Trowbridge Recreation Strategy and Visitor Surveys

Trowbridge Recreation Strategy and Visitor Surveys.

Chris Panter, Sophie Lake & Durwyn Liley

FOOTPRINT ECOLOGY, FOREST OFFICE, BERE ROAD, WAREHAM, DORSET BH20 7PA WWW.FOOTPRINT-ECOLOGY.CO.UK 01929 552444

Footprint Contract Reference: 400 Date: 6th November 2018 Version: Final Recommended Citation: Panter, C., Lake, S. & Liley D. (2018). Trowbridge Visitor Survey and Recreation Management Strategy. Unpublished report by Footprint Ecology for Wiltshire Council.

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY

Summary

This report has been commissioned by Wiltshire Council to consider recreation and urban pressures on the nature conservation interest of woodland near to Trowbridge. The adopted Wiltshire Core Strategy sets out a provision for a considerable amount of development in Trowbridge (allocating 5860 dwellings), including an allocation for a major urban extension (2,600 dwellings) to the east of the town. In addition, further residential development at the town will come forward through the Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan. Habitats Regulations Assessment work has identified potential risks to the Bath and Bradford-on-Avon Bats Special Area of Conservation (SAC), as some of the woods outside Trowbridge (while outside the SAC) support bats that are part of the SAC population. Part of the concerns relate to the increased recreation and urban pressures on the woods, which hold maternity roosts for Bechstein’s Bats.

The Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan is considering several options around Trowbridge, which include sites at varying distances from the woods. The Council has also received a significant number of speculative planning applications for major housing development on the periphery of the town. While the effects of the Core Strategy and allocated urban extension have already been considered and mitigated through appropriate assessment, the HRAs for the Housing Site Allocations Plan and some pending applications have yet to be completed. These will rely on a Council led mitigation scheme. Measures being considered to avoid or mitigate impacts include:

 Managing development in close proximity to the woods (i.e. ensuring a buffer between the woods and development);  improved management of the woodlands;  improvements to the recreational opportunities (away from the woods) available to residents of Trowbridge; and  landscape scale improvement to habitat networks for bats.

In this report, we collect evidence to identify measures that will be relevant and appropriate to Trowbridge and we make recommendations for avoidance and mitigation measures. These will be incorporated into a Trowbridge Bat Mitigation Strategy that is being produced by the Council.

The evidence is collected in three main approaches. Firstly, we present findings from a visitor survey of the woods and surrounding greenspace. This provides information on levels of current use of different sites, why people choose different sites and what management might work to influence and change people’s access patterns. We also undertook semi-structured interviews with selected stakeholders to supplement the information from the face-face survey, to understand current issues with management of the woods and opportunities. The 3

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY third element to the report is a literature review to identify issues relating to recreation use/urban effects on woodlands, focussing on bats and also reviewing particular approaches to mitigation (exclusion zones and alternative greenspace).

Key findings from these three elements are:

Visitor Survey

 15 survey points were surveyed during the period late May – end June 2017. Survey points included the bat woodland sites and other greenspace sites. 16 hours survey effort was conducted at each location.  In total 2,924 people (1,840 groups) and 1,588 dogs were counted across all survey points. These equate to 0.54 dogs per person.  The main car-park at Southwick Country Park was the busiest location (average of 47 people per hour passing). Paxcroft Mead was also busy (34 and 27 people passing per hour at the two locations surveyed).  Estimates of total visitor numbers to sites highlight that the bat woodland sites are relatively quiet (up to 0.2 per ha per hour), and Biss Wood was particularly quiet (0.02 people per ha per hour). The other greenspace sites were much busier, for example Southwick Country Park was estimated to have 0.44 people per ha per hour and Biss Meadows and Paxcroft Mead around 0.9 people per ha per hr.  A total of 487 interviews were conducted.  Virtually all (98%) of interviewees were on a day trip/short visit directly for home  Dog walking was the main activity across all locations (79% of interviewees). Similar proportions of dog walkers were recorded at the woodland bat sites (80%) and the other greenspace sites (78%).  The other greenspace sites tended to have a greater range of activities (e.g. no interviewees at the woodland bat sites were: meeting up with friends, walking to the shops, school run/commuting, professional dog walking, enjoying scenery and bird/wildlife watching).  People tended to make longer visits to the bat woodland sites, with on average 40% of interviewees suggesting their visit would last for more than 1 hour, compared to 13% at the other greenspace sites.  Roughly two thirds (65%) of interviewees arrived at sites on foot. Clanger and Picket Wood and Southwick Country Park (main car-park) were the locations with high proportions of interviewees arriving by car.  On average, the distance between the home postcode of interviewees and the survey point where interviewed was 2.5km, but half of all postcodes were within a 700m radius and three quarters within in a 1.8 km radius.  There were significant differences between the distances (home postcode to survey point) for those visiting woodland bat sites and other greenspace sites, with people coming from further afield at the woodland bat sites.  Visit rates (i.e. number of interviewees per household) indicates that foot visitors tend to show that the woodland sites draw visitors on foot from a radius of around 600m, beyond this

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distance visit rates are low and constant. Green Lane Wood has a much stronger draw than the other sites.  Visit rates for those travelling by car show a particularly strong draw for Clanger and Picket Wood, with visit rates much higher than other sites. At distances around 2km visit rates are relatively low and change little with increasing distance.  Most interviewees had been visiting sites for some years, with at least 20% of interviewees visiting more than 10 years at all sites. Green Lane Wood was significantly different from other sites in the proportions of interviewees that had been visiting for relatively short periods; at this site 39% had been visiting less than 2 years.  Interviewees undertook longer walks at the woodland sites (median route length 2.4km) compared to the other greenspace sites (median 1.5km).  Some of the sites with the longer median route lengths were the larger sites (Clanger and Picket Wood, Green Lane Wood – includes the nature park extension). Hilperton Gap was notable in that it is a large site yet route lengths here tended to be short, with interviewees only walking round part of the site.  People choose to visit sites because they are close to home; overall this was the most common reason cited at sites and the most common single ‘main’ reason at most sites. Proximity to home was less important at the woodland bat sites, and at Clanger and Picket Wood the most commonly cited main reason for people visiting was because the site is good for the dog/dog enjoys it. For the woodland bat sites the wild nature and general scenery were important factors, much less so at the other greenspace sites.  Anti-social behaviours were noted by interviewees at all sites and provide evidence of issues potentially of concern with respect to bats, such a damage to trees/vegetation, fires and vandalism. Issues noted by at least 25% of interviewees at sites included camping (Green Lane Wood and Biss Meadows), fires (Green Lane Wood), dogs out of control (Southwick Country Park) and ‘other’ (Green Lane Wood, Biss Meadows and Paxcroft Mead).  Interviewees suggested a range of measures for improvements to access at sites with measures relating to dog fouling/more bins the most common across all sites.

Stakeholder Interviews

Interviews were conducted with representatives from a Local school (Castle Mead School); Council Rangers (responsible for management at Biss Meadows and Southwick Country Park); Wiltshire Wildlife Trust (responsible for Green Lane Wood and Biss Wood); Wilshire Council (public health); the Local Scout Group (there is a dedicated scout facility at the edge of Green Lane Wood) and Natural England (statutory nature conservation advice). Key points included:

 The school is keen to use the surrounding environment and currently use Biss Woods around four times per year.  The amount of dog mess is a current constraint/issue with school visits to local sites  The schools would like to have a designated area they can use for outdoor learning  There is a need to create safe ways for children to walk and cycle to school

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 Castle Mead School has a bat as its logo and each year is named after a different bat species.  Southwick Park is well used by dog walkers and also draws large numbers of people for Park Run events. While the events are beneficial in promoting physical activity, there are issues with wear and tear and the car-park is not sufficient to absorb the parking pressures.  Southwick Park currently hosts brownies/guides, school events and family events.  There is the Hope Nature Centre at Southwick Country Park which has a café and toilets, plus a small number of animals for children to pet and feed.  Anti-social behaviour at Southwick Country Park and Biss Meadows does occur but is at a relatively low level, and has included vandalism, rubbish dumping, damage to fences and fires.  Dog mess issues are believed to be increasing at Biss Meadows and Southwick Country Park.  Budget limitations mean maintenance costs at Southwick County Park and Biss Meadows are a concern. Facilities such as dedicated dog training areas have been considered in the past but have not been affordable.  Green Lane Wood is well used for recreation and numbers of dog walkers is a cause of concern through the creation of new paths, disturbance and nutrient enrichment.  Access makes deer management challenging, particularly at Biss Wood (deer browsing has a significant impact on the vegetation structure within the woods)  Camp fires occur within Green Lane Wood, particularly during the school holidays. Both dead and newly felled wood are burnt. Bat boxes have also been vandalised in the past.  Increasing pressure on the woods from recreation and urban development is a concern for the Wildlife Trust at Green Lane Wood. Although concerned about the impacts of increased visitor numbers, WWT wish to enable local residents to have access to nature and to be involved in community wildlife projects. This will require greater investment in community engagement, and is awaiting the formal handover of the Green Lane nature park to WWT.  Trowbridge includes some of the most deprived areas in Wiltshire. Greenspace is recognised as important in promoting physical activity and in terms of public health, approaches that would make Trowbridge a more walking friendly environment would be welcomed. If greenspace is to be effective in promoting health activity, local communities need to have a sense of ownership of the space.  Scout groups and other youth organisations are increasingly using the new facilities at Jubilee Woods Scout Camp, which abuts Biss Woods.  Activities include camping, archery, mountain biking, go-carting etc. The scouts frequently undertake conservation work (coppicing, making bird and bat boxes etc.) and also use the woods for hiking.  Proposed nearby development raises a number of concerns relating to the Scout’s activities, through increased numbers of people walking through the sites, increased dog waste, vandalism, trespassing and safeguarding issues for children.  Natural England advised that, given the lack of knowledge about Bechstein’s Bats, there is a need for a precautionary approach with respect to impacts from development. Increases in recreation at the woodland sites may be impossible to avoid and landscape scale habitat measures to increase connectivity will ensure the bat population is more robust.

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Bechstein’s Bats are strongly associated with ancient woodland and are present in the woods around the periphery of Trowbridge over the spring-autumn period. They roost in trees, often using old woodpecker holes and roost sites are switched frequently. Threats to the species are poorly understood. It occurs at a low population density and is hard to record. It may be vulnerable to damage to habitat, loss/destruction of roosts and disturbance. The ecology of Bechstein’s Bat makes it particularly vulnerable to impacts from urbanisation.

Impacts of urbanisation include landscape scale impacts such as; loss of foraging habitat, fragmentation/isolation of colonies and disruption of commuting routes. In our review, we focus on more local, direct impacts and identify the following potential areas of concern:

 Trampling of vegetation, leading to changes in species composition, loss of vegetation and erosion.  Disturbance from the presence of people and their activities  Noise  Light pollution  ‘General’ urban effects: dumping of waste, damage, vandalism, fires etc.  Spread of plants including alien species  Cat predation

There is insufficient information to identify particular thresholds of access, activities that should be singled out or levels of development at which impacts occur, however the review does highlight risks for Bechstein’s Bat. These risks relate to the overall pressure on the woodland sites, which are themselves relatively fragmented. These pressures will grow with increased levels of development.

We also review mitigation approaches for urban development, considering the use of exclusion zones and the provision of alternative greenspace. A range of examples from around the country are considered.

We use the evidence gathered to make recommendations for mitigation measures which will ensure adverse effects on integrity of the bat interest can be avoided or mitigated for. In summary, we recommend that:

 The surrounding 600m around the woodland sites should be established as exclusion/ constraint zones where new development is limited;  Greenspace sites should be improved and enhanced to absorb recreation and other pressures from new development;

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 The bat woodland sites should have measures in place to ensure they are robust in terms of future recreation and use, without overly drawing new visitors or recreation pressure.

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Contents

Summary ...... 3 Visitor Survey ...... 4

Stakeholder Interviews ...... 5

Literature Review ...... 7

Contents ...... 9

Acknowledgements ...... 11

1. Introduction ...... 12 Growth in and around Trowbridge ...... 12

Nature conservation issues and the Bath and Bradford-on-Avon Bats SAC ...... 12

The need for this report ...... 14

2. Methods ...... 17 Stakeholder interviews ...... 23

Literature review ...... 23

3. Visitor Survey Results ...... 24 Tally data ...... 24

Estimates of visitor rates from the tally data ...... 28

Questionnaire data ...... 31

Visit type ...... 31

Activities ...... 32

Visit duration and frequency ...... 35

Timing of visits ...... 36 Transport...... 37

Home postcodes ...... 39

Time at current address ...... 48

Routes ...... 48

Reasons for visiting...... 53

Alternative Sites ...... 55

Anti-social behaviours ...... 57 9

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Improvements to the current site ...... 59

Improvements to other Trowbridge greenspaces ...... 60

4. Telephone interviews ...... 63 Castle Mead Primary School ...... 63

Wiltshire Council Rights of Way and Countryside Team (Alison Rasey) ...... 64

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust Reserves Manager (Ashley White) ...... 65

John Goodall, consultant in public health, Wiltshire Council ...... 67

John Cox, Jubilee Woods Scout Camp ...... 68

Natural England (Charles Routh, Lead Advisor, Planning & Licencing, Somerset, Avon and Wiltshire Area Team) ...... 69

5. Literature review ...... 72 The status and ecology of Bechstein’s Bat ...... 72

Impacts of development, including recreation and anti-social behaviour, on woodland . 73

Trampling and habitat effects ...... 73 Disturbance to wildlife ...... 74 Noise ...... 75 Light ...... 76 Other ‘general’ urban effects ...... 76 Invasive alien species ...... 77 Cat predation ...... 77 Mitigation Approaches: Exclusion Zones and Alternative Greenspace (‘SANGs’) ...... 78

Exclusion zones ...... 78 Examples ...... 78 Setting zones ...... 79 Examples of policy wording ...... 80 Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspaces (SANGs) ...... 81 Introduction ...... 81 Potential concerns and limitations to the approach ...... 83 Level of SANGs provision and enhancement of existing greenspace sites ...... 83 Design components for effective SANGs ...... 84

6. Recommendations for avoidance and mitigation ...... 86 Overall aims and objectives ...... 86

Recommendations ...... 87

A) Establish a 600m exclusion zone around the woodland sites...... 87 B) Improvements/changes to parking at woodland bat sites ...... 87 C) New interpretation and signage at woodland bat sites ...... 88 D) Improvements to paths within the woodland bat sites ...... 88 10

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E) Fencing at bat woodland sites ...... 89 F) Increase wardening presence at the woodland bat sites and other greenspace sites ...... 89 G) Engagement with visitors and the community ...... 89 H) Provision of outdoor learning space for schools ...... 91 I) Infrastructure enhancement to existing greenspace sites outside the bat woodlands ...... 92 J) Signage and interpretation at other greenspace sites away from the bat woodlands ...... 94 K) Creation of additional green infrastructure ...... 95 L) Creation of a forum ...... 97 M) Monitoring ...... 97

7. References ...... 105

Appendix 1: Visitor survey questionaire ...... 112

Acknowledgements

This work was commissioned by Wiltshire Council. Our thanks to Jon Taylor for his input in developing and commissioning the work and to Louisa Kilgallen for overseeing the work. Geoff Winslow provided useful discussion. We are grateful to a number of individuals for organising access to sites: Emma Glover, Lisa Lowton and Alison Rasey (all Wiltshire Council); Ross Kennerley and Justin Milward (Woodland Trust); Louise Steele (Framptons) and Stephen Davies, Neil Pullen and Ashley White (all Wiltshire Wildlife Trust). Our thanks also to the participants in the telephone interviewees who gave their time and expertise; Alison Rasey and John Goodall (Wiltshire Council), Ashley White (Wiltshire Wildlife Trust), Mel Jacob (Castle Mead Primary School) and John Cox (Jubilee Woods Scout Camp). Additionally, Keith Cohen (Independent Consultant Ecologist), provided advice and useful discussion regarding the ecology of the bats in Green Lane Woods Visitor survey work was undertaken by Caroline Kelly, Chris Sadler, Su Powner and Doug Whyte, and data entered by Debbie Blake (all Footprint Ecology). We are grateful to all those people who gave up their time while visiting the various sites to participate in the survey and be interviewed.

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1. Introduction

This report has been commissioned by Wiltshire Council to consider recreation and urban pressures on the nature conservation interest of in woodlands near to Trowbridge. The adopted Wiltshire Core Strategy sets out a provision for a considerable amount of housing in Trowbridge (allocating 5860 dwellings), including significant area of land allocated for a major urban extension (2,600 dwellings) to the east of the town. Habitats Regulations Assessment work identified potential risks to the Bath and Bradford-on-Avon Bats Special Area of Conservation (SAC), which is functionally linked to the woods near to Trowbridge. While these impacts were addressed through HRA's for the Core Strategy and the urban extension, the HRA for the forthcoming Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan has yet to be completed. This report explores the issues for the Housing Site Allocations Plan in more detail, providing evidence for the scale of potential impacts and potential approaches to mitigation.

Growth in and around Trowbridge

The Wiltshire Core Strategy was adopted in January 2015, and sets the strategic vision for growth through to 2026. The Plan makes provision for at least 42,000 new homes in Wiltshire.

In total, the Core Strategy sets out a level of development of 5,860 new dwellings for Trowbridge. The key element is the Ashton Park Urban Extension, a very significant addition to the south east of the town, intended to deliver 2,600 homes as well as employment land and key infrastructure that is integrated with the existing settlement. Core Policy 29 of the Core Strategy confirms that Ashton Park will require a bespoke assessment and mitigation strategy to ensure impacts on the SAC are avoided. Additional housing on top of this is being considered through the Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan which will be subject to further assessment of effects on protected bat species and their habitats to ensure they are properly safeguarded.

Nature conservation issues and the Bath and Bradford-on-Avon Bats SAC

The Core Strategy was accompanied by Habitats Regulations Assessment work, which was able to conclude no adverse effects on the integrity of European sites. The Core Strategy is however a strategic document and both the Council and the Inspector (see Seaman 2014) recognised the need for further project level work in relation to strategic allocations that are sensitively located in relation to Natura 2000 sites.

For Trowbridge, the Core Strategy recognised a need that development proposals should consider and seek to deliver appropriate measures to ensure that potentially harmful recreational pressures upon woodland sites to the south east of Trowbridge are avoided in 12

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the first instance and/or mitigated. Of particular importance, the woodland sites to the south east of Trowbridge support a breeding population of Bechstein’s Bats, associated with the Bath and Bradford Bats Special Area of Conservation (SAC)1. The Core Strategy requires that development will not adversely affect the SAC and will ensure that connectivity with the SAC is maintained, having particular regard to the relevant guidance2. There are three areas of woodland of particular concern (see Map 1): Biss Wood, Picket & Clanger Wood and Green Lane Wood. These woods are over 5km from the nearest part of the SAC, but the bats are mobile and the SAC itself consists of a number of isolated locations around Bradford-on-Avon and Bath.

Bechstein’s Bats are a protected species, strongly associated with deciduous woodland and tend to roost in tree holes (e.g. woodpecker holes), crevices or under bark, occasionally also using bird or bat boxes. Males are solitary while females form maternity colonies, these colonies involve breeding and non-breeding bats and the bats regularly split-up into subgroups and move between roosts, with individual bats switching roosts on average every other day (Kerth, Weissmann & König 2001). As such the bats can be dispersed within a woodland and are potentially vulnerable to any changes that might occur in or around the wood. Furthermore, the resources required by bats, such as the availability of cavities or good feeding sites, are dynamic features in the landscape and fossilising the current distributions and patterns may jeopardise the long term resilience of the populations.

