RUTLAND COUNTY COUNCIL LANDSCAPE SENSITIVITY AND CAPACITY STUDY F I N A L R E P O R T By DAVID TYLDESLEY AND ASSOCIATES Sherwood House 144 Annesley Road Hucknall Nottingham NG15 7DD Tel 0115 968 0092 E mail: [email protected] Website: www.dt-a.co.uk Doc. Ref: 1750 Final Rpt. Issue: 2 Date: May 2010 DAVID TYLDESLEY AND ASSOCIATES PLANNING, LANDSCAPE AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTANTS Rutland County Council Landscape Sensitivity and Capacity Study This page intentionally blank Final Report Issue 2 May 2010 Rutland County Council Landscape Sensitivity and Capacity Study Contents Page 1. Executive Summary ......................................................................................................... 1 2. Background, Outline of the Brief and Format of the Report .......................................... 5 3. Methodology ................................................................................................................... 9 4. Site Assessment & Analysis – Oakham ......................................................................... 19 4.1 Local Landscape Character Context ....................................................................... 19 4.2 Site Assessment & Analysis of Specified Sites in Oakham ..................................... 24 Sites 2A, 2B, 2C & 2D .............................................................................................. 25 Sites 3A & 3B .......................................................................................................... 41 Sites 4A & 4B .......................................................................................................... 49 Sites 5A & 5B .......................................................................................................... 57 Site 6 ....................................................................................................................... 65 Site 7 ....................................................................................................................... 71 Site 8 ....................................................................................................................... 75 Sites 9A & 9B .......................................................................................................... 79 5. Site Assessment & Analysis – Uppingham .................................................................... 87 5.1 Local Landscape Character Context ....................................................................... 87 5.2 Site Assessment & Analysis of Specified Sites in Uppingham ................................ 90 Site 2 ....................................................................................................................... 91 Site 3 ....................................................................................................................... 97 Site 4 ..................................................................................................................... 101 Site 5A .................................................................................................................. 105 Site 5B .................................................................................................................. 109 Site 6 ..................................................................................................................... 113 Site 7 ..................................................................................................................... 119 6. Site Assessment & Analysis – Stamford ..................................................................... 125 6.1 Local Landscape Character Context ..................................................................... 125 6.2 Site Assessment & Analysis of Specified Site in Stamford ................................... 128 Site(s) A & B .......................................................................................................... 129 7. Recommendations for Priority Sites ........................................................................... 137 Tables Table 1: Summary of Specified Sites in Oakham............................................................... 2 Table 2: Summary of Specified Sites in Uppingham ......................................................... 3 Table 3: Summary of Specified Site in Stamford .................................................................... 3 Table 4: Landscape and Settlement Character Sensitivity .............................................. 14 Table 5: Visual Sensitivity ................................................................................................ 15 Table 6: Overall Landscape Sensitivity Categories .......................................................... 16 Table 7: Landscape Value ................................................................................................ 16 Table 8: Overall Landscape Capacity Categories ............................................................ 17 Table 9: Priority of Specified Sites in Oakham .............................................................. 137 Table 10: Priority of Specified Sites in Uppingham ......................................................... 140 Final Report Issue 2 May 2010 Rutland County Council Landscape Sensitivity and Capacity Study Figures Figure 1: County-wide Landscape Character Areas ..................................................... 145 Figure 2: Local Landscape Character Setting - Oakham............................................... 147 Figure 3A: Landscape & Visual Context – Oakham (south) ............................................ 149 Figure 3B: Landscape & Visual Context – Oakham (north) ............................................ 151 Figure 4: Landscape Sensitivity – Oakham ................................................................... 153 Figure 5: Landscape Capacity – Oakham ..................................................................... 155 Figure 6: Local Landscape Character Setting - Uppingham ......................................... 157 Figure 7: Landscape & Visual Context – Uppingham ................................................... 159 Figure 8: Landscape Sensitivity – Uppingham ............................................................. 161 Figure 9: Landscape Capacity – Uppingham ................................................................ 163 Figure 10: Local Landscape Character Setting - Stamford ............................................. 165 Figure 11: Landscape & Visual Context – Stamford ....................................................... 167 Figure 12: Landscape Sensitivity – Stamford ................................................................. 169 Figure 13: Landscape Capacity – Stamford .................................................................... 171 Final Report Issue 2 May 2010 Rutland County Council Landscape Sensitivity and Capacity Study 1. Executive Summary 1.1 This study relates to specified areas of land in Rutland around Oakham and Uppingham and on the edge of Stamford which are being evaluated by Rutland County Council (RCC) as part of its Local Development Framework (LDF) Core Strategy. The Council has commissioned the study in order to help determine the most appropriate directions for future development in Rutland. 1.2 The study follows best practice methodology for judging landscape sensitivity and capacity in accordance with the techniques and criteria described in The Countryside Agency’s and Scottish Natural Heritage’s joint Landscape Character Assessment Guidance for England and Scotland, 2002, Topic Paper 6. 1.3 Detailed fieldwork on the edges of Oakham, Uppingham and Stamford has been undertaken in order to provide a finer grain of assessment than the county wide landscape character assessment undertaken by David Tyldesley & Associates in 2003. This was required in order to provide a greater level of understanding of the landscape and settlement character sensitivity of each of the specified sites. 1.4 Land on the edge of Oakham has been sub-divided into four landscape character types, referred to in this report as ‘North West Oakham Vale’, ‘North East Oakham Vale’, ‘Egleton Plain’ and ‘High Rutland Fringe’. 1.5 Land on the edge of Uppingham has been sub-divided into two landscape character types, referred to in this report as ‘Uppingham Ridges and Valleys’ and ‘Uppingham Plateau’. 1.6 Land within Rutland on the edge of Stamford has not been further sub-divided into smaller landscape character types. The eastern half of the site, referred to as Site B, lies within the ‘Clay Woodlands’ landscape character area as defined in the 2003 county wide landscape character assessment. The western half of the site, referred to as Site A, has an indistinctive urban edge character. 1.7 Consultation was undertaken on a draft report (Issue 1, 21 April 2010) in April 2010. Consultees asked to comment were: CPRE, Rutland Branch English Heritage (EH) Leicestershire County Council, Historic & Natural Environment (LCC) Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust (L&RWT) Natural England (NE) South Kesteven District Council (SKDC) Few comments were received, which were generally minor in nature. In EHs opinion the study provides a useful evidence base for the LDF but will need supporting by additional assessments on historic landscape character (LCC suggested that this could be a separate research project) and biodiversity. EH also commented that RCC will need to understand impacts on heritage assets and other potential impacts of growth due to road