Fareham Borough Landscape Assessment

May 1996

Landscape Character Area 2

The Lower Hamble Valley

Summary Description

The Lower Hamble Valley covers the lower reaches of the River Hamble and its extensively wooded hillsides, from the M27 crossing to just beyond the mouth of the Hook Valley. It excludes the quayside areas of Lower Swanwick and Warsash which form part of separate, distinct urban character areas.

The essential characteristics of the Lower Hamble Valley are: * well-defined and strong landform of the steep valley sides and complex of tributary valleys; * dense semi-atural woodland cover which clothes the valley sides and tops, reinforcing a sense of enclosure and naturalness; * the River Hamble, with its distinctive estuarine character, semi-natural mudflats and saltings (part SSSI), and changing patterns of light and texture; * lively, colourful and distinctive character provided by boats, boat-yards/marinas and very active recreational use of the river and waterside areas; * relatively sparsely settled but with large, detached residences set within mature woodland along the valley tops and at the water's edge, with large gardens or grounds and a private, secluded character; * historic parklands at Brooklands and Holly Hill, the latter now owned and managed by the Borough Council as a public park; * small-scale field pattern 'carved out' of the valley-side woodland, occupied by horticultural activities or horse grazing.

Enhancement Priorities

This character area is also comparatively unspoilt and includes important landscape, ecological and recreational resources. The main emphasis should be to maintain and enhance these resources and retain the rural, unspoilt qualities of the landscape.

Priorities for enhancement are: * to protect the semi-natural habitats associated with the river and its foreshore and to maintain the natural tidal regime; * o protect and manage the historic parkland landscapes of Brooklands and Holly Hill Park as important landscape and, in the case of Holly Hill, recreational resource; * to maintain the pattern of woodland and small-scale fields that characterise the valley sides and successfully absorbs built development on the hill top; * to resist the loss of woodland cover or intrusion into the hillside and valley.