Hampshire Hampshire Downs Countryside Access Plan for the Hampshire Downs 2008-2013 BERKSHIRE NORTH WESSEX DOWNS AONB TA D LE Y A33 WILTSHIRE A340 A34 A339 A343 A30 BASINGSTOKE OAKLEY A342 ANDOVER A303 SURREY 012340.5 M3 Miles A339 Legend ALTON Hampshire Downs CAP Area Motorway ARoad FOUR MARKS Rivers A31 Built up areas NEW Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty ALRESFORD WINCHESTER Loddon & Eversley Heritage Area WEST SUSSEX EAST HAMPSHIRE County Boundary AONB © Crown copyright. All rights reserved, HCC 100019180 2008 The Hampshire Downs area Hampshire County Council would like to thank the many people – local residents, landowners and land managers, user-group representatives, local authority officers, elected members and a host of others – who were involved in the work to produce this plan. The product of their efforts and support is a framework which will enable the County Council and others to work together to improve countryside access across Hampshire and to make it available for the widest possible range of people to enjoy. Hampshire Downs Contents Introduction………………………….……………………… 2 The Hampshire Downs area….…….…………………..... 3 Vision …………………………………….………………...... 5 Summary of findings …………………...…………….….... 6 Main issues ……………………………….…………………. 7 Guide to the action tables …………….……………..…... 8 Issues and proposed actions ………………………..10 - 25 Appendix 1 – Extent of rights of way network Appendix 2 – Overview of access ȱ 1 Countryside Access Plan Introduction This Countryside Access Plan (CAP) for Each area CAP should be read in the Hampshire Downs area is one of conjunction with the County Overview seven area plans which, together with an CAP, which reports on the research done eighth ‘County Overview’ CAP, form the to produce the plans, identifies the Rights of Way Improvement Plan County Council’s main, county-wide aims (ROWIP) for the county of Hampshire. for improving access to Hampshire’s countryside and explains how these plans The duty for local highway authorities to are influencing the way the County produce a ROWIP was established Council delivers its services. through the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. A ROWIP is intended to The area CAPs explore in greater detail provide the means by which the highway the specific issues affecting enjoyment of authority will manage and improve its the countryside in a particular part of the rights of way network to meet the county and propose actions to address Government’s aim of better provision for them. These actions are intentionally walkers, cyclists, equestrians and people broadly-defined and aspirational. They do with mobility problems. ROWIPs are not necessarily relate to increasing public closely linked with Local Transport Plans, access to the countryside; many of them with the aim of delivering a more are about enhancing and improving the integrated approach to sustainable existing network. transport in rural and urban areas; where The area covered by each CAP has been the two plans share common aims this determined broadly by landscape also creates further opportunities for the character, as this reflects factors such as funding of rights of way improvements. land use, demography, soil type and Hampshire County Council’s ‘Countryside topography, which closely affect rights of Access Plans’ relate not just to the rights way, countryside sites and other access to of way network but to the whole range of the countryside. opportunities for people to enjoy The CAPs were initially published as drafts Hampshire’s countryside. These include for consultation, with a minimum of 3 areas designated as Open Access under months allowed for comment and CROW, sites managed by the County feedback from the public, user groups, Council, by other local authorities and by local authorities, government agencies and organisations such as the National Trust other organisations. Comments on the and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Hampshire Downs draft were received Trust, together with Forestry Commission from 21 respondents; more than a third of woodlands, MoD land and permissive these were from users (mainly walkers access provided by farmers and other and horse riders), and a similar number private landowners. were from parish or town councils. This document is a revision of that consultation draft, which has taken into account all the comments and feedback received. 