Enquiry into the Greater - Broxtowe Borough, Gedling Borough and Nottingham City Aligned Core Strategies Publication Version June 2012

Response of the Friends of Moor Pond Woods to the Inspector’s Matters, Issues and Questions This information is relevant to the hearing : In week 2, Thursday 7th November: Day 6 (10am) Word count : 720 (2,300 including Appendix 1) Created 18 th September 2013

THE FOLLOWING OBSERVATIONS RELATE TO SITE-SPECIFIC ISSUES CONCERNING ‘LAND NORTH OF LANE’

Background

1. The representations made here build upon earlier representations made to the Gedling Borough Aligned Core Strategy (ACS) on behalf of The Friends of Moor Pond Woods (“the Friends”). They are made specifically in respect of the policies and proposals relating to the policies and proposals relating to the Gedling Borough plan with respect to development at ‘Land North of Papplewick Lane’ (LNPL). 2. In the absence or paucity of information in ACS about heritage landscapes in general, and in particular in the section relating to LNPL, “The Friends” have commissioned a report which is presented in Appendix 1.

RELATED TO MATTER 2

Response to Questions 23 to 25

3. “The Friends” object strongly to LNPL being included amongst the strategic sites. This is for several reasons, principally. a. The allocation of this site as ‘safeguarded land’ in the existing Local Plan was for development after other sites were used. We have not reached that situation, nor are we close to reaching that situation, and therefore, in our opinion, this land should not be brought forward at this stage. b. The strategic sites identified in the ACS should have a potential for 500 homes, using a guide density of 30/ha. This site is 15.96ha in total, providing for only 480 homes. Referring to Appendix A of ACS, it is proposed to reduce the area by 1.6ha to take account of flood risk and provide green infrastructure. It is also proposed to use 1.1ha to provide a primary school. Recalculating, the land area will only support 397 homes (only 80% of the 500 required to be included in the ACS strategic sites). In our opinion, this site should not be included in ACS at all. Friends of Moor Pond Woods, site-related issues

c. This site is grade 2 agricultural land, whereas other sites in the Borough eg Gedling Colliery are brownfield sites, in contravention of NPPF, para 17. 4. Since the ACS was agreed, conditions on the ground have altered. In light of developments that make it possible for development at Teal Close and Gedling Colliery it would make more sense, and fulfil the obligation in NPPF, if the strategic housing sites were brownfield sites. 5. In our view, allocation of this site into the strategic housing sites in ACS is neither justified, nor consistent with national policies.

RELATED TO MATTER 3

Response to Questions 2 to 4

6. We broadly favour the two stage approach to Green Belt boundary view, but we are not in favour of either Top Wighay or LNPL being set aside as safeguarded land. It seems to make little sense for the strategic reserve of housing land for Gedling Borough to be on the furthest boundary of the borough and proximate to a neighbouring authority. To leave this situation as it is to invite conflict in the future, because is likely to lead to disproportionately large expansion of if both authorities go ahead with their plans.

7. If it is established that either Top Wighay or LNPL are to be withdrawn from the ACS allocation, we believe that the ‘safeguarded land’ tag should be removed. If GBC needs to reallocate land in the future, or review the greenbelt, we feel that each site should be examined on its merits at that time.

8. We agree that there is a real danger that the ‘safeguarded land’ tag will be used to avoid debate. If they are not required as strategic sites now, we feel that these sites should be returned to the greenbelt.

RELATED TO MATTER 5

9. Many of the points we raised in our submission for matter 5 are relevant to discussion of the LNPL site.

10. In summary, we believe that to allow development on the LNPL site

a. Will damage or devalue the natural heritage of the middle .

b. Will irreversibly damage the historic/heritage landscape associated with the 18 th century textile industry.

2 SITE SPECIFICMATTERS—APPENDIX1 SITE

A Historic Area Assessment of the Middle Leen Valley, .

