Policy ENV1: Landscape
The Parish Council supports the principle that:
“Development proposals will only be permitted where it can be demonstrated, through a suitable assessment, that the proposals are sympathetic to the character and visual quality of the area concerned.”
The Parish Council also supports the principle that:
“Development proposals also need to take account of, but not limited to, identified features in Neighbourhood Plans, such as views and important open areas.”
However, the Parish Council suggests that reference to Neighbourhood Plans is too narrow. In the policy specifically related to Landscape, reference should also be made to Landscape Character Assessments.
The Parish Council supports the principle that:
“Landscapes of particularly high value outside of the National Landscape are identified as Valued Landscapes on the Policies map. Development proposals will only be permitted in these areas where they protect and enhance features that contribute to the character, quality and interpretation of these landscapes.”
The Parish Council strongly supports the Valued Landscapes concept and agrees with the approach taken in Policy ENV1 in respect of Valued Landscape areas, which include The Ellisfield Valleys, Candover Valley Floor and Lower Valley Sides. The majority of the area covered by the Parish Council is therefore within the Valued Landscape designation.
The Parish Council has the following observations in this context:
The Parish Council considers that development proposals in areas adjacent to Valued Landscapes have the potential to have a direct impact on Valued Landscape. Views across Valued Landscape will not end at the boundary of the Valued Landscape zones. Where it can be demonstrated that proposals located outside a Valued Landscape zone would adversely affect the character, quality and interpretation of the Valued Landscape they should not be permitted. Rather, proposals in areas adjacent to Valued Landscape should demonstrate that they maintain and enhance the particular landscape attributes of the Valued Landscape.
The Parish Council notes that within the key to the Draft Policies Map Booklet Regulation 18 Consultation January 2024, it states “Valued Landscape ENV1 (precise boundaries to be defined post Reg 18).” The Parish Council has the following observations about how those boundaries should be drawn:
The Valued Landscape Study of February 2023 split the Candover Valley into two separate parcels namely, the valley floor and lower slopes in one parcel (I1) and the upper slopes in another parcel (I2). As a result of this separation, the proposed Valued Landscape area on the Local Plan Update (Regulation 18) Policy Map designates area I1 as Valued Landscape but not I2.
However, in the Landscape Character Assessment Document of May 2021, the Candover Valley was treated as a single parcel (Character Area 20). The Parish Council considers that the May 2021 approach is more logical and appropriate. The Candover Valley is a “well defined linear valley landform” the upper slopes are as integral to the valley form as the lower ones. It is artificial to separate the lower from upper slopes. Development on either level will impact the other. In particular, the Parish Council notes that settlement on the upper valley slopes is very limited, with only the occasional isolated farmstead. Development on these upper slopes would damage the rural character of the area and have a detrimental effect on the whole of the valley
The Parish Council suggests that the Valued Landscape designation be applied to the whole of the geographical area covered by Character Area 20 rather than being limited to parcel I1.
If this approach is not accepted, the Parish Council would like to understand the logic behind excluding the following geographical pockets from I1 and instead placing them in parcel I2, the Parish Council suggests there is merit in including each of the following areas in parcel I1 ie designating as Valued Landscape:
Land to the North of Damsel’s Lane between parcel I1 and J1;
Land to the West of Chappell’s Wood in Nutley and Land on the East Side of the B3046 between Nutley and Axford;
Land to the East of Preston Grange in Preston Candover.
