Fareham Borough Landscape Assessment
May 1996
Chapter 1 - Introduction
Background to the study
1.1 This study aims to provide a comprehensive and definitive appraisal of the landscape resources of the Borough of Fareham. The impetus for its preparation has come from two main directions.
1.2 Firstly, there is a growing recognition generally of the role of landscape assessment as a basis for the planning and management of environmental resources, which was given greater emphasis through the publication of new guidance on landscape assessment by the Countryside Commission in 1993 [1]. The Commission encourages local planning authorities to undertake landscape assessments as part of the Government's policy on sustainable development and sees their general purpose as providing informed background for policy and development control decisions and countryside management priorities and initiatives. It also states that assessments will assist in the preparation of the case for designation of landscapes at the national, county and local level.
1.3 Secondly, in 1993 Hampshire County Council undertook an assessment of the landscape of the whole county, presented in their publication "The Hampshire Landscape" [2]. The study was intended to provide the basis for a landscape strategy for the county and to encourage a greater awareness of the character and pressures upon the Hampshire landscape and to stimulate debate about its future. The broad assessment of the county's landscape needs to be supported by more detailed work at a local level and thus the County Council is encouraging the preparation of district-wide landscape assessments by the local planning authorities within Hampshire.
1.4 Further impetus to landscape assessment was given by Policy C1 of the approved County Structure Plan (1993) [3] which requires local planning authorities to pay particular regard to avoiding or minimising any adverse effects of development upon areas of special landscape quality. This has prompted a reappraisal of the landscape resources within individual districts in Hampshire to determine which areas may be regarded as being of special importance at the local level. Although the current review of the Hampshire County Structure Plan [4] places a less direct emphasis on identifying areas of special quality, it nevertheless identifies a specific aim to conserve areas which have a particular value, the definition and justification of which are to be contained within local plans and to be based upon locally agreed assessments.
1.5 The study is intended to provide an information base on the diversity and qualities of the Borough's landscape and to inform countryside planning and management decisions and priorities within the Borough. It has the following specific objectives:
to define and delineate urban and rural Character Areas based upon the Landscape Types already broadly identified by the County Council and based upon the approach recommended by the Countryside Commission in their 1993 guidance document on landscape assessment;
to identify and delineate any areas outside of the Urban Area (as defined in the Local Plan Review) which are worthy of being designated as Areas of Special Landscape Quality (ASLQ);
to review the existing Areas of Special Character (as identified in the Local Plan Review) in order to determine whether they should be retained or amended and to identify and delineate any other areas within the Urban Area which are worthy of being designated as ASC;
to review the existing Coastal Zone (as identified in the Local Plan Review) and to delineate precise boundaries, following the guidance given in PPG 20;
to identify land management issues within the Character Areas and those areas which would benefit from improvement or enhancement.
1.6 Cobham Resource Consultants were appointed by the Borough Council in late August 1995 to undertake the landscape assessment, steered by officers of the Borough Council and Hampshire County Council.
Approach and methodology
1.7 Landscape assessment, as a tool for identifying and describing the character of our landscapes, is increasingly recognised as an important first step in conserving and enhancing them. Over recent years, there has been a general trend away from quantitative systems of landscape evaluation towards an approach based on understanding the intrinsic character of a locality and its distinctive features. This approach - which has now become part of established practice - allows land-use planning and management to respond to the local landscape `vernacular'.
1.8 The approach recognises that the character of the landscape relies closely on its physiography, its history and land management in addition to its scenic or visual dimension. Hence, other factors which may influence the ways in which landscape is experienced and valued, such as ecology, history and culture, should be examined although they are not in themselves to be the subject of detailed discussion.
1.9 Advice on principles and methods of landscape assessment was first published by the Countryside Commission in 1987 [5] but since then many assessments have been carried out and the approach has been developed and refined. New guidance, prepared by CRC on behalf of the Countryside Commission, has recently been published which builds on the earlier advice but brings it up-to-date [1]. Our approach to the Fareham Borough landscape assessment is based closely upon this guidance, and as an agreed approach adopted by all District Councils in Hampshire co-ordinated by the County Council. Essentially, the assessment relies upon a mix of subjective and objective judgement, used in a systematic and iterative way. The most recent guidance was published in 2002.
