BNDP Supporting Documents Page 403 Supporting Document LEA1 SWOT Data (Environment) Topic Environment – Table 1 Opportunity Threat Routeways & Open Spaces Increasing tourism Increasing development & traffic Woodlands, Trees, Plan to protect & replace Lack of appreciation of the Hedgerows, & Field hedgerows & plant new trees country code by people Patterns moving into countryside: education needed in country ways Biodiversity (Wildlife): Funding from builders to Density of new developments Flora & Fauna protect wildlife flora & fauna – – risk from large estates more targeted conservation, funding, and understanding what is already going on Views, Dark Skies, Identify the most important / Large estate development Tranquillity outstanding views within the impact on views / light parish pollution / urbanisation. Might be threatened by site of 20 houses Streams, Ponds, Ditches & Developers could be tasked to Existing farmers are Flooding maintain ditches / waterways maintaining these: if sold off for building = risk to ongoing maintenance September 2020 LEA2 Landscape Character Assessments BNDP Supporting Documents Page 404 Supporting Document LEA2 Landscape Character Assessments 2018 Landscape The parish of Benenden is a prime example of the High Weald Area of Natural Beauty. The medieval field structures and settlement patterns largely remain, modified through the centuries as the population has grown. It is peppered with outstanding views due to the ridged nature of the landscape. It enjoys rich biodiversity thanks to the largely unspoilt landscape where ancient woodland and gill valleys, some semi-improved grassland, ancient hedgerow and shaws provide vital habitats. Central Benenden The heart of the village clusters along The Street at the foot of the village green, with the church standing at the other end of the Green, on higher ground, as if watching over the village centre. This picturesque arrangement was largely designed in the 19th century by the Earl of Cranbrook, who cleared houses from around the church to do so. A second unique feature are numerous notable trees, both ancient native and 19th and 20th century plantings from all over the world. Of the native trees, especially fine are the old oaks in the churchyard, round the Glebe Field and Recreation Ground, in the Beadle's Platt to the west of the church and on all sides in Hilly Fields. The reason for the fine plantings of non-native trees is that the naturalist, Collingwood Ingram once lived at the Grange, on the Green. He planted the Monterey Pines on the Iden Green Road and many other magnificent trees. He was the man who re-introduced the flowering cherry to Japan where it had been lost for many years. He is revered in Japan to this day for this action. The original cherry, Tai Haku, or its direct descendant, which he used for the reintroduction, still stands in the grounds of the Grange. Almost every tree in his garden is protected by a Tree Preservation Order. This area includes many footpaths offering incomparable views south over the Weald, such as that from Pullington or from Hilly Fields. The centre of the village, because of its historic interest and architectural value, is designated a Conservation Area. The farmland around the centre includes two Local Wildlife Sites: St George's Churchyard and Nine Acre Wood and Gill which stretches from west of Walkhurst Road and runs along wooded gills as far as Stepneyford Lane in the east. There is a Roadside Nature Reserve along the roadside path to Iden Green. September 2020 LEA2 Landscape Character Assessments BNDP Supporting Documents Page 405 East End The area is studded with old farmsteads such as Beston, Bishopsden, Pympne Manor, Mount le Hoe and Maplesden. It is criss-crossed with narrow lanes, often sunken and lined with ancient woodland. To the south lies the old drove road, now the main road from Rolvenden to Benenden while the oldest track is the west-east Roman road (which may well pre-date the Romans), which follows the line of the west-east sandstone ridge to the north of the area. Bronze Age items have been found near this track. This ridge was, and still is, the centre for top fruit growing in the parish. This area is home to four Local Wildlife Sites (Brogues Wood, Benenden Hospital grounds, Beston Farm, Hemsted Forest) with a fifth site, the old Bramley orchard at Halden, sitting on its border with Rolvenden. Medieval tracks, often lined with moss-covered banks surmounted by the gnarled and ancient stumps of trees once laid as hedges, thread the area. The most notable are Dockenden Lane in Hemsted Forest and the bridle path from Mount le Hoe to Walkhurst Road. European Cycle Route no. 18 runs through the area, following narrow lanes from south to north. West Benenden The area north and south of the Cranbrook Road is largely farmland (a mixture of grazing and arable) and includes the parkland around Benenden School, once Hemsted Place. Though the Elizabethan house no longer exists, trees planted at that time remain, including a sweet chestnut tree thought to have been planted in 1588 to celebrate the victory over the Armada. Like the rest of the parish this is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and includes long tracts of ancient woodland. There are two large areas of ancient woodland, White Chimney Wood and Parsonage Wood, which are both Local Wildlife Sites (LWS). Parsonage Wood is the only place in the parish to be designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest {SSSI) but abutting the western edge of the Parish is Cranbrook Wood, also an SSSI. The area is dotted with mysterious ancient, man-made pits, often called marl pits, but which could also be the result of iron working or the mining of clay for bricks. Many of them are now filled with water and these numerous ponds and pits, often tree ringed and overgrown, provide a rich and diverse habitat for wildlife. West Benenden is criss-crossed by a network of over a dozen footpaths, many of them with spectacular views over the Weald, such as from the footpath past the Jubilee Plantation. There are a number of sunken lanes or ancient drove roads and a Roman road runs north-south through the grounds of Benenden School. It is said to be the route taken by King Harold and his army on his way to Hastings. The High Weald Landscape Trail follows part of this track and Cycle Route 18 is marked on Nineveh Lane and Coldharbour Road. Iden Green, Standen and Dingleden These three ancient dens are sited amid an undulating rural landscape featuring small gill tributary streams, quiet sunken droveways and predominantly small scale, irregular fields. Many of the fields are bounded by woodland, copses, shaws and hedgerows all combining to create a distinctive landscape mosaic. Most of the fields within the area are grassland pasture grazed by sheep and horses; elsewhere there are several mature orchards producing mainly apples. There are numerous notable areas of Ancient Woodland including Iden Green Wood, Moor Wood, Standen Wood, Strawberry Wood, Seven Acre Shaw and Stone Quarry Wood, all of which are designated as Local Wildlife Sites. Strawberry Wood also contains an ancient culvert which is a structure of historic importance. The north-south Roman road crosses a stream at Stream Farm using a rare, still partially paved ford. This site is listed by Historic England. September 2020 LEA3 List of Source Documents BNDP Supporting Documents Page 406 Supporting Document LEA3 List of Source Documents High Weald AONB Unit The High Weald AONB Management Plan 2019-2024 Case study report: Benenden by footpath, Field Systems in the High Weald - March 2017 Demonstration Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, Residential Development on Land South West of Benenden - September 2015 High Weald AONB Landscape Character Maps for Benenden Parish Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Green Infrastructure Plan, Supplementary Planning Document - Adopted August 2014 Rural Lanes: Street Furniture, Signs and Materials - January 2004 Rural Lanes: Supplementary Planning Guidance - January 1998 Landscape and Nature Conservation Principles, Guidance Notes for Applicants (Parts 1-5) – August 2002 Conservation Areas Appraisal, Benenden and Iden Green - April 2005 Landscape Sensitivity Assessment of additional settlements in Tunbridge Wells, Paddock Wood, Horsmonden, Hawkhurst, Cranbrook – July 2018 Tunbridge Wells Borough Open Space, Sports and Recreation Study (2017) Community and Stakeholder Consultation Report (Final) Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Open Space, Sport and Recreation Study (2013 – 2033) Open Space Study (June 2018) Local Green Space Designation Methodology - September 2018 PLAYING PITCH STRATEGY 2017-2033 - NOVEMBER 2017 HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT REVIEW, PART ONE - January 2018 Water Efficiency Background Paper - December 2017 Landscape Sensitivity Assessment of Countryside around Tunbridge Wells - February 2017 PARISHES of HAWKHURST CRANBROOK GOUDHURST & BENENDEN, HISTORIC LANDSCAPE CHARACTERISATION, REVISION OF KENT HLC (2000) - August 2015 Analysis of the Implications of Tunbridge Wells Borough Local Plan: Issues and Options for European Sites - March 2017 Settlement Role and Function Study - February 2017 Tunbridge Wells Borough Landscape Character Assessment 2017 - February 2017 Core Strategy Development Plan Document - Adopted June 2010 Final Sustainability Appraisal Report – April 2009 September 2020 LEA3 List of Source Documents BNDP Supporting Documents Page 407 Woodland Trust Planner’s Manual for Ancient Woodland and Veteran Trees by Woodland Trust,