

3.1.4 The site is relatively flat lying at around 25m AOD, with a slightt gradient sloping down from north west to south east.

3.1.5 There are no built structures within the Site and vegetation is limited to along the Site boundaries. To the west and south of the Site are arable fields, with the Norwich to Cromer railway line lying 150m south of the Site. To the northh and west of Salhouse Road is an arable field and beyond lies a large area of woodland surrounding Rackheath Park.

3.2 National Character Area:

3.2.1 The site lies in National Character Area profile (78) Central Noorth Norfolk as defined by Natural England. The area extends from Norwich in the south to Cromer in the north. Key characteristics of the area relevant to thhis site include:

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 A gently undulating, sometimes flat, landscape dissected by river valleys, with the glacial landform of the Cromer Ridge and dramatic coastal cliffs providing distinctive features to the north.

 Gravels, sands, chalk erratics and glacial till left behind by the retreating ice of Pleistocene glaciations, and the resulting complexity of soils, determine natural vegetation patterns.

 Tranquil agricultural landscape with extensive areas of arable land, dominated by cereals with break-cropping of sugar beet and oilseed rape, and some pastures along valley floors.

 Anncient countryside, much of it enclosed by the 16th centuryry, with a sporadically rationalised patchwork field system, sinuous lanes and mixed hedges with hedgerow oaks.

 A mix of villages and many farmhouses within a complex miinnor road network, with a traditional pattern of market towns connected by main roads, the coastal holiday resorts of Cromer and Sheringham, and the city of Norwich providing a centre for cultural and economic activity.

3.3 District Character Assessment:

3.3.1 The site lies within the Wooded Estatelands Landscape Character Area as defined in the Broadland District Landscape Character Assessment. Key characteristics of the area relevant to this site include:

 A pattern of small manor houses, isolated halls and larger estates, with associated parkland extending across much of the area:

 These buildings impart a strongly ordered and human influence over the surrounding landscape;

 Numerous copses, woodlands and small plantations associated with these estates, punctuating a lanndscape of underlying predominanntly arable farmland;

 Settlements have many historic buildings associated with them and a strong local vernacular;

 Strong historic dimension throughout the landscape;

 Woodland provides a sense of enclosure;

 Underlain by a mixed geology of Till, with loams and pebbly soils.

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3.4 Contribution to the Local Landscape Character

3.4.1 At a local level the Site sits on the edge of the built form area of New Rackheath too the north and east. The site is in agricultural use but is segrregated from the wider network of farmland by a woodland belt to the Site’s southern and western boundaries.

3.4.2 The Site is assessed as having a positive contribution to the local landscape character. This is where the existing character of the Site contains some attributes representative of the local llandscape character and some inccongruous elements but the Site does not detract from the local landscape character.

3.5 Statutory Designations

3.5.1 There are no statutory designations within the Site. (surrounnding designations are shown on Figure 4 – Environmental Designations, Figure 5 – Heritage & Public Rights of Way, Figure 6 - Woodland).

3.5.2 Listed Buildings: There are no buildings listed on the Historic England register within the Site. However, surrounding Listed Buildings are shown on Figure 5 – Heritage & Public Rights of Way. The nearest of these is Rackheath Hall, which is located approximately 1km north west of the site.

3.5.3 Nature Conservation: Thhe Site is not covered by any staatutory or non-statutory wildlife site designation.

3.5.4 Public Rights of Way (PRoW): there are no Public Rights Way crossing over or in the vicinity of the Site. Public footpaths and other PROW in the surrounding area are shown on Figure 5 – Heritage and PROW.

3.6 Visual Resource

Views from the Site

3.6.1 Views from the Site are limited to views looking east of the residential properties along Green Lane East and views looking north across Salhouse Road towards the

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adjacent arable fields. Views to the south and west are screened by the linear woodland belt along the Site boundaries, which screen any viewws beyond.

Views of the Site

3.6.2 The visual amenity experienced by people (visual receptors) in the locality of the Site differs according to many factors. Visual receptors of higherr sensitivity with limited susceptibility to change include residents at home (privatte viewpoints), people engaged in outdoor recreation (including use of PROWs), visiitors to heritage assets and other attractions, travellers on recognised scenic routes (public viewpoints) and people at their work place where views are an important contributor to the setting and quality of their working life.

3.6.3 Travellers on road, rail or other transport routes and people engaged in outdoor sport or recreation are considered less sensitive to changes in visual amenity.

3.6.4 Consideration of the study area, via desk research and field survey, has identified locations from which the Site (proposed development) will pottentially be visible. The following specific, representative and illustrative viewpoints have been selected for inclusion in the assessment to illustrate the visual effects:

Private viewpoints

 Residential properties along Green Lane East, adjacent to the eastern Site boundary

 Residential properties along Green Lane East, to the south east of the railway line and the Site

 Residential properties along Green Lane West, to the north of the Site

 Residential properties along Salhouse Road, to the north and east of the Site

 Residential properties on the edge of Thorpe End, to the south west of the Site

Public viewpoints

 Close views from the Sole and Heel public house to the north of the Site

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Transport routes

 Close views along Green Lane East to the east of the Site

 Close views along Salhouse Road to the north of the Site

Private Viewpoints

Residential properties aloong Green Lane East, adjacentt to the eastern Site boundary.

3.6.5 Properties along Green Lane East are generally single storey with occasional first floor dormer windows, and properties are set back from the road with front gardens and often boundary hedgerows. Views of the Site from these properties are consequently filtered by garden vegetation as well as the line of mature oak trees along the eastern boundary of the Site (photograph 3). Some properties (particularly those with first floor views) do however have more open views across the Site, with limited boundary vegetation or screeningn (photograph 2).

Residential properties along Green Lane East, to the soutth east of the railway line and the Site

3.6.6 Properties to the south of the Site (photograph 4) and railway line along Green Lane East are larger detached properties, set back considerably from the road with larger boundary hedgerows and trees. Views of the Site are therefore predominantly screened by this property boundary vegetation and by the woodland belt along the southern Site boundary. Glimpsed views are possible through gaps in the woodland belt although these are limited to winteer views, when vegetatioon is not in leaf.

Residential properties along Green Lane West, to the northh of the Site

3.6.7 Properties along Green Lane West are predominantly single storey dwellings, set back from the road with front garrdens. Views of the Site from these properties are oblique views, screened from the majority of properties by vegetation tto the property gardens

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and along the edge of Greeen Lane West. The southernmost property of this group, lying adjacent to the junction of Green Lanes West and Salhouse Road, is a two storey property with first floor oblique views looking across the site (photograph 6).

Residential properties along Salhouse Road, to the north and east of the Site

3.6.8 Properties along Salhouse Road are a mixture of single and two storey, detached and semi-detached properties with front gardens and often boundary hedgerows. Properties closest to the Green Lane roundabout have oblique first floor views of the Site, partially filtered by garden vegetation as well as the matuure oak trees along the western Site boundary (phottograph 7).

Residential properties on the edge of Thorpe End, to the south west of the Site

3.6.9 Detached properties on the northern and eastern edge of Thorpe End have filtered views looking towards the Site, through gaps in the propertty boundary vegetation. Views of the Site itself are however not possible due to the woodland belt running along the Site’s southern and western boundaries, which screen the Site from view (illustrated by nearby photoggraph 8).

Public Viewpoints

Close views from the Sole and Heel public house to the north of the Site

3.6.10 The Sole and Heel public house is a two storey property with a large car park to the front, and enclosed garden to the rear. Views of the Site from the ground and first floors facing west are possible, although the semi mature oak trees along the Site boundary partially filter these views, with a collection of smaller trees situated directly opposite the public house.

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Transport Routes

Close views along Green Lane East to the east of the Site

3.6.11 Views from users travelling along Green Lane East are fairly open looking across the Site, with the line of semi mature oak trees providing intermittent partial screening (photographs 2 and 3). On approach from the south, views are largely screened by the woodland belt along the southern Site boundary, with glimpsed views through the woodland in winter months (photograph 4). On approach from the north, views are largely screened by vegetation along the western edge of Green Lane West, with views of the Site limited to the section of road just north of the roundabout (photograph 6).

Close views along Salhouse Road to the north of the Site

3.6.12 Views from Salhouse Road to the immediate north of the Site are open and look across the whole Site, with very little vegetation along the northern Site boundary (photograph 1). On approach from the west, views are screened by the woodland belt along the western Site bounndary (photographs 5 and 8). On approach from the east, views are limited by the built up area of New Rackheath, with views of the Site itself limited to the section of road just east of the roundabout (phottograph 7).

Summary

3.6.13 In summary, views of the Site from northern areas are limiteed to users of Salhouse Road and adjacent properties. Views from the south are screened by the woodland belt along the southern Site boundary. Views from the west are similarly screened by the woodland belt along the western site boundary and views from the east are limited to users of and properties on Green Lane East, as welll as a small number of properties on Salhouse Road.

3.6.14 The existing visual amenity of the Site within the context of the Wooded Estatelands LCA has been assessed to offer good visual amenity, where the quality of existing views is such that there are few incongruous elements and the views are enjoyed by local people on a day to day basis.

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3.7 Surrounding Developments

Northern Distributor Road

3.7.1 The Norwich Northern Distributor Road received planning connsent in June 2015 and is proposed to form a loop around the north and east of Norwiich. The proposed route of the dual-carriageway runs through the field to the immediatte south of the Site and connects Plumstead Road in the south to Salhouse Road in the north. A plan showing the exact route of the new road is included in Appendix D.

Rackheath Eco-Town

3.7.2 The Rackheath Eco-Town is still subject to consultation but inittial plans show a major urban expansion, extending north from the current urban edge of New Rackheath. Proposals include substantial new residential developmennt together with new schools, employment uses, industrial uses, sports pitches, community facilities and new train station at Rackheath. A plan showing the current masterplan for the Eco- Town is included in Appendix D.

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4 THE PROPOSALS

4.1 General Principles

4.1.1 This section of the report considers the results of the initial baseline work in the context of future potential residential development of the Site.

4.1.2 The Broadland District landscape character assessment identifies the following key planning and land management guidelines applicable to the proposals:

 Seek to conserve and restore declining hedgerows and field trees;

 Seek opportunities for the management and creation of urbban and urban fringe greenspace, as well as the maintenance and enhancement of green corridors through the built areas

 Seek to conserve and enhance the landscape structure within the area, including blocks and belts of woodland, copses of mature trees, mature parkland trees and intact hedgerows

 Conserve and enhance existing woodland belts to buffer pottential new housing development

4.1.3 The design of the proposed development should be weell-integrated into the landscape and maintain the quality of the transition between tthe developed and rural landscape; the treatment of the site boundaries will be keey to maintaining and enhancing the quality of that transition.

4.1.4 To assist the design processs the following general landscape principles have been prepared based upon site investigations, landscape character assessment and visual effects considerations:

 Retain and protect existing woodland belts and implement a sensitive approach to ensure screening qualities are maintained and enhanced;

 Ensure building design proposals are in keeping with the surrounding vernacular.

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4.2 Proposal

4.2.1 The proposed development scheme includes the following elements:

 The proposed development of the Site is for residential dwelllings, comprising a mix of dwellings with associated garaging, vehicular, pedestrian and cycle access and parking. The development will comprise single and two storey dwellings up to a maximum height of 2.5 sttoreys.

 Proposed vehicular accesss road into the Site is proposed ooff Green Lane East at twwo points.

 Substantial public open space in the south east of the Site as well as small pockets of public open space throughout the scheme.

 Provision of a new segregated cycle route through the Sitte, connecting with the wider local surroundings.

 Retention and enhancement of the semi mature oak trees and ditch along the eastern Site boundary annd of the existing pond in the south east corner of the Site.

 Retention and enhancement of the woodland belt to the western and southern Site boundaries, including a public access recreational route through the woodland.

