Trowbridge Recreation Strategy and Visitor Surveys. Chris Panter, Sophie Lake & Durwyn Liley FOOTPRINT ECOLOGY, FOREST OFFICE, BERE ROAD, WAREHAM, DORSET BH20 7PA WWW.FOOTPRINT-ECOLOGY.CO.UK 01929 552444 Footprint Contract Reference: 400 Date: 6th November 2018 Version: Final Recommended Citation: Panter, C., Lake, S. & Liley D. (2018). Trowbridge Visitor Survey and Recreation Management Strategy. Unpublished report by Footprint Ecology for Wiltshire Council. 2 TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY Summary This report has been commissioned by Wiltshire Council to consider recreation and urban pressures on the nature conservation interest of woodland near to Trowbridge. The adopted Wiltshire Core Strategy sets out a provision for a considerable amount of development in Trowbridge (allocating 5860 dwellings), including an allocation for a major urban extension (2,600 dwellings) to the east of the town. In addition, further residential development at the town will come forward through the Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan. Habitats Regulations Assessment work has identified potential risks to the Bath and Bradford-on-Avon Bats Special Area of Conservation (SAC), as some of the woods outside Trowbridge (while outside the SAC) support bats that are part of the SAC population. Part of the concerns relate to the increased recreation and urban pressures on the woods, which hold maternity roosts for Bechstein’s Bats. The Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan is considering several options around Trowbridge, which include sites at varying distances from the woods. The Council has also received a significant number of speculative planning applications for major housing development on the periphery of the town. While the effects of the Core Strategy and allocated urban extension have already been considered and mitigated through appropriate assessment, the HRAs for the Housing Site Allocations Plan and some pending applications have yet to be completed. These will rely on a Council led mitigation scheme. Measures being considered to avoid or mitigate impacts include: Managing development in close proximity to the woods (i.e. ensuring a buffer between the woods and development); improved management of the woodlands; improvements to the recreational opportunities (away from the woods) available to residents of Trowbridge; and landscape scale improvement to habitat networks for bats. In this report, we collect evidence to identify measures that will be relevant and appropriate to Trowbridge and we make recommendations for avoidance and mitigation measures. These will be incorporated into a Trowbridge Bat Mitigation Strategy that is being produced by the Council. The evidence is collected in three main approaches. Firstly, we present findings from a visitor survey of the woods and surrounding greenspace. This provides information on levels of current use of different sites, why people choose different sites and what management might work to influence and change people’s access patterns. We also undertook semi-structured interviews with selected stakeholders to supplement the information from the face-face survey, to understand current issues with management of the woods and opportunities. The 3 TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY third element to the report is a literature review to identify issues relating to recreation use/urban effects on woodlands, focussing on bats and also reviewing particular approaches to mitigation (exclusion zones and alternative greenspace). Key findings from these three elements are: Visitor Survey 15 survey points were surveyed during the period late May – end June 2017. Survey points included the bat woodland sites and other greenspace sites. 16 hours survey effort was conducted at each location. In total 2,924 people (1,840 groups) and 1,588 dogs were counted across all survey points. These equate to 0.54 dogs per person. The main car-park at Southwick Country Park was the busiest location (average of 47 people per hour passing). Paxcroft Mead was also busy (34 and 27 people passing per hour at the two locations surveyed). Estimates of total visitor numbers to sites highlight that the bat woodland sites are relatively quiet (up to 0.2 per ha per hour), and Biss Wood was particularly quiet (0.02 people per ha per hour). The other greenspace sites were much busier, for example Southwick Country Park was estimated to have 0.44 people per ha per hour and Biss Meadows and Paxcroft Mead around 0.9 people per ha per hr. A total of 487 interviews were conducted. Virtually all (98%) of interviewees were on a day trip/short visit directly for home Dog walking was the main activity across all locations (79% of interviewees). Similar proportions of dog walkers were recorded at the woodland bat sites (80%) and the other greenspace sites (78%). The other greenspace sites tended to have a greater range of activities (e.g. no interviewees at the woodland bat sites were: meeting up with friends, walking to the