Amesbury Area Board Profile 2014 – 2026 (Draft V1) Report produced on behalf of Wiltshire Council by Ethos Environmental Planning Wiltshire Open Space Study Amesbury Area Profile 1.0 AMESBURY AREA PROFILE 1.1 Introduction The Wiltshire Open Space and Play Area Study is presented in two parts. The first part comprises an overview of the whole study and includes details on local needs, methodology, open space typologies and analysis of provision which combine to make recommendations for future provision and policies for open space in the district. The second part of the study comprises 18 Area Board profiles which provides more localised information. The Area Board profiles should be read in conjunction with the main report (part 1). Each profile includes: Map of the parish showing open space; Quantity statistics of provision of open spaces with standards by parish; Map showing access to open spaces with standards across the parish; Map showing access to open spaces across the main settlement; Assessment of quality issues; Summary of issues and priorities for the Area Board. All of the maps provided within this section of the report are intended to be used for indicative purposes only. Larger scale maps have been provided as a separate database to the council. 1.2 Amesbury Area Board Amesbury Area Board is made up of 22 parishes, which include: Wylye Steeple Langford Berwick St. James Stapleford Winterbourne Stoke Woodford Shrewton Wilsford cum Lake Tilshead Durnford Amesbury Winterbourne Durrington Idmiston Figheldean Allington Bulford Newton Tony Milston Orcheston Great Wishford Cholderton The Wiltshire Core Strategy places settlements within the Amesbury Area Board in the following hierarchical structure: Market Towns: Amesbury (including Bulford and Durrington) Large Villages: Great Wishford, Porton, Shrewton, Tilshead and The Winterbournes. Small Villages: Allington, Berwick St James, Cholderton, Figheldean / Ablington, Gomeldon, Great Durnford, Hanging Langford, Lower Woodford, Middle Woodford, Milston, Newton Toney, Orcheston, Stapleford, Steeple Langford, Winterbourne Stoke and Wylye. 2 | P a g e Wiltshire Open Space Study Amesbury Area Profile Figure 1 below shows the area map of Amesbury Area Board with parish boundaries and main transport routes mapped. Figure 1: Parishes in Amesbury 1.3 Amesbury Town Amesbury is situated eight miles north of Salisbury with Salisbury Plain, a large military training area further to the north. It is located on the A303, a major arterial route from London to the West Country. The town is surrounded by an ancient landscape and is close to the Neolithic site of Stonehenge which is a World Heritage Site (WHS), attracting over a million visitors a year. Large areas of land nearby specifically around Salisbury Plain and nearby Porton Down are also designated as SPAs, to reflect their unique make-up, of what is one of Europe’s last natural semi-dry grassland habitats. Along with Durrington and Bulford and the associated military garrisons, Amesbury forms part of a group of settlements which have close links to one another, both geographically and functionally, and collectively make up a large population, almost half that of the city of Salisbury. These settlements provide a service centre for the Amesbury Community Area. Durrington, in spite of its size lacks the strong identity of south Wiltshire's smaller centres such as Mere and Tisbury. Bulford, with a population of about 5,000, is closely inter-related to both Durrington and Amesbury and is heavily reliant on them for meeting its own needs relative to other comparably sized settlements in Wiltshire. 3 | P a g e Wiltshire Open Space Study Amesbury Area Profile The last 15 years has seen the delivery of major growth in the Amesbury Community Area and two major employment sites continue to develop at Solstice Park and Porton Down. Solstice Park is a 64 hectare business park fronting the A303 at Amesbury, and Porton Down is an international centre of excellence for biological research and health protection. Another key influence is the MoD, with the airbase at Boscombe Down, a major research and development establishment, and the army garrisons at Larkhill, Bulford and Tilshead. There are exceptional local circumstances, which merit the continued support of existing employment land allocations at both Porton Down and Boscombe Down. Each of these employment sites is key to the south Wiltshire economy and makes an important contribution to the regional and national economy. The development of Britain’s first ‘Super Garrison’ around the Salisbury Plain area is having far reaching implications for local communities and is attracting multi- million pound investment into the county. 