 New planting would form an integral part of the scheme devveeloped at reserved matters stage and would include proposals within the streettsscape, open space corridors, at significant gateway locations and as part of buffffer strips. The proposed layout would be developed with regard to landscape and visual recommendations of the Broadlands Landscape Character Guidelines and local policy requirements.

4.2.2 For scheme layout proposalls refer to Indicative Masterplan GT19

4.3 Approach to Mitigation

4.3.1 In consideration of the landscape and visual issues relevant tto the Site an approach to the mitigation of the proposed development has been devveloped. The mitigation strategy aims to avoid, reduce and where feasible, remedy the identified landscape and visual effects.

4.3.2 Recommendations have been incorporated into the proposals which aim to mitigate potential adverse landscape and visual effects and help to integrate the proposed development into the surrounding landscape, this includes;

 Setback on the eastern boundary, retaining existing tree specimens along Green Lane East where possible.

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 Ensure building design proposals are in keeping with the surrounding vernacular.

 Landscape planting, comprising an appropriate range of trees including species such as oak and field maaple as feature trees would be proposed for the landscape scheme.

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5 ASSESSEMENT OF LANDSCCAPE EFFECTS

This section of the report considers the results of the initial baseline work in the context of future potential development of the Site. The lanndscape effects are the changes to the Site, quantitative or qualitative, compared with a scenario without the Proposals. Effects can be adverse or beneficial, direct, indirectt or cumulative.

The following assessment of landscape effect should be read in conjunction with the approach to mitigation (refer Chapter 4).

5.1 Identifying the Landscape Effects

5.1.1 The effect of the proposeed changes to the Site, specifically on the identified landscape receptors (attributes) has been reviewed including consideration of changes to the existing landdscape resource, the introduction oof new elements within the landscape and changes to local perceptions of the Site.

5.1.2 There will be a significant change in the landscape character of the Site, as it will change from an agriculttural field to residential development. The proposed development takes the land out of a countryside use and into an urban use. This is an adverse effect on the local landscape character that cannot be avoided and the role of the landscape arcchitect has been to integrate the proposals into the landscape and retain as much of the landscape resource ass is practical. Mitigation proposals have also been recommended in order to compensate for this adverse effect on the local landscape character.

5.1.3 The scheme will retain exiisting vegetation where possible inncluding the woodland belts to the southern and western Site boundaries. The semii mature oak trees and ditch along the eastern Sitee boundary will also be retained where possible.

5.1.4 The proposals have also been designed to include generous public open space throughout the Site particularly in the south eastern part of the Site.

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5.1.5 Substantial planting proposals form a key part of the scheme including native tree and hedgerow planting to enhance Site boundaries. The design of the residential area will also include street tree planting to help soften the built form and native wildflower grassland to the informal open space, providing valuable biodiversity enhancements.

5.2 Susceptibility

5.2.1 An important element in identifying the effects of a Proposal is to assess the ability (the susceptibility) of the exxisting landscape to accommodate the specific proposed changes with regard to the consequences on the local landscaape character.

5.2.2 The Site (landscape resource) has been deemed to be of Medium Susceptibility: An established landscape where change of an appropriate nature could be absorbed without loss of key charaacteristics, individual elements or features and specific aesthetic or perceptual aspeects or, overall landscape characteer.

5.3 Significance of Landscape Effects

5.3.1 Effects can be adverse or beneficial. Where the Proposals are judged to cause deterioration to the landscape resource / local landscape character this is described as an adverse effect. Where the Proposals are judged to increase the value of the Site to the landscape resource / local landscape character this is described as a beneficial effect. The criteria for assessing significance arre set out in Liz Lake Associates Methodology forr Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment in Appendix C.

5.3.2 There will be a direct effect to the Site in the proposed change in landscape character to residential development. The significance of the landscape effects with regard to the proposed development on land at Green Lane East, has been assessed to represent a Moderate Adverse Effect.

5.3.3 The scheme does however include mitigation proposals with generous public open space running through the Site and along the eastern boundary offering recreation opportunities for existing & new residents and a new segregated cycleway providing a safe route away from Green Lane East. Substantial plantinng proposals including

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native planting, street treess, species rich wildflower meadow and ornamental planting will all contribute to creating a vibrant new landscape character and sense of place.

5.3.4 Once the new landscape prroposals are established they will bring benefits to the new development and existing community, integrating the development into its surroundings and providing opportunities for recreation within a vibrant new landscape character. The significance of the landscape effects will change and is considered to represent a Slight Adverse Effect to the landscape resource and landscape character.

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6 ASSESSEMENT OF VISUAL EFFECTS

6.1.1 The visual effects are the changes to the Site, quantitative or qualitative, compared with a scenario without the Proposals. Effects can be adversse or beneficial, direct, indirect or cumulative. The assessment involves a systematic identification and description of the visual effects, supported by plans and photoographs.

6.1.2 The following assessment of visual effect should be read in conjunction with the approach to mitigation (refer Chapter 4).

6.2 Identifying the Visual Effects

6.2.1 The likely value placed upon views by people or the visual amenity of the locality is evaluated to help assess the effects of proposed developmentt.

6.2.2 Consideration of the views and visual amenity has been undertaken during the winter months when vegetation wwas devoid of foliage. As such, the assessment has endeavoured to make informed judgements applicable to visuual amenity throughout the year and the consideration of seasonal views, e.g. in the summer months when vegetation is not devoid of foliage.

6.2.3 An important element in identifying the visual effects of a Proposal is to assess the existing visual receptors (people who see the view) and their susceptibility to changes in views and visual amenity. The susceptibility of different visual receptors to changes in views and visual amenity is mainly a function of:

- The occupation or activity of people experiencing the view at particular locations; and

- The extent to which their attention or interest may thereffore be focused on the views and the visual amenity they experience at particular locations.1

1 Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, 3rd Edition, Para 6.32 (2013)

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6.2.4 The visual amenity of the Site within the wider Wooded Estatelands Landscape Character Area has been identified as ‘good visual amenity’, where the quality of existing views is such thatt there are few incongruous elements and the views are enjoyed by local people on a day to day basis.

6.3 Significance of Visual Effeects

6.3.1 Assessment of the significance of visual effects relating to the proposed development is considered with regard to the sensitivity of the visual receptor, the value attached to the views or visual amenity and the magnitude of change in view. The magnitude of change in view is considered in light of:

- The sensitivity of the visual receptor (the viewer)

- The value attached to the views or visual amenity

- The size and scale of the development

- The geographical extent of the area influenced

- Duration

- Reversibility.

6.3.2 The significance of the change for the visual amenity of the viewer is assessed, and the criteria used are set to the Definitions contained within the Liz Lake Methodology in Appendix C.

6.3.3 For all identified viewpoints the degree of change which the Proposals will engender is described and assessed. The following section identifies the primary viewpoints and people or visual receptors within the area that are likely to be affected by the change in views and visual amenity resulting from the propossed development. The significance of the visual effect has been assessed upon completion of the scheme and once established (i.e. 10 - 15 years plus). Refer Appendix C for the Liz Lake Associates LVIA Methodology.

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Residential Viewpoints

Residential properties along Green Lane East, adjacent to the eastern Site boundary:

6.3.4 Views from these propertiees are partially screened by vegetation to the property boundaries as well as the line of semi mature oaks to the easttern Site boundary. The majority of properties aree also single storey, with occasional first floor dormer windows. The proposals have been designed to include a landscape buffer to the eastern boundary (particularly in the south east of the Site), rreetaining the line of oak trees and allowing a strip of open space between the new built form and existing properties along Green Lane East. The new dwellings will however be prominent in views from these properties, with a loss in open views across thhe existing arable field.

 Scheme completionn: moderate adverse visual effect

 Established scheme (+15 years): slight adverse visual effect

Residential properties along Green Lane East, to the south east of the railway line and the Site:

6.3.5 Views from properties to the south of the Site are generaally oblique views from ground floor and occasional first floor dormer windows. Vegetation on the property boundaries as well as the woodland belt to the southern Sitte boundary screen the majority of views of the Site. Glimpsed views of the proposed development will be possible through gaps in the woodland belt, although these willl be limited to seasonal views and will lessen as the woodland belt and additional mitigation planting establish.

 Scheme completionn: slight adverse visual effect

 Established scheme (+15 years): negligible visual effect

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Residential properties along Green Lane West, to the north of the Site:

6.3.6 Views of the Site from residential properties along Green Laane West are limited to oblique views from those properties closest to the roundaboutt junction with Salhouse Road, including first floor views from one two storey property. The development will be visible in oblique views from these properties, with proposed residential properties fronting Salhouse Road, although vegetation along Green Lane West and along the western Site boundary will filter views. Street tree planting and ornamental planting will help to soften these views as the landscape scheme estabblishes.

 Scheme completionn: slight adverse visual effect

 Established scheme (+15 years): negligible visual effect

Residential properties along Salhouse Road, to the north and east of the Site

6.3.7 Views of the Site from residential properties along Salhouse Road are limited to oblique views from propertiies immediately adjacent to the rooundabout junction with Green Lane East. The development will be visible in thesse oblique views with proposed residential properties fronting Salhouse Road. Sttreet tree planting and ornamental planting will help to soften these views as the landscape scheme establishes.

 Scheme completionn: slight adverse visual effect

 Established scheme (+15 years): negligible visual effect

Public Viewpoints

Close views from the Sole and Heel public house to the north of the Site

6.3.8 Views of the Site from the public house are partially filtered by existing trees along the eastern Site boundary although much of the Site is visible. The development proposals will be prominent in views from the public house, although the proposed built form will be set back from Green Lane East, allowing an open space buffer

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between the new and exissting built form. The retention of existing trees along the eastern Site boundary will also help to filter views of the built form.

 Scheme completion: moderate adverse visual effectt

 Established scheme (+15 years): slight adverse visual effect

Transport Routes

Close views along Green Laane East to the east of the Site

6.3.9 Views from Green Lane East, immediately adjacent to the east of the Site have open views across the Site, partially filtered by the line of semi matuure oak trees along the Site boundary. The development will be prominent in views from this section of road, although a proposed landscape buffer will mean that the new built form will be set back from the road. On approach from the south, views of the proposed development will be predominantly screened by the existing woodland beltt, with views of the new built form limited to glimpsed, seasonal views. On approach from the north, the development will be screenned by existing vegetation along Green Lane West, with views of the Site being limited to thhe roundabout junction with Salhouse Road. Proposed street tree planting will also help to soften views of tthe proposed built form along this route.

 Scheme completionn: moderate adverse visual effect

 Established scheme (+15 years): slight adverse visual effect

Close views along Salhouse Road to the north of the Site

6.3.10 Views from Salhouse Road, immediately adjacent to the north of the Site have open views across the Site with very little existing vegetation allong the northern Site boundary. Views of the proposed development will be prominent from this short section of road, with proposed built form fronting Salhouse Road. Proposed street tree planting will help to soften the built form as it establishess. On approach from the west, the existing woodland belt will screen views of the development. On approach from the east, the existing built form at New Rackheath will screen the majority of the

LVIA DRAFT DOC.docx 22 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment: Rackheath

new development. As the development comes into view,, it will appear as a continuation of the existing urban area. Proposed street tree planting will help to soften the built form as it establishes.

 Scheme completionn: substantial adverse visual effect

 Established scheme (+15 years): moderate adverse visual effect

LVIA DRAFT DOC.docx Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment: Rackheath 23

7 CONCLUSION

7.1.1 The Landscape and Visual impact Assessment has reviewed the existing landscape and visual resource of the land west of Green Lane East, Rackhheath (the Site) in consideration of the propossed development. The Site is considered to have a positive contribution to the local landscape character and offer good vissual amenity.

