DAVID HARES L ANDSC APE ARCHITECTURE PRACTICE PROFILE LANSCAPE DESIGN & MANAGEMENT STRATEGIC PLANNING & ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT AGRICULTURE & RURAL PLANNING LANDSCAPE CHARACTER ASSESSMENT BUILT & NATURAL ENVIRONMENT CO NTACT INFORMATION LANDSCAPE CHARACTER BASED ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT SITES. PREPARED FOR GRAVESHAM BOROUGH COUNCIL JULY 2011 Gravesham Borough Council David Hares Landscape Architecture 55 West Street Chichester PO19 1RU Email: [email protected] Document reference P138/01/01. Status: Final Draft 15-08-2011 CONTENTS CONTENTS 2 1. INTRODUCTION 4 1.1. BACKGROUND TO THE PROJECT ...................................................... 4 1.2. BRIEF ..................................................................................................... 4 1.3. LOCATION ............................................................................................. 4 1.4. THE SETTLEMENTS ............................................................................. 5 1.5. METHOD ................................................................................................ 5 1.6. REPORT STRUCTURE .......................................................................... 5 2. METHODOLOGY 6 2.1. LANDSCAPE CHARACTER ASSESSMENT .......................................... 6 2.2. LANDSCAPE CAPACITY AND SENSITIVITY ........................................ 6 2.3. SENSITIVITY AND DESIGNATION ....................................................... 7 2.4. VISUAL IMPACTS ................................................................................. 7 2.5. SENSITIVITY OF INDIVIDUAL SITES .................................................... 7 2.6. DEVELOPMENT AND TREES. ............................................................. 7 3. THE LANDSCAPE CHARACTER OF THE BOROUGH 9 3.1. THE LANDSCAPE CHARACTER ASSESSMENT PROCESS ............... 9 3.2. NATIONAL REGIONAL AND COUNTY LEVEL ASSESSMENTS .......... 9 3.3. BOROUGH WIDE ASSESSMENT........................................................ 10 3.4. LOCAL AND SITE LEVEL ASSESSMENT ........................................... 13 4. CULVERSTONE GREEN 14 4.1. LANDSCAPE CHARACTER OF THE SETTLEMENT SETTING .......... 14 4.2. CULVERSTONE GREEN SITE ANALYSIS .......................................... 20 4.3. SITE CG1 South of Heron Hill Lane Culverstone Green ....................... 20 4.4. SITE CG2 East of Conifer Drive, Culverstone Green ............................ 21 4.5. SITE CG3 East of Willow Walk, Culverstone Green ............................. 23 4.6. SITE CG 4 North and West of Culverstone Primary School .................. 24 5. GRAVESEND 25 5.1. LANDSCAPE CHARACTER OF SETTLEMENT SETTING .................. 25 5.2. GRAVESEND SITE ANALYSIS ............................................................ 34 5.3. SITE G1 West of Wrotham Road, Gravesend ....................................... 34 5.4. SITE G2 North East Gravesend ............................................................ 35 5.5. SITE G3 South of Astra Drive, Riverview Park...................................... 36 5.6. SITE G4 East of Thong Lane South of Rochester Road, Gravesend .... 37 6. HIGHAM 38 6.1. LANDSCAPE CHARACTER OF SETTLEMENT SETTING .................. 38 6.2. HIGHAMGravesham SITE ANALYSIS ................................ Borough................................ Council.... 42 6.3. SITE H1 North of High View, Higham ................................................... 42 6.4. SITE H2 Gads Hill School, Gravesend Road, Higham .......................... 43 6.5. SITE H3 Mulberry Rise, The Lodge and Findhorn, Higham. ................. 44 7. HOOK GREEN 45 7.1. LANDSCAPE CHARACTER OF SETTLEMENT SETTING .................. 45 Document reference P138/01/01. Status: Final Draft 15-08-2011 Landscape character based analysis of potential housing sites in Gravesham 7.2. HOOK GREEN SITE ANALYSIS .......................................................... 50 7.3. SITE HG1 South of Melliker Lane, Hook Green .................................... 50 7.4. SITE HG2 West of Norwood Lane, Hook Green ................................... 51 7.5. SITE HG3: West of Cheshunt Close, Hook Green ................................ 52 8. ISTEAD RISE 53 8.1. LANDSCAPE CHARACTER OF SETTLEMENT SETTING .................. 53 8.2. ISTEAD RISE SITE ANALYSIS ............................................................ 60 8.3. SITE I 1 South of Istead Rise ................................................................ 60 8.4. SITE I 2 North of The Drove Way, Istead Rise ...................................... 61 8.5. SITE I 3 64 Downs Road, Istead Rise ................................................... 62 8.6. SITE I 4 90 Downs Road, Istead Rise ................................................... 