PROPOSED HOUSING DEVELOPMENT AT BOREHAM ROAD, WARMINSTER ‘BOREHAM MEAD’ LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL ASSESSMENT for HPH Commercial Property Rev D: December 2013 © The Landmark Practice 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this document may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of The Landmark Practice. Landmark Ref: 2561 Boreham LVIA Client: HPH Commercial Property This document was produced under Landmark contract for HPH Commercial Property WRITTEN CHECKED AUTHORISED INITIALS DATE INITIALS DATE INITIALS DATE MS 24.07.13 DDL 26.07.13 RNR 26.07.13 Rev A 06.08.13 CM Minor text amends Rev B 06.08.13 CM Path added Rev C 03.12.13 CM Changed to relate to Hab scheme Rev D 09.12.13 CM Amendment to figure 10 Tel: 0117 923 0455 Fax: 0117 925 3702 HPH Commercial Property Proposed housing development at Boreham Road, Warminster ‘Boreham Mead’ Landscape and Visual Assessment SUMMARY This landscape and visual assessment has been prepared to inform a planning application for a housing development at Boreham Road, (B3134), on the eastern edge of Warminster. The development site occupies approximately 1.2 hectares. The development comprises 35 houses, mostly 2 storey, with associated hard surfaces and landscaping. The landscaping will comprise native screen planting around the northern and eastern perimeter of the site, and hedge and tree planting within the development to break up the built form. The site is located on the east side of Warminster within an area of estate and village housing with a broad range of properties in terms of age and style. The prevailing character is suburban, interspersed with fields and open space, providing contrast to the dense urban townscape in the centre of the town. It is an area of transition to the open countryside further east. Trees are an important element in this landscape and while they confer a sense of greenness, they also block views creating an enclosed landscape. As a result there are no distant views of the application site from the edge of Salisbury Plain to the north, or from the AONB to the south. The mature trees and hedging surrounding the application site will be retained within ecological corridors, apart from the loss of a short section to build the road access and so their important contribution to the local area will be maintained and they will visually contain the proposed development. The proposed housing will not front the road but is set back, behind a landscape buffer comprising an existing hedgerow, an existing watercourse, a strip of meadow grassland and a proposed native hedge. The housing is low density, arranged around shared communal spaces and will be interspersed with native tree and hedge planting to reinforce the enclosed and green character of the proposed development. The site lies adjacent to an existing housing estate, offices and a consented but not yet built scheme for 9 dwellings. Residents of a few properties immediately adjacent to the site will experience a moderate adverse effect to visual amenity, and this will primarily be in winter when the trees are out of leaf, but this will be reduced when the new inner hedgerow has established, providing the depth of cover that will be an effective screen even in winter. This planting will retain the green frontage to Boreham Road and to the short section of Bishopstrow Road and will maintain the sense of separation between the surrounding communities. The Landmark Practice Summary HPH Commercial Property Proposed housing development at Boreham Road, Warminster ‘Boreham Mead’ Landscape and Visual Assessment CONTENTS Page SUMMARY 1.0 INTRODUCTION - 1 - 2.0 LANDSCAPE PLANNING CONTEXT - 1 - International Landscape designations - 1 - National Landscape Designations - 1 - National planning policy - 1 - Local Plan Policies - 2 - Local Landscape/Cultural Designations - 3 - Countryside recreation - 5 - 3.0 ASSESSMENT METHOD - 5 - The Theoretical Zone of Visual Influence - 5 - Data Collection and Guidance - 5 - Receptors - 6 - Limitations to survey methods - 7 - Photography and imaging - 8 - 4.0 LANDSCAPE BASELINE - 8 - Topography and water courses - 8 - Land Use - 8 - Landscape features - 10 - Landscape character - 10 - Key Characteristics - 10 - Landscape value, vulnerability and sensitivity to development - 11 - 5.0 VISUAL BASELINE - 11 - 6.0 THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT - 12 - Construction and Layout - 12 - 7.0 IMPACT ASSESSMENT - 13 - Landscape and Visual Impact during Construction - 13 - Landscape and Visual Impacts during Operation - 14 - Summary of visual impact - 22 - 8.0 MITIGATION MEASURES - 22 - 9.0 SUMMARY OF LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACT AND CONCLUSION - 22 - The Landmark Practice Contents HPH