Potential risks to the SAC from development are varied and urban development is recognised as a factor affecting the distribution and occurrence of bats (Border et al. 2017). Bats roam widely to forage and are sensitive to lighting and the presence of built development (e.g. Stone, Jones & Harris 2009). There is therefore a risk of impacts from the direct loss of foraging habitat or the disruption/loss of commuting routes due to development, light pollution etc. Collisions with vehicles is a cause of direct mortality (Lesiński, Sikora & Olszewski 2010). Furthermore, roost sites and breeding sites are potentially sensitive to direct and indirect effects. The presence of people in and around roost or breeding sites may result in changes to vegetation structure, damage to the roost/breeding site or disturbance resulting in increased stress or desertion. These latter effects are perhaps hardest to quantify. Recreation pressure, vandalism and damage to the habitats may be directly linked to levels of local housing, but at present there is little information as to the scale and proximity of development and scale of impact. Finally, it could also be hypothesised that recreational disturbance may affect the distribution and nest locations for woodpeckers, which may even have consequences for Bechstein’s through reduced availability of holes to roost in.

1 The SAC qualifies for the presence of Greater Horseshoe Bats, Bechstein’s Bat and Lesser Horseshoe Bat, see JNCC website for details. 2 See Bat Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) planning guidance for Wiltshire 13

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While the focus of the report relates to the SAC, Picket and Clanger Woods is a SSSI3, designated for its flora, invertebrates and breeding bird assemblage.

The need for this report

Wiltshire Council is currently preparing an allocations DPD and is considering several options around Trowbridge, which include sites at varying distances from the woods. The Council has also received a significant number of speculative planning applications for major housing development on the periphery of the town. The DPD and the pending applications will require a HRA of the likely significant effects upon the SAC, which include the potential in combination effects of recreational pressure.

The Council has prepared a draft HRA for the emerging allocations DPD which attempts to assess the effects of recreational pressure on the woods as a result of the growth identified in the emerging DPD and pending applications, and includes an outline mitigation strategy to address the in-combination effects of growth. The outline mitigation strategy focusses on four key elements:

 Managing development in close proximity to the woods;  Improved management of the woodlands (e.g. wardening);  Improved recreational opportunities at Trowbridge; and  Landscape scale improvement to habitat networks for bats.

There are a number of existing greenspaces on the eastern edge of Trowbridge that provide space for public recreation. These include Southwick Country Park, Biss Meadows, Paxcroft Mead and Hilperton Gap (See Map 1). The first three are public open spaces owned by the Council while the latter is privately owned, but with public rights of way. All four sites are ones the Council has identified as having the potential to be enhanced to provide mitigation.

Furthermore, more future applications are likely to come forward on an ongoing basis and these will count towards revised housing figures expected as part of the review of the Core Strategy (which will commence in the next two years). While it is too early to anticipate a detailed mitigation scheme, this study will provide evidence about visitor patterns to underpin such a scheme as well as bespoke solutions for developments coming forward in advance of the review.

There is therefore a need to understand the potential impacts of urban development on woodland habitat that supports Bechstein’s Bat and to understand the recreation use and urban pressures on the woods around Trowbridge. Such an understanding will help to steer

3 See the citation on the Natural England website for details

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY the location of new development and the design of mitigation measures to negate and offset potential adverse effects.

It will also be necessary to ensure that there is provision for local residents of Trowbridge in terms of access to green space. Access to the countryside is important and has a range of benefits, including public health (Pretty et al. 2005; CABE Space 2010; Lee & Maheswaran 2011). An approach focussed on understanding recreational use of countryside sites by residents of Trowbridge should ensure that suitable greenspace can be provided to accommodate the growth of the town at the same time as ensuring impacts on bats are avoided.

Wiltshire Council have therefore commissioned this work which contains the following elements:

 A visitor survey of the three publicly accessible woods (Green Lane, Biss and Picket and Clanger) and nearby greenspace sites in and around Trowbridge (Southwick Country Park, Biss Meadows, Paxcroft Mead, Hilperton Gap)  Interviews with site managers, Natural England, Wiltshire Countryside Team to understand current issues around the sites and extent of potential issues such as vandalism, antisocial behaviour etc.  A literature review considering urban effects of woodlands and implications for Bechstein’s Bat and consideration of potential mitigation approaches (exclusion areas and alternative greenspaces) that are in place elsewhere in the country to mitigate for effects of urban development at other European sites.  Recommendations for exclusion areas, visitor catchments, provision of green infrastructure (including indicative costs and timescales). It is intended that this work will support the preparation of a bat mitigation strategy for Trowbridge which will identify improvements in recreational facilities and bat habitat to enable further development to occur there without leading to adverse effects on the SAC. The proposed development of 2600 dwellings at Ashton Park however will not rely on this strategy as it will deliver a bespoke mitigation package secured through planning conditions and a S106 agreement.

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2. Methods

Visitor Surveys at woodlands and other greenspaces

Visitor surveys were conducted to estimate levels of visitor use (particularly for the woods), types of visitors, distances travelled and thoughts on current and future management. Surveys were on site, face-to-face interviews with users at each of the seven sites. As well as a questionnaire conducted with visitors, surveyors maintained a tally count of the number of people seen to be using the site.

Survey points were selected following a site visit and liaison with site owners/managers. This ensures surveying locations are effective, such that visitors be easily intercepted where it is safe to conduct interviews (i.e. not where vehicles are reversing), ideally at locations where visitor numbers can be accurately counted and a random sample of visitors easily interviewed. Survey points needed to be representative of the site and the types of visitor. For the woodland sites, we only selected locations around the edges of sites, and covering all key access points to accurately gauge visitor numbers. At the other open greenspaces, we covered both site edge access points, and path junctions or bridges inside the sites to intercept a larger number of people.

In total, 15 survey points were conducted at the seven sites as shown in Table 1. Table 1 also shows the approximate number of access points (following a site visit). It can be seen that for the woodland sites we have covered a reasonable number of the access points Full details of the exact survey point locations are given in Table 2 and shown in Map 2.

At survey point 10, the location chosen was the quieter side, deemed more likely to be used by dog walkers. As opposed to the other side of the river, which was busier, and already improved (e.g. shared cycle and pedestrian path, well managed and lit). However, during surveying it was becoming clear that the survey point location, on the west bank, was yielding extremely low numbers of interviews. As such, the survey point was switched to the other side (east bank) for one session (a two-hour period) on the weekday and weekend.

Within the analysis and data presentation we sometimes consider these either separately or pooled (e.g. when considering the site as a whole), and this is made clear within the text, tables or figures (using 10a to indicate the west bank location and 10b to for the east bank). When summarising tally data, we adjust for survey effort to give a visitor rate at each location (a and b) per hour. We do not adjust figures to account for the differences survey effort in the presentation of questionnaire data, because the detailed information arising from interviews concerning behaviours and opinions is much more variable and the number of interviews conducted at point 10a was so low (making it very difficult to scale up).

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Table 1: Sites to be surveyed, the approximate number of access points (based on review of maps) and the number of survey points used for each.

Approximate number of Number of survey points access points

Woodland Visitor Surveys Green Lane Wood (WWT) 4 3 Biss Wood (WWT) 2 2 Picket and Clanger Wood (Woodland 3 1 Trust) Other Greenspace Visitor Surveys Southwick Country Park (Council) 7 2 Biss Meadows (Council) 10 2 Paxcroft Mead (Council) 11 2 (central) Hilperton Gap (Private) 15 3 Total 52 15

Table 2: Full details of the survey point locations and how tally counts were conducted at each.

ID Name Location Details Tally Count

Clanger and Simple entering and leaving Picket into woods, also anyone 1 On the main path, just beyond the car park. Woods Main passing within wood counted Car Park separately Entry point from Green Lane Nature Park/ Simple entering and leaving Jubilee Woods. Surveying in woods, at Biss Wood into woods, also anyone 2 information board, located in woods rather Foot Access passing within wood counted than in the parking areas to intercept any separately visitors moving within the site. Simple entering and leaving Green Lane On the main path, just beyond the car park (at into woods, also anyone 3 Wood Main information board) passing within wood counted Car Park separately At T junction on new gravel path in Green Simple entering and leaving Green Lane Lane Nature Park which heads into Green into woods, also anyone 4 Wood New Lane Wood. Will include interviews of those passing within Green Lane Access accessing the Nature Park as well as Green Nature Park counted Lane Woods separately Simple entering and leaving Green Lane into woods, also anyone Entry point at new gates on South West 5 Wood New passing within Green Lane corner of Green Lane Wood. Access Nature Park counted separately At vehicle access point into Biss Woods (no Simple entering and leaving Biss Wood parking signs in place, but sometimes into woods, also anyone 6 Vehicle ignored). Survey point located in woods rather passing within wood counted Entrance than in the parking areas to intercept any separately visitors moving within the site. 18

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ID Name Location Details Tally Count

Southwick Foot access point from Southwick village, Simple entering and leaving Country beside the allotments. Survey point set into from access point, also anyone 7 Park Foot the site (at information board) to include passing within site counted Access those passing within the site. separately Southwick Simple entering and leaving Interviewing at main car park, focusing on Country from access point, also anyone 8 those heading north (i.e. not those heading to Park Main passing within site counted the Hope Nature Centre) Car Park separately. Interviewing in the site on the path into site Simple entering and leaving Biss from new housing (Old Farm Road) along from access point, also anyone 9 Meadows West Ashton Road. Survey location at point passing within site counted (East) where survey point meets circular path to separately intercept users on the site. Located on path running alongside River Biss Simple entering and leaving Biss at point where the path leads up to the road from access point, also anyone 10 Meadows bridge (Broadcloth Lane/Hargreaves Road) passing within site counted (West) over the river. separately Located on pedestrian bridge over Paxcroft Brook (first bridge south west of road bridge No entering/leaving count - Paxcroft 11 (Leap Gate)). Path links housing north and only passing within site Mead south of greenspace, but also provides access counted to Hackett place facilities/primary school. Located on pedestrian bridge over Paxcroft entering / leaving count of Brook (second bridge north east of road Paxcroft those from path heading east 12 bridge (Leap Gate)). Survey point includes Mead to school. Anyone else those heading on the path between the counted as passing within site. primary school and Hackett place facilities Entering / leaving count of those from two access points back to Horse Road (combined Hilperton Surveying in the fields at Hilperton Marsh, as single count), also anyone 13 Marsh covering the two footpath access points from passing within site counted (north) Horse Road. separately. Also noting people using parking space visible off Elizabeth way. Entering / leaving count of those from two access points Hilperton Surveying in the fields at Hilperton Marsh, back to Wyke Road /Victoria 14 Marsh covering the two access points from Wyke Road (combined as single (south) Road and Victoria Road. count), also anyone passing within site counted separately. Entering / leaving count of those from two access points Surveying in the fields at Hilperton Gap, on back to Middle Lane/St Hilperton 15 the southern corner of the field with the war Michael Church (combined as Gap cemetery, single count), also anyone passing within site counted separately.

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY

Each survey point was surveyed for eight hours, between 7am and 7pm (four two hour sessions) on both a weekday and weekend day (i.e. 16 hours of survey work in total). During this time the surveyor maintained a count (a ‘tally’) of adults, minors, dogs and bicycles seen along with interviewing people encountered. Tally counts at an access point are formed of a count of those seen entering and leaving the site, plus any recorded just passing at the point location (i.e. moving within the site). Details of what each tally counts involved are given in Table 2. These counts enabled us to then compare sites in terms of visitor volume/footfall, and to identify what proportion of visitors were interviewed at each location. Surveyors make notes on their general thoughts and feelings on sites, but for this survey were also asked specifically to look out for any antisocial behaviours while on site.

We used our standard periods for summer surveying; 0700 – 0900; 1000-1200; 1300-1500; 1700-1900. This ensures coverage over the day while allowing the surveyor time to have comfort breaks. Potential interviewees were approached at random by selecting the next available interviewee each time. No unaccompanied minors were approached or interviewed. This interviewing procedure is accepted to not record interview data relating to those who visit outside these surveying hours (e.g. at night), those who refused to take part in the survey and children.

Each interviewer wore a green hi-vis jacket with the Footprint Ecology logo and clearly identified as a visitor surveyor, carried a name badge and had business cards to give out should members of the public wish to see identification or request further information. Where parking was available, interviewers also had a poster clearly displayed in their car- window to indicate that the visitor surveys were taking place.

The surveyors conducted the survey questionnaire on tablets using SNAP survey software, an industry standard software for questionnaire design and visitor surveys. A full version of the questionnaire is included in Appendix 1. Route data of visitors within the site was plotted in the field as part of the questionnaire on paper maps.

Visitor surveying took place at the 15 surveying points during late May to the end of June (26/05/17 -27/06/17). The exact surveying window in which these were undertaken at each location is shown in Table 3. Most sites were surveyed within a short window of two to four days, the exception to this was Biss Meadows (survey point 10), which had the weekday and weekend surveys spaced apart due to logistics of avoiding surveyors in close proximity in other sites and overall availability. Survey effort at Southwick Country Park was carefully scheduled to avoid the Park Run (our aim was to capture data representing typical use rather than the draw of particular events).

Weather during visitor surveys was generally fair, but was could be quite variable. The last days of May and early part of June were unsettled, and included some survey time periods with heavy rain. Mid- June was very favourable, although around the weekend of the 17-

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY

18th June the weather was extremely hot and including one of the hottest June days on record for England4.

Both these weather events are likely to have reduced visitor numbers, but could not be avoided, given the time schedules. During the periods of rainfall surveyors were often able to switch survey points half way during the day, and then complete the remaining half on another day and so reducing the impact of a single day of heavy rainfall. However, the extremely hot weather around the weekend of the 17-18th June continued over several days and the use of half days in this period was unlikely to have made a difference. It was suggested by the surveyors that conditions may have been too hot for some individuals or resulted in changed visitor usual patterns (e.g. more families and dog walkers arriving later in the evening survey session).

It is also important to note that at location 15 a number of interviewees were informed by a previous interviewee that the surveys were taking place and to participate in the survey. Eight of the thirty people interviewed were known to have been told to come to take part. While this may have caused some biases (i.e. a non-random sample of interviewees), these interviews are included in the analysis as the people involved were visiting the site and may have been interviewed regardless. They do not represent a particular user group, single viewpoint or type of access.

Table 3: Dates of on-site visitor surveying

Start of surveying End of surveying ID Survey Point Name window window

1 Clanger and Picket Woods Main Car Park 13/06/2017 18/06/2017 2 Biss Wood Foot Access 02/06/2017 06/06/2017 3 Green Lane Wood Main Car Park 27/05/2017 31/05/2017 4 Green Lane Wood New Access 16/06/2017 18/06/2017 5 Green Lane Wood New Access 09/06/2017 11/06/2017 6 Biss Wood Vehicle Entrance 22/06/2017 26/06/2017 7 Southwick Country Park Foot Access 16/06/2017 19/06/2017 8 Southwick Country Park Main Car Park 26/05/2017 28/05/2017 9 Biss Meadows (East) 17/06/2017 19/06/2017 10 Biss Meadows (West) 11/06/2017 27/06/2017 11 Paxcroft Mead 16/06/2017 18/06/2017 12 Paxcroft Mead 22/06/2017 26/06/2017 13 Hilperton Marsh (north) 03/06/2017 06/06/2017 14 Hilperton Marsh (south) 10/06/2017 12/06/2017 15 Hilperton Gap 17/06/2017 19/06/2017

4 http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries/2017/june 21

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Stakeholder interviews

We conducted semi-structured telephone interviews with a number of organisations identified and agreed in advance with Wiltshire Council. Interviews covered the impacts of recreation and the management of the woodlands/potential SANGs. Interviewees involved representatives from Natural England, Wiltshire Countryside Team, Wiltshire Council (public health), Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, Castle Mead School and the Jubilee Wood Scout Camp. Unfortunately, we were not able to schedule an interview with the Woodland Trust, who are one of the key stakeholders.

Each interviewee was phoned or emailed in advanced, to set the scene for the interview and set out the broad questions we wanted to discuss.

Literature review

The literature review brings together information on particular issues identified by Wiltshire Council:

 impacts of recreation and anti-social behaviour in woodlands, focussing on implications for bats;  The use of exclusion areas (i.e. zones where development is limited/constrained) to avoid adverse effects on integrity  The creation of alternative greenspace (‘Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace’ – SANGs) as mitigation to absorb additional recreation pressure.

Rather than repeat existing reviews (such as Corney et al. 2008), we refer to relevant material and draw out key information relevant to the particular issues at Trowbridge. In terms of impacts of recreation and anti-social behaviour in woodlands, we draw on literature relevant to impacts on woodland structure and habitat that might be relevant to bats. We draw on studies that relate to all bats rather than simply Bechstein’s Bat. Urban effects outside the woodlands that might be relevant to bats (such as light pollution, loss of foraging habitat etc.) are beyond the scope of the review, which is targeted to recreation and public use of the woods.

There is little published material relating to exclusion zones and alternative greenspace. We draw on examples from other areas of the country where such measures are in place, drawing on planning policy and the evidence base used to develop that policy. Material was drawn largely from our own experience and involvement in developing mitigation in the areas of concern.

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3. Visitor Survey Results

Tally data

In total, the tally data recorded 2,924 people (of which 731 were minors) from 1,840 groups. In addition, 1,588 dogs were recorded, therefore averaging at 0.54 dogs per person, and 232 people were using bikes (approximately 8% of people).

These values could differ markedly between survey points, both in their number and relative composition of each of the count units. Table 4 presents the average hourly values for the 16 hours of surveying for each count unit and the total value for the number of each recorded.

Survey point 8, the main car park of Southwick Country Park, had the greatest number of groups (416), people (752) and dogs (395) recorded of any survey point. At this survey point the average number of people per hour passing was 47 people per hour. Weather conditions were very warm and pleasant during the surveys here, and so high numbers were to be expected. The two survey points at Paxcroft Mead were the second busiest locations with an average of 34 and 27 people passing per hour at the two survey points (11 and 12 respectively).

The quietest location was survey point number 6, at Biss Wood, where only seven people (0.4 people per hour) were encountered. This was followed by the other location at Biss Wood (survey point 2), where the average was 1.5 people passing per hour.

The total values in Table 4 are also presented in Map 3 using simple bar charts beside each survey point. This provides for a graphical presentation of the data and shows how visitor totals differ spatially across the survey points and sites. At some sites, we observed very even levels of use across all parts of the site, such as Hilperton Gap or Paxcroft Mead. While at other sites, such as Southwick Country Park or Biss Meadows, there were very different levels of access at different parts of the site. Although values for 10a and 10b at Biss Meadows are extrapolated, the site is a very good example of how access levels can differ markedly between areas in a small site. At the main part of the site (survey point 9), approximately 9 people per hour on average were passing, but at survey point 10b this was 93% higher (mean, 18.3 people per hour passing), and conversely 95% lower (mean 0.5 people per hour passing) at survey point 10a.