7.1.2 The proposed development consists of residential development, associated access, public open space and substantial landscape proposals.

7.1.3 The significance of the landscape effects of the proposed development upon completion is considered as a moderate adverse effect. Howeever mitigation measures are proposed as part of the scheme, including the provision of generous open space and recreation oopportunities for new and existing residents. Substantial planting proposals including native tree and hedgerow planting, street tree planting and biodiversity enhancement grassland will all contribute to creating a new landscape character. When these new landscape proposals arre established, they will help; to integrate the development into its surroundings, reducing the effect on the local landscape character to a slight adverse effect.

7.1.4 The significance of the visual effect of the proposed development upon completion is considered to generally range within substantial adverse – sliight adverse effect. The Site is well contained by existing boundary vegetation to its southern and western boundaries and long distancce views into or out of the Site are limited. Close range views of the development will be predominantly from users of Green Lane East and Salhouse Road, as well as the closest residential properties along Green Lane East. As the scheme matures and the landscape provides increasing screening of the built form, the overall significance of the visual effect is considered to reduce to within moderate adverse – slight adverse effect.

7.1.5 The local landscape character will undergo significant change iin the future, with the proposed Northern Distributor Road and associated infrastructture, passing close to the south of the Site and separating the arable fields closest to the built up area,

LVIA DRAFT DOC.docx 24 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment: Rackheath

from the wider countryside. The proposed Eco-Town will also create a new large scale urban area at Rackheath, an area which currently comprises off smaller urban areas within the countryside.

7.1.6 It is considered that in the context of the surrounding developments, once complete, the Site proposals will be lesss significant within the local landsccape.

LVIA DRAFT DOC.docx Appendix A LAND SOUTH OF GREEN LANE EAST, RACKHEATH

LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

APPENDIX A - FIGURES 1 – 8

Legend

Site Boundary

Project: Rackheath

Client: La Ronde Wright Ltd

Date: July 2015

Scale: NTS @ A3

Status: Draft

0 1000m

© COPYRIGHT LIZ LAKE ASSOCIATES Reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright 2014 Licence No.100007196 © Crown copyright and database rights 2014 Ordnance Survey Licence No.0100031673 © The GeoInformation Group 2014 © Google 2014. Western House | Chapel Hill | Stansted | CM24 8AG ofﬁ[email protected] t 01279 647 044 1689 Figure 2 Kestrel Court | Harbour Road | Portishead | Bristol | BS20 7AN www.lizlake.com t 01275 390 425 Landscape Character Areas

Legend F1 Site Boundary

F1 Landscape Character Areas

E3 F1 - Wroxham to Ranworth Marshes Fringe

E4 - Rackheath and Salhouse Wooded E4 Estatelands

E3 - Spixworth Wooded Estatelands

D4 - Blofield Tributary Farmland

Urban

E3 Project: Rackheath

Client: La Ronde Wright Ltd URBAN Date: July 2015 Scale: NTS @ A3 D4 Status: Draft

0 500m

© COPYRIGHT LIZ LAKE ASSOCIATES Reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright 2014 Licence No.100007196 © Crown copyright and database rights 2014 Ordnance Survey Licence No.0100031673 © The GeoInformation Group 2014 © Google 2014. Western House | Chapel Hill | Stansted | CM24 8AG ofﬁ[email protected] t 01279 647 044 1689 Figure 3 Kestrel Court | Harbour Road | Portishead | Bristol | BS20 7AN www.lizlake.com t 01275 390 425 Topography

Legend

Site Boundary

AONB

Topography

45-50m AOD

40-45m AOD

35-40m AOD

30-35m AOD

25-30m AOD

20-25m AOD

15-20m AOD

10-15m AOD

5-10m AOD

0-5m AOD

Project: Rackheath

Client: La Ronde Wright Ltd

Date: July 2015

Scale: NTS @ A3

Status: Draft

0 1000m

© COPYRIGHT LIZ LAKE ASSOCIATES Reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright 2014 Licence No.100007196 © Crown copyright and database rights 2014 Ordnance Survey Licence No.0100031673 © The GeoInformation Group 2014 © Google 2014. Western House | Chapel Hill | Stansted | CM24 8AG ofﬁ[email protected] t 01279 647 044 1689 Figure 4 Kestrel Court | Harbour Road | Portishead | Bristol | BS20 7AN www.lizlake.com t 01275 390 425 Environmental Designations

Legend

Site Boundary

Local Nature Reserve

Bure Broads and Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest, Environmentally Sensitive Area & National Park.

Project: Rackheath

Client: La Ronde Wright Ltd

Date: July 2015

Scale: NTS @ A3

Status: Draft

0 500m

© COPYRIGHT LIZ LAKE ASSOCIATES Reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright 2014 Licence No.100007196 © Crown copyright and database rights 2014 Ordnance Survey Licence No.0100031673 © The GeoInformation Group 2014 © Google 2014. Western House | Chapel Hill | Stansted | CM24 8AG ofﬁ[email protected] t 01279 647 044 1689 Figure 5 Kestrel Court | Harbour Road | Portishead | Bristol | BS20 7AN www.lizlake.com t 01275 390 425 Heritage and PRoW

Legend

Site Boundary

Listed Building

Scheduled Ancient Monument

Public Rights of Way (PRoW)

Public Footpath

Bridleway Salhouse FP14 Rackheath FP5 Restricted Byway

Permissive Footpath

Other Route With Public Access

Great & Little Plumstead FP1

Great & Little Plumstead FP2

Project: Rackheath

Great & Little Plumstead FP3 Client: La Ronde Wright Ltd

Date: July 2015 Salhouse FP14 Scale: NTS @ A3

Status: Draft

0 500m

© COPYRIGHT LIZ LAKE ASSOCIATES Reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright 2014 Licence No.100007196 © Crown copyright and database rights 2014 Ordnance Survey Licence No.0100031673 © The GeoInformation Group 2014 © Google 2014. Western House | Chapel Hill | Stansted | CM24 8AG ofﬁ[email protected] t 01279 647 044 1689 Figure 6 Kestrel Court | Harbour Road | Portishead | Bristol | BS20 7AN www.lizlake.com t 01275 390 425 Woodland

Legend

Site Boundary

Ancient and Semi-Natural Woodland

Ancient Replanted Woodland

Priority Habitat Inventory - Deciduous Woodland (England)

National Inventory of Woodland and Trees (England)

Salhouse FP14 Priority Habitat Inventory - Rackheath FP5 Traditional Orchards (England)

Great & Little Plumstead FP1

Great & Little Plumstead FP2

Project: Rackheath

Great & Little Plumstead FP3 Client: La Ronde Wright Ltd

Date: July 2015 Salhouse FP14 Scale: NTS @ A3

Status: Draft

0 1000m

© COPYRIGHT LIZ LAKE ASSOCIATES Reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright 2014 Licence No.100007196 © Crown copyright and database rights 2014 Ordnance Survey Licence No.0100031673 © The GeoInformation Group 2014 © Google 2014. Western House | Chapel Hill | Stansted | CM24 8AG ofﬁ[email protected] t 01279 647 044 1689 Figure 7 Kestrel Court | Harbour Road | Portishead | Bristol | BS20 7AN www.lizlake.com t 01275 390 425 Photographic Viewpoint Locations

Legend

Site Boundary

Public Viewpoints 1

Green Lane West

6 7

1 2 5 3

Salhouse Road

Broad Lane

Plumstead Road 8

Project: Rackheath

Client: La Ronde Wright Ltd

Date: July 2015

Scale: NTS @ A3

Status: Draft

0 500m

© COPYRIGHT LIZ LAKE ASSOCIATES Reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright 2014 Licence No.100007196 © Crown copyright and database rights 2014 Ordnance Survey Licence No.0100031673 © The GeoInformation Group 2014 © Google 2014. 1689 Figure 8.1 Stansted | Western House | Chapel Hill | Stansted | CM24 8AG ofﬁ [email protected] t 01279 647 044 Bristol | 1 Host Street | Bristol | BS1 5BU www.lizlake.com t 0117 927 1786 Photographic Sheets

Photograph 1 - View from Salhouse Road looking East over the site adjacent to the woodland belt.

Photograph 2 - View from Green Lane East looking South and West towards the site adjacent to residential properties.

Photograph 3 - View from Vera Road junction with Green Lane East looking South and West towards the site.

© COPYRIGHT LIZ LAKE ASSOCIATES Reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright 2014 Licence No.100007196 © Crown copyright and database rights 2014 Ordnance Survey Licence No.0100031673 Project: Green Lane East, Rackheath | Client: La Ronde Wright Ltd | Date: July 2015 1689 Figure 8.2 Stansted | Western House | Chapel Hill | Stansted | CM24 8AG ofﬁ [email protected] t 01279 647 044 Bristol | 1 Host Street | Bristol | BS1 5BU www.lizlake.com t 0117 927 1786 Photographic Sheets

Photograph 4 - View from Broad Lane looking North and West towards the southern site boundary.

Photograph 5 - View from Salhouse Road looking East towards the belt of woodland on the Western edge of the site. Photograph 6 - View from Green Lane West looking South and East over the roundabout junction with Salhouse Road towards the site.

Photograph 7 - View from Salhouse Road in the built up area of New Rackheath looking South and West towards the site. Photograph 8 - View from Plumstead Road adjacent to the railway level crossing and Newman’s Farm looking North towards the site.

© COPYRIGHT LIZ LAKE ASSOCIATES Reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright 2014 Licence No.100007196 © Crown copyright and database rights 2014 Ordnance Survey Licence No.0100031673 Project: Green Lane East, Rackheath | Client: La Ronde Wright Ltd | Date: July 2015 1689 Figure 8.3 Stansted | Western House | Chapel Hill | Stansted | CM24 8AG ofﬁ [email protected] t 01279 647 044 Bristol | 1 Host Street | Bristol | BS1 5BU www.lizlake.com t 0117 927 1786 Photographic Sheets

Photograph 9 - View from Salhouse Road looking East towards the Western boundary of the site.

LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

APPENDIX B – PUBLISHED LANDSCAPE CHARACTER ASSESSMENTS

National Character 78. Central North Norfolk Area proﬁle: Supporting documents

Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

www.naturalengland.org.uk

National Character 78. Central North Norfolk Area proﬁle: Supporting documents

Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

Introduction National Character Areas map

As part of Natural England’s responsibilities as set out in the Natural Environment 1 2 3 White Paper , Biodiversity 2020 and the European Landscape Convention , we are NorthNoNorNorthoorrrththt revising profiles for England’s 159 National Character Areas (NCAs). These are areas EastEasastast that share similar landscape characteristics, and which follow natural lines in the landscape rather than administrative boundaries, making them a good decision- YorkshireYYoorkso kshireksshhireh making framework for the natural environment. & TheThee NorthNNorNooro th HumberHumHHuumumberr NCA profiles are guidance documents which can help communities to inform their WestWWesWeestesstt decision-making about the places that they live in and care for. The information they contain will support the planning of conservation initiatives at a landscape EastEasstst scale, inform the delivery of Nature Improvement Areas and encourage broader MidlandsMidMMidlanlalandaandds partnership working through Local Nature Partnerships. The profiles will also help WestWesW sts MidlandsMidM dladlaana ds to inform choices about how land is managed and can change. EastEaasta toft ofof EnglandEngE l Each profile includes a description of the natural and cultural features that shape our landscapes, how the landscape has changed over time, the current key LonLoLondononndondoddonoonn drivers for ongoing change, and a broad analysis of each area’s characteristics and ecosystem services. Statements of Environmental Opportunity (SEOs) are SouthSoouthououthuthh East EasEa suggested, which draw on this integrated information. The SEOs offer guidance SouthSouuthuth WestWeW st on the critical issues, which could help to achieve sustainable growth and a more secure environmental future.