Carried out for the Friends of Moor Pond Wood by Stephen Walker, BA (Geog/Geol), MSc (Environmental Decision Making), CGeog

The Mill House Lin View Castle Mill Figure 1 : Panorama from Papplewick Lane looking NW

August 2013

Figure 2: Map of the middle Leen valley

V1

PAPPLEWICK Linby Lane ‘Lin View’ V2

‘Castle Mill

M

o

V3 o H r a y R d V4 o e n a ‘Walk Mill’ d L a n e

Devitt Drive

e V1 Viewpoints an L North H ck (refer to text) ayd wi en ple La ap ne P

metres 2 Introduction

Level of and purpose of assessment The Greater Nottingham Landscape Character Assessment (GNLCA) ( NCC, 2009 ), describes this area by reference to two Landscape Description This is a level 2 assessment of the historic heritage assets carried out Units (LDUs). These are ML017 - Linby Wooded Farmland and ML018 - The following the guidelines published by English Heritage ( English Heritage, Leen Valley. ML017 has an essential character of gentle slopes, the main 2010, updated 6/2012 ), produced to inform discussion about future land-use is for arable farmland divided by hedgerows and trees. Although development in the area. the GNLCA points out that in this LDU it is difficult to find suitable viewpoints, we are fortunate that this valley is well-served, as this report Owing to the importance of the area for bio-geological assets, the bio- will demonstrate. The flood meadows along the Leen are a characteristic geological features have also been assessed. of ML018. The assessment was carried out in the Summer of 2013.

The area of study

The Middle Leen Valley is taken to be that part of the valley between Summary of findings Papplewick Dam and Papplewick Grange. The study area is seen in figure • The study area forms the physical and visual barrier between Linby 1. It spans the valley of the , bounded in the north by the and Papplewick, and between the rural villages and the Hucknall public footpath across Linby Meadows, in the west by Hayden Lane, in the conurbation. east by Moor Road and in the south by Papplewick Lane. • The character of this small landscape component reflects the Constraints interaction of the bio-geological components and the historic landscape developed as consequence of the water-powered cotton The ground survey was undertaken in summer, from roads , tracks and milling industry between 1780 and 1830. public paths. Parts of the area are not directly accessible by rights of way. • The remaining bio-geological assets, taken in conjunction with the Background historic and archaeological assets have the potential to be This is the southernmost exposure of Magnesian limestone in . At developed as a unit of green infrastructure and as a component that the time that the rock was deposited, this was the margin of the Zechstein will extend the tourist potential of the Leen Valley. Sea and so creamy limestone exposed further north are here seen as darker sandy limestone in rubbly beds, representing a littoral facies of the deposits.

3 Description of the study area Geology : The rocks underlying the study area are Magnesian limestone Topography : The study area is drained by the River Leen which is a strike- of the Cadeby formation, ‘Red Marls’ of the Edlington formation, and aligned stream flowing southwards. It falls from 80m above sea level (asl) alluvial deposits. at the footbridge north of Top Upper Pond to 65m at Papplewick Lane. In the past, the flow of the river has been enough to allow deposition of The Magnesian limestone in this area is dark golden-brown, poorly alluvium along the valley floor. It has one tributary, the consequent bedded, rubbly and quite soft. It is seen in outcrop beneath garden walls stream which has been channelled to follow the road from Linby towards along Papplewick Lane (SK 54683 50434), in the bed and banks of the river Papplewick. near Walk Mill weir (SK 54647 50664), in the ditch alongside Linby Lane (SK 54297 51118) and has been ploughed to the surface to the west of West of the river, the east facing slope is seen to extend from a convex Top Upper Pond (SK 54403 51304). break of slope at 80m asl (followed by Hayden Lane) to the river. There is a fall of about 15m down the 850m slope ENE from the Cricket field to a Beds of the Edlington formation lie stratigraphically above the Magnesian point south of Castle Mill. Thus the slope angle is about 1.5 o, suggesting limestone, although the boundary is not seen here. The sediments are all that this is a dip slope controlled by the limestone beds which underlie it. mottled red-brown / glaucous and are composed of mudstones, siltstones and soft sandstones. These deposits are seen in graves dug in St James’ A poorly defined concave break of slope separates the valley side from churchyard (SK 54560 51511) and have been ploughed to the surface in the alluvial plain of the river, which is confined in this stretch to between the field west of Moor Pond Wood (for example, recently, at SK 54740 50 and 80m wide. East of the river, the land rises at a few degrees, but 50721). the slope is buried beneath the extensive earthworks of the banks, leats and mill ponds in Moor Pond Woods. The 1:50,000 Geological Survey map shows the beds dipping north- eastwards at 1 to 3 degrees.