1.10 The main steps in the assessment process are: defining the purpose, preliminary survey, desk study, field survey, analysis, and presentation of results.
1.11 The purpose of the assessment determines the detailed method to be used and the scale at which the assessment is to be presented. In this case, the assessment is intended to increase understanding of the landscape resources of the Borough as a whole, to assist with policy formulation and development control, and also to assist with the targeting of resources for enhancement and management. Both of these purposes require the assessment to be pitched at a level of detail which lies somewhere between the broad-brush and the field-by-field assessment.
1.12 Initially, a rapid preliminary survey of the district was undertaken to familiarise the study team with its overall character and range of landscape variation. In the course of this initial survey, a range of different types of landscape type was observed and compiled into a list which formed the basis of a recording system for use during the field survey. Each detailed landscape type was given a reference code which could be used to provide a 'shorthand' description of landscape character when annotating field survey plans.
1.13 The desk study involved the collation of a wide range of existing information from which some of the key formative influences on landscape character could be deduced. A 1:50,000 overlay mapping exercise was undertaken, analysing geology, landform and drainage, landcover, woodland/parkland and sites of ecological and historical importance within the Borough. Review of other landscape assessments, notably the county-wide assessment [2] and those for neighbouring districts, formed a fundamental element of the desk study and provided both broad context and local detail of landscape character upon which to build within the Borough assessment. In addition, various books, plans and reports were also examined in order to build upon our understanding of the landscape resource. On the basis of this analysis, a preliminary characterisation of the landscape was made, dividing the Borough into broad areas of common character, termed 'Rural Character Areas' and 'Urban Character Areas'.
1.14 The purpose of the field survey was to confirm or refine the boundaries of the preliminary Urban and Rural Character Areas and to identify and record the range of variation in landscape types within them. It also allowed the recording of emotional responses to the landscape, of features critical to its character and quality, and of its sensitivity to change.
1.15 The field survey involved travelling extensively throughout the study area, recording detailed variations in landscape types and key features onto 1:25,000 base maps using the annotations derived from the preliminary survey. Field survey forms, supported by a photographic record, were completed at representative locations to provide further information on the positive and negative attributes of the rural landscape or urban townscape, its ability to accommodate change and its enhancement needs and priorities.
1.16 Analysis of desk and field information, and discussions within the study team and with the Borough and County Councils, helped to confirm the boundaries of the Character Areas, to refine the classification of Landscape Types and to define enhancement priorities in different parts of the district. It also involved the evaluation of landscape quality within the Borough against a set of designation criteria (see Chapter 5) to provide the basis and justification for defining potential Areas of Special Landscape Quality. Appraisal of the existing Areas of Special Character and the Coastal Zone boundaries were similarly undertaken by assessing the case for designation against a set of broad criteria, described in Chapters 6 and 7.
1.17 The results of the assessment are presented in this report, supported by appropriate illustrations. The report summarises our findings and attempts to communicate to a wide audience the highly distinctive character and special qualities of the Fareham landscape.
Structure of the report
1.18 The report is broken down into seven chapters as follows:
Chapter 1 introduces the study and outlines the approach and methodology adopted. Chapter 2 of the report describes - in broad brush terms - the factors responsible for shaping the landscape, focusing upon the physical influences of geology, landform, drainage and soils, and the human influences that have affected the area through time. Chapter 3 then concentrates on the variations in rural and urban landscape types that have resulted from the interaction of these various forces, describing the way in which certain landscape and townscape elements combine to produce areas of distinctively different character with a particular local identity. Chapter 4 concentrates on the description and analysis of the individual Rural and Urban Character Areas, highlighting their distinctive characteristics and qualities and their special features and attributes and outlining priorities for enhancement of landscape or urban quality. Chapter 5 focuses on the evaluation of landscape quality within the Borough and identifies those parts of the Borough that are of particularly high landscape value. The basis upon which these areas meet the criteria for designation as Areas of Special Landscape Quality and the boundary justification is outlined. Chapter 6 outlines our assessment of the existing Areas of Special Character together with our recommendations for possible amendments and comments regarding the suitability of other areas for designation; Finally, Chapter 7 outlines our assessment of the existing Coastal Zone boundary and recommended amendments.
1.19 The report is supplemented by an Appendix containing summary descriptions of the urban and rural landscape types. Other technical and background material is held by the Borough Council.
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