NCA profiles are working documents which draw on current evidence and knowledge. We will aim to refresh and update them periodically as new 1 The Natural Choice: Securing the Value of Nature, Defra information becomes available to us. (2011; URL: www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm80/8082/8082.pdf) 2 Biodiversity 2020: A Strategy for England’s Wildlife and Ecosystem Services, Defra We would like to hear how useful the NCA profiles are to you. You can contact the (2011; URL: www.defra.gov.uk/publications/files/pb13583-biodiversity-strategy-2020-111111.pdf) NCA team by emailing [email protected] 3 European Landscape Convention, Council of Europe (2000; URL: http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/176.htm)

2 National Character 78. Central North Norfolk Area proﬁle: Supporting documents

Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

Summary

The gently undulating rural landscape of the Central North Norfolk National The main pressures for change to the area are posed by growth and a need to Character Area (NCA) stretches from the slightly flatter, more open land of accommodate increased development, especially around Norwich. Other key Mid Norfolk NCA, to the prominent glacial landform of the Cromer Ridge and challenges include the potential for further agricultural intensification, a need for the dynamic exposed coastline of coastal cliffs, where large storm events sustainable approaches to commercial farming practices and managing ongoing dramatically shape its character. This is ancient countryside with a long-settled visitor pressures in coastal areas. Maintaining the traditional farmed landscape of agricultural character, where arable land is enclosed by winding lanes and the Central North Norfolk NCA through sustainable land management practices hedgerows, interspersed with woodland and remnant heath and dissected by – to help protect its important natural processes and resources, its areas of high lush pastoral river valleys. A patchwork of cultivated land, numerous church tranquillity, accessibility to important coastal features and geodiversity – and spires, distant wooded horizons and big skies dominates the landscape. enhancing the landscape for recreational and biodiversity opportunity will present further challenges into the future. This is a predominately tranquil place, with isolated market towns and scattered villages and farmhouses, their red brick, flint walls and pantile roofs an intrinsic Coastal erosion has a large impact in this NCA, especially east of Cromer. The and important component of Norfolk’s built character, reflecting the underlying character of the ‘natural’ coastline itself should be maintained but communities/ geology. The area is rich in 18th-century estates and medieval churches, and the settlements and infrastructures are subject to change. historic city of Norwich provides a cultural and economic centre. The coastal flint and red brick towns of Cromer and Sheringham provide focal points in an (part) 77 Norfolk Coast otherwise dynamic coastal landscape, and their beaches and seaside recreation North Norfolk Coast facilities provide a draw for tourists.

76 North West The area is well wooded for Norfolk and important for its remnant heathland, Norfolk which was once much more extensive. Much of the coastline is part of the

Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with the cliffs at Overstrand 84 Mid Norfolk 79 North East designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for their maritime cliff Norfolk & NCA 78 boundary Flegg Other NCA boundary habitats and slopes. The eroding coastal cliffs, especially at West Runton, are Area outside NCA 78 National Park Area of Outstanding 80 an internationally important site for their geodiversity and fossil remains. The Natural Beauty The Broads 0 10km

Norfolk Valley Fens SAC supports rare lowland alkaline fen communities and 79

Norfolk’s river valleys contain an important mosaic of habitats and species, with National Character Area 78 Central North Norfolk the entire length of the chalk-fed River Wensum designated as an SAC. The NCA The Broads 80 Note: In most instances, the NCA boundary is not precisely mapped Reproduced by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of HMSO. and should be considered as a zone of transition between NCAs. c Crown copyright and database right 2013. All rights reserved. contains small areas of the adjacent North Norfolk Coast and Broads Ramsar Natural England OS licence number 100022021 sites/Special Protection Areas. Click map to enlarge; click again to reduce.

National Character 78. Central North Norfolk Area proﬁle: Supporting documents

Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

Statements of Environmental Opportunity

SEO 1: Work with the local farming community to safeguard future food production, while maintaining the traditional landscape character with its patchwork field system, mixed hedges and pastoral river valleys; enhancing biodiversity, especially in arable margins and hedgerows, geodiversity, water quality and availability, pollination, soil quality, and managing soil erosion; and addressing the impacts of climate change.

SEO 2: Maintain, enhance and restore priority habitats, including woodlands, areas of remnant heathland, and the nationally and internationally important Norfolk Valley Fens, chalk river systems (including the River Wensum) and maritime cliff habitats. Seek opportunities to connect fragmented habitats, improving the area for biodiversity and recreation, and enhancing landscape character and resilience to climate change.

SEO 3: Conserve and enhance the historic character of the area while affording protection to heritage assets, biodiversity, geodiversity and water resources, and encouraging sustainable tourism and recreational use and also a sympathetic approach to development in coastal areas, around market towns and towards Norwich.

SEO 4: Ensure the sustainable development of the coastline and its coastal towns and villages, while protecting and enhancing its important geodiversity, encouraging natural coastal processes where possible, improving access and interpretation, and encouraging sustainable recreational use and visitor enjoyment while conserving sites with high River Stiffkey and valley fen - internationally important habitat. biodiversity value including maritime cliff habitats.

4 National Character 78. Central North Norfolk Area proﬁle: Supporting documents

Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

Coastal processes of erosion, transportation and deposition form a functional link Description along the Norfolk coastline, with an east–west long-shore drift ‘divide’ off Cromer, transporting sediment eroded from the soft cliffs of the NCA, and incoming sediment from as far north as the Holderness NCA, to coastal areas of The Broads Physical and functional links to other National NCA to the south-east and the North Norfolk Coast NCA to the west. Character Areas The coastal areas of the NCA form part of the Norfolk Coast Area of Outstanding A curving line across the Wensum Valley marks a transition from the Central North Natural Beauty (AONB), which covers the entirety of the adjacent North Norfolk Norfolk National Character Area (NCA) to the slightly flatter, more open land of the Coast NCA. A small section of the North Norfolk Coast Ramsar site and Special Mid Norfolk NCA towards the south-west. The two NCAs share many landscape Protection Area (SPA) lies within the NCA. characteristics and features and are closely linked physically and ecologically. The Cromer Ridge is a prominent feature in an otherwise gently undulating Late Cretaceous Chalk, which also lies beneath the adjoining Mid Norfolk NCA landscape and can be seen from neighbouring NCAs to the west. Long views of and the other NCAs of the East Anglian Plain, underlies almost half of the area. The the North Norfolk Coast NCA are possible from the ridge, especially from High eastern half of the NCA is underlain by late Tertiary and Quaternary shallow marine Kelling and Upper Sheringham. Views are limited from the coastal cliffs due to the sediments known as crag, which continues south and east into North East Norfolk geography of the coastline, although it is possible to see a considerable distance and Flegg NCA, The Broads NCA and a small section of both Suffolk Coast and along the North East Norfolk and Flegg NCA coastline from Mundesley, and parts Heaths NCA and South Norfolk and High Suffolk Claylands NCA. The underlying of the North Norfolk Coast NCA can be seen from Sheringham. The Sheringham Chalk bedrock forms a principal aquifer serving a much wider area. Away from Shoal offshore wind farm is a prominent feature in the seascape and is visible from the river valleys, above the chalk and crag, the landscape we see is almost entirely the entire coastline of the NCA. Coastal areas, especially Cromer and Sheringham, formed of glacial deposits, either glacial till or sand and gravel, which give the provide recreational opportunities for visitors and are a major tourist destination landscape its gently undulating character. The exception is the river valleys which for people from all over the UK. contain alluvium. The most impressive glacial landform is the Cromer Ridge, and the glacial sediments are exposed in the cliffs at the coast. An A road network links Cromer and Aylsham with Norwich and the market towns of Fakenham and East Dereham in the Mid Norfolk NCA. The A149 coastal There are extensive hydrological links between rivers in the NCA and surrounding road runs the length of the Norfolk coast between King’s Lynn in the North West areas. The Wensum and Tud, whose upstream sections drain large areas of the Norfolk NCA and Great Yarmouth in the North East Norfolk and Flegg NCA. Further adjacent Mid Norfolk NCA, supply the major wetland systems of The Broads NCA. links are provided by the public rights of way network, including the Peddars The Glaven begins in the Central North Norfolk NCA before it joins the North Sea in Way and Norfolk Coast Path National Trail, which stretches from The Brecks NCA the North Norfolk Coast NCA. The Bure and Stiffkey both have their source in the through Mid Norfolk to the coast and Hunstanton in the North West Norfolk NCA, area where the Mid Norfolk and Central North Norfolk NCAs meet – the Bure then and then along the north Norfolk coast to Cromer. The rail network provides links flowing east to The Broads, and the Stiffkey flowing into North West Norfolk and from Norwich north to the coast and Cromer and Sheringham via The Broads and then on to the North Norfolk Coast. North East Norfolk and Flegg NCAs, and south and west via the South Norfolk and High Suffolk Claylands NCA.

National Character 78. Central North Norfolk Area proﬁle: Supporting documents

Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

Key characteristics

¯ A gently undulating, sometimes flat, landscape dissected by river valleys, ¯ Relatively well-wooded landscape, with ancient oak and beech woodland with the glacial landform of the Cromer Ridge and dramatic coastal cliffs and areas of conifer plantation. providing distinctive features to the north. ¯ Important species, maritime cliff habitats and slopes, alkaline valley fen ¯ Gravels, sands, chalk erratics and glacial till left behind by the retreating ice communities and areas of remnant heathland. of Pleistocene glaciations, and the resulting complexity of soils, determine natural vegetation patterns. ¯ Large number of 18th-century estates with their associated parkland, and a great density and stylistic variety of churches, which are often prominent ¯ Physically dynamic coastline of geomorphological importance, providing features of the skyline. a main source of sediment recharge elsewhere along the coast, with internationally important Pleistocene sediment and fossil deposits exposed ¯ Coherent vernacular architecture – marked by distinctive red brick and flint in eroding coastal cliffs. buildings with pantiled roofs, much dating from the 17th and 18th centuries with some earlier timber frame – is an inherent component of the area’s ¯ Underlying chalk aquifer, small fast-flowing chalk rivers and biodiversity- character. rich, wide, lush river valleys with wooded valley slopes, including the internationally important chalk-fed River Wensum. ¯ A mix of villages and many farmhouses within a complex minor road network, with a traditional pattern of market towns connected by main ¯ Tranquil agricultural landscape with extensive areas of arable land, roads, the coastal holiday resorts of Cromer and Sheringham, and the city of dominated by cereals with break-cropping of sugar beet and oilseed rape, Norwich providing a centre for cultural and economic activity. and some pastures along valley floors. ¯ Dense network of public rights of way including the Peddars Way and ¯ Ancient countryside, much of it enclosed by the 16th century, with a Norfolk Coast Path National Trail, with main recreational activity centred on sporadically rationalised patchwork field system, sinuous lanes and mixed coastal areas. hedges with hedgerow oaks.

6 National Character 78. Central North Norfolk Area proﬁle: Supporting documents

Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

Central North Norfolk today

Central North Norfolk NCA is a rural area, with a long-settled agricultural character, and gently undulating arable land enclosed by winding lanes and hedgerows, interspersed with woodland and heath and dissected by river valleys. It is a terrain of gentle variation which is more dramatic to the north, where the land undulates considerably as it rises to the top of the Cromer Ridge, and becomes more rolling within the Wensum Valley close to Norwich. Elsewhere it is relatively flat to gently undulating, so that the land cover becomes more or less dominant as the relief changes, with distant wooded horizons and prominent church spires giving way to spectacular big skies.