shops, school run/commuting, professional dog walking, enjoying scenery and bird/wildlife watching). People tended to make longer visits to the bat woodland sites, with on average 40% of interviewees suggesting their visit would last for more than 1 hour, compared to 13% at the other greenspace sites. Roughly two thirds (65%) of interviewees arrived at sites on foot. Clanger and Picket Wood and Southwick Country Park (main car-park) were the locations with high proportions of interviewees arriving by car. On average, the distance between the home postcode of interviewees and the survey point where interviewed was 2.5km, but half of all postcodes were within a 700m radius and three quarters within in a 1.8 km radius. There were significant differences between the distances (home postcode to survey point) for those visiting woodland bat sites and other greenspace sites, with people coming from further afield at the woodland bat sites. Visit rates (i.e. number of interviewees per household) indicates that foot visitors tend to show that the woodland sites draw visitors on foot from a radius of around 600m, beyond this 4 TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY distance visit rates are low and constant. Green Lane Wood has a much stronger draw than the other sites. Visit rates for those travelling by car show a particularly strong draw for Clanger and Picket Wood, with visit rates much higher than other sites. At distances around 2km visit rates are relatively low and change little with increasing distance. Most interviewees had been visiting sites for some years, with at least 20% of interviewees visiting more than 10 years at all sites. Green Lane Wood was significantly different from other sites in the proportions of interviewees that had been visiting for relatively short periods; at this site 39% had been visiting less than 2 years. Interviewees undertook longer walks at the woodland sites (median route length 2.4km) compared to the other greenspace sites (median 1.5km). Some of the sites with the longer median route lengths were the larger sites (Clanger and Picket Wood, Green Lane Wood – includes the nature park extension). Hilperton Gap was notable in that it is a large site yet route lengths here tended to be short, with interviewees only walking round part of the site. People choose to visit sites because they are close to home; overall this was the most common reason cited at sites and the most common single ‘main’ reason at most sites. Proximity to home was less important at the woodland bat sites, and at Clanger and Picket Wood the most commonly cited main reason for people visiting was because the site is good for the dog/dog enjoys it. For the woodland bat sites the wild nature and general scenery were important factors, much less so at the other greenspace sites. Anti-social behaviours were noted by interviewees at all sites and provide evidence of issues potentially of concern with respect to bats, such a damage to trees/vegetation, fires and vandalism. Issues noted by at least 25% of interviewees at sites included camping (Green Lane Wood and Biss Meadows), fires (Green Lane Wood), dogs out of control (Southwick Country Park) and ‘other’ (Green Lane Wood, Biss Meadows and Paxcroft Mead). Interviewees suggested a range of measures for improvements to access at sites with measures relating to dog fouling/more bins the most common across all sites. Stakeholder Interviews Interviews were conducted with representatives from a Local school (Castle Mead School); Council Rangers (responsible for management at Biss Meadows and Southwick Country Park); Wiltshire Wildlife Trust (responsible for Green Lane Wood and Biss Wood); Wilshire Council (public health); the Local Scout Group (there is a dedicated scout facility at the edge of Green Lane Wood) and Natural England (statutory nature conservation advice). Key points included: The school is keen to use the surrounding environment and currently use Biss Woods around four times per year. The amount of dog mess is a current constraint/issue with school visits to local sites The schools would like to have a designated area they can use for outdoor learning There is a need to create safe ways for children to walk and cycle to school 5 TROWBRIDGE RECREATION STRATEGY Castle Mead School has a bat as its logo and each year is named after a different bat species. Southwick Park is well used by dog walkers and also draws large numbers of people for Park Run events. While the events are beneficial in promoting physical activity, there are issues with wear and tear and the car-park is not sufficient to absorb the parking pressures. Southwick Park currently hosts brownies/guides, school events and family events. There is the Hope Nature Centre at Southwick Country Park which has a café and toilets, plus a small number of animals for children to pet and feed. Anti-social behaviour at Southwick Country Park and Biss Meadows does occur but is at a relatively low level, and has included vandalism, rubbish dumping, damage to fences and fires.