Green Infrastruct Plan Final Plan 310310
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Whaddon Chase Green Infrastructure Plan March 2010 Working in partnership with Whaddon Chase Community Green Infrastructure Plan Whaddon Chase Green Infrastructure Plan Contents Page Foreword 3 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Whaddon Chase Parish Council Involvement 4 3.0 Background to GI, Local Level GI Planning 5 Methodology and Links to Parish Plans 4.0 Whaddon Chase Context 7 5.0 Statement of Community Involvement 13 6.0 The GI Plan – Map and Aspirations 14 7.0 GI Aspiration Priorities 17 8.0 GI Aspiration Clusters 18 9.0 Draft Action Plan 22 Appendix 1 Definition of GI 27 Appendix 2 Community GI Planning Methodology 28 Appendix 3 FAQ’s about the Whaddon Chase Community GI 44 Plan Figure 1 Delivering GI aspirations in Bedfordshire 6 Figure 2 Whaddon Chase Statement of Significance Map 8 Figure 3 Whaddon Chase Green Infrastructure Map 14 Figure 4 GI Aspiration ‘Clusters’ Table 1 Whaddon Chase Statement of Significance 9 Summaries Table 2 South East Plan Policy identifying Strategic 12 Development Area Table 3 Specific aspirations identified for the project area 15 Table 4 Key priorities for the project area 17 Table 5 Priority GI Aspirations outside of the Whaddon 18 Chase boundary Table 6 Draft Action Plan for the delivery of GI aspirations 22 for Whaddon Chase 2 Whaddon Chase Community Green Infrastructure Plan Whaddon Chase Green Infrastructure Plan Foreword by Natural England Natural England is here to conserve and enhance the natural environment, for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people and the economic prosperity that it brings. Never before has the environment been under so much pressure (driven by rising populations) and never before has it been subject to so much change (driven by climate) as it is today. The natural environment is not a luxury for society - it critically underpins and delivers a wide range of goods and services, from food to water, to flood defence and carbon storage. The natural environment is essential for the well being of people, so decisions made today must safeguard our natural resources. Within its broad remit, Natural England recognises the value of the work undertaken in the Whaddon Chase area and see this it as a valuable approach to engaging local communities in Green Infrastructure Planning that meets the sustainable needs of existing and future residents. The approach, to getting the community to fully engage in identifying, valuing, enhancing, conserving and planning of local Green Infrastructure, is a new one and provides an important pilot approach for a process that should be rolled-out to a much wider area. Natural England support the way this approach works with interested parties to look at their local environment. Such work complements, and adds a finer grain of information, to the strategic approach taken at county, sub-regional and regional levels by a wide range of organisations focused on safeguarding the natural environment. 1.0 Introduction This Community Green Infrastructure (GI) Plan has been produced with the support of interested individuals and parties in conjunction with Buckinghamshire Green Infrastructure Consortium (GIC), Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity (BRCC), Buckinghamshire Community Action (BCA) and Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC). This Plan sits below and complements the Buckinghamshire Green Infrastructure Strategy. Covering a smaller geographic area and including a degree of local public consultation, the Whaddon Chase Community Green Infrastructure Plan provides more locally derived detail and identifies more specific priorities, aspirations and projects than the more strategic county-wide approach. The Whaddon Chase area was chosen as the subject for a locally derived GI Plan due to its: • high and sensitive environmental and landscape importance • potential for new Green Infrastructure provision and improvement 3 Whaddon Chase Community Green Infrastructure Plan • position as an area subject to growth related discussions, plans and applications This Plan indicates aspirations for the future provision and management of environmental assets within the Whaddon Chase area. As such, stakeholders, including the Local Authorities, Buckinghamshire GIC members, Parish Councils and other community groups are invited to help support the implementation of this pilot project by developing project ideas, formalising local agreement, securing funds and delivering identified aspirations. This process is the beginning of establishing a more robust approach to mapping and implementing a high quality Green Infrastructure network for the existing and future residents and wildlife for local areas. Green Infrastructure planning is considered a ‘live