63 9. MEOPHAM GREEN 64 9.1. LANDSCAPE CHARACTER OF SETTLEMENT SETTING ................. 64 9.2. MEOPHAM GREEN SITE ANALYSIS .................................................. 69 9.3. SITE MG1 Steele’s Lane, Meopham Green .......................................... 69 9.4. SITE MG2 Lomer Farm, Meopham Green (part of site only) ................. 70 9.5. SITE MG3 Holly Cottage, West of Wrotham Road, Meopham Green ... 71 10. VIGO 72 10.1. LANDSCAPE CHARACTER OF SETTLEMENT SETTING .................. 72 10.2. VIGO SITE ANALYSIS ......................................................................... 75 10.3. SITE V1 Commority Road, Vigo ........................................................... 75 11. CONCLUSIONS 76 11.1. CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................... 76 APPENDIX 1 TERMINOLOGY 79 LANDSCAPE CHARACTER ............................................................................ 79 VISUAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT ..................................................................... 79 APPENDIX 2 EXAMPLE PRO-FORMA 81 Gravesham Borough Council 3 ©David Hares Landscape Architecture 2011 Landscape character based analysis of potential housing sites in Gravesham 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. BACKGROUND TO THE PROJECT This report has been commissioned by Gravesham Borough Council to support the in house forward planning team working on the Borough’s Local Development Framework (LDF). It consists of an independent landscape character based analysis and review of a number of sites which have been considered by the Forward Planning team in a study of potential development areas. The report is therefore part of a wider planning analysis which generated the sites being considered. The background, methodology and results of the wider study will become available as part of the LDF consultation process at a later stage. 1.2. BRIEF Our brief is to consider the sensitivity and likely landscape impacts of developing specific sites which have been identified by the Forward Planning section of Gravesham Borough Council. We have consequently focussed on these sites alone and commented purely on landscape related matters in order to provide the Forward Planning team with the requisite information to enable them to take their selection process forward as part of the Borough’s Local Development Framework. 1.3. LOCATION The various sites being considered are located either within or adjoining existing settlements in Gravesham Borough. These settlements range from the largest town, Gravesend, through to smaller villages. The locations of the various settlements are shown on the drawing at figure 1. Gravesham Borough Council Figure 1: The locations of the various settlements which are spread across the borough. 4 ©David Hares Landscape Architecture 2011 Landscape character based analysis of potential housing sites in Gravesham 1.4. THE SETTLEMENTS The settlements which are affected, in alphabetical order include: Culverstone Green Gravesend Higham Hook Green Istead Rise Meopham Green Vigo 1.5. METHOD A landscape character based technique has been used to analyse the potential landscape effects of developing specific sites in each settlement. This is described more fully in subsequent chapters and includes analysis of the landscape context of each of the settlements in relation to existing county and district scale assessments and undertaking a more detailed local scale characterisation of the landscape setting of the settlements. Specific sites are then assessed both individually and in relation to the local landscape context. Analysis of the wider visual impacts of potential development and local impacts are also considered. 1.6. REPORT STRUCTURE This report is structured as follows: Section 1 Introduction Section 2 Methodology----- used to assess the landscape context, the potential effects on landscape character, and the potential visual impacts of developing selected sites. Section 3 The Landscape Character of the Borough ------ descriptions of how the settings of the various settlements fit within the character areas described within the existing Gravesham Borough Character Assessment Sections 4 to 10 Landscape Character Analysis of Settlements ------ firstly, considering the wider landscape context in relation to character and views of the landscape around the settlement at a local scale, and then each of the individual sites in detail. Guidance on ways in which any potential development would need to be constrained in order to minimise the impact on the landscape has also been included. Section 11 Conclusions ------- Summary table of the findings of the study in relation to each of the sites. Gravesham Borough Council 5 ©David Hares Landscape Architecture 2011 Landscape character based analysis of potential