NORTH KESTEVEN LANDSCAPE CHARACTER ASSESSMENT David Tyldesley and Associates for North Kesteven District Council September 2007 Cover photograph Vista from Harmston village on the Lincoln Cliff, north-west over the Witham and Brant Vales character sub-area. NORTH KESTEVEN LANDSCAPE CHARACTER ASSESSMENT FINAL DRAFT prepared by David Tyldesley and Associates for North Kesteven District Council David Tyldesley and Associates Sherwood House 144 Annesley Road Hucknall Nottingham NG15 7DD Tel: 0115 9680092 Fax: 0115 9680344 Email: [email protected] Website: www.dt-a.co.uk Doc. Ref. 1611 Issue 1 September 2007 Contents Page PART 1 – PURPOSE OF THE REPORT AND LANDSCAPE CONTENT 1. Purpose of the Report ................................................................................................. 1 2. Methodology................................................................................................................ 3 3. Introduction to Landscape Character Assessment ..................................................... 7 4. Introduction to the Landscape Characteristics of North Kesteven ............................ 11 5. Evolution of the Landscape....................................................................................... 13 PART 2 – LANDSCAPE CHARACTER AREA DESCRIPTIONS 6. Trent and Witham Vales Regional Landscape Character Type ................................ 23 Landscape Character Sub-areas: 6.1 Heath Sandlands........................................................................................... 23 6.2 Terrace Sandlands........................................................................................ 28 6.3 Till Vale.......................................................................................................... 36 6.4 Lincoln Fringe................................................................................................ 41 6.5 Witham and Brant Vales................................................................................ 43 7. Lincoln Cliff Regional Landscape Character Type .................................................... 53 7.1 Lincoln Cliff Landscape Character Sub-Area ................................................ 53 8. Central Plateau Regional Landscape Character Type.............................................. 61 Landscape Character Sub-areas: 8.1 Limestone Heath........................................................................................... 61 8.2 Rauceby Hills................................................................................................ 67 8.3 Wilsford Heath............................................................................................... 73 8.4 Slea Valley.................................................................................................... 77 8.5 Central Clays and Gravels ............................................................................ 82 8.6 Upland Plateau Fringe................................................................................... 88 9. The Fens Regional Landscape Character Type ....................................................... 95 9.1 Fenland Landscape Character Sub-Area...................................................... 95 10. North Kesteven Green Wedges .............................................................................. 101 PART 3 – DESIGN STATEMENT 11. Design Statement – Landscape and Countryside Design in North Kesteven ......... 113 12. Settlement and Landscape Design Guidelines ....................................................... 121 References and Sources of Information......................................................................... 143 Figures and Maps Figure 1 Landscape Character Types and Sub Areas........................................... at end Maps 1-8 Detailed 1:50,000 scale maps showing boundaries of Landscape Character Types and Sub-Areas............................................................. at end Appendices Appendix 1 Example of Field Sheet……………………………………………………….at end North Kesteven Landscape Character Assessment 2007 PART 1 – PURPOSE OF THE REPORT AND LANDSCAPE CONTEXT 1. Purpose of the Report 1.1 North Kesteven District Council (NKDC) has commissioned a Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) of the district which will be used to inform the Local Development Framework (LDF). NKDC is in the early stages of preparation of its LDF which will cover the plan period 2001-2021. 1.2 A detailed assessment of the character, distinctiveness and qualities of the landscape of North Kesteven is required in order to inform policies to be contained in the forthcoming LDF, in accordance with the requirements of Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development (PPS1) and The Regional Spatial Strategy for the East Midlands (RSS8). 1.3 PPS1 sets out the Government’s commitment to the protection of the environment. PPS1 states that planning policies should seek to protect and enhance the quality, character and amenity value of the countryside and urban areas as a whole. In order to achieve this, planning policies should be based on up-to-date information on the environmental characteristics of the area. 1.4 RSS8 states that when preparing LDFs, LCAs are needed in order to underpin, and act as key components of, criteria-based policies to be used when assessing the suitability of land for development in rural or urban fringe areas. Policy 30 of RSS8 states that these should be prepared to coincide with the adoption of the LDF. 1.5 Planning Policy Statement 7 (PPS7) sets out the Government’s objectives for sustainable development in rural areas. With regard to local landscape designations, 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. 1.6 There are no nationally designated landscape areas within North Kesteven. The early drafts of the current Local Plan included a local landscape designation, the ‘Lincoln Cliff Area of Great Landscape Value’. This was subsequently abandoned in favour of the current 'Lincoln Cliff Landscape Character Area' policy. In accordance with PPS7, 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. This LCA considers how best the importance of this striking landscape feature can be conserved and managed in the context of the criteria given in paragraphs 24 and 25 of PPS7. 1.7 The Lincolnshire Structure Plan Policy LPA8 designates a series of ‘Green Wedges’. These are defined further in the North Kesteven Local Plan 2007. This LCA assesses the appropriateness of the Local Plan policy and designation from a landscape perspective and makes appropriate recommendations. 1.8 The LCA includes, as a separate section which may form the basis of a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), a Design Statement indicating how necessary development can be accommodated whilst ensuring that local character and distinctiveness are protected. David Tyldesley and Associates 1 North Kesteven Landscape Character Assessment 2007 2. Methodology 2.1 The LCA was commissioned in January 2007. It follows the guidance given in “Landscape Character Assessment: Guidance for England and Scotland” prepared by the Countryside Agency and Scottish Natural Heritage in 2002. Essentially, 5 steps have been followed: Step 1 Defining the Scope 2.2 The scope of the study was established with NKDC in the first week of January 2007 before any work was undertaken. The scope was predominantly defined by the agreed purpose of the LCA, as described in Chapter 1, and the scale and level of detail considered appropriate for this purpose (see steps 3 and 4). 2.3 Whilst no stakeholders (other than NKDC) have been involved in the LCA process, information was obtained on other assessments from neighbouring authorities (see step 2). 2.4 It was agreed with NKDC that the starting point for the LCA would be the joint Countryside Commission and English Nature report on “the Character of England: landscape, wildlife and natural features”, 1996 (the Countryside Character Approach), which identifies four character areas within North Kesteven (see Chapter 4). This was compared with the District Council’s own interpretation of the 4 national character areas in the Local Plan, which identifies a separate character area for the Lincoln Cliff scarp and dip slopes (see Chapter 4). 2.5 Using these existing landscape character areas as a starting point, this LCA then defines their boundaries, validates and refines them. It also sub-divides them into smaller sub-areas which, whilst sharing common characteristics with the main regional landscape character types, merit identification because of their distinctiveness and variations in character. The LCA identifies, for each of the landscape sub-areas, the key characteristics, a description of the landscape character (see step 4), analysis of its sensitivity to pressures for change, and provides guidelines for enhancement/restoration and accommodating new development. 2.6 It was agreed that mapping