Commercial Property Proposed housing development at Boreham Road, Warminster ‘Boreham Mead’ Landscape and Visual Assessment FIGURES: Figure 1: Site Location Figure 2: Topography Figure 3: Theoretical Zone of Visual Influence (TZVI) Figure 4: Planning designations and landscape constraints and opportunities (2 sheets) Figure 5: Aerial photograph Figure 6: Photographs taken from the site (6 sheets) Figure 7: Viewpoint Locations Plan Figure 8: Viewpoint Photographs (9 sheets) Figure 9: Development Layout Figure 10: Development Section APPENDIX A: Landscape and visual assessment criteria The Landmark Practice Contents HPH Commercial Property Proposed housing development at Boreham Road, Warminster ‘Boreham Mead’ Landscape and Visual Assessment 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 This landscape and visual assessment has been prepared to inform a planning application for a housing development at Boreham Road on the eastern edge of Warminster. The development site occupies 1.2 hectares and the site is currently unmanaged grassland. 1.2 This report assesses the significance of the impact of the visual changes arising from the proposed development, together with the changes to the character and quality of the landscape. 1.3 The existing landscape character and the visual environment have been separately surveyed and assessed. The landscape assessment identifies characteristics, features and elements which constitute this particular landscape and its character. The visual baseline identifies existing views to, across or from the application site, and identifies the visual receptors, such as nearby residents or users of Public Rights of Way (PRoW) who might be affected by the proposed development. 2.0 LANDSCAPE PLANNING CONTEXT International Landscape designations 2.1 There are no international landscape designations relating to the application site or its immediate surroundings. National Landscape Designations 2.1 The application site does not lie within an area which is nationally designated for its landscape value or historical and cultural value, however, the northern extent of the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB lies just 1 km to the south. There is however no inter-visibility between the application site and the AONB. National planning policy 2.2 The NPPF (March 2012) sets out the Government’s national planning policies for England and how they are to be applied. It also confirms that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable devel- opment and there are three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. In addition, the NPPF identifies a twelve core land-use planning principles that un- derpin both plan-making and decision-taking. It also sets out thirteen key themes to support the twelve core planning principles in the delivery of sustainable de- velopment. 2.3 The NPPF sets out 13 key categories to support the 12 core planning principles in the delivery of sustainable development. Category 11 ‘Conserving and enhancing the natural environment’, paragraph 109 notes that the planning system should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by, inter alia: “Protecting and enhancing valued landscapes, geological conservation interests and soils” The Landmark Practice Page - 1 - HPH Commercial Property Proposed housing development at Boreham Road, Warminster ‘Boreham Mead’ Landscape and Visual Assessment 2.4 With regard to developments that might affect protected species, geo-diversity sites or landscape areas, paragraph 113 advises that: “Local planning authorities should set criteria based policies against which proposals for any development on or affecting protected wildlife or geodiversity sites or landscape areas will be judged. Distinctions should be made between the hierarchy of international, national and locally designated sites, so that protection is commensurate with their status and gives appropriate weight to their importance and the contribution that they make to wider ecological networks.” 2.5 In terms of the significance of different landscape designations, paragraph 115 states: “Great weight should be given to conserving landscape and scenic beauty in National Parks, the Broads and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which have the highest status of protection in relation to landscape and scenic beauty. The conservation of wildlife and cultural heritage are important considerations in all these areas, and should be given great weight in National Parks and the Broads.” Local Plan Policies 2.6 Wiltshire Council has inherited the local plans produced by the former district councils in Wiltshire. These will remain in place until superseded by policies in the Wiltshire Core Strategy, The emerging Core Strategy will be subject