Area 15 South Gloucestershire Landscape Character Assessment Draft Proposed for Adoption 12 November 2014 Patchway, FiltonPatchway, and the Stokes Area 15 Patchway, Filton and the Stokes Contents Sketch map 208 Key characteristics 209 Location 210 Physical influences 210 Land cover 210 Settlement and infrastructure 212 Landscape character 214 The changing landscape 217 Landscape strategy 220 Photographs Landscape character area boundary www.southglos.gov.uk 207 Area 15 South Gloucestershire Landscape Character Assessment Draft Proposed for Adoption 12 November 2014 Patchway, FiltonPatchway, and the Stokes •1 â2 è18 •3 •19 •15 •21•16 å13 á14 •17 •7 å8 æ9 â13 å14 ç15 •10 •11 ã12 Figure 46 Patchway, Filton Key å15 Photograph viewpoints and the Stokes \\\ Core strategy proposed new neighbourhood Sketch Map Scale: not to scale 208 www.southglos.gov.uk Area 15 South Gloucestershire Landscape Character Assessment Draft Proposed for Adoption 12 November 2014 Patchway, FiltonPatchway, and the Stokes Area 15 Patchway, Filton and the Stokes The Patchway, Filton and the Stokes character area is an urban built up area, consisting of a mix of residential, N commercial and retail development and major transport corridors, with open space scattered throughout. Key Characteristics ¡ This area includes the settlements of ¡ Open space is diverse, currently including Patchway and Filton plus Bradley Stoke, areas of Filton Airfield much of which is Stoke Gifford, Harry Stoke and Stoke Park. proposed for development, as well as within the railway junction, the courses ¡ Largely built up area, bounded by of Patchway Brook and Stoke Brook, motorways to the north west and north part of historic Stoke Park and remnant east, with railway lines and roads dividing agricultural land. Smaller pockets of open the area. Road network and high traffic space include playing fields, a golf course, levels are prominent features. allotments and common land. Much of the agricultural areas are allocated for ¡ Zoning of development within the area development over the coming years. comprises commercial, industrial and residential areas of various ages, styles, ¡ There are a range of important SNCI building materials and densities. Large habitats scattered across this character scale business, industrial and retail area, including broadleaf, ancient and development is often highly visible within damp woodland which provides habitat and beyond the area, with a number of for notable and European Protected prominent buildings such as the Cribbs Species. Also flowing water and bankside Causeway shopping centre and the vegetation and areas of neutral, marshy Brabazon hangar at Filton. and calcareous grassland, supporting a diverse range of flora including areas of ¡ More recent residential development species rich grassland. occurs on fringes of an older housing core, and towards the M4 boundary, comprising ¡ Areas of landscape change due to recent uniform estates, with strategic landscape and proposed development, particularly infrastructure, while Filton Northfield is at Bradley Stoke, Stoke Gifford and Filton/ currently being developed as a significant Patchway, reducing the extent of open space new neighbourhood, known as Charlton and potentially the extent of wildlife habitat Hayes. within and adjacent to the urban edge. www.southglos.gov.uk 209 Area 15 South Gloucestershire Landscape Character Assessment Draft Proposed for Adoption 12 November 2014 Patchway, FiltonPatchway, and the Stokes a.o.d.; a curving ridgeline running between Stoke Location Park, 85m a.o.d. and Stoke Gifford 70m a.o.d. to The Patchway, Filton and the Stokes landscape the north east; and gently rising ground to the M5 character area is located on the south western in the north, up to 85m a.o.d. boundary of the South Gloucestershire area and includes the northern fringes of the Bristol There are a number of minor watercourses that conurbation. run through the area. These include Henbury Trym in the west, which flows south westwards The area is contained to the north east by the from Cribbs Causeway and Filton Airfield to the M4, to the north west by the M5, beyond which River Avon beyond this area. It flows within an the land rises to the Severn Ridges (Figure 55) open, gently sloping valley, contained to the west and in the south west by the foot of the slope by Haw Wood ridge and to the east by more below Haw Wood. To the south, the boundary is gently sloping ground. marked by the limits of the Unitary Authority, the south west boundary following the railway line Stoke Brook flows from the central railway and eastwards, variously through Filton, crossing intersection north eastwards, joining the agricultural land and dividing Stoke Park. The Patchway and Hortham Brook near the