2 ȱ Hampshire Downs The Hampshire Downs area This Countryside Access Plan for the The provision of rights of way across the Hampshire Downs covers an area of area is generally good in terms of quantity; approximately 89,000 hectares, extending overall network density is 19% greater from the county boundary with Berkshire than the average for Hampshire as a in the north to the boundary of the A32 whole and there is a particularly high and the A272 in the south; and from the density of byways open to all traffic county boundary with Wiltshire in the (BOATs) and restricted byways (RBs). west to Basingstoke, Alton and the county However, these figures are purely boundary with Surrey in the east. The area quantitative and do not reflect the includes most of Basingstoke and Deane connectivity or ‘usability’ of the public Borough and small parts of Test Valley rights of way network. Several rights of Borough, Hart District, East Hampshire way pass through (and therefore provide a District and Winchester City District. certain amount of access to) heritage sites such as The Grange, Moundsmere Manor, The main conurbations within the area are Hackwood Park and Highclere Park. Basingstoke, Alton and Tadley. The towns There is some unevenness in the rights of of Andover and Whitchurch lie just way distribution and a number of outside the boundary to the west, and substantial gaps in the network, for Farnham just to the east. The city of example at Micheldever, Lasham Airfield Winchester lies just to the south west of and Litchfield. the boundary. The main areas of open access are found The Hampshire Downs CAP area is along the downs to the south and west of characterised by rolling chalk downland Kingsclere, and at Tadley Common. There and open valleys, punctuated by blocks of are few publicly- owned sites in the area woodland. There are many large, privately that provide significant off-road public owned estates in the area and much of the access and no local authority country land is under arable crops or improved parks or other sites with visitor facilities. pasture. It is arguably an anomaly that a The northern part of the area includes a conurbation as large as Basingstoke substantial part of the North Wessex (population of over 80,000, and growing) Downs Area of Outstanding Natural has no publicly-owned country park Beauty (NWDAONB) and of the Loddon nearby. and Eversley Heritage Area. There are a Hampshire County Council promotes number of Sites of Special Scientific several long distance walking routes within Interest (SSSIs); these are mainly and across the area: the Wayfarers Walk concentrated in the northern part of the long distance trail (70 miles Portsmouth - area and include Pamber Forest and Inkpen Beacon), St. Swithuns long distance Ashford Hill Woods. As in much of trail (34 miles Winchester-Farnham), the Hampshire, there are many Sites of Oxdrove Way loop (which links from the Importance for Nature Conservation Wayfarers Walk), the millennium trail (SINCs); there is also a National Nature near Alresford (for those with less Reserve (Ashford Hill Meadows) within mobility), and part of the Test Way. In the Hampshire Downs. Overall, a addition, a number of parishes have relatively low proportion of the area is produced maps of local walks and several designated as important for nature local walking guides are available on parish conservation. websites. ȱ 3 Countryside Access Plan Hampshire County Council also promotes organisations as well as local authorities a number of cycling routes in the area provide walking routes (for example, (including off-road trails around Alton, wildlife walks) at their sites. Oxdrove Way, Watership Down and There is a significant amount of permissive Basingstoke) and National Cycle Network access in the Hampshire Downs, which routes (e.g. route 23 Basingstoke – Alton comes a close second behind the Test and and Alresford). Itchen in terms of the total number of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council Countryside Stewardship Schemes and owns and manages woodland sites Higher Level Environmental Stewardship (including Beggarwood and Old Down schemes (HLS) in the area. There are also Woodland Parks, Binfields Woodland Park a number of estates and farm businesses and Daneshill Park Woods Local Nature which regularly arrange farm walks, open Reserve) and local parks (Black Dam days and other public events. These Ponds Nature Reserve, Chineham Park private businesses can often offer more and Hatch Warren Park) which are open visitor facilities than publicly-owned sites to the public for recreation. which are generally too small for such facilities to be appropriate. There is also public access to sites managed by the Hampshire and Isle of The Hampshire Downs is thus a working Wight Wildlife Trust (e.g. Pamber Forest), rural landscape which also provides many the National Trust (The Chase and the opportunities for quiet enjoyment of the Vyne Estate) and the Forestry countryside. Commission (Micheldever Wood). These 4 ȱ Hampshire Downs Vision The Vision for this Countryside Access Plan for the Hampshire Downs is: To provide local people and visitors with a high quality, sustainable network