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Wokingham District Council ___________ ASSESSMENT OF GAPS AND GREEN WEDGES WITHIN WOKINGHAM DISTRICT DRAFT FINAL REPORT June 2006 CHRIS BLANDFORD ASSOCIATES Environment Landscape Planning Wokingham District Council ASSESSMENT OF GAPS AND GREEN WEDGES WITHIN WOKINGHAM DISTRICT DRAFT FINAL REPORT June 2006 Approved by: Stephen Kirkpatrick Signed: ……………………… Position: Senior Associate Date: June 2006 CHRIS BLANDFORD ASSOCIATES Environment Landscape Planning 11099101R_DraftFinalReport_SK_amp_RevA_06-06 CONTENTS Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 2.0 WARGRAVE - TWYFORD - CHARVIL GAP /GREEN WEDGE (No.1A) 11 3.0 SONNING – CHARVIL - WOODLEY GAP /GREEN WEDGE (No. 1B) 25 4.0 SONNING - WOODLEY GAP/GREEN WEDGE (No. 2) 37 5.0 TWYFORD – HURST VILLAGE GREEN GAP/GREEN WEDGE (No. 3) 49 6.0 WOODLEY - WINNERSH GAP /GREEN WEDGE (No.4) 61 7.0 EARLEY – WINNERSH – SINDLESHAM GAP/GREEN WEDGE (No.5a) 69 8.0 WOKINGHAM – WINNERSH - BARKHAM HILL – SINDLESHAM GAP / 79 GREEN WEDGE (No.5B) 9.0 WOKINGHAM – BARKHAM HILL - ARBORFIELD GARRISON 91 – ARBORFIELD CROSS – FINCHAMPSTEAD NORTH GAP /GREEN WEDGE (No. 5c) 10.0 GREEN PARK - WORTON GRANGE - THREE MILE CROSS GAP/ 105 GREEN WEDGE (No.6) 11.0 WHITLEY WOOD – SHINFIELD NORTH – SHINFIELD VILLAGE 117 - SPENCERS WOOD - THREE MILE CROSS GAP/GREEN WEDGE (No. 7) 12.0 SPENCERS WOOD – SWALLOWFIELD GAP/GREEN WEDGE (No. 8) 133 13.0 SWALLOWFIELD TO RISELEY GAP/GREEN WEDGE (No. 9) 143 14.0 BINFIELD – WOKINGHAM – BRACKNELL GAP/GREEN WEDGE (No. 10A) 153 15.0 WOKINGHAM - FINCHAMPSTEAD NORTH - CROWTHORNE 165 – BRACKNELL GAP/GREEN WEDGE (No.10B) APPENDICES Appendix A Wokingham District Landscape Character Areas Associated with Gaps/Green Wedges 11099101R_DraftFinalReport_SK_amp_RevA_06-06 1 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Study Background 1.1.1 Wokingham District Council (WDC) commissioned Chris Blandford Associates (CBA) in September 2005 to undertake a review of the existing Gaps and Green Wedges identified in the Wokingham District Local Plan 1996-2006 (Adopted 11 March 2004). 1.1.2 CBA is an independent, professional environmental planning consultancy, comprising urban designers, landscape architects, ecologists, archaeologists and heritage specialists. 1.1.3 Gaps are defined in the adopted Wokingham District Local Plan as ‘open land, which provides physical or visual separation between distinct identified settlements’. Green Wedges are defined in the Wokingham District Local Plan as ‘areas of open space penetrating, partly enclosed by, or separating identified settlements’. 1.2 Aim and Objectives of the Study 1.2.1 The aim of the study, as set out in the Consultant’s Brief, is to assist the Council in deciding where it should retain existing gaps and wedges in the district or make provision for the designation of new gaps and wedges. The Inspector who reported on the Wokingham District Local Plan in 2001 made it clear that “it is not sufficient to merely carry forward the gaps and wedges from one plan to the next without critical assessment”. The study will provide technical background evidence to inform, guide and support the formulation of the approach and policies in WDC’s Local Development Framework and will identify which land is essential to the functioning of gaps, i.e. land which physically and visually separates settlements across the District. The assessment will also be used to support decisions at development control inquiries and independent examination of the Council’s Core Strategy and Site Allocations Development Plan Document. 1.2.2 The Consultant’s Brief required the assessment of a single tier of gaps. One of the starting points for the study was that the existing pattern of settlements and the separate identities of settlements should be maintained as repeated consultation by WDC has shown that this is strongly valued by local people. 1.2.3 CBA adopted an independent approach to the study and the work was undertaken on the basis of the appropriateness of existing or proposed gap designations, rather than any development 11099101R_DraftFinalReport_SK_amp_RevA_06-06 2 submissions to WDC. CBA took no account of any such submissions or of the conclusions of the Inspector who reported on the Wokingham District Local Plan in 2001. It was assumed that all areas will be under pressure for development. 1.2.4 It should not be assumed that any areas of land that are excluded from a gap/green wedge, as a result of the recommendations set out in this report, will be identified for built development. Numerous other factors must be taken into account, such as flooding and highway constraints, landscape and ecological conservation etc. 1.3 Landscape Planning Policies Planning Policy Statement Note 7: Sustainable Development in Rural Areas 1.3.1 The source of authority in national policy for these local landscape designations is Planning Policy Statement (PPS) Note 7: Sustainable Development in Rural Areas. Paragraph 24 of PPS7 states:- ‘The Government recognises and accepts that there are areas of landscape outside nationally designated areas that are particularly highly valued locally. The Government believes that carefully drafted, criteria-based policies in Local Development Documents (LDDs), utilising tools such as landscape character assessment, should provide sufficient protection for these areas, without the need for rigid local designations that may unduly restrict acceptable, sustainable development and the economic activity that underpins the vitality of rural areas.’ 