Chalk bedrock underlies the western section of the NCA with crag to the east. The Chalk forms an extensive principal aquifer which stretches far to the south under the East Anglian Plain. Gravels, sands, chalk erratics and boulder clays left behind by the retreating ice of Pleistocene glaciations have resulted in a complexity of soils and varying land cover and the distinctive landform of the Cromer Ridge. This eight-kilometre-wide ridge formed of glacial deposits extends from Holt to Mundesley, at Beacon Hill (the highest point in Norfolk at 103 m), with a steep north slope and gentle slope to the south, and is a highly prominent feature in the landscape. River terrace sediments provide an important archive of post-Anglian glaciation information.

The coastline is formed of dramatic eroding coastal cliffs, with the towns of Cromer and Sheringham providing areas of permanence in the otherwise dynamic coastal landscape. Foreshore exposures of chalk between Sheringham and Cromer provide the only chalk rocky shore between Flamborough Head and the north Kent coast. The coastline between Cromer and Mundesley is of geomorphological importance for its coastal processes, with the unstable, eroding 60-metre-high cliffs providing a main source of sediment recharge in adjacent NCAs. Important Pleistocene sediments and fossils are exposed in the eroding coastline. Recreational users on Overstrand beach, also showing the Cromer ridge along the coastline.

National Character 78. Central North Norfolk Area proﬁle: Supporting documents

Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

Sea defences have an impact on the character of the coast, especially in front of The NCA is relatively well wooded within the East Anglian context, with a variety main towns. Erosion has removed villages in the past and threatens current of woodland types: mixed deciduous or pasture woodlands (oak and beech) on settlements, especially east of Cromer. Continued erosion is important to the the heavier soils and conifers on the lighter sands, especially to the north and character of the coast and maintenance of beaches but is causing the loss of west. Woods are variable in size but extensive, and reflect the development of dwellings and other structures – including archaeology and infrastructure, such the area in the 18th century into small-to-medium-sized estates, especially north as roads – and makes maintaining beach access difficult, and so has an impact of the Wensum. Notable concentrations of woodland occur to the north of on other aspects of character. This leads to a sense of dereliction and Norwich, in the areas around Thursford and Swanton Novers and along the Holt– abandonment in some locations (‘coastal blight’). Cromer Ridge. Swanton Novers is the second largest ancient woodland in Norfolk and the neighbouring Thursford Wood contains some of the oldest oak trees in The area is drained by the rivers Wensum and Bure, which flow south-east into the county. Felbrigg Great Wood is notable for its ancient acid beech stands and the Broads, and the upper reaches of two small chalk rivers, the Glaven and numerous lichen species. Stiffkey, which flow north to the north Norfolk coast. The chalk-fed River Wensum, which is recognised as one of the most important chalk rivers in the Land cover is predominately agricultural with extensive areas of arable land country and designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), dissects the and some pastures along the valley floors. Cereals dominate, with break- southern part of the NCA as it flows south-east towards Norwich; and the River cropping of sugar beet and oilseed rape. This is ‘ancient countryside’ with a Bure begins in the NCA before it flows south-east into the Broads at Aylsham. The long-settled agricultural character. Much of the land was enclosed by the 16th river valleys of the Wensum and Bure create a wide, lush, pastoral landscape, century, and only 20th-century agricultural rationalisation has changed it. Fields which is partly enclosed by woodland on the valley slopes. Water meadows are variable in size and the small scale and irregularity of early enclosure has divided by reed-filled dykes and poplar plantations are common on valley floors. given way, in many areas, to a larger, more regular pattern as a result of later The extraction of sand and gravels has produced lakes with reeded margins in rationalisation and enclosure of heathland. The change is also seen in the places on the River Wensum. The Wensum is especially rich in biodiversity contrast between mixed hedgerows with frequent hedgerow oaks in areas with with over 100 plant species and a diverse invertebrate fauna, including the less rationalisation and areas of poor or remnant hedgerow in the more bullhead, brook lamprey, white-clawed crayfish, Desmoulin’s whorl snail, water intensively farmed areas. Cereal field margins and hedgerows are important crowfoot and water starwort. The Stiffkey and Glaven in the north of the NCA are refuges for wildlife with key species found in farmland areas including the small, fast-flowing, scenic chalk rivers with meanders, deep pools, shallow gravel barbastelle bat, brown hare, corn bunting, grey partridge, skylark, tree sparrow riffles and crystal clear water which support a rich variety of wildlife. As well as and turtle dove. Rare arable wild flowers, including the cornflower, are also an native brown trout, they contain less well-known fish such as stone loach, important feature. Sporting interests in the NCA are reflected in the large number bullhead and brook lamprey and support otters, water voles and kingfishers. of pheasant in fields and along road verges. All of the rivers in the area have been modified and straightened over the centuries and contain numerous mills, weirs and sluices. The mosaic of wetland, The NCA contains small areas of the adjacent North Norfolk Coast and Broads woodland and grassland habitats found in the NCA’s river valleys provides a (Ramsar site and SPA) and part of the North Norfolk Coast AONB. The Overstrand tranquil haven for biodiversity. Cliffs SAC is one of the best examples of unprotected vegetated soft cliffs on the

8 National Character 78. Central North Norfolk Area proﬁle: Supporting documents

Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

North Sea coast, with succession habitats (including ruderal communities and centres of population comprise medieval market towns such as Aylsham. grasslands) and flushes supporting wet fen communities and perched reedbeds. Villages are intermixed with isolated farmsteads, generally of the 17th and 18th The diverse range of habitats supports an outstanding range of invertebrates. centuries, and 18th-century estates and country houses. Flint, red brick and The NCA has three sites designated as part of the wider Norfolk Valley Fens frequently black-glazed pantiles are an inherent component of the area’s SAC: Buxton Heath, Holt Lowes and Beeston Regis Common. These sites vernacular character. Innate conservatism has ensured that the local vernacular are designated for their alkaline valley fen habitat which supports an style has been preserved into the 20th century, so there are few examples of later exceptionally diverse plant and invertebrate community, including rare periods. There are some rare survivals of earlier timber frame. bryophytes, a number of uncommon mosses and liverworts, and rare damselfly and dragonfly species including the scarce emerald, common hawker, black darter and hairy dragonfly. The fens are often associated with areas of lowland heathland, which is a distinguishing feature of the NCA, and is concentrated along the Cromer Ridge and to the north of Norwich. Heathland within the NCA is important for its bird species including nightjar, whitethroat, nightingale and linnet, and reptiles including common lizard and adder.

A large number of 17th- and 18th-century country house estates of various sizes can be found throughout the area, with a particularly rich abundance of minor country houses, notably the major estates of Sheringham, Blickling and Felbrigg. These estates are frequently accompanied by parkland and their own church and village. The NCA is also unusually rich in medieval churches, with Cawston a particularly fine example. These churches dominate the landscape, especially on the flatter land, and in areas of closely located villages two or three spires can often be seen simultaneously.

Central North Norfolk NCA looks to Norwich for cultural and economic activity. The city has an interesting mix of medieval, Georgian and modern architecture, a large market square and intriguing alleyways and streets: the impressive Norman castle and cathedral look out over a city of surprising topographical variety, which is caused by the Wensum Valley. Remnant

heathland at Mousehold Heath is an additional attribute of the city. The other Norwich Cathedral and buildings showing the use of local building materials.

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Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

On the coast, the resort towns of Cromer and Sheringham were both 19th- The landscape through time century developments made popular due to the arrival of the railway in Norfolk. Cromer sits in a dell between the coast and the ridge and is a busy flint town with This NCA contains several internationally and nationally important Sites of a sandy beach and a pier, full of little lanes and holm oak. Sheringham is less Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The chalk bedrock which underlies the western urban, again built of flint and red brick but quieter than its neighbour. The coast section of the NCA was deposited during the late Cretaceous Period, some 80 is now a popular holiday area and has numerous caravan and camping sites, million years ago. Key sites include St James’ Pit SSSI (Britain’s best-known Upper and 20th-century bungalows can be found throughout, especially on the Chalk reptilian fossil site) and Catton Grove Chalk Pit SSSI (the type locality for periphery of the coastal towns and villages. the Catton Sponge Bed as well as many important ammonites and many undescribed sponges). The agricultural landscape is extremely tranquil away from main roads and settlements and along river valleys. Less tranquil areas are mainly around the Bedrock to the east of the NCA is formed of much younger (2 to 1.8 million years coastal towns of Cromer and Sheringham and close to Norwich, especially along ago) Plio-Pleistocene marine sands and gravels known as the Norwich Crag the A47 and A1067, where urbanisation creeps westwards with a string of and Wroxham Crag formations. Seas and ice sheets came and went over commuter villages of 19th- and 20th-century origin. Norfolk many times during the Pleistocene, leaving a complex sequence of marine and terrestrial sediments. The internationally important West Runton The recreational use of the area is centred upon the resources of the north Freshwater Bed and the Cromer Forest Bed (the type site for which is at West Norfolk coast with historic Felbrigg and Sheringham parks and Blickling Hall Runton SSSI) were laid down during the Early–Middle Pleistocene and provide further to the south providing the chief ‘honeypot’ sites. The North Norfolk internationally important palaeo-environmental records of the period. Railway (or ‘Poppy Line’) provides an additional draw. The area is well served by The Anglian glaciation, which began around 450,000 years ago, caused the the public rights of way network which includes the Norfolk Coast National Trail deposition of a series of sheets of glacial till (boulder clay) across the area as and the section of England Coast Path to be opened in 2014/15. well as sands, gravels and silts washed out as the ice sheets melted and retreated. The core of the Cromer Ridge was formed by glacial sediments John Crome and John Sell Cotman are perhaps the best-known exponents of deposited at the terminal edge of ice sheets. As the glaciers of the Anglian the Norwich School of artists. Humphry Repton, the landscape gardener, is period retreated, they left huge quantities of outwash deposits (as can be buried in Aylsham churchyard and his legacy can be seen in Sheringham Park, seen at Briton’s Lane Gravel Pit SSSI) which formed the summit of Cromer while in 1883 the journalist Clement Scotta popularised this area in poems and Ridge and features such as Kelling Heath. The mix of till, sands and gravels articles, calling it ‘Poppyland’. provide the complexity of soils that characterise this area and give rise to the great variation in land cover.

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Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

Subsequent glaciations left their mark on the landscape, sculpting meltwater valleys (including the Bure) and adding river terrace sediments to the archive of glacial information contained in the Wensum Valley. The present coastline of north Norfolk was established when sea levels rose around 6,000 years ago.

The first evidence of humans in Norfolk is provided by flint tools dated at around 400,000 BC. Prehistoric cropmarks and burial mounds, as near Sheringham, testify to a long history of settlement in the area.

The whole area consisted of heathland and wood pasture during this time. Venta Icenorum, situated just outside what is now Norwich (in the neighbouring Mid Norfolk NCA), was laid out in around 70 AD-. The Cromer Ridge was intensively settled by the Anglo-Saxon period, at which time colonisation imparted a large number of ‘ingham’ place names. Norwich was founded at the confluence of the Yare and the Wensum during Saxon times and was well settled by the time of William the Conqueror. The large flocks of sheep noted throughout the county in the Domesday Book suggest it was a prosperous farming and wool-producing area during this time.

By the 13th century Norwich was one of the largest cities in England, together with London, Bristol and York. The cloth industry sustained its exports and wealth right up to the 19th century. Medieval and later settlement is mixed, with a generally very high degree of dispersal, including numerous well- separated market towns and large villages and their associated numerous churches. Surrounding these settlements- and still a dominant element of the settlement pattern today, is a pattern of dispersed hamlets, farmsteads and manorial complexes.