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY

Table 4: Summary of the tally data for each survey point. Values show average groups/ people/ dogs/ minors/ cyclists passing per hour (raw value / hrs survey), while values in brackets show the raw total from the 16 hours of surveying. † Values for survey point 10 are created by adjusting for survey eﬀort (raw values adjusted as survey point 10a = x/3*4; survey point 10b =x*4)

Survey Point ID People (inc. Groups Dogs Minors Cyclists [hours survey] minors)

1 7.6 (121) 12.6 (201) 8.2 (131) 1.9 (31) 0 (0) 2 0.6 (10) 1.5 (24) 0.6 (10) 0.6 (10) 0 (0) 3 3.2 (51) 5.6 (90) 2.5 (40) 2.4 (39) 0.1 (2) 4 6.1 (97) 9 (144) 7.5 (120) 1.1 (18) 1.3 (20) 5 3.7 (59) 5.5 (88) 3.9 (62) 0.9 (15) 0 (0) 6 0.1 (2) 0.4 (7) 0 (0) 0.4 (6) 0 (0) 7 3.1 (49) 4.3 (68) 4.1 (66) 0.2 (3) 0 (0) 8 26 (416) 47 (752) 24.7 (395) 9.2 (147) 0.9 (15) 9 6.3 (100) 9.4 (151) 4.9 (79) 2.1 (33) 0.3 (4) 10a† 0.3 (5) 0.5 (8) 0.1 (1) 0.4 (7) 0 (0) 10b† 12.5 (200) 18.3 (292) 9 (144) 1.8 (28) 1 (16) 11 21.6 (345) 34.1 (546) 12 (192) 12.2 (195) 6.9 (111) 12 16.4 (263) 26.9 (430) 8.5 (136) 11.6 (186) 4.8 (76) 13 6.4 (103) 8.1 (130) 8.3 (132) 0.8 (13) 0 (0) 14 4.3 (68) 4.6 (73) 5.4 (87) 0.1 (1) 0 (0) 15 6.4 (102) 8.8 (141) 6.3 (101) 1.4 (22) 0 (0) Total 7.7 (1,840) 12.2 (2,924) 6.6 (1,588) 3 (731) 1 (232)

Table 5 shows the tally data for each site overall, showing the average number of people passing across the multiple survey points. This shows the site with the quietest access points was Biss Woods, with an average of 1 person per hour passing, based on the two survey points. Average values for access points at other sites; Clanger and Picket Woods, Green Lane Woods, Biss Meadows and Hilperton Gap seemed to have broadly similar levels.

The site summary table, Table 5, is also used to present some group size measures and compare these values between weekdays and weekends. With the exception of Paxcroft Mead, all surveyed sites were busier at weekends compared to weekdays. Paxcroft Mead is the route for many school children and users of the adjoining community centre and shops, so this is not surprising.

Woodland sites were mostly busier at weekends than weekday, indicating a less regular, daily use. While, generally, the other greenspaces had a reasonably even split of visitor use between weekdays and weekend days. However, the ratio between weekday and weekend use was most even at Green Lane Woods, and similar to many of the other greenspace sites.

Table 5: Summary of the tally data for sites examining the average people per hour passing and comparing weekdays and weekends; expressed as a ratio of people for weekday and weekends and the mean 25

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY numbers of people, dogs, and minors per group. †Values for Biss Meadows use adjusted total for survey point 10a/b.

Average ratio Mean number Mean number Mean number Site [number of people people people per of dogs per of minors per survey points] passing weekday: group group group per hour weekend WDay WEnd WDay WEnd WDay WEnd

Woodland Sites Biss Wood [2] 1.0 0:100 - 2.6 - 0.8 - 1.3 Clanger & Picket 12.6 30:70 1.2 2 0.8 0.9 0 0.4 Wood [1] Green Lane 6.7 42:58 1.4 1.7 0.9 1.1 0.4 0.3 Wood [3] Other Greenspaces Biss Meadows 9.4 46:54 1.6 1.4 2.5 1.0 0.3 0.1 [3] † Hilperton Gap [3] 7.2 47:53 1.3 1.2 0.9 1.2 0.1 0.1 Paxcroft Mead 30.5 51:49 1.6 1.7 1.8 0.5 0.6 0.6 [2] Southwick 25.6 39:61 1.6 1.9 1.0 1.0 0.2 0.4 Country Park [2] Total 12.3 44:56 1.5 1.7 1.2 0.9 0.4 0.4

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Estimates of visitor rates from the tally data

The tally data, were used to calculate the current levels of visitor use, in terms of estimates of the total numbers of visitors to each site. We did not survey every entry point so we use our data to derive estimates of total visitors. Such estimates help determine how busy sites are, as we can then express visitor numbers as density – i.e. rates per unit area.

Tally counts recorded the number of people during the 8-hour window of surveying on the weekday and also the weekend. Counts of the number of people observed entering are used for all calculations. Average hourly values were calculated for each survey point on the weekday and weekend, and this used to estimate visitor use per hour on a ‘typical day’ (e.g. ((weekday value/5) +(weekend value/2) *7). This averaged hourly value is then divided by the site area to give a value of people per ha per hour.

Ideally for these types of calculations we would have count data for all access points, however this would have required enormous survey effort. For the woodland sites, we ensured we covered the key access points to produce reasonably confident estimates. However, for the other sites only a sample of access points were surveyed and therefore our values have been adjusted or caveated. The calculations and detailed discussion on the methods, and our estimates and levels of confidence in these are presented in Table 6.

The area of sites given in Table 6 differs from the actual total size of sites, as this accounts for the area of the sites surveyed. For Clanger and Picket Wood the area of Round Wood was removed. At Green Lane, the site boundary was restricted to the wood only, rather than the nature park extension. While for Biss Meadows the inaccessible area was removed.

From Table 6, we estimate the woodland sites are currently relatively quiet, at the most a visitor density of 0.2 people per hectare per hour. Green Lane was the busiest site; with visitor use roughly double the density currently thought to be at Clanger and Picket (0.09 people/ha/hour). Biss was, as expected, extremely quiet, with an estimated 0.02 people per hectare per hour.

Of the other greenspaces, the site with the lowest density was at Hilperton Gap with 0.15 people per ha per hour. This was mostly due to the large size of the site, even after a rough attempt to account for the missing access points. This is around the same level as is currently estimated for Green Lane Woods. It is also roughly half the estimate for Southwick Country Park which is considered fairly busy (although there are certainly busier parts of the site than others).

Biss Meadows and Paxcroft are very busy, at around 0.9 people per hectare per hour and our figures at both sites are thought to be underestimates, Paxcroft considerably so.

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Table 6: Calculations of visitor use at sites.

Methodology used for capacity Discussion on accuracy of Site

(ha) estimation for site methodology for site hour estimate Total access points passing survey points Raw number of people Raw number of people Final perpeople ha per d) Area surveyed of site entering entering on a typical day entering entering ats survey points c) Average hourly perople Average hourly number of people entering Reasonably high level of confidence. Clanger and on typical day at main car park, divided by Only main car park surveyed, but two 96 201 5.1 53.3 3 0.09 Picket wood area. other access points not surveyed (SP1c / d) believed to be negligible. Average hourly number of people entering Reasonably high level of confidence, all Green Lane on typical day at all access points, divided by clear access points surveyed (some 102 322 6.1 34.7 4 0.18 Wood area informal and very minor points are (SP3c+SP4c +SP5c / d) noted). Average hourly number of people entering Reasonably high level of confidence, on typical day at all access points, divided by Biss Wood 13 31 0.5 21.2 2 only two access points, both of which 0.02 area were surveyed. (SP2c+SP6c / d) Two relatively minor access points missed (some further access points missed, but Two relatively minor access points Southwick believed negligible) – two missed points missed in surveying. Adjusting for 441 872 26.7 60.5 7 0.44 Country Park likely to be of a similar level of access as these means we can be relatively survey point 7. confident in the final estimate. (SP7c *3 +SP8c / d)c

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Methodology used for capacity Discussion on accuracy of Site

(ha) estimation for site methodology for site hour estimate Total access points passing survey points Raw number of people Raw number of people Final people per ha per d) Area ofsurveyed site entering entering on a typical day entering entering ats survey points c) Average hourly perople Values have been extrapolated, which Survey Point 10 was split between a busier leaves them subject to a degree of east bank location and a quieter west bank error. Also, the busiest part of the site, location. Values for sessions at SP10a and b to the north was ignored. Furthermore, Biss Meadows 148 451 10.5 11.9 10 are adjusted for a full day and combined no attempt was made to account for 0.89 with survey point 11. the people entering from Sparrow (SP10a c/3*4) +(SP10b c*4) Street. These factors combined, mean + SP11c /d the value has relatively low confidence and is likely to be greater still. As the survey point tally has covered Entering tally count was only maintained for only two access points this has a very one of the two survey points. This covers the low confidence level as the actual number of people entering to the east of number is likely to be much greater. Paxcroft Mead 201 430 11.7 12.4 11 0.94 survey point 12 (the school and to the outer However from the current estimate main road). alone it can be seen that a corrected SP12c /d estimate would be an extremely large value. Around one third of the access points Values are adjusted the for lack of coverage were covered, however many of these of all survey points, by assuming roughly were thought to be quiet. As a very two thirds of the visitors were counted Hilperton Gap 112 344 6.9 57.3 15 rough approximation, if we were to 0.18 entering. assume one third of visitors were (SP13c+SP14c +SP15c) / 2 + missed then the estimate is thought to (SP13c+SP14c +SP15c) / d be conservative.

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Questionnaire data

In total, 487 face-to-face interviews were conducted with members of the public as part of the on-site visitor surveying. The number of interviews conducted at each survey point is summarised in Table 7. The table shows the maximum of 70 interviews were conducted over the 16 hours, was at the Southwick Country Park main car park (survey point 8), where a steady stream of people was encountered, therefore yielding a large number of interviews.

Table 7: The number of interviews per survey location.

Survey Point Name ID Hours of survey Number of interviews

Clanger and Picket Woods Main Car Park 1 16 44 Biss Wood Foot Access 2 16 4 Green Lane Wood Main Car Park 3 16 17 Green Lane Wood New Access 4 16 33 Green Lane Wood New Access 5 16 34 Biss Wood Vehicle Entrance 6 16 1 Southwick Country Park Foot Access 7 16 21 Southwick Country Park Main Car Park 8 16 70 Biss Meadows (East) 9 16 41 10a 12 1 Biss Meadows (West) 10b 4 15 Paxcroft Mead 11 16 61 Paxcroft Mead 12 16 41 Hilperton Marsh (north) 13 16 30 Hilperton Marsh (south) 14 16 44 Hilperton Gap 15 16 30 Total 487

Visit type

Of the 487 interviewees, 98% were on a day trip/short visit and had travelled directly from home to visit (Q1). The remaining interviewees were either staying with friends and family locally (7 interviewees, 1.5%), or staying away from home and on holiday in the area (2 interviewees, 0.4%). The two interviewees on holiday were interviewed at Green Lane Wood (survey point 4) and Southwick Country Park (8). Those staying with friends or family were also encountered at these survey points, and one of the other Green Lane access points (survey point 5). These holiday visitors are discussed in more detail in the section examining interviewee postcodes.

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Activities

The majority (384 interviewees, 79%) of the interviewees on site were dog walking. Just under half of the remaining interviewees were walkers (9%), followed by groups on a family outing (4%), cyclists, joggers, and those walking to the shops (all 2%); no other remaining category exceeded 1% of the total interviewees.

The relative proportion of different activities from interviewees was largely similar between the woodland bat sites and the other greenspace sites. Dog walking remained the most commonly recorded activity, with 80% in the woodlands and 78% at the other sites, again followed by walking (8% and 9% respectively) and family outings (7% and 3%). However, the other sites did include a greater range of activities; meeting up with friends/ picnicking, walking to the shops, school run/commuters, professional dog walker, enjoying scenery, bird/wildlife watching and other; all of which were not recorded at the woodland sites.

Between the individual sites, shown in Figure 1, and survey points, show in Map 4, the composition of different activities in sites or at individual access points could vary. Figure 1, summarising activities by sites, shows that Biss Woods had the lowest proportion of dog walkers recorded (60% of interviewees, however this is based on a small number of interviews), while highest numbers were at Hilperton Gap (90% of interviewees) and Clanger and Picket Woods (91%).

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Figure 1: The relative composition of different activities on sites (from Q2), from the interview data. Values in square brackets indicate the number of interviews conducted. (Note Biss Meadows is based on raw data with no adjustments for surveying at 10a and 10b).

At individual survey points (see Map 4), the lowest percentage of dog walkers, aside from point 6 at Biss Wood, which was based on a single interview, were points 11 (59% interviewees), 8 (67%) and 10b (53%). At point 10b, which was only surveyed for part of the sessions, the highest percentage of walkers of any point was recorded (27% interviewees), but also a number of joggers, and people socialising (meeting with friends/picnicking and on a family outing). At point 8, Southwick Country Park, walkers were also common (19%), and the highest percentage of joggers of any of the sites was observed (7%). Point 11, at Paxcroft, had the widest range of activities recorded, but this is unsurprising as this was the busiest and is the most urban with many houses and other facilities around the site.

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY

Visit duration and frequency

Interviewees were asked how long their visit had lasted or was going to last on the site (Q3). Responses were categorised into five groups, as shown in Figure 2. Overall the longest visits were usually at the woodland sites, with on average 40% suggesting their visit would last for more than 1 hour, compared to 13% at the other greenspaces. Paxcroft Mead had the lowest proportion of long visits, with just 7% visiting for more than 1 hour, and 35% for less than 30 minutes.

Figure 2: The duration of visit reported by interviewees at sites (from Q3). Values in square brackets indicate the number of interviews for each site.

This question of visit duration was followed by a question of visit frequency (Q4). Responses were grouped by the surveyor into the set categories, (e.g. daily, most days, once a month etc.). Responses are summarised by site in Figure 3. On the figure, we also give an estimate of the average number of annual visits made per interviewee to the site. This is calculated by assigning a number of annual visits to each category of visit frequency5..

5 Number of annual visits used were: Daily, 350 visits per year; Most days, 200 visits; 1 to 3 times a week, 110 visits; 2 to 3 times per month, 27.5 visits; Once a month, 10.5 visits; Less than once a month 3.5 visits; First visit, 1 visit. 35

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY

The highest percentage of daily visitors was recorded at Hilperton Gap, where 83% of the respondents were daily visitors to the site. Given such a high proportion of daily visits at Hilperton Gap, the mean number of visits per interviewee was 316 visits a year. The percentage of daily visitors was also high at Biss Meadows and Paxcroft Mead (both 68% daily), and the number of visits annually, estimated around 280-290 visits for a typical user.

At the other sites, the number of annual visits per person was much lower, typically less than 200 visits annually. Biss Wood included an interviewee on their first visit, and no daily visitors. At Green Lane Woods 39% of interviewees suggested they visited daily, and an estimated 192 visits annually by for an averaged typical visitor; less than the number estimated at Southwick Country Park of roughly 179 visits annually.

Figure 3: The duration of visit reported by interviewees at sites. Values in square brackets indicate the number of interviews for each site, followed by an estimated annual number of visits made by a visitor on average. Timing of visits

Interviewees were asked if they tended to visit the site more at a particular time of day (Q5). Responses were categorised into time periods, and multiple time periods could be selected (i.e. people could tend to visit in the early morning and the evening). Across all sites the pattern of responses was fairly similar, with a roughly a third of selecting early morning (before 9 am) and a third selecting after 4 pm.

We also asked whether they visited more at a particular time of year (Q5), although overall the majority of all interviewees (80%) felt they visited equally across the year. Those who did

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY

select a season, mostly those at Green Lane Woods, Clanger and Picket Woods, or Southwick Country Park, tended to visit more in the spring and summer.

Transport

Overall, most interviewees (65%) arrived at sites on foot; of the remaining interviewees 32% arrived by car, 2% by bicycle and two interviewees (0.4%) by other (one mixed, i.e. adults by car and the child by bike, and one by motorised wheelchair).

The proportion of people arriving on foot different markedly between survey points, primarily due to the nature of the access point (e.g. a car park vs. foot only access point). The proportions are shown for the individual survey points in Map 5. At Clanger and Picket, all interviewees were accessing the site by car, and at Southwick around over three quarters arrived by car. Conversely, at Paxcroft Mead, Hilperton Gap and Biss Meadows the vast majority arrived by non-motorised transport (92%, 90% and 89% respectively). For Green Lane Wood, at survey point 3, close to the main car park, 82% of interviewees had arrived by car (those on foot had entered from other access points on a circular walk around the wood). While at the other survey points 4 and 5, just 15% had arrived by car. While this is the indicative pattern for those who were interviewed, we are unable to examine those who were not interviewed (e.g. cyclists or minors), however the numbers of cyclists and minors are both recorded in the tallies (see Table 4).

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY

Home postcodes

Surveyors asked each interviewee to provide their full home postcode (Q19). In total, we obtained 472 valid and georeferenced postcodes as part of the interviews (97% of interviewees). Across all the visitor types, 461 of postcodes were in Wiltshire (98% of postcodes), 424 in Trowbridge and adjoining parishes (90%; Southwick, North Bradley, West Ashton, Steeple Ashton, Hilperton, Bradford-on-Avon, Holt, Wingfield, Staverton), and 310 in Trowbridge (66% within the civil parish boundary).

The distribution of all postcodes is shown in Map 6, which shows a fairly even coverage across Trowbridge, but with some higher densities either side of Paxcroft Mead, to the north west of Hilperton Gap, and immediately adjacent to Biss Meadows.

For each postcode, the linear distance between the postcode to the survey point was calculated. On average, the distance between the postcode and the survey point was 2.5km, but half of all postcodes were within a 700m radius and three quarters within in a 1.8 km radius. Those on a short trip and staying away from home (5 interviewee postcodes), had travelled the largest distances, coming from locations as far afield as Cambridge and Maidstone, and the linear distance between survey point and home postcode for these interviewees was on average 88km. The single interviewee on holiday who provided a valid postcode was from Seaton, Dorset (92 km linear distance).

We observed significant differences in the typical linear distances between survey points (KW, H=222.24 df=15, p<0.001, see Table 8), between individual sites (KW, H=178.5, df=6, p<0.001, see Table 9) and between the two types of site (KW, H=81.26 df=1, p<0.001); with distances for woodland sites typically greater on average. Table 9 shows the linear distances for woodland sites were often greater, and this is particularly influenced by visitors from Clanger and Picket Woods and to an extent Biss Woods. At Clanger and Picket, half of interviewees lived within a 2.3km radius, and at Biss this was 2km. In comparison for Green Lane Woods, this median value was 1.2km. At the other greenspaces, the distances were typically very short, around 0.5km for all but Southwick Country Park, which was 1.6km.

We also considered the catchment of individual sites, shown in Map 7, which plots the approximate catchments using convex hulls which cover the 75% nearest postcodes from interviewees at each site. This is based on all interviewees providing a postcode, travelling to the site by any means. The convex hull for Biss Woods has not been calculated as only four interviewees provided valid postcodes, so just three postcode when considering the 75% nearest, and two of these were for the postcode address.

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Table 8: Summary statistics of the distances between home postcodes and survey point, shown separately for each Survey Point.

Survey Point ID N Mean Median Q3 Range

1 43 2612 (±168) 2278 3356 666 - 5291 2 4 2908 (±1803) 1341 6675 707 - 8241 3 17 4001 (±549) 3401 5854 842 - 7872 4 32 4037 (±2865) 671 1432 262 - 92606 5 32 1557 (±285) 1065 1829 249 - 8082 6 1 2294 2294 - - 7 21 912 (±172) 533 1387 232 - 2972 8 67 9430 (±3890) 1782 4826 359 - 185104 9 39 698.1 (±75.6) 623 992 110 - 1798 10a 1 392 392 - - 10b 14 454.5 (±99.2) 321.5 568 144 - 1531 11 60 572.2 (±66.6) 422.5 616.3 75 - 2234 12 41 441.6 (±34.9) 429 528 135 - 993 13 30 575 (±123) 271 717 122 - 2641 14 40 700.1 (±50.5) 737 855.3 203 - 1639 15 30 822 (±134) 672 874 160 - 3948 Total 472 2501 (±599) 717 1769 75 - 185104

Table 9: Summary statistics of the linear distances between home postcodes and survey point, shown separately for each site.

SITE N Mean Median Q3 Range

Clanger and Picket Woods 43 2612 (±168) 2278 3356 666 - 5291 Biss Wood 5 2785 (±1402) 1975 5268 707 - 8241 Green Lane Wood 81 3050 (±1140) 1174 2656 249 - 92606 Southwick Country Park 88 7397 (±2982) 1644 3103 232 - 185104 Biss Meadows 54 629.3 (±61.8) 480 901.8 110 - 1798 Paxcroft Mead 101 519.2 (±42.3) 429 564.5 75 - 2234 Hilperton Gap 100 699.2 (±58.3) 593 855.3 122 - 3948 Total 472 2501 (±599) 717 1769 75 - 185104

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Another way to examine this postcode data is to study the numbers of interviewees recorded in an area relative to the level of housing, to assess the ‘visit rate’ in relation to distance from the sites. Visit rates decrease with increased distance away from the site (i.e. people who live close to sites are more likely to visit them). However, the shape of this decrease with increase distance from sites differs between locations and indicates the relative draw of sites.