1.4 Population Figure 2: Parishes and their populations in Amesbury Area Board Parish Name Size (Ha) Population Wylye CP 1609.963 412 Berwick St. James CP 1011.742 142 Winterbourne Stoke CP 1441.377 205 Shrewton CP 2847.005 1870 Tilshead CP 1568.392 358 Amesbury CP 2402.257 10724 Durrington CP 1091.524 7379 Figheldean CP 2201.46 628 Bulford CP 1471.921 4201 Milston CP 915.346 130 Great Wishford CP 682.718 368 Steeple Langford CP 2036.229 515 Stapleford CP 856.813 264 Woodford CP 1319.727 443 Wilsford cum Lake CP 926.973 101 Durnford CP 1325.041 368 Winterbourne CP 1090.71 1238 Idmiston CP 2221.011 2130 Allington CP 1069.03 493 Newton Tony CP 965.486 381 Orcheston CP 1680.671 339 Cholderton CP 685.805 185 22 31421.201 32874 As the table shows there is a total population of 32,874 inhabitants in Amesbury and the Area Board covers 31,421 hectares of land. 4 | P a g e Wiltshire Open Space Study Amesbury Area Profile 1.5 Amesbury Joint Strategic Assessment (2013-2015) The JSA provides local data about the area and plays a key role in ensuring informed decisions are made about the community. The data presented consists from a range of community level data and have contributed to the CAJSA for 2013- 2015. The current CAJSA includes new chapters on culture and leisure giving a broader picture of the community. Updated population figures are included as well as a result of a local survey which asked residents about some of the most important issues facing the council and its partners. Through the area boards is a growing level of community involvement in decision making and the information presented in the CAJSA will allow for focusing on creating healthy and vibrant communities. There are many opportunities to make the community stronger, including the community campus programme. Key points within Amesbury are; There is a need to map all key public and private outdoor sports and recreation spaces and facilities. This will establish the quality of provision and determine the long-term maintenance requirement, along with identifying the deficiencies in each community area. 21 of the 29 rural settlements in the Amesbury Community Area that are included in the Rural Facilities Survey are without outdoor sports fields. The lack of cycling facilities within Amesbury 1.6 Core Strategy in Amesbury The strategy for the Amesbury Community Area is focused around managing significant growth, ensuring that the world class employers in the area can continue to expand and provide valued employment opportunities in the area. The strategy for Amesbury seeks to make the town a more self-supporting community which has reduced the need to travel to larger urban centres. The strategy will respond to the Community Area’s location (in full or part) within a nationally designated landscape. In the Amesbury Community Area this includes the Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It will deliver, within the overall objective of conserving the designated landscape, a modest and sustainable level of development There are several key factors which are noted in the WCS which should be addressed in future development plans in the Amesbury Area Board, these include: delivering balanced growth; ensuring Durrington and Bulford can become self-contained, and; protection of the Stone Henge site under Core Policy 6 of the WCS; managing and developing infrastructure in the area, especially in light of the development of the ‘Super Garrison’ in this area. 5 | P a g e Wiltshire Open Space Study Amesbury Area Profile In relation to green infrastructure, there is a challenge to improve public transport and pedestrian and cycle linkages to ensure that the residential growth areas have easy, convenient and safe access to town centre facilities. There is also a requirement to improve the number of the surrounding villages which are well served by public transport choice to the main service centre at Amesbury. The WCS suggests that there is a shortage of amenity space in the area, especially Amesbury East and highlights that this shortfall needs to be addressed. Contributions to improve amenity space will be sought from the planned growth through provision of new amenity space and commuted payments under saved policy R2. In addition, the following points are raised: development in the vicinity of the River Avon Special Area of Conservation (Hampshire) or Salisbury Plain must protect the habitats, species and processes which maintain the integrity of these Special Areas of Conservation; development which increases recreational pressure upon the Salisbury Plan Special Protection Area will be required to provide proportionate contributions to offset impacts through the Wessex Stone Curlew Project ; ongoing protection and enhancement of the Stone Curlew and calcareous grassland habitat at Porton Down must be secured through the implementation of an Integrated Business and Ecological Management System, to effectively mitigate potential impacts from further development at the site, and; Development within the community Area will need to conserve the designated landscape of Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB and its setting, and where possible enhance its locally distinctive characteristics. 1.7 Development Potential Core Policy 4 of the WCS illustrates that over the plan period (2006 to 2026) 17 ha of new employment land and at least 2,785 new homes will be provided in the Amesbury Area Board.