Much of the early medieval landscape of heaths and wood pasture was enclosed between the 14th and 17th centuries, creating a pattern of small- scale, irregular fields with areas of open field and common land, farmed by Norwich Castle keep, now Norwich Castle Museum. a range of holdings, settlements and estates. The resulting small-scale, irregular

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Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

field patterns, high hedges and a meandering road network are still in evidence emplacements and defensive ditches) can be found at Weybourne Hope, today. Medieval deer parks were largely converted to farmland in the 16th and Kelling and Sheringham. A number of railways closed due to economic 17th centuries. It appears to have been an area of mixed farming on relatively restructuring and the Beeching axe in the 1950s and 60s, including the main small landholdings which became fairly wealthy during the 17th century, as line of the Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway which connected shown by the large number of fine flint and pantile farmhouses of the period. Aylsham with King’s Lynn via Melton Constable. These defunct lines have Major improvements in crop rotation from the late 17th century used winter feed subsequently been turned into long-distance footpaths, which include the crops (notably turnips) and artificial grasses. The economy was arable-based Marriott’s Way. but access to meadow and grass enabled the stocking of large numbers of bullocks and milking cattle. Rationalisation and further enclosure of fields and A string of commuter villages were built close to Norwich in the 19th and boundary patterns in the later 18th century added another layer of historic 20th centuries, especially along the A47 and A1067. Twentieth-century interest by subdividing areas of common land and heath. Woodland plantations rationalisation has changed the agricultural landscape with larger fields and were commonplace, but rarely of great size, and usually the product of 18th- the removal of hedgerows, and Norfolk is now England’s most important century estate management and later sporting interests. producer of wheat, barley, sugar beet and many vegetables. Pressure to accommodate growth and development continues, with increasing Medieval manors, associated with deer parks, formed the basis of the 17th- urbanisation of areas around Norwich, the market towns and the coastal and 18th-century country house estates of various sizes, frequently resorts of Cromer and Sheringham. accompanied by parkland. Melton Constable is an example of a park that had already been in one family’s ownership for a long time when it was Ecosystem services decided, in 1664, to build a third family house within the grounds. This was then added to substantially in the 19th century, when the nearby ‘railway’ The Central North Norfolk NCA provides a wide range of benefits to society. village was constructed to house workers on the important junction of the Each is derived from the attributes and processes (both natural and cultural Midland and Great Northern lines. Architecturally, the red-brick and slate- features) within the area. These benefits are known collectively as ‘ecosystem roofed terraced housing had more in common with the east Midlands. services’. The predominant services are summarised below. Further information on ecosystem services provided in the Central North Norfolk NCA is contained The arrival of the railway in Norfolk in the late 1800s signalled the beginning in the ‘Analysis’ section of this document. of mass tourism, and Sheringham and Cromer consequently developed as popular holiday resorts. The coast now thrives as a retirement and holiday Provisioning services (food, fibre and water supply) area, with a plethora of 20th-century bungalows to emphasise the point. By ¯ Food provision: This is an important food-producing landscape with the end of the 19th century Norfolk was no longer famous for its wool and extensive areas of high-quality arable farmland and over 74 per cent per cent cloth, but for its tourist attractions. Almost a third of historic parkland has of the NCA under agricultural management. Agriculture is predominately for been converted to arable use since the First World War. Extensive remains arable cultivation although there is some grazing along the river valleys. Cereal of Second World War anti-invasion defences (such as pillboxes, gun crops dominate, with some cash root crops and oilseed production.

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¯ Timber provision: Commercial coniferous plantations along the Cromer– ¯ Regulating water quality: Water quality is generally poor due to diffuse Holt Ridge. pollution from agriculture (resulting in high nitrate and phosphate levels), sedimentation, over-abstraction, invasive species and physical modification ¯ Water availability: There is extensive abstraction for public water supply of river systems. There is also some localised diffuse pollution from pesticides, and agriculture (spray irrigation) from rivers and the underlying principal sewage treatment works and industry – Environmental Stewardship and chalk aquifer, with some water available for licensing at high flows. There are catchment sensitive farming measures help to reduce polluting factors and numerous potable water boreholes to the north and west of Norwich which improve water quality. are used to draw water from the aquifer. Over the last 30 years, there have been increasing demands for water abstraction for public water supply and ¯ Pollination: The extensive semi-natural habitat mosaic of heathland, forest agriculture. Demand for public water supply is set to increase due to new edge and acid grassland in the river valley pastures and wetlands across development near Norwich. the area provide important nectar sources for pollinating insects. Where arable cropping dominates, interstitial habitats such as the edges of farm Regulating services (water purification, air quality maintenance and tracks become the key sources of both pollen and nectar. These habitats are climate regulation) particularly important as they support the insects that pollinate commercial arable crops including oilseed rape. ¯ Climate regulation: There are a number of areas in the NCA with soils with a high carbon content. In particular, wet peaty and alluvial soils- that may be ¯Regulating coastal flooding and erosion: This is a dynamic coastline of associated with areas of remnant wetland habitat are found in the numerous geomorphological importance, providing the main source of sediment small tributary valleys of the Bure and Wensum. recharge elsewhere along the coast. Protecting coastal towns of Cromer and Sheringham while allowing natural coastal processes to take place along the ¯ Regulating soil erosion: 97 per cent per cent of soils are at risk of erosion. remaining coastline ensures a continuing supply of sediment to recharge other Priority catchments under the England Catchment Sensitive Farming areas and protect them from coastal erosion. Delivery Initiative (ECSFDI) all identify soil erosion as a particular issue. The re-establishment of hedges and provision of uncropped wildlife strips, Cultural services (inspiration, education and wellbeing) conservation headlands, targeted arable reversion to grassland and winter ¯ Sense of place/inspiration: The area includes a traditional gently undulating stubble through agri-environment schemes has limited soil erosion. agricultural landscape with winding lanes and hedgerows, prominent medieval churches, 18th-century country house estates and parklands, ancient woodlands and remnant heathlands, rolling river valleys, undeveloped stretches of coastline ¯ Regulating soil quality: Freely draining soils covering 73 per cent per cent of the with dramatic eroding cliffs and the city of Norwich in the south. A sense of place NCA may be valuable for aquifer recharge requiring the maintenance of good is created by a long-settled agricultural character, dominated by arable land structure. Soils with impeded drainage are easily poached and compacted and a traditional settlement pattern based around small market towns, isolated when wet. However, the addition of chemical fertilisers combined with the villages and scattered farmhouses built with Norfolk red brick and flint with irrigation of these easily worked soils has enabled highly productive agriculture pantile roofs. to prevail across the NCA.

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Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

¯ Sense of history: The area’s fine churches testify to a well-settled and ¯ Geodiversity: The north of the NCA is considered to be outstanding in a prosperous medieval landscape, a sense of prosperity which is enhanced by national context for both its geology and its landforms. It has one of the the fine vernacular architecture, medieval manors and country house estates most complete sequences of Late Jurassic to Late Cretaceous marine strata with their associated parkland. Such estates often had their own church and in Britain which are capped by an extremely important series of Pleistocene village. Norwich provides an imposing cathedral, prominent castle and a glacial and interglacial deposits that are critical to our understanding of Early historic mix of architecture. to Late Pleistocene stratigraphy. The coastal cliff sections and the inland landforms, including the Cromer–Holt Ridge, are some of the finest of their ¯ Tranquillity: High levels of tranquillity in the NCA are predominantly in kind in the British Isles. The exposed eroding coastal cliffs as well as the 12 evidence due to the large areas of agricultural land, where it is rare to see geological SSSI allow opportunities for ongoing research as well as geological other people, but which are also related to the areas of semi-natural habitat. interpretation by the public. In contrast, this NCA also encompasses some of the less tranquil areas in Norfolk, notably around Norwich, as well as along the north coast between and including Cromer and Sheringham and the road network linking these settlements with Norwich and Fakenham.

¯ Recreation: Recreational use of the area is centred upon the resources of the north Norfolk coast, especially the towns of Cromer and Sheringham, the ‘honeypot’ sites of the National Trust-owned properties of Felbrigg and Sheringham parks and Blickling Hall, and the dense network of public rights of way including the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path National Trail.

¯ Biodiversity: The NCA includes small areas of the adjacent North Norfolk Coast and Broads (Ramsar site and SPA). SAC include the Norfolk Valley Fens, designated for their lowland alkaline fen communities; the River Wensum, which is a nationally important chalk river; and the Overstrand Cliffs, which are is of the best examples of unprotected vegetated soft cliffs on the North Sea coast. Other notable priority habitats include deciduous woodland, heathland and a mosaic of wetland and grassland habitats in river valley flood plains. Blickling Hall, a Jacobean house with extensive parkland, now owned by the National Trust and a popular visitor attraction.

14 National Character 78. Central North Norfolk Area proﬁle: Supporting documents

Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change Statements of Environmental Opportunity

For example, by: ¯ Managing the agricultural landscape in a sustainable way to improve the ¯ Maintaining water availability by using integrated water and land long-term viability of agriculture and yields, while protecting the natural management practices to slow run-off and increase infiltration to the assets of the area. underlying chalk aquifer by reducing soil compaction and increasing soil organic matter on agricultural land. ¯ Working with farmers through agricultural stewardship schemes to reduce the loss of sediment and associated phosphates from agricultural land ¯ Strengthening the characteristic hedgerow network by protecting, through appropriate changes in land management, including the use of managing and reinstating hedgerows and hedgerow trees, thereby buffer strips adjacent to watercourses. connecting fragmented habitats, improving biodiversity and reducing wind erosion. ¯ Reducing soil compaction by encouraging the careful timing of land management activities, including reducing unnecessary machinery use in ¯ Seeking opportunities to increase field margins, species-rich hedgerows wet conditions. and beetle banks to encourage a network of habitats for pest-regulating species close to areas of agricultural production. ¯ Using stewardship schemes to promote an increase of organic matter in soils through management interventions, including the use of grass leys, ¯ Encouraging sympathetic management for pollinator species by introducing fallow into rotations and over-winter stubbles. enhancing the floristic diversity of hedgerow banks and increasing the areas of pollen and nectar margins on arable farms. ¯ Working with farmers to reduce sources of nitrate leaching to groundwater and run-off to surface waters by promoting the adoption of best practice measures, including the more efficient use of organic manures and fertilisers.

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Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

SEO 2: Maintain, enhance and restore priority habitats including woodlands, areas of remnant heathland, and the nationally and internationally important Norfolk Valley Fens, chalk river systems (including the River Wensum) and maritime cliff habitats. Seek opportunities to connect fragmented habitats, improving the area for biodiversity and recreation, and enhancing landscape character and resilience to climate change.

For example, by: ¯ Maintaining the protected sites network – including the Norfolk Valley ¯ Restoring wet grassland, fen and carr habitats in the Wensum River Fens, Overstrand Cliffs and River Wensum SAC – ensuring continued corridor. protection of priority habitats and species. ¯ Modifying or removing barriers on river systems, where possible, to allow ¯ Maintaining and enhancing areas of ancient semi-natural woodland and migrating fish passage, including brown trout. planting new areas of broadleaved woodland to address fragmentation. ¯ Conserving areas with high organic content in soils, including wetlands, ¯ Bringing local woodlands into traditional coppice management- to improve heathland and woodland. structural diversity and species composition. ¯ Seeking opportunities to link fragmented habitats with other semi-natural ¯ Increasing the biodiversity of conifer plantations by reintroducing native habitats to enable species to move in response to climate change. broadleaved trees. ¯ Restoring and creating new areas of wetland habitats, including wet ¯ Maintaining and enhancing existing areas of heathland on the Cromer Ridge grassland, fen and carr, to aid aquifer recharge. and to the north of Norwich, and restoring heathland habitat where possible. ¯ Maintaining and enhancing the floristic diversity of lowland meadow and ¯ Maintaining and enhancing maritime cliff habitats, encouraging the natural lowland heathland, and other semi-natural habitats, to increase the area succession of plant communities through the natural erosion of the soft of habitat suitable for pollinators. cliffs, and protecting the spring-fed, species-rich characteristic flushes. ¯ Raising awareness of the problem of invasive species and adopting ¯ Increasing the biodiversity of river valleys by restocking poplar plantations appropriate management for their control. with native wet woodland.