We used a postcode database to extract the number of houses around each survey point (extracting information using concentric rings drawn at 200m intervals out to 5km), and also to extract the number of interviewees from each survey point. We could then calculate the number of interviewees (from 16 hours of survey) per household. Interviewees were filtered according to those who travelled by car and those who used other methods of transport.

Data were averaged for each site and plots generated to show visit rates according to distance for each transport category (Figure 4 to Figure 7). The graphs include a manually fitted trend line, summarising for each site how the visit rate declines with distance. Lines were fitted by eye but informed by aiming for the best r² (goodness of fit) values for each curve (r² are shown with each fit line graph).

The visit rate curve for interviewees arriving at sites by non-car transport modes (foot, bicycle or mobility scooter) is shown for individual sites in Figure 4 (note these are shown on different scales). Graphs for Clanger and Picket Woods are not shown as all interviewees arrived by car, and Biss Woods is not included as the sample size was too low. The manually fitted trend lines for the sites given in Figure 4 are summarised together in Figure 5. This allows more direct comparison between sites and allows the differences in these curves to be examined in more detail.

The most obvious difference in the visit rate curves for foot interviewees shown in Figure 5 is the relatively high proportion of residents around Green Lane who were interviewed in comparison to all the other sites. This suggests a large proportion of people who live in the houses close to Green Lane are visiting these woods, and more so than those who lived around the other sites. For most sites, the visit rate is very low by 1km (the 800-1000 m band) as almost no foot visitors come this far. However, some sites continue to have a draw for some distance, shown by visit rate curves. This is most notably at Southwick Country Park (see Figure 4), which while having a relatively low predicted visit rate very close to the site, maintains this predicted visit rate for some distance beyond the site.

Visit rate curves are also shown for the individual survey points of 4 and 5, as these have most relevance for considering how development in close proximity influences visit rates at woodland sites (see Figure 6). These curves are fairly similar to each other, but with a lower starting intercept value for survey point 5. Both survey points had no postcodes within a 0- 200 m radius (and low numbers of houses, so these point values are not shown), and the curves therefore start from the 200-400m band. Our postcode data, shows a total of 123 houses were within the 400m radius of survey point 4 and 52 around survey point 5. There was a total of 8 interviewees recorded from these houses at survey point 4 and 3 around

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY survey point 5. This results in relatively high proportion of interviewees per household, which decreased rapidly with increasing distance away from the site.

Figure 7 shows the visitor rates for those arriving by car. The plots for car visitors tended to have low visit rates at the distances very close to sites, and then the highest rates are around 0.6km from the sites. This would suggest people do not tend to drive to sites when they live very close (within 0.6km), but there is also a challenge with the data from the first few distance bands, as the area is small, meaning there are likely to be few households and few interviewees. Very small differences in the numbers of interviewees from these nearby distance bands can therefore have a very marked influence on the visit rates. We have fitted curves to these plots and used the same shape of curve for all plots, without trying to take into account the initial peak in the close distance bands due to concerns with the accuracy of the rates in these initial bands and the challenges of fitting complex curves to such data.

Figure 7 includes Clanger and Picket Woods (where all visitors arrived by car), Southwick Country Park, and the pooled values for the other greenspace sites of Paxcroft, Hilperton and Biss Meadows. It should be noted these are on three very different scales. Clanger and Picket Wood stands out as having a much stronger draw, attracting much more visits per resident compared to Southwick Country Park and the other sites. Visitor curves for Biss Woods were not fitted due to the small sample sizes and for Green Lane Wood due to the lack of visitors by car living in close proximity (none lived within 2 km).

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Figure 4: Visit rate curves to show the relationship between the number of interviewees arriving on foot (including bicycles) per household and distance from survey point across a number of sites. Point values are the averages across the survey points, error bars are the standard error of the survey points. 45

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Figure 5: The manually fitted trend lines show from individual graphs in Figure 4 shown as a single graph to allow direct comparison between sites.

Figure 6: The visit rate curves for survey points 4 and 5 only, using the number of interviewees arriving on foot (including bicycles).

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Figure 7: Visit rate curves to show the relationship between the number of interviewees arriving by car per household and distance from survey point across a number of sites, or combination of sites. Point values are the averages across the survey points, error bars are the standard error of the survey points.

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Time at current address

Interviewees were asked how long they have lived at their current address (Q21), with responses categorised by surveyors. Across all interviewees, just under 1 in 5 interviewees had lived at their postcode 2 years or less, and two thirds had lived at their postcode more than 5 years.

The results for each site are shown in Figure 8. Green Lane Wood had the highest proportion of interviewees who had lived at their current address for less than 6 months, 6 to 11 months and 1 to 2 years (in total 39% of interviewees at Green Lane Woods had been visiting less than 2 years). Green Lane Wood was significantly different to the other sites

pooled (χ²1=45.529, p<0.001). Of the individual survey points, point 4 had the highest percentage of interviewees who had lived at their current address less than 6 months (12%), and also for two years or less (42%).

Figure 8: How long interviewees have been living at their current address, shown as the percentage of interviewees at each site.

Routes

As part of the questionnaire the interviewees route on the site that day was recorded. Surveyors used paper maps to record this, and we digitised this information into GIS. Overall, we recorded 483 routes from the 487 interviews (99% of interviewees). The distribution of these route lines can be summarised as a density hotspot map, as shown in

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Map 8. This shows to a fine scale the density of route lines for sites, and we also show this information using hexagonal 2 m grid cells (Map 9), to quantify the actual numbers of interviewees passing through parts of the sites. The peak values in Map 9 (> 50 interviewees passing through a cell) were recorded at the main path running east to west along Paxcroft Brook, and on part of the main, hard surfaced, circular path at Southwick.

At Southwick, the interviewees routes mostly follow the circular hard surfaced path, with a slight second loop into some of the fields to the south west. The two small sites of Biss Meadows and Paxcroft also show strong path patterns, again with high numbers using the main, hard surfaced paths. At Green Lane Woods, the route data also show there is a clear, single main path being followed, but also some deviations along very minor paths (e.g. under the power lines or through the woods). At Clanger and Picket Woods the main path receives reasonable footfall, but the visitors then disperse across the many minor paths throughout the woods to be able to complete a circular walk.

The route length was calculated for each individual (having cropped routes which were extending beyond 500m away from the site, unless the route returned back into the site again). These route lengths are summarised by site in Table 10, and we found significant differences between sites (H=174.79, df=15, p<0.001). We also observed significant differences between site types (H=85.65.79, df=1, p<0.001), with routes in the woodlands typically 2.4km long (median value) compared to other greenspaces (median) 1.5km.

Route lengths were often related to the size of the site, as shown in Figure 9, which becomes a limiting factor at smaller sites, such as Biss Meadows and Paxcroft. Hilperton Gap is the site which least fits this relationship, and here many interviewees were often conducting short loops around one or two fields in the rough quarter of the site which they entered at, with very few covering large parts of the whole site.

As a check to these values, interviewees were asked if their routes were of normal length. Across all sites, 63% of interviewees said their routes were of normal length, with the remaining interviewees mostly unsure, or did not know (26%). Those who indicated their routes were shorter or longer than normal, mostly suggested shorter (6%), compared to those suggesting longer (0.5%). One of the reasons for shorter routes was the weather on the few days of surveying which were in a period of very hot weather.

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Table 10: Summary of interviewees route lengths for each of the survey sites.

Site N Median Mean (±SE) Minimum - Maximum

Clanger and Picket Woods 43 2470 2419.9 (±72.2) 1351 - 3377 Biss Wood 5 1866 1714 (±335) 617 - 2378 Green Lane Wood 83 2552 2636 (±136) 213 - 6606 Southwick Country Park 91 1998 2288.4 (±90.8) 279 - 5214 Biss Meadows 57 1324 1410.8 (±86.5) 413 - 3668 Paxcroft Mead 102 1240.5 1346.9 (±59) 274 - 3141 Hilperton Gap 102 1296.5 1430 (±59.7) 286 - 3857 Total 483 1738 1870 (±43.4) 213 - 6606

Figure 9: The size of site plotted again the median route length of interviewees on sites.

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Reasons for visiting

As part of the questionnaire (Q13), interviewees were asked to suggest reasons for visiting the site where interviewed (rather than another local site), with responses categorised by the surveyors. Multiple reasons could be recorded (for example an interviewee might suggest they choose a site because it is both close to home and is good for the dog) and overall, an average of 3.5 reasons were given by interviewees. From these multiple responses, the surveyor prompted each interviewee to single out a main reason.

The full list of reasons is given Table 11 and shows these reasons ranked by the number of interviewees across all sites. The most common main reason related to the fact that the site was close to home; (42% of interviewees at the woodland bat sites and 61% at the other greenspaces). At the woodland bat sites, the fact it was good for the dog/ the dog enjoyed it was given by 11% of interviewees, followed by the fact that the site was quiet (8%). While at the other greenspaces the fact it was good for the dog/ the dog enjoyed was given by 5% of interviewees, but other reasons, which were not categorised featured highly (7.6%). These other reasons were diverse, including; en-route to school or shops, and sentimental or social reasons.

The main reasons are also shown in Figure 11, by individual sites. At Clanger and Picket Wood the most common main reason was that it was good for the dog/the dog enjoyed it, and at Biss Wood the most common main reason was because the site was quiet. However, at Green Lane the most common main reason was because the site was close to home; the same most common main reason noted for all of the other greenspaces.

Reasons which were given by less than 1% of interviewees overall are not shown in Figure 11. Reasons of note, which are not shown include; because the site has few people, and because of habit/familiarity with the site (both 4% of interviewees at Clanger and Picket). These reasons rank reasonably high in the reasons as a whole (considering main and other combined, see Table 11), but not as main reasons.

The full list of other reasons given by interviewees was more diverse. For the woodlands, the rural or wild nature becomes more of a factor (24% of reasons given), along with the general scenery or views (25%). The greenspaces sites are favoured because there is no reason to use a car (25%) and habit/familiarity with the site is important too (24%).

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Table 11: The percentage of interviewees suggested their reasons for visiting, shown separately for the woodland sites and the other greenspace sites, and separately for main and other/. Reasons are ranked by the total number of occurrences of each from all interviews. Top five values for each column are highlighted in bold.

Main Main and other

Reason Other Other Other Woodlands Woodlands Woodlands greenspaces greenspaces greenspaces

Close to home 42.1 61.3 53.4 76.0 Good for dog/dog enjoys it 10.5 5.4 42.9 31.9 Other 6.8 7.6 28.6 41.0 No need to use car 1.5 1.1 20.3 25.1 Rural/wild feel 4.5 5.1 24.8 20.3 Scenery/views 5.3 4.2 24.1 20.6 Quiet (e.g. No traffic noise) 8.3 1.7 23.3 16.7 Habit/familiarity 2.3 0 13.5 24.3 Ability to let dog off lead 0 1.1 12.8 19.2 Not many people 3.0 0 23.3 6.8 Choice of routes 0 0.8 17.3 12.4 Feels safe 3.0 0.8 9.0 17.2 Particular wildlife interest 3.0 1.4 12.0 12.7 Appropriate place for activity 0.8 1.4 9.8 9.9 Quick easy travel 3.8 1.7 10.5 5.9 Closest place to safety let dog off lead 0 0.6 2.3 11.3 Suitability given weather conditions 1.5 0.6 7.5 1.4 Closest place to take dog 0 1.4 1.5 4.5 Good/easy parking 0.8 0.6 3.8 1.7 Particular facilities 0 0 0 2.3 Café 0 0.3 0 0.8

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Figure 10: The percentage of interviewees at each site who selected each main reason for visiting. Only those reasons selected by more than 1% of interviewees overall are shown.

Alternative Sites

Interviewees were asked how often they visited the site where interviewed for their current activity, compared to other sites (Q17). Results are summarised in Figure 11. Hilperton Gap was the site where interviewees mostly visited just the site where interviewed; 88% of interviewees suggested at least three-quarters or more of their visits to greenspaces took place at this site alone. By comparison, at Clanger and Picket Wood 18% of interviewees

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indicated that at least three-quarters or more of their visits to greenspaces took place there and the figure for Biss Woods was 20%.

Figure 11: The use of the site being interviewed at by interviewees relative to other sites, shown as percentage of interviewees.

Interviewees were also asked to name up to three other sites they visited (Q14-16). Around 130 different responses were given, and these included vague answers such as “local fields and footpaths” as well as more specific site names. Responses are summarised in Table 12.

Most interviewees named one or more of the other surveyed sites; with Southwick Country Park featuring highest in all named sites at both the woodland sites and the other greenspaces. However, Hilperton Gap and Biss Woods were rarely mentioned by interviewees.

Beyond the surveyed sites, the Kennet and Avon Canal (or just “the canal”) was a popular named location with 12.4% of interviewees across all sites giving this as a first named alternative. Similarly, the Westbury White Horse (or just “the white horse”) was named by 6.8% (both combined) of interviewees.

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Table 12: List of named alternative sites given by interviewees, sorted by the percentage of interviewees who give the site as one of their alternatives across all survey sites. Percentages are calculated separately for the first named site and separately for all named sites, for both the woodlands and the other greenspaces. Sites are ordered according to the total percentage (for all alternative named sites) and values in bold reflect the highest three values in each column.

First named alterative sites All alternative named sites

Alternative Sites Total Total Total Other Other Other Woodland Woodland Woodland Greenspaces Greenspaces Greenspaces

Southwick Country Park 14.0 6.0 11.4 9.9 8.1 16.4 Clanger & Picket Woods 6.3 7.4 8.8 8.4 8.1 5.6 Green Lane Woods 5.6 4.6 8.3 7.2 3.2 6.6 Southwick 6.1 10.6 5.3 6.8 12.1 3.6 Canal 7.5 4.6 7.3 6.5 4.8 8.5 Biss Meadows 7.0 6.5 6.4 6.4 7.3 6.9 Kennett & Avon Canal 4.9 2.8 5.6 4.8 3.2 5.6 Westbury White Horse 3.5 9.7 2.3 4.4 8.9 1.3 Shearwater 3.3 4.6 2.8 3.3 4.0 3.0 White Horse 3.3 2.8 3.4 3.2 2.4 3.6 Hilperton Marsh/Gap 3.3 2.8 3.0 2.9 2.4 3.6 Fields 2.8 0.9 3.4 2.7 0.8 3.6 Bradford On Avon 1.6 2.3 2.1 2.1 1.6 1.6 Hilperton 1.9 1.9 1.7 1.7 0.8 2.3 Trowbridge Park 1.6 0.5 1.9 1.5 0.0 2.3 Paxcroft 1.6 1.9 0.9 1.2 2.4 1.3 Biss Wood 1.2 1.9 0.8 1.1 1.6 1.0 Longleat 0.2 1.4 0.9 1.1 0.0 0.3 Bradford On Avon Canal 0.5 1.4 0.8 0.9 0.0 0.7 Salisbury Plain 1.4 1.4 0.8 0.9 2.4 1.0

Anti-social behaviours

Anti-social behaviours pose a risk to sites, through direct damage or acting as a potential deterrent to visitor use. In Q11 interviewees were asked how frequently they had observed anti-social behaviours on the site. We asked specifically how frequently any of the following had been seen; camping, motorbikes, fires, vandalism, damage to trees or vegetation and dogs out of control, with responses categorised as never, occasionally, regularly or did not know. There was also the option to record any other anti-social activities interviewees had concerns over.

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Anti-social behaviours at Clanger and Picket were the most infrequent overall, with only one or two interviewees reporting ever seeing any of the anti-social behaviours (Figure 12). Also at Biss Woods, the behaviours appear to be extremely infrequent; it was also just one interviewee who reported ever seeing damage to trees or vegetation and dogs out of control. However, at Green Lane anti-social behaviours were more common and on a par with some of the more ‘urban’ sites,. Green Lane Wood was the site with the highest percentage of interviewees reporting seeing fires (34% of interviewees), however these were usually reported as occasional, with only one interviewee suggesting they were a regular occurrence. Camping was also highlighted as an issue; 31% reported seeing it and one third of those (6 interviewees) felt it was a regular occurrence. The other anti-social behaviours at Green Lane were mostly comments related to the issue of the camping, highlighting the litter related to this, while a few also raised the issue of indecent exposure in the woods.

At the other greenspaces, the most anti-social behaviours were reported at Biss Meadows; with 61% of interviewees raising general concerns regarding young groups drinking and littering, which very rarely also involved camping, starting fires and drugs. Southwick also appears to have some infrequent issues, but most concerns were related to dogs out of control (Southwick was the site with the highest proportion of interviewees – 38% - identifying dogs out of control as occurring); seven interviewees at Southwick stated dogs out of control was a regular occurrence. Furthermore, at Southwick there were several concerns regarding the runners, which while not categorised as anti-social behaviour, are a concern brought up by many interviewees at the site. There were fewer issues at Paxcroft, and most concerns related to general anti-social behaviours, such as; drinking, associated litter, and some issues over graffiti too. Issues at Hilperton were very limited, and seemed to be a few interviewees with concerns over a recent burnt out car and some concerns over vandalism.

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Figure 12: The percentage of interviewees at each site who reported that they had observed each anti- social behaviour.

Improvements to the current site

Interviewees were asked to suggest what changes they would like to see at the site where interviewed in relation to how it is managed for access (Q10). Multiple suggestions could be given and these responses were categorised, with the top 15 responses shown in Figure 13. On average 56% of interviewees gave one or more suggestions for improvements, with low levels at Biss Woods (20%, but note only 5 interviewees), and Hilperton Gap (43%), compared to between 56% and 67% at all other survey sites.

At Paxcroft Mead there were very few comments related to the need for dog bins, more dog bins, more frequent emptying or other issues around dog fouling generally. At all other sites, it was the most frequently cited improvement, mentioned by an average (excluding Paxcroft) of 28% of interviewees. The next most frequent measure related to better paths (up to 23% of interviewees at Clanger and Picket), followed by more rubbish bins (23% at Clanger and Picket), more/better parking (25% at Southwick) and more grass cutting (43% at Paxcroft).

Suggested changes by less than 3% of interviewees are not shown in the top 15 in Figure 13. Those not shown include suggestions to have; toilets, dog washes, dog wardens, or dog free zones, and resolution of conflicts between user groups (e.g. runners at Southwick and cyclists at Paxcroft). 59

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Figure 13: Summary of the suggested changes, shown as the percentage of interviewees who suggested the change. Only those changes which were recorded by more than 3% of interviewees overall are shown.

Improvements to other Trowbridge greenspaces

Interviewees were also asked (Q18) more broadly to identify improvements to greenspace sites in and around Trowbridge, so that the interviewee would visit them more. Overall, 85% of interviewees suggested one or more potential improvements.

The top three suggestions were key general improvements to sites for; more dog bins (15% of interviewees on average, see Table 13), better/ more car parking (12%), better/ more paths (8%), with particular demand for these from interviewees at Clanger and Picket, 60

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY followed by Biss Wood and Paxcroft (see Figure 14). There were some more novel suggestions for sites, for example suggestions for a greater diversity of habitats/ general improvements to habitats (8%) and in a similar vein, more natural sites (3%; interviewees mentioned wanting sites with a natural feel, more wildlife, hedges etc.). Interviewees also suggested that there should be more greenspaces generally (7%). Interestingly, interviewees also suggested that there should be more promotion/advertising of the sites (5% of interviewees), and furthermore 4% of interviewees indicated that they did not know of anywhere else (4%).