process’ that evolves over time. It is therefore essential that the decisions, aspirations and priorities eluded to in this Plan also evolve and change. Thus, the document should be seen as a ‘snapshot’ of those thoughts and proposals put forward by individuals and groups at the time of consultation. In order to keep-up with local change the document, and the proposals it contains, should also be subject to future review and any implementation of projects held within the document will need to be developed and programmed with local representatives and relevant partners. It is likely that not all of the aspirations that come from such a consultation will be supported by all partners, stakeholders or other local, regional or national priorities. However, the value of this Plan is that it has been guided and developed at a local level and, as such, all aspirations identified through the process have been included. The Buckinghamshire Green Infrastructure Consortium would like to express its sincere thanks to all of those Parish Councils, interested parties and individuals that have taken time to help support this process. 2.0 Whaddon Chase Parish Council Involvement: The seven Parish Councils forming the Whaddon Chase area were invited to take part in the creation of this Plan and to help develop a locally-based consultation process. The Parish Councils of Great Horwood, Little Horwood, Nash, Mursley and Shenley Church End have expressed their support for the approach taken in creating this Plan have agreed to endorse the process with the following statement: We recognise the need to provide a framework for Green Infrastructure provision in the local area to meet the needs of existing and new residents and help create sustainable communities. The production of this local-level GI Plan for the Whaddon Chase complements and gives added detail to the Buckinghamshire GIC produced Buckinghamshire GI Strategy (April 2009). This GI Plan can be used by our Council in considering development proposals and assisting with the provision of green infrastructure assets. 4 Whaddon Chase Community Green Infrastructure Plan 3.0 Background to Green Infrastructure Green Infrastructure (GI) is a strategically planned and managed network of accessible green spaces, access routes, landscapes, biodiversity and heritage which will meet the needs of existing and new communities. A fuller definition of GI is given in Appendix 1. The need for GI Planning has been identified at all levels, from central government, through regional bodies (the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Sub-Regional Strategy), to County and District levels. The values of GI planning are recognised by many organisations such as; The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), Country Land Association, The Wildlife Trust and the National Trust. In April 2009 the Buckinghamshire GIC produced the Buckinghamshire Green Infrastructure Strategy, which: • provides a vision for strategic Green Infrastructure in Buckinghamshire • identifies issues for existing Green Infrastructure posed by housing allocations and other policies set out in the South East Plan • establishes the extent of existing Green Infrastructure provision and assets • establishes measures to enhance and protect existing Green Infrastructure in the County • identifies areas that have the potential for delivering new accessible Green Infrastructure provision • describes potential funding opportunities • encourages a partnership approach to Green Infrastructure planning • provides a plan for the ongoing long-term management and maintenance of Green Infrastructure assets • provides a strategic multi-functional Green Infrastructure Network map for Buckinghamshire. One of the areas identified as having the potential to deliver new accessible Green Infrastructure was Whaddon Chase. To progress from the Strategy towards implementation, the Buckinghamshire GIC identified the need for more localised GI planning, involving individuals from the local community in order identify specific aspirations and projects. 5 Whaddon Chase Community Green Infrastructure Plan 3.1 Local Level GI Planning Methodology A methodology for the production of locally derived GI Plans was developed in 2007/08 in Bedfordshire on behalf of the Bedfordshire & Luton Green Infrastructure Consortium. The project has been highly successful and there are many examples of the wider environmental and community benefits that have resulted as a result of developing local GI Plans. The methodology used in the Bedfordshire was adopted by Buckinghamshire GIC in 2008 with the idea of testing the process through a pilot project covering the area of the historic Whaddon Chase. The methodology used in this pilot project is held Appendix 2 Figure 1: Delivering GI Plan aspirations in Bedfordshire Case study: