The Environmental Character Areas
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Bromsgrove Green Infrastructure Baseline Report 2013 Update Introduction .............................................................................................................. 4 Method ...................................................................................................................... 6 The Worcestershire Sub Regional GI Strategy ...................................................... 7 Natural Areas .......................................................................................................... 10 Landscape .............................................................................................................. 12 National Character Areas ..................................................................................... 12 Landscape Character Type .................................................................................. 16 Landscape Sensitivity Mapping ............................................................................ 24 Landscape and Green Infrastructure .................................................................... 25 Geodiversity ........................................................................................................... 27 Geological Site of Special Scientific Interests ....................................................... 27 Local Geological Sites .......................................................................................... 29 Sites of Geological Interest ................................................................................... 29 Biodiversity ............................................................................................................. 38 Ecological Site of Special Scientific Interests (SSSIs) .......................................... 38 Local Wildlife Sites (LWS) .................................................................................... 46 Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) .................................................................. 49 LBAP Habitats ...................................................................................................... 50 LBAP Species ....................................................................................................... 50 Blue Infrastructure ................................................................................................. 53 Agricultural Land Classification ........................................................................... 54 Environmental Stewardship Schemes .................................................................. 55 Historic Environment ............................................................................................. 56 Register of Parks and Gardens ............................................................................ 57 Landscaped Parks and Gardens of Historic Interest............................................. 58 Scheduled Monuments ......................................................................................... 60 Conservation Areas .............................................................................................. 62 Listed Buildings..................................................................................................... 63 Archives and Monuments Information, England ................................................... 79 Historic Environment Assessment (HEA) ........................................................... 105 Accessibility, Recreation and Wildlife Movement ............................................. 107 Network for Movement in Bromsgrove ................................................................ 107 Open Space, recreation and sports facilities in Bromsgrove .......................... 108 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 122 Introduction In the West Midlands Green Infrastructure Prospectus1, Green Infrastructure (GI) is defined as: “ the network of green spaces and natural elements that intersperse and connect our cities, towns and villages. It is the open spaces, waterways, gardens, woodlands, green corridors, wildlife habitats, street trees, natural heritage and open countryside. Green Infrastructure provides multiple benefits for the economy, the environment and people. GI may also be seen as part of the life-support system of an area; providing functions and environmental services to a community, such as employment, recreation, physical health and mental well being, social interaction, contact with nature, drainage and flood management, climate change adaptation and pollution control. It may be considered the essence of local character and sense of place, the very heart of a community, or dear to the hearts of many thousands some distance away. It spans administrative and political boundaries; it is publicly and privately owned, and it may be semi-natural or man-made in its origins. It may be green, brown or blue – think of canals or derelict land, woodlands in winter or ploughed fields. It may be wrapped around by houses, schools, factories or commercial properties. In urban situations it complements and balances the built environment; in rural settings it provides a framework for sustainable economies and biodiversity; in- between it links town and country and interconnects wider environmental processes.” The natural elements that provide social, environmental or economic benefit are defined as GI assets. The aim of this audit is to identify the existing GI assets in the Bromsgrove district. The audit, together with the emerging Worcestershire GI Strategy and its relevant evidence documents which the Worcestershire GI Partnership2 has been working on, provide baseline information and directions for more informed judgements to be made about site assessment and help shape planning policies and inform future planning decisions within the District. The GI audit was first undertaken during the spring/summer of 2010 and updated in the summer of 2013. The audit covers the following themes:- 1 West Midlands Green Infrastructure Prospectus: http://www.growingourfuture.org/wmwff/taskgroups/gip/prospectus.pdf 2 In Worcestershire, a GI steering group (namely the Worcestershire Sub Regional Green Infrastructure Steering Group) is recently formed. The group is chaired by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust and has members from the Worcestershire County Council, Natural England, English Heritage, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, District Councils, Biological Record Centre, Local Strategic Partnership and the Primary Care Trust. Landscape - National Character Areas, Landscape Character Type, Landscape Sensitivity Mapping, Landscape and Green Infrastructure . Geodiversity – Geological Site of Special Scientific Interests (SSSIs), Regionally Important Geological and/ or Geomorphological Sites (RIGS), Sites of Geological Interest . Biodiversity – Ecological Site of Special Scientific Interests (SSSIs), Special Wildlife Sites (SWS), Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) . Best and Most Versatile Land - Agricultural Land Classification, Environmental Stewardship Schemes . Blue Infrastructure – Canals, Rivers, Watercourses, Water Quality . Historic Environment – Historic Environment Assessment, Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas . Accessibility – Public Rights of Way, Sustran, Cycling network, Roads, Railways . Open space, recreation and sports facilities - Allotments, Amenity Green Space, Cemetery and Churchyard, Children’s Play Area, Civic Space, Natural and Semi Natural Areas, Outdoor Sports Facilities, Parks and Gardens, Facilities for Young People, Country Parks In order to give a greater appreciation of the spatial distribution of the GI assets throughout the district, all the GI assets were mapped onto the Geographical Information System. A number of maps showing the different facilities are presented in the report. Method The audit was undertaken through desk top analysis, internal record searching (such as existing Tree Preservation Orders, Listed Buildings and Conservation records), data searching (mainly through downloading and requesting information from relevant organisations) and several studies that the Council commissioned consultants to carry out: The Open Space, Sports and Recreation Facilities Study The Historic Environment Assessment for Bromsgrove District Council The Level 1 and Level 2 Strategic Flood Risk Assessments As the audit was primarily a desk-top exercise and involved collating as much information as possible about each asset, the amount of detail does vary depending on how available certain information was when undertaking the audit. It is important to note that the different organisations are updating the information regularly, in some cases (for example the TPOs), data are updated on a daily or weekly basis. Also, it is possible that important features are only discovered by officers during site visits. Hence, this report is just a snapshot of what is recorded and made available when the data was collected. For the same reason, detailed surveys may be required when assessing development at planning application stage. The Worcestershire Sub Regional GI Strategy As mentioned, the Worcestershire GI Partnership has been working on developing a Worcestershire GI Strategy. At the time when this report is updated, a draft GI strategy as well as various evidence based Framework documents have been published on Worcestershire County Council’s website. They are: Draft Worcestershire GI Strategy: set out county-scale