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Figure 14: The percentage of interviewees suggesting improvements to greenspaces in and around Trowbridge. Top twenty reasons shown, and percentage based all interviewees, but interviewees could provide multiple suggestions.

Table 13: Suggested improvements to other greenspace sites (Q18), ordered by the percentage of interviewees suggesting change averaged across all sites. The sites with the largest percentage of interviewees for each suggestion are named and percentage given.

Site with largest percentage of Suggested improvement interviewees (percentage value

Average Average in brackets) across sites across interviewees interviewees percentage of percentage

More dog bins 15.0 Clanger and Picket Woods (22.7) Better/ more car parking 12.3 Clanger and Picket Woods (25) Better/ more paths 7.9 Clanger and Picket Woods (13.6) Improvements/ diversity to habitats / scenery 7.5 Southwick Country Park (19.8) More greenspaces 6.6 Biss Wood (20) Improvements for dogs (dog dips / training/ agility) 5.1 Southwick Country Park (11) Promotion of sites 4.7 Green Lane Wood (13.1) Don’t know anywhere else 4.1 Southwick Country Park (15.4) Wilder/more natural sites 3.1 Green Lane Wood (6) Sites need to be close to me 2.9 Hilperton Gap (7.7) More general maintenance 1.4 Green Lane Wood (4.8) Cycle paths 1.3 Green Lane Wood (2.4) Address anti-social behaviour 1.3 Southwick Country Park (4.4) Address litter issues 1.3 Paxcroft Mead (3.9) Children’s activity/play areas 1.2 Green Lane Wood (3.6) Information boards/interpretation 1.2 Green Lane Wood (6) Toilets 1.1 Southwick Country Park (4.4) Better/more access 0.9 Green Lane Wood (2.4) Refreshments/cafe 0.9 Southwick Country Park (4.4) More seating 0.8 Hilperton Gap (1.9) Better linkages to other sites/the town 0.7 Paxcroft Mead (2.9) Quieter sites/less busy 0.6 Biss Meadows (1.8) Bigger greenspaces 0.6 Biss Meadows (3.5) Safer sites 0.4 Biss Meadows (1.8) Dog and non-dog areas 0.3 Southwick Country Park (1.1) Fencing around sites 0.3 Clanger and Picket Woods (2.3) Lighting 0.2 Southwick Country Park (1.1) Wardens 0.2 Southwick Country Park (1.1) Dog controls 0.2 Green Lane Wood (1.2) More general facilities 0.1 Hilperton Gap (1) Grazing on sites 0.1 Hilperton Gap (1)

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4. Telephone interviews

Castle Mead Primary School

Castle Mead Primary School opened in 2014 and is currently a single form intake primary school with around 200 pupils and an associated nursery. It is expected to double in size over the next few years. It is part of the Mead Academy Trust with the Mead School, itself split into a Wingfield and a Hilperton campus. Castle Mead school is within easy walking distance of Biss Woods, while the Mead School at Hilperton is within a few minutes walk of Green Lane Woods.

Castle Mead school are keen to use the surrounding environment to enrich the curriculum, to teach children the value of encountering nature and to help them learn how to go for a walk in the woods. The school and nursery currently use Biss Woods around four times a year, with about 30 children visiting for two hours or half a day each time. Mel Jacob, the Business Manager (and former forest school lead in the school) identified three key issues:

 The amount of dog mess encountered on the walk to the woods is a particular challenge when walking with a group of children  In order for the school to make better educational use of the woodlands, it would probably require a specific area to be equipped and set aside as some form of base camp. This would make it easier for classes to use the site for more than just a walk.  Both schools wish to encourage children to walk and cycle to school and future development in the area should seek to facilitate this

Mrs Jacob suggested that Biss Wood is less well known about than Green Lane Wood, and that as a consequence there is less dog mess and litter in Biss Wood and that the paths are not so well used. She felt that this is likely to change with the increase in housing and additional schools planned.

Castle Mead school staff like to use Biss Woods because there is not a wooded area within the school grounds, and no potential to create one. Although woodland is not a pre- requisite of outdoor learning for the school, it is nonetheless preferred for forest school activities and curriculum-linked learning. Mrs Jacob felt there was potential to improve the Green Lane Nature Park (although not necessarily as a direct substitute for Biss Woods) and suggested a “nature gym”, benches, dog bins and also some kind of secure site safe where equipment for outdoor learning could be stored, as it can be difficult to carry in from the school each time it is needed. A playing field is also needed, as children living near Mead School currently play on a wide strip of grass along a road with a 40mph speed limit, which is not safe.

The school would like to use Biss Woods and the local environment more, and suggested:

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 Information and trails, for example linked to the bats  Briefing by countryside rangers on what to look for, how to behave in the woods  An agreed base camp area within the woods (see above)  A equipment storage facility

The school, which has a bat as its logo and each year group is named after a different bat species, expressed interest in learning more about the bats in Biss Woods.

Wiltshire Council Rights of Way and Countryside Team (Alison Rasey)

Biss Meadows is well used, and has busy areas, such as in the north close to Tesco, which has more shoppers/commuters than dog walkers. However, it does not have the same feeling of a ‘destination’ as Southwick Country Park, which is more popular than Biss and can be very busy at times. Southwick Country Park is well-used by dog walkers and can also have in excessive of 300 people at the site during Park Run events.

In general, Biss Meadows may not offer enough to draw visitors from very far away, and most users are very local. However, Park Run events held every Saturday morning at Southwick Country Park are very popular, attracting runners from as far as Bath and Chippenham. While these are beneficial in promoting physical activity, they are also associated with a number of problems. These include additional wear and tear on the site, and in particular to the main path (which is starting to age). The extra visitors also mean that the car park is completely full and cars overflow on the main road, causing traffic congestion. It is thought that local non-runners using the site tend to recognise this and avoid visiting at this time.

Southwick Park includes the Hope Nature Centre, which draws in extra visitors, creating a ‘win-win’ situation for both. Visitors to the Country Park are able to use facilities and café at Hope Nature Centre and the centre gains additional visitors. Southwick also hosts the brownies, guides, school events and family events outside of school term time.

Antisocial behaviour occurs at both Southwick and Biss Meadows, but is considered low- level. At Southwick, antisocial behaviour is more infrequent and peaks seem to be associated with school holidays. Incidents have included light vandalism to benches, and some of the signs (particularly those regarding dog fouling) also some tree stripping, dumping of rubbish in the brook and damage to bread ovens put in. In addition, damage to fences has resulted in increased use by youths of the adjoining livery fields, where ensuing issues have included hay mangers being burnt. This was resolved by improving the fencing along the edge of the site and opening the area up to discourage antisocial behaviours.

At Biss Meadows, antisocial behaviour is more continual throughout the year, but still at a relatively low level. Behaviour included consumption of drugs/drink and light vandalism to

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benches and very infrequent fires. Graffiti under the road bridge was an issue and so the local school was invited to create a whole wall graffiti art piece to replace and discourage other graffiti. Both sites have very active ‘friends of’ groups who were praised for their ownership and independence in resolving the issues on sites. These groups have been successful in pursuing funding to help improve the sites.

The likely future increase in use of these sites may result in some challenges. One of the key issues is likely to be dog mess as a result of increased numbers of dog walkers on both sites. There have been sacrifices, with wildlife ponds now given over for dogs. Overall wear and tear will also be an issue, as these sites are already short on funding for basic maintenance. While the ‘friends of’ groups have been successful in obtaining project funding, maintenance costs are a key concern. Furthermore, the parking situation at Southwick will be exacerbated by an increase in housing in close proximity.

To be effective at drawing visitors away from the woodlands, alternative sites require a sense of “destination”. Southwick has this through its Country Park status and this is contributed to by the Hope Nature Centre, providing café and toilets and Park Run. A dog training area was considered at Southwick one/two years ago, but costs for such facilities are extremely high.

Measures to limit the increase in visitors to nature conservation sites were suggested, and might include preventing foot access to the woodlands, meaning that visitors would have to arrive by road. Once using a car, visitors might then consider travelling to alternative sites, which are relatively close by car but too far to reach on foot easily.

There are only a limited number of alternative greenspaces in the vicinity of Trowbridge. Beyond Trowbridge, sites such as Barton Farm Country Park present some alternative for visitors (Brokerswood Country Park is now closed to the public), as do many sites further away from Trowbridge (e.g. in Westbury, the White Horse and The Mead).

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust Reserves Manager (Ashley White)

Current use of Green Lane is regarded as quite high, particularly by dog walkers (including some commercial dog walkers). Visitors arrive both on foot and by vehicle, and can be at the site very early in the morning and late into the evening. The number of dogs is a cause of concern as it is leading to the creation of new paths, disturbance to wildlife and enrichment. New access paths have been emerging along Green Lane Wood’s western edge, close to the new development and, although these are occasionally blocked off, new residents who don’t yet know the site use them assuming they are permitted access routes.

At Biss Wood, the level of access is much less and visitors can only access on foot, although some cars are noted to park at the scout entrance (where there is no official parking). Early morning runners use the site and this has caused some disruption to deer management (deer browsing is a particular cause of concern in Biss Wood). The site is partially fenced. 65

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School groups use dedicated areas for Forest School and the Wildlife Trust are happy with how this is currently run. There is less use of Biss Wood for Forest School activities, as the site is smaller and glades with more interesting flora are considered vulnerable. It is hoped the new Green Lane Nature Park will eventually provide a suitable space for some of the school activities, as well as Green Lane Woods.

One of the key issues at Green Lane Wood is that of campfires, particularly in the school holidays. The sites used vary, meaning there are numerous locations affected. Both dead and newly felled wood are burnt. Other concerns include indirect disturbance by people to bats and other wildlife, and trampling/ compaction. Bat boxes have also been vandalised. There is concern that an increase in visitor numbers will result in an increase in pressure, and that this will be dispersed more widely across the woods; new paths are already being noted. Biss Wood is currently largely unaffected by visitor pressure, but there is concern that this will increase with more people living in close proximity to the wood.

The buffer strip on the western edge of Green Lane Wood and the Green Lane Nature Park are to be given to the Wildlife Trust. This transferal is part of the S106 for the adjoining development. Current management is undertaken by the developer, overseen by the Council for compliance, and has included tree planting and the installation of new paths. The S106 was to help alleviate pressure on the woods and also included improvements to the main path within Green Lane Wood, waymarking to direct people along particular paths and visitor counters (these were soon vandalised, but it is hoped these will be replaced by more inconspicuous counters).

The buffer strip and Green Lane Nature Park have not yet been handed over to WWT. WWT wish to further develop this area as a buffer zone; ideas include installing more interpretation and facilities, such as benches, to encourage people to use this areas rather than the woods. It could also provide outdoor space for school groups and young people, possibly with a dedicated fire pit. Other potential ways of decreasing the impact of increased visitor pressure include a greater staff presence (there are currently two volunteer wardens for Green Lane Wood, and one volunteer warden for Biss Wood), closing the Green Lane Wood car park (due to safety concerns on the increasingly busy road) and more fencing to stop new access points/paths being created in addition to reducing deer pressure.

Although concerned about the impacts of increased visitor numbers, WWT wish to enable local residents to have access to nature and to be involved in community wildlife projects. This will require greater investment in community engagement in addition to suitable interpretation within both the buffer area and the woodlands. A number of volunteer groups (including youth and well-being groups and scouts) are currently associated with Green Lane Wood and Biss Wood, and the creation of a ‘friends of’ group for the new Green Lane/Biss/Country Park complex is planned as a next step. This has not yet been implemented due to the delay in handover of the Country Park, but WWT feel that community engagement work is already required, due to an increase in visitor numbers.

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There are many bat boxes at the sites, which are well used by bats and these are regularly checked by an active volunteer group. However, the large number of bat boxes means the team takes a long time to get around all the boxes and check natural roost sites. This time commitment, combined with the wide availability of natural roost sites, means that the provision of extra bat boxes is not considered a high priority – greater connectivity in the landscape is thought to be a more pressing need.

John Goodall, consultant in public health, Wiltshire Council

Mr Goodall was able to offer an overview of health issues in Trowbridge and how these could be helped through the provision of green space. Data obtained for the National Child Measurement Programme for 2014/15 showed that 39.2% of Trowbridge year 6 children (age 10-11) were measured as overweight or obese (higher than the Wiltshire average of 29.2%). Similarly, data from the Active People Survey concerning show that participation in 3x30 minutes of activity a week was lower in Trowbridge Community Area than Wiltshire as a whole (23% compared to 24.6%). However, these data are from 2014/15, and Mr Goodall felt it would be difficult to attribute the difference to poor access to outdoor space specifically. He noted that Trowbridge includes some of the most deprived areas in Wiltshire.

There is a national evidence base around the benefit of accessible greenspace in promoting physical activity, and Wiltshire Council would welcome any approaches that would make Trowbridge a more walking-friendly environment. To be effective, greenspace needs to connect destinations so that people chose to walk from home to school/work/shops as it is pleasant and more convenient. The choice to walk or cycle does not need to be made on health grounds. In addition to increasing activity, a reduction in road traffic would itself have health as well as environmental benefits.

Wiltshire Council recently produced an Open Space Study which proposes standards for the provision of open space. It is hoped that the Council will develop a planning policy incorporating considerations of open space to guide councillors in making planning decisions.

Within Wiltshire, over 2000 people currently take part in structured, volunteer led health walks as part of the ‘Get Wiltshire Walking’ initiative, which runs 28 walks a week. In addition to increasing activity, these walks promote social engagement, with people from all socio-economic groups and may be in a range of habitats. However, some activities are habitat-specific, such as carrying out coppicing within the woodlands. There are also particular challenges associated with woodland, for example campfires and other antisocial behaviour.

If greenspace is to be effective in promoting health activity, local communities need to have a sense of ownership of the space. It is important they recognise it is theirs, and are not alienated by antisocial behaviour or vandalism.

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John Cox, Jubilee Woods Scout Camp

From January to September 2017 the Jubilee Woods Scout Camp was used 57 times, including several overnight camps. Use is steadily increasing as the on-site facilities (including grass and track surfaces) improve, the trees grow and news of what the site has to offer spreads. It is expected that use of the site will increase further this year, but numbers are not yet available. Large numbers of people use the site for certain events (upwards of 350 visitors).

Activities undertaken at the site include camping, archery, air rifle shooting, mountain biking, pond dipping, tracking, wide games, wildlife spotting, conservation activities, Beaver, Cub and Scout Fun Days, go-karting, use of the obstacle course and tree identification and care. These activities are intended to challenge the 650 young scout members in the district and aid their development as responsible future citizens, leaders and team members.

Nearby greenspace is also used by visitors to the scout camp. The scouts frequently undertake conservation work in Biss Wood with Wiltshire Wildlife Trust (for example, making bird and bat boxes, coppicing, keeping the rides open etc.). Other areas are used less frequently although nearby footpaths are used for hiking. Biss Wood is much quieter than Green Lane Wood and considered to be rather special.

Issues within Jubilee Woods Scout Camp include petty vandalism (pulling up young trees, breaking signs etc.), a small number of thefts and a problem with motor bikes entering from the north (now resolved by the installation of new fencing). Some walkers, joggers and dog walkers ignore signs that deer management and tree surgery are underway, putting themselves at risk. Dog poo bags and other rubbish are dumped in the entrance drive. The site has adequate car parking space and a turning circle for normal use, and a traffic management scheme is in place for large gatherings. The exit and entry onto the A350 is potentially dangerous but the lights at Stoney Gutter and West Ashton mean that there are frequent gaps in traffic flow even at busy times (however, road proposals consulted on in 2016 raised serious concerns and are felt to have major safety implications).

Proposed nearby development also raises a number of concerns, including increased numbers of people walking through the sites, increased dog waste, vandalism and trespass and safeguarding issues for children using the site. In addition, there are concerns about scouts and other users disturbing new local residents (for example during night games). The upkeep of open spaces needs to be considered.

A suggested improvement is for the Armouracre Farm meadows between Jubilee/Biss Wood and Green Lane Wood to be designated as green belt to prevent future development and provide a wildlife corridor between the two woodlands. Information boards and waymarked paths would be helpful, for example in Green Lane Nature Park.

Jubilee Wood Scout Camp is suitable for schools to use, and this would be welcomed. Much of the existing use in in the evenings, weekends or school holidays, meaning there is

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capacity during school hours. Tree planting could be an effective way to promote a sense of local ownership of greenspaces.

Natural England (Charles Routh, Lead Advisor, Planning & Licencing, Somerset, Avon and Wiltshire Area Team)

Charles Routh commented from a planning perspective, and the interview focussed on Bechstein’s bat and the availability of biological data and information surrounding the impacts of recreation on the species and the feasibility of recreational uplift at alternative sites.

Although Bechstein’s bats were known to use Biss and Green Lane Woods, the size of the populations and the flight pathways were not known at the time the housing allocation was made. Subsequent survey work carried out by the developers found that there was a nationally important maternity roost for this species. More than one roost site is used (including an isolated tree in a field to the north of the woods), but all individuals may use a single site at any one time, making the population particularly vulnerable. Little is known about the potential impact of recreational pressure on this species, but it is thought to be vulnerable to disturbance.

Wiltshire Council has produced planning guidance6 aimed at applicants, agents, consultants and planners involved in producing and assessing development proposals in the landscapes surrounding Wiltshire’s most sensitive bat roosting sites which are protected by European wildlife legislation. A rationale for how NE approaches Habitat Regulations Assessments with regard to the bat populations would be beneficial.

Given the relatively low use of Biss Wood before development, it may not be possible to achieve neutrality in terms of the increase in recreational levels post development. Many of the new visitors arriving as a consequence of development in the immediate areas are likely to wish to use the nearest open greenspace. Although existing visitors from slightly further afield may be more inclined to go elsewhere, numbers are too few to compensate for the potential increase from new development. There may therefore be limited scope for reducing impacts through visitor management in this situation and investment in landscape-scale habitat measures may prove more worthwhile.

Hilperton Gap is currently well-used for recreational purposes. Developing part of this area would reduce the amount of greenspace available for new and existing residents, who may therefore be deflected elsewhere, for example to Green Lane Woods and Biss Woods.

There is an existing footpath along some of the Paxcroft Brook. It may be worth considering whether this could be extended beyond the B road where it currently ends in order to give

6 http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/bath_and_bradford_on_avon_september_2015_bat_sac_guidance.pdf 69

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residents access to other Public Rights of Way leading out from Trowbridge into the countryside.

Given the lack of knowledge about Bechstein’s bats, there is a need for a precautionary approach.

Table 14: Summary of issues identified and suggestions made in interviews (interviewees were not aware of issues and suggestion raised by others and were not asked the same questions; not raising issues highlighted by others does not necessarily indicate lack of agreement).

Council Rangers Rangers Council Castle Mead School School Mead Castle Wiltshire Wildlife Trust Trust Wildlife Wiltshire Natural England (planning) England Natural Jubilee Woods Scout Camp Scout Woods Jubilee Woodlands Dog mess   Lack of allocated area for schools within woods  Fire sites  Disturbance by people and dogs  Likely increase in dog mess, littering and other pressures with increased    housing Increased dispersed access (more access point and paths) with increased  housing Increased trespass with increased housing  Loss of dark night skies with increased housing  Potential for current activities to disturb new local residents  Alternative Greenspaces Antisocial behaviours on current sites  Difficulties funding general maintenance costs   Parking issues at some sites  Development at Hilperton Gap could deprive existing residents of adequate access to green space and deflect new and existing visitors to  Green Lane Woods /Biss Woods

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Table 15: Summary of suggestions given in interviews

Council Rangers Rangers Council Castle Mead School School Mead Castle Wiltshire Wildlife Trust Trust Wildlife Wiltshire Natural England planning planning England Natural Jubilee Woods Scout Camp Camp Scout Woods Jubilee Public heath, Wiltshire Council Council Wiltshire heath, Public

Woodlands Outdoor learning area in Biss Woods  Improvements to Green Lane Nature Park    Good cycling and walking routes to schools/connecting   places No foot access into woodlands  Closing car parks along A350 to address safety concerns  and also reduce access. Improved fencing around edge of woods (reduce access)  Improved interpretation in woods and for schools   Increase engagement/involvement with community  generally Alternative Greenspaces More funding to reduce ‘wear and tear’ impacts  Encourage more use of Green Lane country park, by   providing more facilities here Promote a sense of local ownership of greenspaces to help prevent use for alienating activities/deliberate   damage Woodland rather than other habitats is important for   particular activities Extend footpath along Paxton Brook 

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5. Literature review

This review focuses on the ecology of Bechstein’s Bat and the impact of development, in particular recreation, to woodlands. We focus on issues likely to be relevant to Bechstein’s Bat. We also consider potential mitigation/avoidance measures, focusing on exclusion zones and provision of alternative greenspace.