¯ Investigating opportunities to re-naturalise river systems by removing structures and reconnecting rivers to their natural flood plains, especially on the important chalk rivers of the Wensum, Glaven and Stiffkey.

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For example, by: ¯ Ensuring that development plans are sensitive to preserving the historic ¯ Managing public access to avoid adverse impacts on agricultural character of the landscape, promote the use of traditional building management, landscape, habitats and wildlife. materials and enhance traditional settlement patterns. ¯ Ensuring that local development plans include the sustainable ¯ Conserving country houses and parkland estates and encouraging management of water resources and promote measures to reduce their use as recreational and tourist attractions, while maintaining their adverse impacts on water quality in the future, including the use of biodiversity value. sustainable urban drainage systems, sewage treatment options and reducing nutrients from diffuse pollution. ¯ Protecting existing areas of parkland and woodland associated with country estates. ¯ Creating and enhancing green infrastructure and opportunities for public access by creating additional linkages between existing public ¯ Ensuring the protection of heritage assets, including medieval churches footpaths, settlements, amenities and transport links. and the historic features of Norwich, while seeking opportunities to enhance interpretation and, where appropriate, improve access. ¯ Creating new areas of greenspace in conjunction with new developments and identifying locations for new recreational sites such ¯ Minimising the effects of new development by avoiding areas with high as country parks. tranquillity, incorporating green infrastructure and woodland buffers, and minimising new sources of light pollution. ¯ Ensuring that the freshwater resource for internationally important river and wetland habitats is protected through the management of water ¯ Improving and promoting the use of sustainable transport, including the abstraction levels, from rivers and the underlying aquifer, and through bus network, cycling and footpath routes. sustainable land and water management.

¯ Promoting the Quiet Lanes Project and investigating opportunities to Continued on next page... expand the network and improve its effectiveness.

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Key facts Landscape Analysis Introduction & Summary Description Opportunities and data change

... continued from previous page ¯ Maintaining water availability by using integrated water and land ¯ Maintaining and enhancing the geological resource by identifying and management practices to slow run-off and increase infiltration to improving opportunities for enhanced access to sites and improving aquifers by reducing soil compaction and increasing soil organic matter understanding of geodiversity through interpretation and education. on agricultural land. ¯ Conserving and interpreting archaeological earthworks and sub-surface ¯ Protecting aquifer water quality by adopting land management practices and archaeology, while recognising the potential for undiscovered remains. integrated water management policies to minimise risks through pollution, contamination and run-off.

SEO 4: Ensure the sustainable development of the coastline and its coastal towns and villages, while protecting and enhancing its important geodiversity, encouraging natural coastal processes where possible, improving access and interpretation, and encouraging sustainable recreational use and visitor enjoyment while conserving sites with high biodiversity value including maritime cliff habitats.

For example, by: ¯ Continuing to research, monitor and record coastal geomorphological ¯ Continuing to research important Pleistocene sediment and fossil processes that shape the coastline, and the geology itself, to improve our deposits, and improving access to and interpretation of these features understanding and inform future management of the area. to help connect visitors and locals to their historic environment.

¯ Implementing sustainable management plans, preventing coastal ¯ Maintaining and enhancing maritime cliff habitats and slopes, erosion in the economically important towns of Cromer and encouraging the natural succession of plant communities through the Sheringham, and allowing natural coastal processes to take place natural erosion of the soft cliffs, and protecting the spring-fed species- elsewhere over the long term. rich characteristic flushes.

¯ Exploring options for allowing natural coastal processes to take place ¯ Improving and promoting the use of sustainable transport, including the unimpeded, while involving and taking the needs of the local community bus network, cycling and footpath routes. into account.

Appendix C LAND SOUTH OF GREEN LANE EAST, RACKHEATH

LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

APPENDIX C – LIZ LAKE ASSOCIATES METHODOLOGY

November Liz Lake Associates Lake Liz AND VISUAL LANDSCAPE FOR: METHODOLOGY

2013

IMPACT ASSESSMENT IMPACT

1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.1.1 This document sets out the Methodology used by Liz Lake Associates, Chartered Landscape Architects & Urban Designers (LLA) to prepare a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (an Assessment) of the landscape and visual effects of a Site specific proposed development. It is based on the Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, Third Edition 2013 (the Guidelines) published by the Landscape Institute/Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. 1.2 Scope of a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment 1.2.1 An Assessment is undertaken when a development proposal has been finalised and detailed proposals are available to illustrate the precise form, nature, design and scale of the proposed development. It includes an assessment of the existing situation, identifies the likely landscape and visual effects of the proposed development and assesses the significance of those effects. 1.2.2 The data on the Landscape or Visual Baseline that describes the existing situation could be used for any form of development on the Site. The Proposals (whether in outline or detailed), the assessment of the effects of the Proposals, and the assessment of the ability of the Site to absorb change are specific to the development under consideration.

1.3 Photographs 1.3.1 Photographs are taken on a digital camera with a fixed lens that approximates to a standard 50mm lens in accordance with the Landscape Institute Technical Advice Note 01/11. 1.4 Proportionality 1.4.1 The Guidelines emphasize that an Assessment should be in proportion to the scale of the project that is being assessed and the nature of its likely effects. This Methodology sets out the full range of potential activities for an Assessment; for smaller projects principles will be followed but the scope of work may well be reduced.

2 THE EXISTING SITUATION: THE LANDSCAPE BASELINE 2.1 Scope of Work 2.1.1 The Guidelines (3.15) outline the scope of the baseline studies as follows: • ‘For the landscape baseline the aim is to provide an understanding of the landscape in the area that may be affected – its constituent elements, its character and the way this varies spatially, its geographic extent, its history (which may require its own specialist study), its condition, the way the landscape is experienced, and the value attached to it. • For the visual baseline the aim is to establish the area in which the development may be visible, the different groups of people who may experience views of the development, the places where they will be affected and the nature of the views and visual amenity at these points.’ 2.2 Establishing the Landscape Baseline 2.2.1 The location of the Site is identified in published National Character Areas, Local Landscape Character Assessments, supplementary planning documents such as green infrastructure proposals, countryside strategies, and published mapping. An assessment of the Local Landscape Context is undertaken to identify how representative the locality of the Site is of the local landscape character type/area. Field work is undertaken in good weather conditions, by a Chartered Landscape Architect, from a car, bicycle or on foot. 2.3 The Value of the Landscape 2.3.1 Desk and field surveys are undertaken to establish the baseline conditions of the Site itself, the ‘fabric’ of the landscape. Features, elements, combinations of elements and less tangible attributes such as the aesthetic qualities of the Site are considered. These attributes are assessed against criteria that indicate the value of the landscape including landscape quality (condition), scenic quality, rarity, representativeness, conservation interests, recreation value, perceptual aspect including tranquillity, and cultural association. Other criteria include replaceable / substitutable, frequency and dominance of incongruous elements, importance placed on the Site by stakeholders, local accessibility to the Site and its role in wider pattern of accessibility and its importance at a local, national or international level. 2.4 Contribution to the Local Landscape Character 2.4.1 Having described and evaluated the attributes of the Site, some methodologies apply a high/ medium or low value to the landscape. It is considered that for smaller sites it is more useful to express value as the contribution that the Site makes to the local landscape character. The definitions for this evaluation are: • Outstanding contribution: Where the existing character of the Site is representative of the local landscape character and the structure of the landscape is intact • Very positive contribution: Where the existing character of the Site contains many attributes representative of the local landscape character and the structure of the landscape is apparent • Positive contribution: Where the existing character of the Site contains some attributes representative of the local landscape character and some incongruous elements but the Site does not detract from the local landscape character • Limited contribution: Where the existing character of the Site contains some attributes representative of the local landscape character but also incongruous elements that detract from the local landscape character

LLA LVIA Methodology 13.11.28 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment: Methodology 2

• Negative contribution: Where the existing character of the Site contains no attributes representative of the local landscape character and the incongruous elements detract from the local landscape character. 3 THE EXISTING SITUATION: ESTABLISHING THE VISUAL BASELINE 3.1 Identifying Viewpoints 3.1.1 The Visual Baseline is an evaluation of the existing visual amenity in the locality and the contribution that the Site makes to existing visual amenity. Specific evaluations from identified viewpoints are used for the assessment of visual effects. A viewpoint is a place from where there is a potential view of the Proposals and the visibility of the Proposals is the extent to which they may be seen from public viewpoints and private properties. Viewpoints fall broadly into three groups, representative viewpoints, specific viewpoints and illustrative viewpoints.

3.1.2 All public places and residential properties that might have a view of the Proposals are assessed. Eye level is taken as 1.5m to 1.7m above ground level for pedestrians and one metre above ground level for car occupants. Unless special circumstances prevail, access is not made to the interior of residential properties. The orientation of dwellings and surrounding vegetation that may influence views are noted. 3.1.3 If the Visual Baseline survey is made when vegetation is in leaf, an assessment is also made of the likely winter views. The survey is generally illustrated on a plan accompanied by a photographic record. 3.2 Visual Receptors 3.2.1 The location of people who may experience changes in views (visual receptors) is identified; the most susceptible/sensitive receptors are considered to be: residents at home; people, whether residents or visitors, who are engaged in outdoor recreation including public rights of way whose attention or interest is likely to be focused on the landscape and on particular views; visitors to heritage assets, or to other attractions, where views of the surroundings are an important contributor to the experience; communities where views contribute to the landscape setting enjoyed by residents in the area; travellers on recognised scenic routes and people at their place of work where views are an important contributor to the setting and to the quality of their working life. 3.2.2 Visual receptors moderately susceptible/sensitive to change are considered to be travellers on road, rail or other transport routes. 3.2.3 Visual receptors likely to be less susceptible/sensitive to change are considered to be: people engaged in outdoor sport or recreation which does not involve or depend on the appreciation of views of the landscape; people at their place of work whose attention may be focused on their work or activity, not on their surroundings, and where the setting is not important to the quality of working life. 3.3 Assessing the Existing Visual Amenity 3.3.1 The existing visual amenity from principal viewpoints is assessed using published surveys if they exist or using the professional judgement of an experienced landscape architect using the following definitions to define the value attached to particular views: • Exceptional visual amenity – where the quality of existing views is such that people would travel some distance to experience them • High visual amenity – where the quality of existing views is such that local people would go out of their way to experience them • Good visual amenity – where the quality of existing views is such that there are few incongruous elements and the views are enjoyed by local people on a day to day basis • Fair visual amenity – where the quality of existing views is such that there are a number of incongruous elements and local people are likely to be indifferent to the view • Poor visual amenity – where the quality of existing views is such that the incongruous elements dominate and the view is not likely to be valued by local people. 4 ASSESSMENT OF LIKELY LANDSCAPE EFFECTS 4.1 The Proposals 4.1.1 For an Assessment the Proposals will be well advanced with detailed plans available; this will include proposals to remove or change any existing landscape elements, the introduction of new landscape elements (the Landscape Proposals), the preparation of management proposals or a change of use that would affect the landscape. Phasing and construction are also considered. 4.1.2 The Landscape Proposals will include measures designed to avoid, reduce, remedy, or compensate for potential landscape and visual effects; this element of the Proposals is described as mitigation. Other Landscape Proposals are intended as enhancement of the Site.

