Rickinghall and Botesdale Neighbourhood Plan Landscape Appraisal Final Report February 2018 Alison Farmer Associates 29 Montague Road Cambridge CB4 1BU 01223 461444 [email protected] www.alisonfarmer.co.uk Contents 1: Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background ............................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Objectives ............................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Scope of Work ......................................................................................................... 1 1.4 The Neighbourhood Plan ......................................................................................... 2 1.5 Potential Development Sites ................................................................................... 3 1.6 Methodology and Approach ..................................................................................... 5 2: The Evolution of the Rickinghalls and Botesdale ........................................................ 7 2.1 Early Origins and Evolution ..................................................................................... 7 2.2 Surrounding Historic Landscape Patterns................................................................ 8 3: Landscape Character .................................................................................................... 9 3.1 National Character Area 83 South Norfolk and High Suffolk Claylands .................... 9 3.2 Suffolk County Landscape Character and Local Assessments .............................. 10 3.3 Special Landscape Area ........................................................................................ 16 4: Settlement Character and Conservation Area ........................................................... 17 4.1 Settlement Form .................................................................................................... 17 4.2 Conservation Area ................................................................................................. 18 5: Detailed Analysis ......................................................................................................... 19 5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 19 5.2 Extent of Setting .................................................................................................... 19 5.3 Landmarks and Key Views .................................................................................... 20 5.4 Townscape Character Areas .................................................................................. 22 5.5 Gateways .............................................................................................................. 23 6: Detailed Assessment of Peripheral Areas ............................................................... 25 6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 25 6.2 Analysis Tables ...................................................................................................... 25 6.3 Development within the Wider Parish .................................................................... 34 7: Summary of Findings ................................................................................................ 35 7.1 Special Qualities to Conserve and Enhance .......................................................... 35 7.2 Changes to Avoid .................................................................................................. 36 7.3 Management and Development Guidelines ........................................................... 36 7.4 Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 37 Rickinghall and Botesdale Neighbourhood Plan: Landscape Appraisal Final Report February 2018 1 1: Introduction 1.1 Background 1.1.1 Alison Farmer Associates were appointed by Rickinghall and Botesdale Neighbourhood Plan Group to undertake a landscape appraisal of the Parish, in order to provide a robust evidence base to support the development of policy within the emerging Neighbourhood Plan. In particular the Neighbourhood Plan Group required land within and surrounding the main village to be assessed in detail to establish the sensitivity and capacity of these areas to accommodate housing growth. 1.1.2 Rickinghall and Botesdale Neighbourhood Plan area contains the three Parishes of Rickinghall Superior, Rickinghall Inferior and Botesdale. The area stretches from the valley of The The Swimming Ditch (a tributary stream to the River Ouse) in the north through to Allwood Green in the south. The main settlement within the Parish is Rickinghall and Botesdale which is predominately linear in form lying just north of the A143 bypass and approximately 10km from Diss. Also within the Parish are the dispersed settlements of Candle Street, Allwood Green and Botesdale Green. 1.2 Objectives 1.2.1 The key objective of this study is to provide a robust understanding of the character and qualities of the Neighbourhood Plan Area in order to make sound judgements as to the sensitivity and capacity of land surrounding the main settlement to accommodate housing development. This study also assesses the dispersed settlement patterns within the wider Neighbourhood Plan area, and provides broad guidance on accommodating development in these areas also. 1.3 Scope of Work 1.3.1 The assessment considers all the land surrounding the settlement of Rickinghall and Botesdale and also the wider landscape setting. Where relevant, reference has also been made to land beyond the Parish where there is strong inter-visibility such that the wider landscape forms a setting to the settlement, bolstering its sense of place and /or is important in outward or inward views i.e. views to the north and northeast into the Parish of Redgrave. 1.3.2 Where land has been assessed in terms of sensitivity and capacity it is from a landscape perspective only and no consideration has been given to matters such as access or land ownership. It is possible therefore that, land identified as having some capacity to accommodate development without significant adverse landscape effects, may subsequently be discounted for reasons other than landscape. Rickinghall and Botesdale Neighbourhood Plan: Landscape Appraisal Final Report February 2018 2 Botesdale and Rickinghall Neighbourhood Plan Area (Source: Mid Suffolk District Council Website) 1.4 The Neighbourhood Plan 1.4.1 Under the Neighbourhood Planning (General) Regulations 2012, Mid Suffolk granted Neighbourhood Plan Area for Rickinghall and Botesdale on 11 May 2017. 1.4.2 The Rickinghall and Botesdale Neighbourhood Plan Working Group was subsequently established and a series of surveys have been undertaken with the local community including a Housing Needs Survey which sought views on quality Rickinghall and Botesdale Neighbourhood Plan: Landscape Appraisal Final Report February 2018 3 of life, housing and development, jobs and local economy and protection of the environment. This questionnaire revealed that the majority of respondents wished to see several small developments rather that a single large scale development and that key concerns focused on access and safety issues regarding traffic, pressure on the heath centre, environmental impact and loss of village identity. 1.5 Potential Development Sites 1.5.1 Rickinghall and Botesdale were identified as a key service centre in the emerging local plan and are therefore considered a sustainable location for residential development. The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) carried out in May 2016 considered peripheral sites around the settlement and identified four sites which were regarded as potentially suitable for residential development namely: Site reference Location Status BOT/RIC01 Land south of Diss Subject of current outline planning Road/Park View, Botesdale application - decision awaited BOT/RIC02 Land at Rectory Hill and Small site on western edge of the The Street, Rickinghall area subject of a current planning application - decision awaited BOT/RIC03 Land north of Back Hills, No current activity Botesdale BOT/RIC05 Land at Back Hills, Subject of current outline planning Botesdale (planning application - approved with application approved) conditions 1.5.2 It also rejected three sites as unsuitable for residential development namely: Site reference Location Reason for Rejection BOT/RIC04 Botesdale Green, Common Site is poorly related to existing Road, Botesdale settlement, services and facilities BOT/RIC06 Land off Bury Road, Majority of site is in flood zone 3 Rickinghall BOT/RIC07 Land at Rectory Hill, Poor relationship to existing Rickinghall settlement, services and facilities However, small site in the northern part of the area recently granted outline planning permission 1.5.3 In August 2017 Babergh and Mid Suffolk undertook a Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA). This study took all sites which Rickinghall and Botesdale Neighbourhood Plan: Landscape Appraisal Final Report February 2018 4 had come forward as part of their call for sites in April 2017 and assessed them against set criteria to determine which were deliverable, those with potential and those