Devitt Drive Figure 3: Lin View Floodplain The limestone dip slope looking NW to Hayden Lane

4 The natural environment The built environment

Vegetation : The sloping land west and east of the flood plain is classified There are two clusters of demonstrably old buildings in the study area. as grade 2 for arable agriculture. The narrow fields along the floor of the The range of buildings at Walk Mill probably dates from 1710, but has valley are set aside as conservation land, and permanent pasture. The been modified over the years. There is a former chapel erected in 1901 fields are divided by mature hedges, dotted with trees. The positions of and a cottage from about the same time. There is also a cottage in a the boundaries of the fields are recognisably the same as those on the similar style erected in the 1990s. Castle Mill, a former cotton mill of Tithe Map of 1841 , although some hedgerows have been removed to 1782, (later used as a corn mill) lies 700 metres further north. enlarge the fields. From SK 54690 50898 to 54913 50591 the substantial embankment The former mills ponds and associated water system were drained and impounding Moor Pond is a prominent landscape feature, standing planted as mixed woodland, seen for example on the OS map of 1880 . almost 15m above the river level. These trees, typically ash, oak and sweet chestnut are now mature The valley maintained its essentially rural character until the mid-20th specimens. There is also an area of scrub-woodland in the narrow plot to century. the east of the Vaughan Estate. Alongside Papplewick Lane and also to the south of Linby Lane, The banks of the river and associated drainage channels are densely Papplewick are ribbon developments of semi-detached houses, probably vegetated with willows and aquatic species, forming good habitat. built between 1940 and 1955. Further west along Linby Lane, on the outskirts of Linby, are large detached houses mainly dating from between Wildlife : The clean water of the river supports abundant life. It is a 1920 and 1960. stronghold of two protected species - Austropotamobius pallipes (the native white-clawed crayfish) ( Jackson, 2012 ) and a healthy population of Alongside Hayden Lane is the more extensive development known as the Arvicola terrestris (water vole) ( Andrews, 2011 ). Brook lamprey and Vaughan Estate, dating from the 1960s and 70s. This is largely a mixture Bullhead have also been recorded here. of detached bungalows and detached houses.

St James’ church Castle Mill Figure 4: View down the dip slope, looking SE into the Walk Mill valley from Hayden Lane

5 Historical Development

The earliest map of the study area seems to be the estate map of 1692, Even before the mills ceased operations, Walk Mill had been converted which shows the land divided into small fields and rented by several into tenements and, according to the censuses from 1841 onwards, different individuals. The former corn mill, Wark Mill (later known as Walk several families lived in this cluster of buildings. In the early part of the Mill), appears on the map. This may be a much earlier site, recorded in 20th century a Methodist chapel was built at Walk Mill, and the eastern documents from the 11th century onwards. A date-stone bears the name wing of the mill building was rebuilt. The original mill building was J. Greene and the date 1710, which is when the mill site may have been refurbished in the 1950s and a gallery added to the south side. The rebuilt. In 1742 George Robinson and David Melville took a lease of Walk chapel fell out of use in 1957 and has been used as a store and garage. Mill and land for bleach fields. ( Greatrex, 1988 ) Castle Mill was converted to grind corn some time after 1830. It ceased In 1778 Robinson renegotiated the lease on the Walk Mill and obtained production in the late 1940s. The pond was drained and the road, which permission to use Walk Mill Pond to power the Grange Mill further had traversed the dam-wall, was straightened. The mill building was downstream. The line of the canal which carried the water can still be converted into residential property in the 1960s. Other barns and stores seen to the east of Walk Mill cottages. Not long afterwards, Robinson on the site have also subsequently been converted into homes. constructed Castle Mill (first insured in 1782) and the Papplewick Dam Pond. The present Linby-Papplewick road crosses the valley at the height of the dam - giving a panoramic view to the south. The three-storey cotton mill building is an imposing feature when viewed from the south. (Sheppard, 2001 )

In the years between 1780 and 1820, Robinson constructed channels, ponds and sluices to gather, store and control water for mills further down the valley. The extent of the system is seen on the estate map of 1847 . It has become clear that the fields around the mills and the valley floor were used for washing, bleaching and stretching cloth, and are therefore part of the industrial landscape. They have not yet been fully explored.

Once the mills closed, the water system fell into disuse. The 1880 OS map shows that the surrounds were planted up with trees and the 1915 OS map shows the ponds drained and forested. Excavation by the Friends of Moor Pond Woods has revealed several examples of stone sluices. Figure 5: Castle Mill from the south east

6 The local heritage landscape

The development of cotton mills in the Leen Valley in the 1780s and The surviving remains of the cotton mills - Walk Mill, Castle Mill and the 1790s brought industrialisation to this rural area. However, owing to the Water System - are enriched by the context of the rural setting. large area occupied by the water system, and the use of fields around the Understanding and appreciation of the historic heritage is informed by mills for processing cloth, the landscape character remained essentially the landscape context. The photograph below (Fig 5), taken from the rural. The industry collapsed and the mills closed in the 1830s. Most of embankment in Moor Pond Wood, demonstrates that the present extent the population moved away, returning the area to rurality. of the Vaughan estate does not visually impact, however proposed development of the two fields down towards the river would be much The onset of urbanisation, with ribbon development of sub-urban homes more intrusive. along the main roads did not have much visual impact in this part of the Leen Valley, due, in part, to the large gardens of the properties. Key viewpoints are shown on Figure 1. ( v1) SSE from the Meadows footpath. (v2) S from the embankment of Papplewick Dam, (v3) SE from The middle Leen valley falls between two recognisable Landscape Hayden Lane (seen in figure 4), (v4) W from Moor Pond Woods (seen in Character Areas ( NCC, 2009 ) It exhibits well the characteristics of ‘Linby figure 6) Wooded farmland’ LCA (ML017). Crucially, following development of the Grange farm estate, it is one of the last remaining rural sections of the By reducing the extent of the rural buffer between Linby, Papplewick and Leen Valley LCA (ML018). Hucknall a key feature of the identity of this location would be lost.

Figure 6: View westwards across the Leen Valley from the embankment in Moor Pond Wood

Walk Mill Devitt Drive Hayden Lane

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Conclusions References Nottinghamshire Archives ref AT 81/1a : 1841 Linby tithe map. 1847 • The middle Leen valley is a rural landscape on the edge of an urban Estate maps of the parishes of Linby and Papplewick. In possession area, a vital part of the green belt providing physical and visual of the Co-Op separation between Linby, Hucknall and Papplewick Nottinghamshire Archives ref DD 262 : Industrial Monument survey • The industrial heritage of the 18th century mills are an important (1963) : CBA/Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings; Warp facet of the landscape, and rely for their context on the surrounding Mill. rural space. Nottinghamshire Archives ref LI 1 S : A Plott of the Lordship of • The east-facing slopes of the farmland have been created over the Lynby, belonging to the Rt Worshipfull Sir William Stanhope, taken dip-slope of Magnesian limestone. Their value for biodiversity by Tobias Wildeboar, November 1692. Copied in 1801 by HH. would be enhanced if portions of this land could be returned to limestone grassland - a priority habitat in Nottinghamshire. 1880 Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map • The River Leen in this stretch is a vital freshwater asset, supporting 1915 Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map two endangered species. The water quality should be vigorously protected The surrounding green space is a valuable component of Andrews J. (2011); “The Effects of Disturbance by Humans and Dogs the green infrastructure of the Leen Valley. and Other Environmental Factors on the Abundance of Water Voles (Arvicola terrestris) on the River Leen, Nottinghamshire.” • The remaining historic and archaeological assets have the potential to be developed as a component that will extend the tourist English Heritage (2010, updated 2012); “Understanding Place : potential of the Leen Valley. Historic Area Assessments - Principles and practice”

• Whereas the GNLCA recognises that this unit of landscape Greatrex N, (1987); description at the Urban Fringe generally has few good view points, the middle Leen valley has three excellent viewpoints, that should Jackson C. (2012); “Report of the Nottinghamshire Crayfish be preserved if possible. Initiative”, NCC

NCC (2009); “Greater Nottingham Landscape Character Assessment”

Sheppard R. (2001); “Moor Pond Woods project, a desktop survey”

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