The status and ecology of Bechstein’s Bat

Bechstein’s Bat is listed on Appendix II of the Bonn Convention (and its agreement on the Conservation of Bats in Europe, 1994), Appendix II of the Bern Convention, and Annexes II and IV of the EC Habitats and Species Directive. It is protected under Schedules 5 and 6 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. The 2016 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals classifies this species as Near Threatened.

The species is strongly associated with ancient woodland and especially oak and ash woodland (BCT 2011). Most individuals roost in trees all year round using tree holes (especially old woodpecker holes), but they will readily take to bat boxes. Bechstein’s Bats commonly switch roosts which may be an anti-predator defence or a strategy to reduce roost parasites. Females occupy communal roosts, although they can split up into smaller sub roosts; males usually roost singly. They hibernate in winter and evidence from ringed bats suggests that those from Biss and Green Lane Woods hibernate and swarm at Box Mine SSSI (part of the Bath and Bradford-on-Avon Bats SAC). The most sensitive period for the bats is most likely to be in the late-pregnancy/early-nursing period June-July (Keith Cohen pers. comm.)

Bechstein’s Bats forage from leaves and branches picking prey off the surface, and while they predominantly forage in the canopy they will also take prey from the ground (Russ 2012). Prey-generated sound is thought to be important, in that, when hunting, the bats listen for noises made by insect prey (Siemers & Swift 2006). Females rarely travel more than 1km from day roosts in summer and core foraging areas are usually within 1.5km of roosts (BCT 2011). Evidence gathered from radiotracking studies at Green lane Wood suggests Bechstein's Bats travel further, up to 3km away from the main roosts (L. Kilgallen pers. comm.). As with a number of other species, Bechstein’s bats ‘swarm’ at specific sites for mating which is believed to promote high gene diversity.

The species is hard to record and threats to this species are poorly understood. Its low population density, exacting habitat requirements and low rates of reproduction make it particularly vulnerable to loss and fragmentation of ancient woodland habitat and it is likely to be vulnerable to the loss, destruction and disturbance of roosts or potential roosts, particularly in old trees. Its ecology potentially makes it more vulnerable than some other bat species to urban development (Duchamp, Sparks & Whitaker 2004; Jung & Threlfall 2016). In the context of Green Lane Woods, the species is recorded, but records are

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sporadic and there is still insufficient knowledge of the use of roosts in the site (Keith Cohen pers. comm.)

Impacts of development, including recreation and anti-social behaviour, on woodland

Reviews of the scientific literature of urban effects on ancient woodland have been carried out on behalf of the Woodland Trust in 2008 and reviewed in 2012 (Corney et al. 2008; Ryan 2012). A useful review of impacts of recreational use of woodland covering the literature between 1990-2010 was published by the Forestry Commission (Marzano & Dandy 2012), and research prior to this time is covered in an earlier review in 1992 (Anderson & Radford 1992). These reviews indicate that recreational activities of humans and their pets in woodland can impact on woodlands in numerous ways including through disturbance (noise, light and human activity, including pets), invasion by non-native species, damage (from trampling, fires, and dumping) and eutrophication (from dog faeces). An additional impact of housing in close proximity to woodlands that is relevant here is the effect of cat predation on the fauna.

In this section, we build on these existing reviews and focus on the direct and indirect effects of human recreational activities, anti-social behaviour and cats on ancient woodland and how this may impact on the features of Picket and Clanger Wood SSSI, the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust reserves at Biss Wood and Green Lane Wood and the internationally protected population of Bechstein’s Bat.

We do not consider landscape scale impacts relating to direct loss of habitat from development, disruption of commuting routes and isolation/fragmentation of colonies and instead our focus is very much on the specific possible direct impacts from nearby development.

Trampling and habitat effects

There are many direct effects of human trampling within woodlands. Mechanical damage to plant tissue causes a loss of vegetation cover, changes in the plant composition of the vegetation and loss of species, a reduction in the genetic diversity of clonal species (woodland species such as Bluebell and Wood Anemone are clonal) and a reduction in plant height. Trampling can cause damage to root systems and increase water run-off, soil erosion and compaction with consequences for decomposition and nutrient cycling. Compaction can also cause a reduction in organic matter, affecting fertility and the water infiltration capacity of the soil.

Other effects of human trampling include the widening of paths and path erosion, particularly on slopes. There are greater effects on species of ancient woodlands than those of secondary woods, and more damage results from trampling during spring than later in the season (Burden & Randerson 1972; Thomas 1991).

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A number of studies have looked at the relative resistance to trampling of different species and types of plant. The most resistant plants are tufted or matted grass-like species followed by rosette forming species and those with underground storage species; the least resistant are erect broadleaved plants with their buds above the ground, including shrubs. The vegetation types that were least able to tolerate a complete cycle of damage and recovery were those that recovered least, rather than those that were damaged most initially (Cole 1995; Littlemore & Barker 2001).

The suggests that the creation of new paths in areas of woodland that support erect broadleaved plants, ferns or low shrubs should be avoided, unless these are protected. Wet woodland areas are more sensitive to trampling (although they can also recover more quickly than drier areas) (Roovers et al. 2004).

Most trampling studies have looked at the effects of footfall on paths and trails, but off- path trampling can also be a problem for example if visitors leave the path to look at wild flowers (Mason et al. 2015).

Disturbance to wildlife

Disturbance to wildlife can be direct (increased noise, light, activity of humans and pets) or indirect (increase in predators associated with housing, invasion of non-native flora and fauna) (e.g. Marzano & Dandy 2012; Anderson & Radford 1992). Direct disturbance to wildlife can result in negative impacts on species’ habitat use, foraging opportunities and breeding success and a central concern is that disturbance can cause birds or other wildlife to flee from cover or nests, potentially impacting on their energy balances, feeding behaviour and the vulnerability of eggs, young or fledglings (Marzano & Dandy 2012).

Most studies of disturbance have been carried out on birds. The greatest effects have been observed on ground dwelling birds of open habitats such as grassland, heathland, coasts and open water (Mallord 2005; Liley et al. 2006; Murison 2007; McLeod et al. 2013; Stigner et al. 2016).

In woodland, the density of birds may be positively influenced by the amount of trail-free habitat (i.e. the fewer paths, the greater number of birds) (Thomson 2015) and dog walking in woodland may lead to a reduction of 35% in bird diversity and a 41% reduction in abundance compared to controls (Banks & Bryant 2007). Previously, Marzano & Dandy (2012) had concluded that the available evidence did not indicate significant negative effects of UK forest birds as a result of flight responses to walkers and that the limited available evidence showed little or no long term negative impacts on UK mammals as a result of flight caused by walkers in woodlands. A recent study, found that red deer were strongly influenced by the presence of trails and the use of refuge zones largely determined their habitat use during daytime (Coppes et al. 2017).

Different recreational activities may have different impacts in terms of disturbance. Dogs disturb wildlife and this role may be underestimated (Weston & Stankowich). Free-ranging

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dogs can act as predators of a range of mammals and they may have significant population and community level effects, although this may not be relevant for leashed dogs. A number of studies conclude that walkers without dogs cause less disturbance than those with dogs and that free ranging dogs cause greater disturbance to wildlife than leashed dogs (Lenth, Knight & Brennan 2008; Parsons et al. 2016; Raynor 2016). One study has also shown that joggers cause greater avian disturbance that walkers (Lethlean et al. 2017) and another that cyclists were not associated with disturbance to nightjars in a forest habitat (Raynor 2016).

Studies of disturbance of bats have shown impacts for hibernating bats (Thomas 1995), roosting bats (Lewis 1995) and breeding bats (López-Roig & Serra-Cobo 2014). There is however very little work directly addressing the impacts of disturbance on woodland bats. However, a simulation model of possible impacts on Barbastelle Bats (a rare breeding woodland species which switches roosts following disturbance by a predator/perceived predator) concluded that the greatest risk of disturbance was from unrestricted recreationists (i.e. those wandering off the paths) and that the risk of disturbance was greater closer to car parks (Bennet et al. 2009).

Noise

Most research on noise relates to the impacts of traffic noise on birds. Noise levels from residential areas tend to vary spatially and over time, but chronic background noise can affect the reproductive success of some species near woodland edges (Marzano & Dandy 2012, Anderson & Radford 1992). As noise levels increase, the number and diversity of species reduces, although different species react differently to similar noise levels - forest specialist bird species are more affected than generalists. Studies including over 40 woodland bird species found reductions of 20-98% (depending on species) in the abundance of birds within 250m of roads. Reduced bird occurrence was found in wooded fragments up to 2km away from a main road.

A number of behavioural responses to increased noise levels have also been found. Birds can sing at higher frequencies and with greater amplitude, use higher song perches, increase their anti-predator vigilance and reduce their foraging time in the presence of high noise levels (Nemeth et al. 2013; Polak 2014; Meillere, Brischoux, & Angelier 2015; Klett- Mingo, Pavon & Gil 2016).

There has been some dispute as to whether the effect of roads is due to noise, the presence of moving vehicles, other vibration effects or incidents such as collisions. However a recent study that isolated noise as a single variable found a 25% reduction in bird abundance and almost complete avoidance of the areas for 50m around the noise source by birds (McClure et al. 2013).

Bats rely on sounds for communication, spatial navigation and foraging. Studies have shown that anthropogenic noise can reduce foraging efficiency in bats, although bats can change the length and frequency of their calls to compensate for noise. However, if they are intolerant of the noise, they will move away to forage elsewhere, meaning there is a

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reduction in their foraging range (Schaub, Ostwald & Siemers 2008; Hage et al. 2012; Brinkley et al. 2015; Jinhong 2015).

One experimental study suggested foraging efficiency for Mouse-eared Bats was reduced at distances up to 60m from a highway (Siemers & Schaub 2011) while the work of Berthinussen and Altringham (2012) showed that noise levels around the M6 reached a low level and were unchanging beyond 100m from the motorway. Noise pollution is likely to therefore be relevant for bats within a relatively small distance from the source of the noise (e.g. less than 100m).

Light

Artificial illumination reduces the visibility of the moon and stars and can affect individuals’ orientation, with consequential effects on foraging, communication and reproduction (e.g. Marzano & Dandy 2012; Anderson & Radford 1992). It is likely to affect species most active at dawn and dusk or nocturnal species, including invertebrates, some birds and bats. Again, most is known about birds - illumination can result in earlier breeding and earlier singing by yearling males, both of which can be deleterious, and may also affect predation rates if predators avoid artificially lighted areas (Da Silva, Diez-Mendez & Kempenaers 2017; Russ, Lucenicova & Klenke 2017). A recent study has found that some bat species, including Bechstein’s Bat, actively avoid lighted areas and are intolerant of even low intensity light (Lacoeuilhe et al. 2014). However, light pollution is thought to occur over relatively short distances (due to the inverse square relationship between distance and light intensity, see Berthinussen & Altringham 2012).

Other ‘general’ urban effects

There have been limited studies on the other effects of human activity in woodland. An early, comprehensive study by Matlock (1993) reported human activities including dumping of garden waste and building materials, damage to trees, construction of children’s huts and tree houses, campsites and firewood gathering. Dumping of garden rubbish occurred close to the woodland edge and tree houses, campsites and firewood gathering away from the edge, with 95% of localised damage within 82 m of the edge. Vandalised trees, firewood gathering and campsites showed a negative relationship with distance to nearest road and other activities were clustered around footpaths.

Later studies confirmed the influence of housing and access in determining the incidence and location of anti-social activities including wild fires (Kirby & Tantram 1999; Liley 2004). Verlic et al (2015) recorded the effects of human use on trails and (excluding trampling effects) found litter, vandalism and domestic animal waste to be the main impacts. Other impacts can include the removal of dead wood and wildlife casualties from dumped litter, disturbance from off-road driving, scrambling, paint balling, war games and mountain biking, including at night (Corney et al 2008). Most of these activities have not been scientifically assessed in relation to disturbance to wildlife in woodlands.

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Invasive alien species

A further impact from nearby housing and recreational use is the deliberate or accidental introduction of alien invasive flora and fauna, and there is a link between the introduction of alien plants and the proximity of housing (e.g. Corney et al 2008). A recent paper summarised the factors which facilitate the invasion of woodland by alien invasive plants and among others these included the distance to urban land and roads and disturbance to vegetation and soils by human activity, soil type and raised nutrient levels (Obidzinski et al. 2016). Studies of seed dispersal have shown humans can inadvertently act as dispersal agents across considerable distances (Wichmann et al. 2009).

Cat predation

Cat predation from domestic cats has been identified as a threat to many important wildlife sites which lie in close proximity to housing. The domestic cat population in the UK is estimated to be 11.1 million (PDSA 2015), with a further 800,000 feral cats (Woods, McDonald & Harris 2003a). Approximately one quarter of the UK population is estimated to own a cat, and this seems to have been at a consistent level in recent years (Murray et al. 2010; PDSA 2015). Cats are most likely to be owned by people with gardens (98% see Murray et al. 2010) and around a quarter are indoors-only pets (PDSA 2015).

Cats predate a wide range of prey, mostly small mammals, but also birds, invertebrates, fish and herptiles (Woods, McDonald & Harris 2003a; Baker et al. 2008). Pet cats are opportunistic predators and prey selection is correlated with prey availability (Loyd et al. 2013). Accurately recording cat prey items is difficult as many items are likely to be consumed or discarded where caught, but cats predation of bats has been recorded - for example both Pipistrelle and Long-eared Bats were among the prey brought home by cats in the study by Woods et al. (2003b), which involved questionnaires completed by pet owners. Ancillotto et al. (2013) highlight cats as predators of bats and provide evidence that domestic cats can predate Bechstein’s Bat and can target species that breed/roost in trees and also catch bats that are hunting.

How far pet cats roam seems to vary markedly. Numerous studies have examined the distances to which cats roam (see Hall et al. 2016 for a meta-analysis), and mostly these have been undertaken outside the UK, particularly Australia and New Zealand where cats pose an extreme threat to many species (Barratt 1997; Meek 2003; Hansen 2010; Metsers, Seddon & van Heezik 2010). Based on the 32 studies in the Hall paper, the range of maximum distances that cats roam would seem to lie between 360m – 2.4km and varies according to housing density (cats range further in rural areas), gender of the cat (males roam further than females), age of the cat (cats aged 2-7 roam further). Of the few studies in the UK, the most up to date recommended a distance of 400 meters (Thomas, Baker & Fellowes 2014). This study was conducted in urban Reading, where close proximity between cats (cats are territorial) and physical barriers, such as roads are likely to reduce the distances travelled (Barratt 1997). In areas such as Trowbridge, where cats are able to

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potentially roam outside the town and the habitat is fields and woodlands, ranging distances of over 400m are therefore to be expected from some cats.

Mitigation Approaches: Exclusion Zones and Alternative Greenspace (‘SANGs’)

There is much current research on access to the countryside and the importance of access. It is now increasingly recognised that access to the countryside is crucial to the long term success of nature conservation projects and has wider benefits such as increasing public awareness of the natural world and health benefits (Alessa, Bennett & Kliskey 2003; Pretty et al. 2005; Moss 2012) or economic benefits (e.g. Bennett, Tranter & Blaney 2003; Downward & Lumsdon 2004). Nature conservation bodies are trying to encourage people to spend more time outside7 and government policy (for example through enhanced coastal access) is promoting access to the coast. Furthermore, access to many sites is a legal right, with an extensive Public Rights of Way network and open access to many sites through the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (2000). There is therefore a difficult balancing act and a challenging message to communicate in order to resolve impacts associated with recreation without compromising the ability of people to be outside and enjoying the green spaces near their homes. In this part of the review we focus on two approaches to avoidance and mitigation of urban development, exclusion zones and the provision of alternative greenspace.

Exclusion zones

Constraint zones have been established around a number of European sites and essentially define an area where it is recognised there needs to be a limit on development in order to ensure no harm to the designated site. Rather than a blanket no-development zone, these are usually set out in plan policy as areas where there are likely significant effects from particular types of new development and it is potentially not possible for development to proceed without adverse effects on the integrity of European sites. By identifying clearly where such constraints occur, such policies provide clear guidance and ensure plans are not reliant on development coming forward in areas where project level habitats assessments will rule out development.

Examples Many local plans have policy wording stating that development must avoid harm to European sites and many indicate what kinds of development or locations are likely to involve concern or require further checks. For example, the East Devon Local Plan8 states that new development within 400m of the Exe Estuary should be subject to a project level

7 For example through Project Wild Thing, http://projectwildthing.com/ 8 East Devon Local Plan 2013 – 2031; http://eastdevon.gov.uk/media/1772841/local-plan-final-adopted- plan-2016.pdf 78

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assessment to check for potential impacts on roost sites or key areas for birds outside the SPA boundary. Such an example simply highlights that there are potential risks and some specific locations may need further checks. In Table 16 we provide some examples of constraint zones that are more clearly defined and apply across multiple local authority boundaries.

The use of 400m is a common approach, and was first used on the Thames Basin Heaths (see Burley 2007 for a detailed account of the background). A review of heathland sites and the use of 400m can be found in Riley et al. (2016).

Table 16: Selected examples of constraint zones around European sites, these examples all relate to cross- boundary approaches where the zone applies across multiple local authorities

Distance Number of for the Reason for exclusion Evidence & European site local Notes constraint zone references authorities zone

Underhill-Day Urban effects to Each local (2005); Liley et al. SPA including authority has (2006); Burley Thames Basin recreation, cat produced its 400m 11 (2007); Joint Heaths SPA predation, avoidance Strategic increased fire risk strategy/SPD or Partnership Board etc. equivalent (2008). Urban effects Dorset including A single joint DPD Underhill-Day Heathlands recreation, cat sets out mitigation (2005); Liley et al. 400m 5 SPA/Dorset predation, across all (2007); South-east Heaths SACs increased fire risk authorities Dorset LPAs (2016) etc. Applies only to those parts of the SPA with stone Research on stone curlews. Infill curlews shows development Sharp et al. (2008); Breckland 1500m 4 avoidance of (masked from the Clarke & Liley SPA buildings to SPA by existing (2013) 1500m buildings) and within existing settlements is excluded.

Setting zones Setting the distance at which exclusion zones need to be established is not straightforward, as there is unlikely to be detailed evidence that identifies a precise distance at which impacts no longer occur. For example, the literature on cat roaming (see above) shows a wide variation in roaming distances and setting a definitive boundary to avoid such impacts

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is a challenge. The literature does not provide clear evidence at where a boundary might best be set, and as such a degree of pragmatism is required.

The importance of not being too formulaic in approach is highlighted by an appeal at Golf Links Road, Ferndown9 relating to a site within 400m of Parley Common (part of the Dorset Heathlands network, and an SSSI, SAC, Ramsar and SPA site). The whole curtilage of the site was within the 400m exclusion zone for the Dorset Heaths, but the appellant held that they could avoid impact by setting back the boundary of the site outside the zone. In dismissing the appeal, the Inspector referred to Natural England’s consultation response stating that the application was ignoring the primary purpose of the 400m zone and placed too much weight on precise measurements. The 400m provided a working compromise to assess risk to the SPA.