1.3.2 Paragraph 25 of PPS7 goes on to state:- ‘Local landscape designations should only be maintained or, exceptionally, extended where it can be clearly shown that criteria-based planning policies cannot provide the necessary protection. LDDs should state what it is that requires extra protection, and why. When reviewing their local area-wide development plans and LDDs, planning authorities should rigorously consider the justification for retaining existing local landscape designations. They should ensure that such designations are based on a formal and robust assessment of the qualities of the landscape concerned.’ 11099101R_DraftFinalReport_SK_amp_RevA_06-06 3 Strategic Gap and Green Wedge Policies in Structure Plans: Main Report 1.3.3 The report “Strategic Gap and Green Wedge Policies in Structure Plans: Main Report” (September 2003) was commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). The aims of the study were, amongst other things, to (a) assess the justifications for including land in local designations such as strategic gaps and green wedges, and (b) to establish the objectives for land use within such areas. The ODPM report referred to Inspector’s Report for the Eastleigh Local Plan Inquiry (1998). This report identified the following factors to be most useful for delineating strategic gaps:- • distance; • topography; • landscape character/type; • vegetation; • existing uses and density of buildings; • nature of urban edges; • inter-visibility (the ability to see one edge from another); • intra-visibility (the ability to see both edges from a single point); • the sense of leaving a place. 1.3.4 The Inspector also suggested that detailed gap boundaries on the ground should be logical, reasonable and defensible and readily identifiable through existing durable features of the landscape. 1.3.5 Paragraph 3.30 of “Strategic Gap and Green Wedge Policies in Structure Plans: Main Report” concluded that the basic purposes of strategic gaps and green wedges are as follows: • for strategic gaps; they are to protect the setting and separate identity of settlements, and to avoid coalescence; retain the existing settlement pattern by maintaining the openness of the land; and retain the physical and psychological benefits of having open land near to where people live; and • for green wedges; they are to protect strategic open land helping to shape urban growth as it progresses; to preserve and enhance links between urban areas and the countryside; and to facilitate the positive management of land. 11099101R_DraftFinalReport_SK_amp_RevA_06-06 4 South East Plan 1.3.6 The Draft South East Plan, prepared by the South East England Regional Assembly, was submitted to Government on 31 March 2006. This Regional Spatial Strategy provides a framework for the region for the next 20 years to 2026. It brings together policies for development with other policies and programmes that influence the nature of places and how they function, including those governing social issues, the economy and the environment. 1.3.7 Policy CC10b sets out criteria by which strategic gaps may be designated in Local Development Documents (LDDs). The primary purpose of these gaps must be to prevent coalescence of settlements and maintain their identity. Where a gap crosses local authority boundaries, the local authorities should prepare a joint LDD for the gap. Paragraph 1.37 of the Draft South East Plan states that:- “decisions about whether gaps should or should not be adopted must be solely based on the criteria set out in Policy CC10b”. 1.3.8 Policy CC10b: Strategic Gaps states:- “Where there is a need to prevent the coalescence of settlements in order to retain their separate identity, local authorities may identify the location and boundaries of strategic gaps in a Local Development Document (or joint LDD where the gap crosses more than one local authority) if the following criteria are met: i The gap will prevent the coalescence of settlements each with a resident population greater than 10,000 persons; ii The gap must be no greater in size than is necessary, and in all cases no greater than five miles at its widest point. Development should only be permitted in a strategic gap where it would not compromise, individually or cumulatively with other existing or proposed development, the fundamental integrity and purpose of the gap”. 11099101R_DraftFinalReport_SK_amp_RevA_06-06 5 Berkshire Structure Plan 1991-2016 1.3.9 The adopted Berkshire Structure Plan 1991-2016 contains Policy DP7, which sets out the purposes of gaps and wedges in Berkshire. It says: 1. The Councils will preserve the setting and separate identity of settlements and protect areas of the countryside, which penetrate urban areas and provide access to the countryside for residents of urban areas.