Settlement Sensitivity Assessment Volume 2: Suffolk Coastal Settlements July 2018
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Settlement Sensitivity Assessment Volume 2: Suffolk Coastal July 2018 Alison Farmer Associates 29 Montague Road Cambridge CB4 1BU Tel: 01223 461444 [email protected] Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 APPOINTMENT ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 THE BRIEF AND SCOPE OF WORK.................................................................................................... 1 1.3 BACKGROUND TO STUDY .............................................................................................................. 2 1.4 LIST OF SETTLEMENTS INCLUDED IN THE STUDY ................................................................................ 3 2.0 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................ 5 2.1 DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 APPROACH ................................................................................................................................. 5 2.3 SETTLEMENT PATTERNS WITHIN SUFFOLK ........................................................................................ 6 2.4 DEFINING TYPES OF DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................ 6 2.5 CRITERIA USED IN MAKING JUDGEMENTS ........................................................................................ 7 2.6 RECORDING FINDINGS .................................................................................................................. 7 2.7 HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT ...................................................................................................... 8 3.0 MARKET TOWNS ............................................................................................................... 9 3.1 ALDEBURGH ............................................................................................................................. 10 3.2 FELIXSTOWE ............................................................................................................................. 13 3.3 FRAMLINGHAM ......................................................................................................................... 16 3.4 LEISTON ................................................................................................................................... 19 3.5 SAXMUNDHAM ......................................................................................................................... 24 3.6 WOODBRIDGE ........................................................................................................................... 28 4.0 SMALLER SETTLEMENT WITHIN SUFFOLK COASTAL .......................................................... 33 4.1 BENHALL/STERNFIELD ................................................................................................................ 34 4.2 BURGH .................................................................................................................................... 37 4.3 CLOPTON ................................................................................................................................. 40 4.4 CULPHO ................................................................................................................................... 44 4.5 GREAT BEALINGS ....................................................................................................................... 46 4.6 GRUNDISBURGH ........................................................................................................................ 48 4.7 HASKETON ............................................................................................................................... 53 4.8 KELSALE CUM CARLTON .............................................................................................................. 58 4.9 KIRTON AND FALKENHAM ........................................................................................................... 63 4.10 MELTON .................................................................................................................................. 67 4.11 OTLEY ...................................................................................................................................... 71 4.12 SWILLAND ................................................................................................................................ 75 4.13 TRIMLEY ST MARTIN .................................................................................................................. 78 4.14 TRIMLEY ST MARY ..................................................................................................................... 82 4.15 TUDDENHAM ST MARTIN ............................................................................................................ 86 4.16 WITNESHAM ............................................................................................................................. 88 5.0 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................ 93 Alison Farmer Associates Settlement Sensitivity Assessment Volume 2: Suffolk Coastal Settlements July 2018 Appendix 1: Key Reference Documents Appendix 2: List of Abbreviations Alison Farmer Associates Settlement Sensitivity Assessment Volume 2: Suffolk Coastal Settlements July 2018 Executive Summary This settlement fringe sensitivity study was commissioned by Suffolk Coastal District in partnership with Ipswich, Mid Suffolk and Babergh Districts. The purpose of the assessment is to provide a robust analysis of the sensitivity of settlement fringes to development and change in order to: Inform the preparation of local plan policies and land use allocations. Inform the submission and determination of planning applications. Identify priorities for the enhancement, protection, management and conservation of landscape areas and the goods and services they can provide. Judgements reached in this study are based on landscape issues and do not address other planning issues which the local authorities will need to consider when it comes to determine potential allocations, and which will need to be assessed as part of a broader appraisal process. These other planning factors may mean that areas identified by this study as having some potential to accommodate development (in landscape terms), may not in fact be suitable for allocation. On their own the conclusion of this assessment cannot, therefore, be taken as a justification for supporting or resisting any future development proposal. The assessment seeks to inform and influence the local authority’s decision making process and to improve the understanding of (and ensure due weight is placed upon) landscape, townscape and related environmental issues. The results of this assessment are set out in two volumes. The first comprises results for the fringes of Ipswich, including peripheral landscape areas to Ipswich and key settlements within the Ipswich Policy Area. The second volume includes the results for settlements in the wider Suffolk Coastal District including six market towns and a number of smaller settlements listed in the brief. A total of 40 settlements have been assessed. The historic evolution of settlements provides an important backcloth to making judgements on landscape sensitivity and future growth options. Historically, the settlement patterns in Suffolk have included major centres which established as a result of industry and trade (such as Ipswich) and market towns (such as Saxmundham). However, the predominate pattern of settlement has been one of dispersal, reflected in isolated farmsteads and loosely scattered groups of dwellings. Even today this dispersed pattern is still evident with 'village' based settlement only becoming more dominant over the last 150 years mainly as a result of infill development. In this study the definition of sensitivity has been based on best practice and is compliant with Guidance on Landscape Character Assessment (October 2014) published by Natural England. It is defined as: 'the extent to which a landscape can accept change of a particular type and scale without unacceptable adverse effects on its character'. Sensitivity is understood through the evaluation of both visual/landscape sensitivity and landscape value. Landscape value is also defined in Guidance on Landscape Character Assessment as: Alison Farmer Associates Settlement Sensitivity Assessment Volume 2: Suffolk Coastal Settlements July 2018 'The relative value or importance attached to a landscape (often as a basis for designation or recognition), which expresses national or local consensus because of its quality, special qualities including perceptual aspects such as scenic beauty, tranquillity or wildness, cultural associations or other conservation issues'. Best practice guidance recognises that a landscape with a high sensitivity does not automatically mean it has a low capacity for change, but that 'capacity' is the interaction between the sensitivity of the landscape, the types and amount of change and the way that the landscape is valued. For the purposes of this study two development scenarios