Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment for Maldon District
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Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment For Maldon District Council more information please go to www.the-edi.co.uk FINAL REPORT March 2010 Contents 1.0 Background…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1 1.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1 1.2 Brief……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1 1.3 Methodology………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 1 2.0 Context…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3 3.0 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment………………………………………………………. 8 3.1 Maldon & Heybridge.………………………………………………………………………………………. 8 3.2 Southminster…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 48 3.3 Burnham on Crouch………………………………………………………………………………………… 69 4.0 Summary Tables……………………………………………………………………………………………… 92 Appendices I Project Brief II Methodology List of Figures Figure 1.1 Location Plan…………………………………………………………………………………………… 2 2.1 Landscape Character Assessment of Maldon District……………………………….. 4 2.2 Environmental Designations A…………………………………………………………………. 5 2.3 Environmental Designations B…………………………………………………………………. 6 2.4 Environmental Designations C…………………………………………………………………. 7 3.1 Maldon study areas…………………………………………………………………………………. 9 3.2 Maldon environmental designations……………………………………………………….. 10 3.3 Southminster study areas………………………………………………………………………… 49 3.4 Southminster environmental designations………………………………………………. 50 3.5 Burnham-on-Crouch study areas……………………………………………………………… 70 3.6 Burnham-on-Crouch environmental designations……………………………………. 71 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment 2010 Essex Landscape Design 1.0 Background 1.1 Introduction larger of the broad areas (in the refined list) including a quantitative In 2009 Maldon District Council ‘significance score’, commissioned Essex Landscape design to prepare a landscape and • Advice as to how any landscape visual impact assessment for sites impacts can best be around the edges of Maldon, minimised/mitigated for each of the Southminster and Burnham to provide sites. an evidence base for informing the preferred options stage of the core 1.3 Methodology strategy for the Local Development Framework. This study has been The assessment has comprised the informed by: following tasks: • Landscape Character Assessment Desk based Analysis of Maldon District by Chris Blandford and Associates (Extract • Preparation of base maps for each from Braintree, Chelmsford, settlement Maldon and Uttlesford landscape • Review of relevant Landscape character Assessments) Character Types and Areas • Historic Landscape around each settlement from Characterisation data provided by landscape character assessment Essex County Council information • Mapping landscape features and The key settlements that Maldon designations District Council are assessing for development, shown by Figure 1.1 Site Survey and Analysis are: • Identifying and recording key views • Maldon and Heybridge (refered to into and out of each settlement later in the document as Maldon) • Identifying key landscape features • Southminster • Identifying impacts on the • Burnham-on-Crouch landscape • Identifying opportunities for 1.2 Brief creating a landscape structure The project brief (see Appendix I) set The detailed methodology for out the objectives for the study. assessment of sites is set out in Appendix II. The key outputs from the study are: • Qualitative statement regarding the landscape sensitivity of each of the locations, • Comparative assessment of these sites including a quantitative ‘sensitivity score’, • Comparative assessment of individual parcels of land within the 1 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment 2010 Essex Landscape Design Figure 1.1 Location Plan 2 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment 2010 Essex Landscape Design 2.0 Context A review of the landscape character and environmental designations of Maldon District was carried out and is illustrated by the plans on the following pages. 2.1 Landscape Character The Landscape Character Map of Maldon District (fig. 2.1) is an extract from the Landscape Character Assessment of Maldon District by Chris Blandford Associates. The individual site assessments summarise the key landscape characteristics of the zone in which the site lies. 2.2 Environmental Designations The plans illustrating environmental designations (figs. 2.2a – 2.2c) have been produced using GIS software and Ordnance Survey data held by Essex County Council. The rights of way shown are indicative only and are not definitive. This refers to all the plans showing rights of way throughout the document. 3 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment 2010 Essex Landscape Design Figure 2.1 Landscape Character Assessmentof Maldon District 4 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment 2010 Essex Landscape Design - A Figure 2.2a EnvironmentalDesignations 5 Figure 2.3b Environmental Designations – B (Draft Rights of Way) Landscape andVisualImpactAssessment 2010 Essex LandscapeD * 6 esign Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment 2010 Essex Landscape Design – C Figure 2.4c EnvironmentalDesignations 7 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment 2010 Essex Landscape Design Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment 3.1 Maldon 8 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment 2010 Essex Landscape Design Figure 3.1 Maldon study areas 9 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment 2010 Essex Landscape Design Figure 3.2 Maldon environmental designations Maldon: M1 Maldon: M1 10 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment 2010 Essex Landscape Design Maldon: M1 the footpath to the east. The pine woodland forms part of the western boundary of the site and scattered vegetation of varying density lies along the southern boundary. Site Description Rights of Way Context and Land Use A public footpath is found east of the B1022 and runs east to west between The site is made up of an arable field to the west and two fields to the east, the two fields. which are used as pasture. Broad Street Green Road (B1022) runs from Views north to south between the fields. A Residential properties along the row of detached houses and a narrow grass paddock lie along the eastern southern edge of the site have the side of the road. following views through a thin hedge: north across the arable field to The site is bound to the north, east woodland and a slight ridge in the distance, west to the pine woodland, and west by attractive and sensitive east to the fields used for pasture and countryside including: arable land to the north; mature pine woodland to the countryside. west; and an area of wetlands and scattered vegetation to the east. The edge of a residential development forms the southern boundary of the site. Landscape Sensitivity The site has a medium to high landscape sensitivity. Topography The landform of the site is very flat. Five properties on the B1022 have ground floor views west through a Vegetation hedge into the arable field as well as views east across the attractive A tall deciduous hedge and scattered countryside. Two properties on the trees run along both sides of the B1022 have views south into the B1022 as well as the northern side of paddock and oblique views into the 11 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment 2010 Essex Landscape Design arable field. sand and gravel scattered along it. There are larger expanses of sand and A listed building and two residential gravel along the sides of the ridge, as properties to the north have first floor well as areas of Boulder Clay and views south to the arable field. head deposits. The fieldscape largely comprises pre-18th century fields Users of the B1022 have views into which are probably of medieval origin the fields to both the east and west and some maybe even older, mostly and users of the the public footpath regular in plan. This zone contains a have views north and south across the large amount of ancient woodland with fields to the east. These views are little change from the first edition OS of filtered to varying extents by the c.1880 to today’s extent. The historic hedgerows and trees. settlement pattern was dispersed farmsteads with a very small Designations community at Wickham Bishops. In the southern part of the zone lies the site The eastern half of the site lies within of Langford Grove and Park which still the Coastal Protection Belt. The pine retains elements of late 18th and early woodland to the west of the site is 19th century landscaping. A number of designated a County Wildlife Site and pollarded oak trees survive as a Ancient Woodland. A right of way reminder of the parkland scene. The crosses the site. lakes and associated features such as the temple and bridge survive well, Landscape Character along with a pavilion and part of a haha. The modern settlement of As defined in the Braintree, Wickham Bishops largely dates to the Brentwood, Chelmsford, Maldon and 20th century. Uttlesford landscape character assessment, the site is within the Another part of the site lies within a Lower Chelmer River Valley landscape zone (HECZ 3.7) which has the character area (sub-unit A7a). following historical landscape character: The key characteristics of this area are as follows. The majority of the historic fields were rectilinear in form, albeit within an • Mixture of arable and pastoral irregular framework, possibly fields on the valley floor. determined by individual farm extents. • The lower Chelmer where it meets Historically the settlement is the river Blackwater has a wide, dispersed, comprising isolated farms flat valley floor. which survive today. The historic • Extensive linear poplar and willow landscape character has radically plantations are a distinctive feature changed with