Examples of policy wording Policy wording and approaches to setting exclusion zones differ markedly. For example, within the Thames Basin Heaths there are 11 different local authorities where the 400m exclusion zone applies and each uses slightly different wording. Some authorities, such as Hart District10, identify the need for the zone but clearly state that the zone could be modified (albeit in exceptional circumstances) and that appropriate assessment would be required for development within the zone::

The Inner Exclusion Zone is within 400m of the SPA, measured as the crow flies from the SPA perimeter to the point of access on the curtilage of the dwellings. Within this zone there is a presumption against new residential development as the impact on the SPA is likely to be such that it is not possible to conclude no adverse effect on the SPA. In exceptional circumstances it may be appropriate for Local Authorities to modify the extent of this Zone. An Appropriate Assessment would be required for any proposed development within the Inner Exclusion Zone to demonstrate that it would not have an adverse effect on the SPA.

By contrast, Surrey Heath Borough Council11 has very policy wording that simply states that no new development is permitted within 400m of the SPA:

All new residential (net) development within 5km of the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area is considered to give rise to the possibility of likely significant effect. Accordingly only new development that complies with the following requirements will be

9 Appeal Reference APP/U1240/A/12/2180857 10 See their Interim Avoidance Strategy for the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (from November 2010). 11 See Policy CP14B in the Surrey Heath Core Strategy and Development Management Policies (adopted 2012). 80

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permitted. (i) No (net) new residential development will be permitted within 400m of the SPA.

Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspaces (SANGs)

Introduction Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspaces (SANGs) is the term given to greenspaces that are created or enhanced with the specific purpose of absorbing recreation pressure that would otherwise occur at sites designated as European wildlife sites. SANGs are created, or existing greenspaces enhanced to create a SANG, in order to mitigate for the effects of new housing development, absorbing the level of additional recreation pressure associated with the new development.

SANGs are typically part of a package of measures to mitigate for the impact of increased recreation pressure arising from new residential development, often established alongside other approaches such as visitor engagement on the European sites themselves.

While SANGs are often closely linked and targeted to particular new development, it is optimistic to assume a SANG will absorb all visits by new residents to the European site, particularly if the European site is attractive and a recognised destination. As such other mitigation measures are necessary and SANGs may also work to draw visits from existing residents. The 'net effect' of a mitigation package should therefore be to prevent an increase in recreation pressure on the European site, and it is accepted that with SANGs in place some new residents may still exert some pressure on the European site and some existing pressure will also be diverted.

Whilst the use of SANGs in strategic mitigation provision for European sites has now been in place for some years, SANGs still remain a relatively new approach to mitigation and importantly they remain relatively untested. Around the Thames Basin Heaths SPA, SANGs have formed the main thrust of mitigation implemented to date, and only recently have the on-site SPA elements (SAMM, that include on-site wardening) have had greater prominence. Viewed as a whole, the SANGs network in the Thames Basin Heaths is clearly drawing visitors from the same areas as the SPA and drawing similar kinds of access (e.g. dog walkers); the level of use of some SANGs is impressive (see Liley, Panter & Rawlings 2015 for a review). The Thames Basin Heaths area is therefore the best source of examples of SANGs12. In Figure 10 we show a range of SANGs sites, providing a flavour of the types of sites, character and design.

12 Forty-four sites are currently listed and mapped on the Thames Basin Heaths partnership website 81

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Figure 15: Examples of SANGs and SANGs infrastructure from Dorset and the Thames Basin Heaths (‘TBH’). 82

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Potential concerns and limitations to the approach Some authors have been critical of the SANGs approach (e.g. Chapman 2014). As noted above, whilst SANGs may absorb some of the access, it is likely that new residents (and existing) will still be drawn to the SPA for recreation. Existing visitors with a strong affinity to local heathland sites are perhaps particularly unlikely to use SANGs. The provision of SANGs was always on the assumption that at least some existing residents may divert some of their visits to the new SANG. In some locations, this may be unlikely, particularly where the European site has a unique draw (such as highly attractive scenery and views). SANGs may therefore only absorb a small proportion of access in some locations.

In order to work effectively, SANGs must provide a realistic alternative to European sites and therefore they potentially need to be relatively wild, semi-natural spaces and large. For example a typical dog-walk in the Thames Basin Heaths SPA is around 2.5km (Fearnley & Liley 2013), a route length that is difficult to fit in an area under 30ha without retracing steps. The potential need for such large sites means SANGs are generally highly expensive; both in terms of up-front costs and on-going management (as they need to be secured for access in perpetuity in order to adequately mitigate for the permanent effect of new development).

There is also potential concern that the provision of high quality green space in an area may in fact encourage local people to have a dog or spend their leisure time outside; many new developments are promoted by developers to highlight the greenspace nearby. As such it is therefore possible that SANGs could contribute to an increased number of people visiting the countryside, or that new development with high quality natural SANGs provision may be attracting and encouraging people who already visit the countryside to spend more time outside. SANGs may therefore be linked to high levels of access, not all of which might necessarily be absorbed by the SANGs themselves.

Given the above concerns and limitations, it is clearly important that SANGs are carefully planned, designed and their likely effectiveness checked.

Level of SANGs provision and enhancement of existing greenspace sites The challenges of providing local greenspace that is accessible and of a suitable quality and quantity for local residents has received much attention (see Pauleit et al. 2003; Kambites & Owen 2006; Natural England 2010; Greenspace Scotland & Scottish Natural Heritage 2013), and there are standards for general greenspace provision. Such work provides useful precedents, but considers greenspace in a broad sense, rather than the very specific role of SANGs in creating a semi-natural space that acts as an alternative to the European sites.

In the original Thames Basin Heaths Draft Delivery Plan, area standards of 8ha (for developments beyond 2km from SPA) and 16ha (for developments within 2km of the SPA) per 1000 people (i.e. new residents) were originally suggested. These areas were apparently based on the Greater London Authority open space standards, the National Playing Field Association standards and Natural England’s Accessible Natural Greenspace (ANGSt) model,

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY and also on two proposals put forward at the time (see Burley 2007 for details). In his review of these proposed standard rates of SANG delivery, Burley considered the evidence was weak and based on very little evidence. Following Burley’s recommendations, 8ha per 1000 residents has become the standard rate of SANGs delivery for new development in the Thames Basin Heaths, but other areas such as Dorset have not necessarily followed with set expectations of rates of delivery.

For a site to be effective as a SANG it must provide an alternative to the SPA, and therefore (at least in part) replicate the experience gained from a visit there. A busy, overcrowded site is unlikely to provide that experience. While SANGS can be created from sites with existing access, in order to work as mitigation, they must be enhanced to draw additional access and it is difficult to quantify a level of access which is not already too busy and where there is scope for visitor numbers to increase. The extent to which a site feels too busy is likely to be subjective, dependent on the vegetation, views, site lines, noise levels, the shape of the site etc; as such setting a standard for existing sites is a challenge. A potentially useful guide or benchmark is a level of access of 1 person per ha per hour, above which sites are potentially busy and likely to be busier than nearby European sites (Liley & Floyd 2013; Liley, Panter & Rawlings 2015).

Design components for effective SANGs Drawing from visitor survey data and other information, Natural England have produced guidelines for SANGs in the Thames Basin Heaths in terms of desirable features, design, infrastructure, location and size of site etc. (see Liley, Underhill-Day & Sharp 2009; Liley, Panter & Rawlings 2015). Away from the Thames Basin Heaths there are a range of other studies that discuss design criteria for SANGs (for example see Liley & Floyd 2013; Liley & Underhill-Day J. 2015; Panter & Liley 2015, 2016). From these various studies, we can highlight the following as potentially key considerations for SANGs:

 Location: needs to be accessible to residents of new development and potentially existing residents, such that the SANG is at least as easy to access as the European sites  Size: sites ideally need to be in the order of 30ha to provide suitably long routes (visitor data from the European sites are necessary to indicate how far people typically walk). There may be potential to link to other sites or rights of way but ideally such route lengths should be entirely accommodated within the SANG.  Routes: a range of routes should be possible, with longer walks (longer than 2.5km) possible. Routes should be easy to find, ideally way-marked and accessible at all times of year.  Types of access: access provision needs to match the requirements of residents and the types of use on the European sites. Dog walkers are likely to be a major component, but requirements are site specific. There are SANGs in Dorset that are designed entirely for BMX riders.  Parking: If the aim of the SANG is to draw people from a reasonable radius, good quality parking will need to be provided. Car parks need to be of appropriate size, free (assuming it is free to park at the European sites) and 84

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safe. Dog-walkers will prefer locations where the dog can be let out of the car safely.  Feel: sites should be welcoming, clearly open to the public for access and safe. Adjacent busy roads, sewage works, industrial sites etc. are likely to detract from the appeal of the sites. SANGs should provide a suitable alternative to the ecologically sensitive sites and are therefore likely to need to be relatively wild and semi-natural in feel.  Features: it may be possible to draw visitors and enhance sites with art installations (e.g. sculptures), infrastructure (screens to view wildlife, viewpoints, wild play facilities, benches etc.), however such features should not lead to the site being too urban in feel.  Facilities: large sites may benefit from toilets, a café etc. but such facilities are unlikely to be essential components. Dog bins may be necessary. Some SANGs (e.g. Upton Country Park in Dorset) have dedicated facilities for dog walkers including a fenced dog training area and a stream area where dogs can drink and access the water).  Promotion: it is important that SANGs are widely promoted to local residents. Good road signs, resident’s packs, leaflets and promotion on the internet are important.  Management: SANGs need to be permanent and management (e.g. maintenance, grass cutting, path surfacing) needs to be secured in- perpetuity. Some sites are owned by local authorities, other approaches include management by a trust or a suitable charity such as the local wildlife trust.  Monitoring: visitor surveys of SANGs are likely to be necessary in the early days to check sites are being used and drawing the right types of access. Visitor survey results can provide the feedback necessary to modify or enhance the SANG. Any issues (anti-social behaviour, vandalism, poached ground etc.) need to be picked up and resolved.

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6. Recommendations for avoidance and mitigation

Bechstein’s Bat is a rare species and poorly understood. It occurs at low densities and is difficult to record. There is insufficient information from the literature to set particular levels of development at which impacts will occur or to identify particular activities or types of activities that will be damaging. The review does however highlight a range of risks directly related to urbanisation and Bechstein’s Bat is likely to be particularly vulnerable. These risks are sufficient to justify Wiltshire Council establishing avoidance and mitigation measures.

In this section, we make detailed recommendations for avoidance and mitigation. These recommendations will be used by Wiltshire Council in their mitigation strategy. The strategy will incorporate our recommendations with broader landscape scale approaches, such as planting and connecting woodland sites.

Overall aims and objectives

The overarching aim of our recommendations is to:

1. Ensure new housing does not lead to adverse effects on the Bath and Bradford- on-Avon Bats SAC through urban effects on the woodlands, including recreation impacts.

Secondary aims are to:

2. Enhance the area for recreation, bringing social and economic benefit; and 3. Enhance the area for biodiversity and nature conservation

These aims can be achieved through the following objectives:

1. Preclude development within a 600m radius of the woods (i.e. bat sites); 2. Ensure woods (i.e. bat sites) are recognised as nature reserves by visitors and that these are different from the other open spaces which are primarily managed for access; 3. Provide well-resourced, connected and promoted greenspaces (away from the woodland bat sites) that are managed primarily for access; these sites should cater for a range of different types of recreational use and provide a range of visitor experiences; 4. Ensure that the woods (i.e. bat sites) are able to absorb any additional recreation use without damage to the SAC interest (without overly promoting or encouraging access to the sites in question).

In addition, landscape scale enhancements for Bechstein's bats may be appropriate, but this is outside the scope of this report.

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Recommendations

The objectives can be achieved through the following specific recommendations.

A) Establish a 600m exclusion zone around the woodland sites.

Within this zone development should be restricted (i.e. no net increase in new residential curtilage within the zone). This will ensure an adequate buffer around the woodland sites. Development close to the woods will potentially lead to:

 Increase light pollution  Increased noise pollution  Increased cat predation  Increased recreational use (with use originating close to the sites being much harder to deflect to alternative locations)

Our recommendation of 600m is a pragmatic one and there is limited evidence with which to set a precise limit.

Cat ranging behaviour indicates cats will cover distances ranging from 360m - 2.4km, with the larger distances relating to rural areas. New development to the east of Trowbridge will probably result in cats being more likely to reach the woodland bat sites as cats will be able to roam over rural areas (fields, woodlands) and the presence of territorial cats (associated with existing development) is likely to push cats to roam eastwards.

An exclusion zone of 400m is established for heathland habitats in order to reduce multiple impacts associated with cats, visitors, increased fires, rubbish dumping etc. For Trowbridge the key aim is to reduce the number of frequent daily visitors on foot from new developments, especially dog walkers. This is considered to be the best way to ensure that site managers can continue to manage the scale of impacts of visitors in the woods, particularly their impacts on habitats and the ensuing direct and indirect consequences for Bechstein's bats.

People living close to woodlands are more likely to visit them. Using our decay curves (see Figure 4 and Figure 5) foot access to sites starts to fall away significantly at around 600m and then reaches a low and relatively consistent level. It should be noted this is 600m linear distance from the woods rather than travel distance. Any barriers, such as fencing, may serve to separate the woods from nearby housing, but little certainty can be given to such measures in-perpetuity as effective obstructions to the movement of people and cats. Other impacts such as noise pollution and light pollution decline with distance and – based on the findings in the literature review – will be unlikely to extend beyond 600m.

B) Improvements/changes to parking at woodland bat sites

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Closure of woodland parking access off the A350, i.e. into Green Lane Wood could resolve the safety concerns and also help to limit visitor numbers. This car park had an estimated 3 people per hour entering the wood on a typical day (tallies recorded 29 on the weekday, 18 at the weekend entering from the car park in the 8 hours of survey). Access will still be required for volunteers, management, work parties etc. so this will require some kind of gate that is vandal proof and can be locked (rather than a bund or similar). An alternative option would be to reduce the car-parking capacity. Closure of car-parks can be unpopular, so this should be implemented with care and discussion with local users to ensure no backlash. Ideally it could coincide with improvements to parking elsewhere (e.g. at Southwick Country Park) which may help to resolve conflict.

Parking in general in the vicinity of the woodlands should be limited to ensure that in the long-term parking capacity does not creep up. This should help ensure access levels are limited at the woodland sites.

C) New interpretation and signage at woodland bat sites

Interpretation provides information for visitors about the site, while signage informs visitors as to how to behave and helps way-finding. The two can be linked. New interpretation and signage would ensure visitors are aware the sites are important and managed for nature conservation, as distinct from the other greenspace sites which are managed primarily for access. Interpretation would therefore convey the nature importance of the sites, ensuring visitors are aware of their importance. There should be clear instructions/guidance relating to the issues of fires, camping, remaining on paths, dog fouling, dogs off leads etc. Improved way-marking will help people follow particular routes through the woods. As Bechstein’s Bats regularly move roost sites, it is likely that disturbance will be minimised if the area used for access is minimised. Focussing access on selected paths and reducing desire lines is therefore likely to be beneficial, and good way-marking within the woods may help achieve this.

D) Improvements to paths within the woodland bat sites

Improvements to path surfacing/routes at woods should also help focus access within the woodland sites and limit desire lines/spread of access within the sites. Improvements should be low key, with the aim of containing access along particular routes and keeping areas of the wood quiet, rather than enhancing the sites to draw more visitors. Improvements to the path network should ensure the woodland sites are more robust in terms of absorbing any changes in recreation use in the future.

Given the erratic nature of roosts sites and the limited knowledge of the full picture roost sites in the woods, there is little evidence as to where the paths should be. But it is nevertheless recommended that any revisions to the path networks should consider the possible effect of pushing or pulling visitors to different parts of the sites near bat roosts or the habitat potential for roosts. Good data on the distribution of bat roosts and the frequency of roost site use would be useful. 88

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E) Fencing at bat woodland sites

Stakeholder interviews indicated the need for improvements to fencing and new fencing around the woodland sites. Fencing serves two purposes. Management of deer within the woodlands is difficult where there is access, and therefore impacts of deer are likely in the long term to be resolved by keeping deer out rather than culling. This will reduce damage to ground flora, coppice regrowth and overall woodland structure, and is particularly relevant at Biss Woods. Fencing also serves to limit desire lines and stops diffuse access; visitor use is then focussed through gates and main paths, meaning signage, interpretation and engagement can be more effectively targeted and visitors are funnelled onto the main paths. This is particularly relevant along the western edge of Green Lane Wood.

F) Increase wardening presence at the woodland bat sites and other greenspace sites

Visitor survey results identified anti-social behaviour at all sites, especially Green Lane Wood (fires, camping); Southwick Country Park (dogs out of control) and Biss Meadows (‘other’ and camping). Wardening is a good way of resolving such issues as the presence of somebody official is likely to deter use or result in people modifying their behaviour. The presence of wardens may help ensure dogs are kept under control and dog fouling reduced. Wardening should target the woodland bat sites but should also cover the other local greenspace sites to ensure issues do not escalate. At the woodland bat sites, some wardening focus should include the evenings when camp fires, noisy gatherings etc have a particular risk of disturbance to bats. Summer and the school holidays should be a particular focus when evenings are lighter, children off school are more likely to in the woods and bats are at their most sensitive stages (June-July).

As well as policing, wardens can also play an engagement role, showing people wildlife and helping visitors to appreciate the nature conservation importance of the sites and community engagement (see next point). Wardening forms a fundamental component of mitigation at other European sites where there are likely significant effects from urban development and increased access, for example at the Thames Basin Heaths, the Dorset Heaths and the Solent.

Wardening would potentially require a single person employed to provide an on-the- ground presence, and this would require close working with a range of stakeholders. The role should supplement and support the work of existing stakeholders – such as the Wildlife Trust or countryside ranger team.

G) Engagement with visitors and the community

Engagement work with visitors and the local community (including schools), will raise awareness of the woodland sites as important for nature conservation and bats. Such engagement should aim to ensure people are aware of the special nature of their local woods and help people recognise the need to look after and protect the woodlands. This 89

TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY should help with the long-term protection of the sites and potentially help to generate local support and community involvement (for example volunteering). The bats may work as good focal species to promote the importance of local sites to schools (bats potentially sparking children’s interests through the links to superheroes and vampires) and the stakeholder interviews highlight Castle Mead school already has a bat as its logo and uses bat names for forms and a keen interest in better links to local conservation work. Engagement measures that would be relevant and appropriate could include:

 Information packs for local schools  Visits to local schools  Community events  Engagement events on sites  Guided walks (e.g. with bat detectors)  Material on the web, with material on local bats (e.g. showing tracking results)  Establishing volunteer wardens or ‘ambassadors’ to help spread key messages such as dogs on leads or the need to pick-up dog mess.  Volunteer groups, for example helping with tree planting

There are a range of ways in which the engagement could be delivered. It could be possible for the warden role to be extended to undertake some of the measures, such as establishing the volunteer wardens/ambassadors or leading the guided walks. Some elements could then be delivered by specialist subcontractors or external bodies. Alternatively, it may prove cost effective for a dedicated part-time engagement post to run for a set period, and this post could develop school packs, educational material etc.

An example of engagement on site is shown in Figure 16.

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Figure 16: Example of targeted engagement work, here undertaken by the ‘Dorset Dogs’ project. Engagement is in the form of an on-site ‘pit stop’, to talk to visiting dog walkers. H) Provision of outdoor learning space for schools

Linked to the previous recommendation, stakeholder interviews highlighted the need for an outdoor learning space for the Castle Mead school and potentially other schools. Local schools already visit the woods and such use is likely to increase in the future, adding to the pressures on the woods. Ideally such provision would include space for a base, with seating (e.g. logs), space for a fire, scope for den making/building shelters etc. and a secure storage facility (such as a lockable shed). The location needs to be in areas without dog fouling and other users, ideally in a dedicated area with limited other use yet easily accessible to the local schools.