4.2 Identifying the Landscape Effects 4.2.1 The effects are the changes to the Site, quantitative or qualitative, compared with a scenario without the Proposals. Effects can be adverse or beneficial, direct, indirect or cumulative. 4.2.2 An assessment is made of the ability (the susceptibility) of the existing landscape to accommodate the specific proposed changes without undue negative consequences on the local landscape character. This is combined with the value of the landscape receptors identified in the Landscape Baseline to judge the sensitivity of the landscape receptors. The characteristics

LLA LVIA Methodology 13.11.28 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment: Methodology 3

of the Proposals and the magnitude of change is identified and judged against the sensitivity of the landscape receptors; these factors all combine to assess the significance of the landscape effect. 4.3 Magnitude of Change 4.3.1 With this Methodology magnitude of change is described but not ascribed a value. The description of the magnitude of change will include the likely extent, scale and duration of: • Changes to the existing landscape fabric (eg the loss of trees and hedges or other landscape features) • New elements introduced to the Site (built and natural) • Changes to local perceptions of the Site. 4.4 Assessing Susceptibility for Landscape Effects 4.4.1 The following definitions are used for this assessment although, as there are always many variables, it is sometimes necessary to review these for specific development proposals. The core definitions which are reviewed for individual assessments are: • High Susceptibility: A finely balanced landscape where the landscape character is so well defined that even a small-scale development might cause a significant loss of key characteristics, individual elements or features and specific aesthetic or perceptual aspects or, overall landscape character • Medium/High: An established landscape with a well-defined character where only well-considered changes could be accommodated without loss of key characteristics, individual elements or features and specific aesthetic or perceptual aspects or, overall landscape character • Medium Susceptibility: An established landscape where change of an appropriate nature could be absorbed without loss of key characteristics, individual elements or features and specific aesthetic or perceptual aspects or, overall landscape character • Medium/Low Susceptibility: A damaged or robust landscape where appropriate change can be absorbed and could contribute to the restoration of key characteristics, individual elements or features and specific aesthetic or perceptual aspects or, overall local landscape character • Low Susceptibility: A damaged landscape where change would bring opportunities for the significant enhancement of key characteristics, individual elements or features and specific aesthetic or perceptual aspects, the overall local landscape character or the creation of a new landscape. 4.5 Assessment of the Significance of Landscape Effects 4.5.1 For each effect on the existing landscape receptors that is described, the significance of the effect is evaluated. Qualitative assessments of the significance are based on the nature of the attributes affected, the contribution that they make to local landscape character (their value), the susceptibility of the landscape receptor, and the degree of change that the Proposals will produce. The effects of new elements are evaluated based on their scale, congruity/incongruity and degree of change that will result. 4.5.2 Effects can be adverse or beneficial. Where the Proposals are judged to cause deterioration to the landscape resource / local landscape character this is described as an adverse effect. Where the Proposals are judged to increase the value of the Site to the landscape resource / local landscape character this is described as a beneficial effect. 4.5.3 The definitions for the likely significant landscape effects are: • Substantial adverse effect: The Proposals would do one or more of the following to a major degree: change the landscape character type; result in a total loss or major alteration to key attributes and their setting; cause deterioration to the contribution that the Site makes or has the potential to make to the local landscape character; fail to contribute to green infrastructure; conflict with guidelines for the landscape character area and with government policy towards the protection and enhancement of the countryside. • Moderate adverse effect: The Proposals would do one or more of the following to a moderate degree: change the landscape character type; result in a partial loss of key attributes, or reduce or remove their setting; cause a noticeable deterioration to the contribution that the Site makes or has the potential to make to the local landscape character; fail to contribute to green infrastructure; conflict with guidelines for the landscape character area and with government policy towards the protection and enhancement of the countryside • Slight adverse effect: The Proposals would do one or more of the following to a minor degree: change the landscape character type; result in a minor loss of key/characteristic elements or features or their setting reduced; cause a minor deterioration to the contribution that the Site makes or has the potential to make to the local landscape character; fail to contribute to green infrastructure; conflict with guidelines for the landscape character area and with government policy towards the protection and enhancement of the countryside. • Neutral effect: The Proposals would do one or more of the following: make no change to the landscape character type; maintain existing landscape character and green infrastructure; avoid conflict with guidelines for the landscape character area and government policy towards protection and enhancement of the countryside; a neutral effect can also be the result of the removal of incongruous or intrusive elements and the introduction of new elements. • Slight beneficial effect: The Proposals would do one or more of the following to a minor degree: reinforce the landscape character type; make a minor improvement to the contribution that the Site makes to the local existing landscape character; have potential to contribute to green infrastructure; support objectives for local guidelines for the landscape character area and government policy for the protection and enhancement of the countryside. • Moderate beneficial effect: The Proposals would do one or more of the following to a moderate degree: reinforce the landscape character type; make a noticeable improvement to the contribution that the Site makes to the local landscape character through well-designed planting and mitigation measures; have potential to contribute to green infrastructure;

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support objectives, for local guidelines for the landscape character area and government policy for the protection and enhancement of the countryside. • Substantial beneficial effect: The Proposals would do one or more of the following to a major degree: reinforce the landscape character type; mitigate substantially an existing severe adverse effect; make a major improvement in the contribution that the landscape makes to the local landscape character by restoring the integrity of a damaged landscape; have potential to contribute to green infrastructure; support objectives in local guidelines for the landscape character area and government policy for the protection and enhancement of the countryside. 5 ASSESSMENT OF LIKELY VISUAL EFFECTS 5.1 Identifying the Visual Effects 5.1.1 The visual effects are the potential changes to the Site, quantitative or qualitative, compared with a scenario without the Proposals. Effects can be adverse or beneficial, direct, indirect or cumulative. 5.1.2 The likely nature of the view of the development is assessed at identified viewpoints, or groups of representative viewpoints; for example the elevation of the view; a full, partial or glimpsed view; the proportion of the development that would be visible; the distance of the viewpoint for the development; the scale and proximity of the view of the development; whether the view is stationary, transient or sequential; changes in the existing skyline profile, creation of a new visual focus in the view, introduction of new man-made objects, changes in visual simplicity or complexity, alteration of visual scale, and changes to the degree of visual enclosure. 5.1.3 In addition the elevation and distance of the viewpoint in relation to the proposed development are considered. Distance is dependent on the nature of the setting. A close view is defined as a view from within the immediate vicinity of the proposed development. Other views are defined as: • Local: within 0.5km of the development • Medium distant: 0.5km to 1km from the development • Distant: 1km or more from the development. 5.2 Assessment of the Significance of Visual Effects 5.2.1 The magnitude of the change in view is considered in the light of: the susceptibility/sensitivity of the visual receptor (the viewer); the value attached to the views or visual amenity; the size and scale of the development; the geographical extent of the area influenced; duration and reversibility. The significance of the change for the visual amenity of the viewer is assessed, using the criteria set out below. • Substantial adverse effect: The Proposals would cause a major deterioration to existing views and visual amenity by doing one or more of the following: affect people who are particularly sensitive to changes in views and visual amenity to a major degree; affect people at recognised viewpoints or important viewpoints or from recognised scenic routes to a major degree or are visible from an extensive area. • Moderate adverse effect: The Proposals would cause a moderate deterioration to existing views and visual amenity by doing one or more of the following: affect people who are sensitive to changes in views and visual amenity to a moderate degree; affect people at recognised viewpoints or important viewpoints or from recognised scenic routes to a moderate degree or be visible from a moderately extensive area. • Slight adverse effect: The Proposals would cause a slight deterioration to existing views and visual amenity by doing one or more of the following: affect people who are sensitive to changes in views and visual amenity to a limited degree; affect people at recognised viewpoints or important viewpoints or from recognised scenic routes to a limited degree or be visible from a small area. • Negligible effect: Where changes are visible with the Proposals but they are not readily discernible, often because they are distant views. • Neutral effect: Where there are noticeable changes from the Proposals but no deterioration or improvement to existing views and the visual amenity. • No change: Where one might expect change from the Proposals but none is likely to be experienced. • Slight beneficial effect: The Proposals would cause a minor improvement to the existing visual amenity by doing one or more of the following: enhance views that are enjoyed by people who are sensitive to changes in views and visual amenity to a limited degree; enhance views from recognised viewpoints or important viewpoints or from recognised scenic routes to a limited degree. • Moderate beneficial effect: The Proposals would cause a moderate improvement to the existing visual amenity by doing one or more of the following: enhance views that are enjoyed by people who are sensitive to changes in views and visual amenity to a moderate degree; enhance views from recognised viewpoints or important viewpoints or from recognised scenic routes to a moderate degree. • Major beneficial effect: Where the Proposals would cause a major improvement to the existing visual amenity by doing one or more of the following: enhance views that are enjoyed by people who are sensitive to changes in views and visual amenity to a major degree; enhance views from recognised viewpoints or important viewpoints or from recognised scenic routes to a major degree.

5.2.2 The change in view after new planting has grown is also assessed at least 10 years after planting. A night-time assessment may also be undertaken; the significance of changes in night-time visual amenity is generally assessed separately.

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6 CUMULATIVE EFFECTS 6.1 Definitions and Scope 6.1.1 The Guidelines (7.3) define cumulative effects as follows: • ‘Cumulative effects - the additional changes caused by a proposed development in conjunction with other similar developments or as the combined effect of a set of developments, taken together’ (Scottish National Heritage (SNH), 2012, 4) • Cumulative landscape effects can impact on either the physical fabric or character of the landscape, or any special values attached to it (SNH, 2012:10) • Cumulative visual effects can be caused by combined visibility, which occurs where the observer is able to see two or more developments from one viewpoint and/or sequential effects which occur when the observer has to move to another viewpoint to see different developments’ (SNH 2012: 11).

6.1.2 The Guidelines (7.28) state that ‘[T]he emphasis must always be on the main project being assessed and how or whether it adds to or combines with the others being considered to create a significant cumulative effect’. 6.2 Defining the Study Area 6.2.1 If the competent authority is unable to provide guidance professional judgement will be applied as to: • whether the assessment should include one of, or a combination of other examples of the same type of development as the main project or other types of development including those that may arise as an indirect consequence of the main project under consideration • whether the assessment should include schemes of a similar type to the scheme considered in the main project LVIA, already constructed, schemes with planning permission, schemes that are the subject of a valid planning application that has not yet to be determined and schemes pre-planning as well as the main project • how the study area will be defined for both the cumulative landscape and visual effects assessment eg by using the boundary of the landscape character type, the Zone of Theoretical Visibility (ZTV) defined in the LVIA for the main project and the areas of overlap with the ZTV defined for the other schemes or a study area agreed with local stakeholders. 6.3 Assessment of Effects 6.3.1 The assessment of the cumulative landscape and visual effects will follow the same procedures as for the main project being assessed. If the content of the LVIAs for all the selected projects is inconsistent, it will be necessary to carry out further assessment to bring them all to a similar standard. If this is unrealistic, the Guidelines advise (7.18) that ‘[A] more comprehensive overview of the cumulative effects must rest with the competent authority’. 6.3.2 If the competent authority is unable to provide guidance, a professional judgement will be made as to whether ‘to focus primarily on the additional effects of the main project under consideration, or on the combined effects of all the past, present and future proposals together with the new project’. 6.3.3 In the assessment of the cumulative visual effects, views of the proposed developments will be assessed as to whether they are in combination and/or in succession as set out in Table 7.1 from the Guidelines. 6.3.4 If appropriate, consultation with the competent authority will be undertaken to clarify the need for mitigation provided by modification or design changes to the main project and the need for collaboration on neighbouring projects.

7 THE METHODOLOGY 7.1 The Methodology 7.1.1 This Methodology has been developed by Liz Lake Associates over a number of years. It has been revised regularly and the most recent revision was in November 2013. Experience shows that the Methodology has to be regularly reviewed as it is tested against individual projects and continuing developments in this field of work. Liz Lake Associates reserve the right to amend the Methodology as the technique becomes more established.

LLA LVIA Methodology 13.11.28 Appendix D LAND SOUTH OF GREEN LANE EAST, RACKHEATH

LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT

APPENDIX D - SURROUNDING DEVELOPMENTS PLANS