boundary south eastern boundary approximately follows a of this area, continuing as the Bradley Brook ridgeline, shared with the Frome Valley area and beyond. All three brooks meander through partly defined by the urban edge of Harry Stoke shallow, open low valley systems, draining and Stoke Gifford. (See Figures 40). eastwards into the adjacent area. Within the Patchway Brook valley and adjacent Physical Influences to the M4, the natural landform has been largely The geology of this character area is diverse with reprofiled, following large scale land reclamation/ a ring of White and Blue Lias limestone and clays spoil deposition. This, in places, has produced a following the eastern boundary, before curving broad plateau steep sided valley profile and steep back to and beyond Filton. This encircles a slope profile next to the motorway edge. broad bank of Lias clays. A further area of White and Blue Lias extends from Patchway, north The area’s physical influences and characteristics eastwards beyond this area. Keuper marl clays are generally not that evident where covered and sandstones form a band, roughly following by dense urban development, which limits the the western boundary. The soils are a mix of visibility of the landform beneath. Pelo-stagnogley and typical Argillic Pelosols. The geology, together with the drainage pattern, Land Cover has created a landform which is generally gently sloping to undulating. The majority of the area is dominated by settlement, but contains substantial open spaces. A number of low ridges and higher ground provide containment to an elongated central The character area includes numerous sports bowl, 55m a.o.d. average, which largely dips fields, public open spaces and school grounds gently north eastwards to the Bradley Brook, with which service the main residential areas of a smaller proportion of this area to the west falling Patchway, Bradley Stoke, Stoke Gifford and south westwards towards the River Avon. Filton. Sports fields typically comprise open areas of amenity grassland (Photo 9) enclosed by Higher ground comprises Haw Wood ridgeline housing, industrial development and intermittent to the west, rising beyond this area’s boundary, trees/tree belts and hedgerows along boundaries. to 70m a.o.d. (merging with the Severn Ridges); a broad rounded hill at Filton in the south at 96m Public open spaces within each of the principal 210 www.southglos.gov.uk Area 15 South Gloucestershire Landscape Character Assessment Draft Proposed for Adoption 12 November 2014 Patchway, FiltonPatchway, and the Stokes residential districts include: Elevated land west of the A38, at Westwood, includes Filton Golf Course, comprising greens, ¡ Bradley Stoke - playing fields; Patchway fairways and an open tree structure which Brook valley, a linear, often organic space, extends into the Bristol City Authority area. with riparian trees and grassland contained within housing and road framework; Little The open expanse of Filton Airfield currently Stoke Brook Park, with both mown and rough includes an extensive area of open ground, grassland and scrub/tree fringes (Photo 8 & comprising a tarmac runway fringed by a 6). These two brooks and their open space grassland corridor (Photo 14), a small area of corridors, converge at a pool near the M4, woodland to the north eastern end of the runway with an adjacent large plateau landform (a and adjacent to a large scale hangar complex. former landfill site) with rough grassland cover The northern boundary largely comprises a dense and maturing tree planting on steeper slopes, linear edge of trees. Surrounding the western end abutting the M4. of the now closed airfield, and within the Henbury Trym valley the currently landscape comprises ¡ Patchway includes several areas of public small sized, regular and irregular shaped pastoral open space including The Tumps, adjacent fields, defined by overgrown hedgerows with to the M5 and above the railway tunnel, intermittent hedgerow trees including dead elm comprises a linear area of meadow/rough (photo 13). grass, remnant overgrown hedgerows and maturing tree planting along the motorway Filton airfield, the agricultural land to the south edge (Photo 3); Patchway Common, of similar and the triangle of land between Wyck Beck land cover to the Tumps, with allotments Road and M5 to the west form the new Cribbs (Photo 2) near the M5, Gorse Covert and Patchway new neighbourhood (CPNN). This is Eagle Meadow.. a new neighbourhood of up to 5700 dwellings allocated with the core strategy. ¡ Filton - Filton Recreation Ground comprises open grass playing field, contained by The ongoing Charlton Hayes development at residential development and road network Northfield has seen partial closure of Highwood (Photo 15); Northville