AYOT GREENWAY GREENSPACE ACTION PLAN (GAP) 2020 – 2025 Briefing Document September 2019 Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 2. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................. 2 2.1 Strategic context ..................................................................................................... 2 2.2 Site description ........................................................................................................ 2 3. SITE MAP ............................................................................................................................ 4 4. REVIEW OF PROGRESS ................................................................................................ 5 5. GREENSPACE ACTION PLAN (GAP) 2020-2025 ....................................................... 6 6. COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PLAN PRODUCTION PROCESS ................... 8 7. STAKEHOLDER FEEDBACK ........................................................................................ 10 1. INTRODUCTION This briefing document has been produced to guide the first stage of engagement that will support the writing of a Greenspace Action Plan (GAP) for the Ayot Greenway. The GAP will be produced by the Countryside Management Service (CMS) for Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) and will cover a five year period from 2020 to 2025. This GAP will focus on the section of the Ayot Greenway between Wheathampstead and Welwyn Garden City which is owned by HCC, and will also provide recommendations for the management of the remainder of the route. GAPs are map based management plans and are invaluable documents that give focus and direction to the running and improvement of all types of open space. They provide a clear, logical process to determine the activities that should take place on a site, over a stated period of time, in order to meet agreed project objectives and core aspirations. It is our intention to engage the community in a structured way to ensure that stakeholders are fully aware of the plan production process. Engagement will be encouraged and opportunities to feed into the plan in a constructive and timely way promoted locally. This document is intended to initiate and support this process. This document has been broken down into easy to read sections. Sections 2 and 3 provide background information, historical context and a review of current management operations. Section 4 outlines the aim and objectives of the plan and how we intend to use and present the document. Section 5 summarises the engagement methodology that forms a part of the GAP production process, specifying how and when stakeholders will be involved. Ayot Greenway Greenspace Action Plan 2020-2025 Briefing Document 1 2. BACKGROUND 2.1 Strategic context The Ayot Greenway is a 4.5 mile (7km) non-motorised transport route following the former Welwyn Garden City to Luton and Dunstable branch line which provides a predominantly traffic-free route between Wheathampstead and Welwyn Garden City. At both ends the route connects to links to the respective village and town centre and to the Cole Green Way (another disused railway route which heads East between Welwyn Garden City and Hertford). This valuable route is used by cyclists, horse riders and walkers throughout the year, both for active travel and for recreational use. The Ayot Greenway should be viewed not as an isolated route but as part of a developing network of strategic non-motorised public transport options. This network will support the Government’s Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS) which aims to see more people with access to safe, attractive routes for cycling and walking by 2040. The network will also support delivery of HCC’s Local Transport Plan 4 (LTP4), which aims to encourage active travel and improve sustainable travel provision to achieve ‘a modal shift in future years away from car use to more sustainable modes such as walking and cycling’. By increasing levels of physical activity, active travel and recreation can also contribute to improved health and wellbeing and through this, ill-health prevention. This is set out as an objective within the Hertfordshire Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2016-2020: ‘Seek to increase the proportion of working age adults who are getting the recommended level of physical activity and reduce levels of overweight and obesity’. Any reduction in car usage will have further health and environmental benefits through reduced air pollution. Poor air quality can be a serious threat to health, and emissions from transport are a major source of air pollution. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport is essential if national targets are to be met. 2.2 Site description The Ayot Greenway forms part of Sustrans National Cycle Route 57 running through a largely rural area. It passes close to a number of small hamlets, notably Ayot St Peter, Ayot Green, Ayot St. Lawrence and Lemsford and at its western and eastern ends reaches the fringes of Wheathampstead and Welwyn Garden City. There are signposted access points from all the quiet roads and public rights of way which cross the route, although the route itself is not a Public Right of Way. The HCC- owned section of the route has an unbound aggregate surface, which in many places is covered by organic material and can be very wet during the winter. At the Welwyn Garden City end, the route crosses over the A1(M) by bridge and continues to cross Ayot Greenway Greenspace Action Plan 2020-2025 Briefing Document 2 Great North Road before entering Sherrardspark Wood. This and the short section west of the A1(M) crossing from Ayot Little Green Lane are surfaced with tarmac. The entirety of the route lies within the Green Belt, with the western end located within the Wheathampstead Conservation Area and the eastern end located in the Welwyn Garden City Conservation Area. The Ayot Greenway is a Local Wildlife Site, ratified in 1997 for its grassland indicator species. Part of the HCC owned route passes through Sherrardspark Wood which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), an Ancient Woodland Site and a Local Nature Reserve. The Ayot Greenway now has three landowners (shown on the following site map). Tarmac Ltd own and manage 0.4km starting at the Wheathampstead end, Hertfordshire County Council own the following 3.3km section and Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council own a short stretch of track heading east from Ayot Little Green Lane where the car park is located. A 1.2km on-road section starts from Ayot Little Green Lane heading south where it crosses the A1(M) and Great North Road before linking to Sherrardspark Wood. Opened in 1877, the Welwyn Garden City to Wheathampstead line was used by both passenger and goods traffic as a later addition to the Hatfield to Luton and Dunstable branch line. Ayot station was destroyed and closed to passenger traffic following a fire in July 1948, and has since been demolished with very little evidence remaining. Wheathampstead station was opened in 1860 and closed in November 1965 when a connection with the Midland line at Luton opened, making the track east of Luton redundant. The western end of the station platform and a short section of the eastern end have since been demolished. The remainder of the platform is owned by Wheathampstead Parish Council and has been restored by volunteers as a site of interest for the village and open air museum. The banks adjoining the old railway line have been naturally colonised by secondary woodland since the closure of the railway and the cessation of regular, large scale vegetation clearance. This now provides an important continuous linear wildlife corridor comprised predominantly of Oak, Ash, Hornbeam, Hazel and Hawthorn. As a wooded green corridor, the route is a significant feature traversing the landscape. It passes through cuttings and along embankments, which provides sections with the potential for open views across surrounding agricultural land and sections which are naturally more enclosed by woodland. Narrow strips of grasses and wildflowers border the central track which has historically supported a diversity of flora, including grassland indicator species. The embankments and cuttings offer a variety of habitats for invertebrates, birds and mammals and provide a valuable link to other wildlife sites. Ayot Greenway Greenspace Action Plan 2020-2025 Briefing Document 3 3. SITE MAP Ayot Greenway Greenspace Action Plan 2020-2025 Briefing Document 4 4. REVIEW OF PROGRESS The Ayot Greenway has previously been surfaced with unbound aggregate, but that surface is now deteriorating and there are extensive sections which are wet and muddy for much of the year with poor drainage. Management of the HCC-owned section of the Ayot Greenway in recent times has focused on reactive maintenance, and it has become heavily shaded by overhanging trees, leaving some sections feeling dark and enclosed. This can make users of the route feel less safe, and also restricts potential views across attractive open countryside. Access point signage is reasonable, however requires refreshing in some places to ensure all signs are fit for purpose and provide easy and welcoming access for all users. Signage both along and to the route could be improved, using a standard and custom-designed style to help build an identity for the Ayot Greenway. Furniture along the route is also ageing and