Such a provision would help establish community involvement and help children (and their families) learn about the local woodland. Such outdoor learning space would need to be sited away from areas that support bat roots and therefore potentially outside the woodland bat sites, yet woodland cover is ideal for the these ‘forest schools’. Green Lane Nature Park could be a suitable venue. Equally it may be possible for the scout’s Jubilee Wood to be shared with the school, which already has many of the provisions needed and is developing into a pleasant woodland space. This would require liaison between the school and scout groups.

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I) Infrastructure enhancement to existing greenspace sites outside the bat woodlands

The visitor surveys targeted a range of greenspace sites away from the bat woodlands. It is clear these are well visited already. Enhancements to these sites could enable them to absorb additional recreational use and for much recreational pressure to be focussed on these sites in the future. The visitor survey results provide much information to help guide potential enhancements to draw use away from the woodlands. Dog walking is the main activity at all sites (79% of interviewees) but accounted for a particularly high proportion of visitors at Clanger and Picket Woods (91%). Dog walkers should therefore be a key target group.

The survey results show that visitors to the woodland bat sites tended to undertake longer visits compared to other sites (at Biss Wood and Clanger and Picket Woods in particular). The woods also have a relatively high proportion of people visiting infrequently (less than once a month) and at weekends, and therefore it would seem the woods currently draw people who wish to undertake a longer walk and who occasionally make the effort to visit such sites in order to have a longer walk. Clanger has a particular draw for people who come by car, and therefore are making a particular effort to visit. People tended to travel further to Clanger and Picket Woods compared to other sites (potentially reflecting the high proportion of car-users at the site). While Green Lane Wood has a significantly higher proportion of interviewees who have been visiting for relatively short periods of time, and therefore it is clear that the woodland sites are attracting new visitors and new housing will result in increased levels of use. Routes walked were longer at Clanger and Picket and Green Lane Wood compared to the other sites – at both these locations visitors were typically walking around 2.5km, where none of the other sites had median route lengths above 2km (although Southwick Country Park was just under 2km – the length of the surfaced path.).

Looking at the other greenspace sites, Southwick Country Park was notable in the high numbers of people travelling to the site by car, but it is clear that there are sometimes issues at this site with parking capacity, with the current car-park limited to around 40 spaces. While the other non-woodland greenspaces lacked a formal car park for site visitors.

‘Close to home’ was less of a driver influencing site choice at the woodland bat sites compared to other greenspace sites. People appear to select the woods (compared to other sites) because they are good for the dog/dog enjoys it, because they don’t have many other people and because they are quiet (e.g. no traffic noise). The woods also seem to perhaps have more of a rural/wild feel and are more suitable in certain weather conditions (i.e. providing shade). For the other greenspace sites to provide an alternative to the woods, they should therefore be enhanced to provide these characteristics.

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Ideally the other greenspace sites will function as a network, providing a range of different opportunities, thereby ensuring visitors have a variety of potential sites to visit. Across the network we suggest the following features should be provided and maintained (not at all locations but rather at one or more locations), with the aim to enhance access provision and draw visitors away from the woods, taking care not to create too urban a feel across the sites:

 Fenced dog training area, drawing dog walkers with unruly dogs or those with new dogs. For example, at Southwick Country Park, where interviewees suggested dog behaviour is an issue and the improvement could be situated carefully to spread users more.  Water for dogs, such as pools or ponds where dogs can swim and have access to water to drink. For example, at Hilperton Gap, which currently has a minor stream, mostly hedged could be utilised.  Measures to make sites safer and better for dog walking, for example fencing along roadsides (e.g. Hilperton Gap).  Dog bins at all sites, near/at main access points.  Surfaced all weather paths, drawing use in wet weather and when ground conditions are muddy. For example the western bank of Biss Meadows, which could be encouraged to have more use.  Provision of longer walking circuits. Longer routes (at least 2.5km) should encompass relatively quiet areas with rural feel (i.e. without lots of people and noise). The data on route lengths suggests Hilperton Gap as one site where there is relatively easier scope to provide longer routes.  Larger or more linked greenspaces to increases the size of small greenspaces, which currently are unable to support long walks. For example small sites of Biss Meadows and Paxcroft Brook have adjoining countryside with public rights of way which could be made more accessible from these sites.  A range of parking locations providing safe, off-road parking, easily accessible and with plenty of space to park (i.e. so visitors that do arrive by car can be confident of being able to park). Additional parking provision is necessary at Southwick Country Park and should include the main car-park but also potential to provide additional parking at other locations around the site (e.g. near the allotments or from Studley).  Café and toilets, providing for those visitors that wish for such facilities. Café facilities may work to draw visitors who wish to meet socially (e.g. meeting for a walk) and toilets/café may help draw groups. Ideally café facilities should be dog friendly, e.g. with some outdoor seating etc. where dog walkers can sit with their pets. Café and toilet facilities already exist at Southwick Country Park as part of the Hope Nature Centre, and there may be potential to expand or enhance the facilities at Southwick, ensuring that they are free and work to draw visitors such as dog walkers.  Outdoor gym area/facilities for exercise, potentially drawing users who are seeking to exercise and wishing for space to ‘get fit’. Fun, amusing gym like facilities for children and adults are enjoyable and combine health benefits of heart rate simulation, rather than solely low heart rate activities, such as walking. 93

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 A range of habitats, particularly ensuring a range of wooded habitats and mix of open areas and woodland, providing good space for dog walkers and others potentially currently attracted to the woods.  Sites to have a wilder, more natural feel in parts, balancing this with maintaining a well-kept, tidy space, with short grass. Long grass is a particular issue with dog owners, who cannot see dog mess, find it harder to, and are less likely to pick up in long grass and it conflicts with other users such as children playing in long grass. A solution to this is to manage grass short, in close proximity to access points (dogs usually defecate within the first 10 meters of a walk), and to a degree alongside paths. But maintain longer grass in areas away from these to provide a meadow-like spaces, to address desires for more natural spaces, with more wildlife.

J) Signage and interpretation at other greenspace sites away from the bat woodlands We suggest that interpretation and signage at other greenspace sites could help to create a different feel and identity from the woodland bat sites, ensuring that visitors recognise a clear distinction between sites where there is nature conservation interest and sites that are primarily managed for access and the benefit of people. Signage and interpretation (an example is shown in Figure 17) are likely to help visitors to get the most from their visit.

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Figure 17: Example of interpretation at Bog Lane SANG in Dorset. The sign includes a map, information on the site and information on how to behave (‘Doggy Do’ code).

Consistent signage across the other greenspace sites may also help visitors place sites within the context of each other and therefore move more between sites on foot, as there is a feeling of greater connectivity between sites.

The Green Lane Wood complex comprising Green Lane Wood, Biss Wood and the Green Lane Nature Park needs careful branding to ensure visitors clearly distinguish between the different purposes of each separate area (i.e. ensuring a clear separation between areas where there is a nature conservation focus and those areas where the focus is access and recreation.

K) Creation of additional green infrastructure

Currently the total area of accessible greenspace around Trowbridge (based on the sites covered in this report) is around 278ha, of which 162ha is other greenspace away from the bat woodland sites (Table 17). The increase in housing (from the adopted core strategy) is around 5,860 for Trowbridge.

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Table 17: Sites, areas and visitor rates (*total visitor rate for other greenspace sites excludes the Green Lane Extension)

Visitor rates Site Area (ha) Notes (people per ha per hr), from Table 6

Clanger & Picket Wood 59.6 Includes Round Wood 0.09 Biss Wood 21.2 0.02 Green Lane Wood 34.7 (exc. Nature Park) 0.18 Total bat woodland sites 115.5 010 Southwick Country Park 60.5 0.44 Biss Meadows 12.1 0.89 Hilperton Gap 57.2 0.18 Green Lane extension (Nature Park) 20.0 Paxcroft Mead 12.4 0.94 Total other greenspace sites 162.20 0.42* Overall total 277.70

New greenspace provision as mitigation in the Thames Basin Heaths has been at a rate of 8ha per 1000 new residents. Assuming a typical occupancy of 2.4 people per dwelling, 2,107 houses (Housing Sites DPD current plant allocation for 1,050 including an allowance of 1,057 for windfall) would potentially be around 5,507 new residents and – using the TBH standard – would require mitigation equivalent to around40.5 ha of new greenspace. The current level of 162ha is above 40.5, but the sites already have access, and this needs to be considered. Drawing on the figures from the visitor survey, it would seem that the greenspace sites already have visitor rates that are higher than the bat woodland sites. Of the sites where we have calculated visitor rates, Southwick Country Park and Hilperton have the lowest visitor rates and therefore the most potential to absorb additional visitor numbers.

Our benchmark of 1 person per ha per hour (see para 5.49) can provide an approximate guide as to the level of additional capacity at the sites. At Southwick and Hilperton, cross- reference to this benchmark would suggest an equivalent of around 80ha of new greenspace (not accounting for a 20ha allocation on site), were the sites enhanced and visitor numbers increased to 1 person per ha per hour. However, this is likely to be an overestimate as around a third of the Hilperton Gap has been proposed for development in the Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan and the site is in any case in private ownership. Paxcroft Brook and Biss Meadows are both relatively busy and potentially have little additional capacity (perhaps around another 2ha, based on our estimates of visitor use). We have not calculated visitor rates for the Green Lane extension, and there is some tension here relating to the promotion of the extension area as a visitor destination as it lies so close to the woodlands. It would seem that, overall, if the different locations could be enhanced, the existing greenspaces could be equivalent to something approaching 100ha of new greenspace (not accounting for the loss of 20 ha for the allocation at Hilperton Gap).

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Capacity is subjective and dependent on the character of sites, their shape, feel and potential for enhancement, and our cross-reference to a benchmark of 1 person per ha per hour is intended only as a guide (reflecting a level of use well above the bat woodland sites). Accepting the limitations and challenges, it would seem that some additional greenspace will be necessary to absorb the recreation pressure.

Additional green infrastructure therefore needs to be considered. It may be possible for such additional land to be phased over time, as there is clearly existing capacity, and as such this is a long-term measure. Nonetheless, additional green infrastructure should be planned well in advance and implemented strategically to maximise its benefit. It will need to be targeted to match the locations where housing will come forward, such that the greenspace is easily accessible. We suggest potential opportunities could include:

 Creation of better links between sites, to maximise the potential for longer routes; green links between schools, residential areas and shops would help minimise car-use but may not necessarily draw use away from the bat woodlands.  Creation of additional space directly linked to the existing greenspaces, for example routes into the countryside from Paxcroft, potentially providing larger spaces for access with options for longer walks and wilder, less urban feel.

L) Creation of a forum

We recommend a forum should be established to bring together visitors and site managers. The forum should include residents’ associations, scouts, schools, the volunteer wardens, community groups and green health groups, as well as organisations such as the Wildlife Trust and Woodland Trust. The aim of the forum would be to provide feedback on management of access and early warning of emerging issues and pressures. The forum should help to foster community involvement in the sites, including both the bat woodland sites and the other greenspace sites. The initial setting up of the forum could be part of the warden’s role, and once established it could run indefinitely to continue to assess the issue at relatively little cost.

M) Monitoring

Monitoring will be an important component of the mitigation delivery. Given the scale of change around the town it is difficult to predict how access patterns might shift and what issues may emerge. Monitoring is necessary to help feedback on mitigation approaches and to target mitigation where it is needed (for example wardens responding to emerging issues). We recommend the following:

 Levels of use of greenspace sites – through direct counts (parked cars and counts of people) to check changes in visitor numbers. Data collection should ensure repeatable counts that can pick up changes in levels of use.

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 Visitor surveys (interviews) to check on views about management, issues relating to access, visitor origins etc. Such surveys could be sporadic repeats of the survey presented in this report.  Recording of the numbers and types of incidents, for example camp fires, vandalism of bat boxes etc. Data collection should be standardised to ensure data can be compared across years.  Bat monitoring to identify likely hotspots for Bechstein’s Bats and track changes in use of bats in the woodland sites.

Summary and overview of recommendations

The recommendations set out above form a package of measures, some of which will be more important to deliver than others. Some measures are potentially necessary to be implemented quickly, others could be phased and delivered in the longer term. For some measures, we recognise that there is more work necessary to determine their feasibility, specific locations and confirm costs (work that could be programmed for the warden as part of their duties). As such the proposed mitigation contains a mixture of measures, some of which could be implemented swiftly while others are longer term and require more detailed consideration.

We summarise the package of measures in Table 18, which provides an overview. We have categorised measures as to the potential timing of delivery, relative priority and – where possible – we have estimated costs.

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Table 18: Summary of mitigation and avoidance measures discussed above. Many measures require detailed dialogue between stakeholders and further work to determine likely costs. Within the table timing is categorised as short, medium or long term; priority is low, medium or high (with high priority measures being those we suggest are likely to be most important to deliver, the measures do however fit together to form a package and low priority measures are still potentially important). Where we have suggested costs, they are approximate and based on standard costs in national guidance or drawn from examples from other locations. Costs are split into capital costs and running costs, with running costs expressed as approximate per annum costs.

No. years Approx. capital Approx. running Measure Further detail Timing Priority measure costs Notes cost cost (per annum) need cover

A) Establish a 600m No cost as doesn’t require any exclusion zone around the Short term High on the ground work/delivery. woodland sites B) Improvements/changes Closure of Approximate cost for to parking at woodland bat parking on Medium term Low £2000 barrier/locked gate or other sites A350 modifications Five A0 interpretation panels Budget to at £3000 each (see Heritage C) New interpretation and cover Lottery Fund 2013); plus 25 signage at woodland bat Short term High £17,500 replacement softwood marker posts at £80 sites may be per post; and £500 for discs necessary made of glass reinforced plastic. D) Improvements to paths Costs need to be confirmed within the woodland bat Short-term medium with walk-over survey sites Costs need to be confirmed E) Fencing at bat woodland Short-term medium once length of fencing and sites spec clarified F) Increase wardening Costs for a single warden presence at the woodland approximately: £24,000 Short term high £40,000 5 bat sites and other annual salary, plus national greenspace sites insurance (£3,000 per annum),

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No. years Approx. capital Approx. running Measure Further detail Timing Priority measure costs Notes cost cost (per annum) need cover

vehicle costs (£4,500 per annum) and overheads (£8,000 per annum) giving a total per warden per year of around £40,000. Costs based on 1 person employed 2 days per week; range of other options also possible. Costs assume G) Engagement with visitors Short term Medium £12,100 3 £18,000 salary pro rata, plus and the community national insurance (£900) and £4000 per annum to cover overheads (latter to include costs for printing, design etc.) Very approximate costs for wood chips, logs and other basic infrastructure, plus shed H) Provision of outdoor for storage. Location will be Medium term Low £2000 learning space for schools critical and may well influence cost. Costs potentially less if possible for scouts and school to share space. I) Infrastructure Cost very approximate and enhancement to existing Fenced dog would depend on surfacing, Medium term Medium £5,000 greenspace sites outside training area fencing and size, all location the bat woodlands specific Costs very approximate and to Water facilities cover basic landscaping to Medium term Medium £2000 for dogs provide water feature(s) for dog walking

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No. years Approx. capital Approx. running Measure Further detail Timing Priority measure costs Notes cost cost (per annum) need cover

Fencing/other Costs need to be confirmed dog Medium term Medium based on walkover and infrastructure assessment of existing fencing Costs for 6 further bins; we assume roughly £150 per bin Dog bins Short term High £900 £1200 80 to install and £200 per annum to empty, but require further checks. Cost provides for around 1km Surfaced all Medium term Medium £20,000 of surfaced paths at £20 per m weather paths (see Paths for all 2014) Costs depend on Provision of infrastructure required (e.g. longer walking Short term High gates, boardwalks, bridges, circuits scrub clearance etc.); detailed site assessment work required Additional Further work necessary to parking Medium term Medium identify locations, need and locations determine costs. Extension of Further work to necessary to parking at Medium term Medium establish potential options, Southwick check highway issues etc. Country Park Improvements Further work necessary to to café and Long term Low approach Hope Nature Centre toilet facilities and explore potential options. at Southwick Outdoor gym Costs location specific and area/facilities Long term Low dependent on opportunities for exercise 101

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No. years Approx. capital Approx. running Measure Further detail Timing Priority measure costs Notes cost cost (per annum) need cover

and facilities provided, further work necessary to confirm. Costs need further consideration and detailed Planting and management plans produced, Short term Medium landscaping with planting to create range of wooded areas and tree cover Five A0 interpretation panels at £3000 each (see Heritage Budget to Lottery Fund 2013); plus 25 J) Signage and cover softwood marker posts at £80 interpretation at other Short term High £17,500 replacement per post; and £500 for discs greenspace sites away from may be made of glass reinforced the bat woodlands necessary plastic. Further checks needed to ascertain locations and number required. Potential to phase this and for new greenspace to be phased with development, however K) Creation of additional Long term Medium ideal to identify options well in green infrastructure advance and long lead in necessary to deliver. Potentially expensive. Costs to cover administration, L) Creation of a forum Short term Medium £500 10 venue hire and potentially refreshments. Various options, but we Visitor M) Monitoring Short term High £2000 assume basic counts numbers undertaken by warden while 102

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No. years Approx. capital Approx. running Measure Further detail Timing Priority measure costs Notes cost cost (per annum) need cover

on site, with costs to allow small number of automated counters or similar Surveys repeated in future, with this report providing a Visitor surveys Medium term High £7000 baseline. One off cost for repeat of survey Numbers and No cost required as initially types of Short term High logged by warden incidents Costs need to be confirmed Bat Short term High and some data may be already monitoring scheduled for collection.

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Implementation

The recommendations above all relate to resolving pressures from increased recreation and ensuring no adverse effects on the integrity of the SAC. Mitigation measures will be finalised within a separate document, the Trowbridge Recreation Management Mitigation Strategy (TRMMS), which will also include measures to enhance the wider area (e.g. through planting) for bats.

Funding for mitigation will be necessary, at least in part, from developer contributions, through CIL or S106 agreements. In terms of recreation impacts it is therefore necessary to identify a zone of influence, i.e. where development will result in increased recreation use. Other areas, such as the Thames Basin Heaths and the Dorset Heaths have used the distance within which 75% of visitors originate (drawn for visitor survey data and visitor’s postcodes). Such an approach is simple and allows an area to be identified within which most of the access originates, while excluding outliers. The 75% distance for the woodland bat sites is shown in Table 9 and ranges from 2.7 – 5.3km. Across all the sites surveyed (i.e. including the other greenspace sites) the 75% distance is 1.7km. These postcodes are shown in Map 6, which essentially shows the whole of Trowbridge. In Map 7, we have used convex hulls to encompass the closest 75% of postcodes from the visitors to each site. This approach shows that the 75% for Green Lane Wood extends to the centre of Trowbridge, almost to the railway station. For Picket and Clanger Wood the convex hull is an unusual shape, relatively long and thin (potentially reflecting the road network) and extends from Westbury to the southern part of Trowbridge.

These maps provide a useful guide, but it is difficult to predict how new housing will change the location of such lines, and in particular it would be expected that the convex hulls could change shape quite markedly over time. Given the overall coverage of map 6, and the extent of the convex hull for Green Lane Wood and Picket and Clanger Wood, we suggest that the outer limit for a zone of influence could encompass the settlements of Trowbridge and Westbury.

Some consideration will be necessary to ensure the mitigation delivery matches the permanent impact of housing. Measures such as the maintenance of greenspace (cutting, maintaining paths etc.) will be necessary in-perpetuity, and the TRMMS will need to ensure adequate provision to secure mitigation in-perpetuity.

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