71 - Leicestershire and South Derbyshire Coalfield : Detailed Statements of Environmental Opportunity

This section expands on the Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity and provides further detail on each of the Statements of Environmental Opportunity.

SEO 1

SEO 1: Protect and manage the area’s riverine and flood plain environment, its manmade and natural wetland habitats, especially the River Mease for its internationally and nationally important species and range of river plants, for the benefit of biodiversity, sense of place, water quality, recreation, geodiversity and climate regulation.

For example by:

• Working in collaboration with partners to achieve the objectives of the River Mease priority catchment of the Catchment Sensitive Farming Programme and the Water Framework Directive – addressing the reasons for bad ecological quality by reducing diffuse water pollution and, in conjunction with Environmental Stewardship schemes, buffering watercourses from adjoining land uses.
• Working in partnership to re-naturalise modified sections of the River Mease and its tributary, Gilwiskaw Brook, removing weirs and other barriers to migration.
• Working in collaboration to improve water quality by tackling pesticide, fertiliser and sewage diffuse pollution sources.
• Enhancing the visual and ecological continuity of river corridors and their tributaries through positive management – for example, facilitating natural regeneration and, where appropriate, planting riparian trees and vegetation that can stabilise soils and slow water flow, particularly in the upper parts of the catchments.
• Identifying natural floodwater storage areas and protecting them from inappropriate development; planting reedbeds that can filter and slow flow rates, thus alleviating flooding of agricultural land and providing benefits to biodiversity.
• Avoiding uniform pollarding to conserve and manage mature and over- mature trees within riparian environments, thus ensuring a supply of coarse woody debris, important for aquatic and invertebrate species, where it does not increase the risk of flooding.
• Judiciously managing riparian woodland to provide adequate shade, which can significantly reduce peak summer temperatures, thus maintaining water temperatures within a favourable range for salmonid fish and other sensitive freshwater fauna.
• Evaluating the services that the riverine environment provides, through ecosystem services assessments, to inform ‘developer contribution schemes’ that can provide sources of revenue to sustain the management of these sites.

SEO 2

SEO 2: Manage and conserve ancient and plantation woodland and plan appropriately scaled new woodland cover, particularly in The National Forest; restore and reinstate hedgerows and hedgerow trees and increase biomass provision, timber supply and biodiversity that will mitigate the impact of climate change and enhance the experiential qualities of the area.

For example by:

• Supporting the vision of The National Forest Strategy – to unify the forest area by planting native and mixed-species woodland to link the remnant ancient forest landscapes of Melbourne Parklands National Character Area (NCA) in the north with those of Charnwood NCA in the east and Needwood and South Derbyshire Claylands NCA in the west – to benefit landscape character, biodiversity and climate change.
• Encouraging farm diversification to woodland in order to reverse the fragmentation of ancient and plantation woodland in the NCA, for example Rough Park and Lount Wood.
• Reversing the fragmentation of semi-natural habitat; where appropriate, creating new wetlands, lowland meadows and lowland heathlands to increase biodiversity, mitigate the effects of climate change and strengthen landscape character while increasing the experiential qualities of the NCA.
• Increasing woodland cover in blocks of all sizes, except in the Coleorton historic mining area where only small-scale planting is appropriate, and developing community woodlands adjacent to urban areas.
• Reversing fragmentation of woodland by restoring typical zones of woodland types from alder, crack willow, hazel, and grey willow in valleys, to oak/birch woodland on higher slopes; developing and managing transitional scrub communities between woodland and adjoining habitats to create a coherent, robust habitat network.
• Finding a financially sustainable solution to woodland management by seeking an economic return on the by-products of woodland management; developing supply chains, encouraging demand for wood fuel in urban areas and encouraging the installation of wood- fuelled boilers in local amenity buildings.
• Reinstating native woodland on Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS).
• Encouraging the restoration of hedgerows with typical species, through gapping up and reinstating by new planting, ensuring the distinction between early and contemporary hedged enclosures with their historically different enclosure patterns and complements of hedgerow trees; adopting appropriate cutting regimes and tagging to extend the age range and species diversity.
• Maintaining historic parklands, restoring their key historic features and maintaining their structural and age diversity, providing access where appropriate.
• Training volunteers to assist with the surveillance of key habitats and species by surveying to monitor the health, distribution and population sizes of species as evidence of habitat quality.

SEO 3

SEO 3: Protect and manage the industrial/mining heritage of the coalfield and wider historic landscape; balance the needs of forestry, commercial, industrial and agricultural growth with the developing visitor economy and maintain a high level of public access to the wealth of recreational assets the National Character Area offers.

For example by:

• Supporting the objectives of The National Forest Strategy; restoring mineral and derelict sites; providing opportunities for agriculture, woodland creation, biodiversity, public access, sport, recreation and tourism development.
• Managing the impact of visitors on sites by ensuring that paths are adequately signposted and surfaced to prevent erosion and to divert public access away from sensitive habitats; providing sustainable transport solutions to alleviate potential traffic congestion; developing an integrated transport network between visitor attractions, linking with public rights of way, canal towpaths and cycle routes.
• Encouraging more visitors to the open countryside for quiet enjoyment, and meeting the needs of diverse audiences, improving health and wellbeing, while reducing the number of visitors to traffic-congested sites.
• Seeking ways to sustainably manage the demand for water and energy resources and providing recycling facilities at tourist destinations, to minimise the impact on the environment and to raise awareness.
• Conserving the many redundant mining features of industrial archaeological interest, ensuring that afforestation and redevelopment of former industrial land preserve the industrial heritage.
• Using new technological solutions to interpret the natural and built environments of the coalfield, its habitats, artefacts and historic buildings, describing the role of each in the heritage and development of the landscape over time.
• Supporting the objectives of the English Heritage conservation areas, ensuring that sustainable use of historic buildings does not compromise their characteristic features.
• Maintaining and/or restoring key landscape features, for example vistas, preserving archaeological sites and maintaining historic parkland and associated buildings, and providing access and interpretation where possible.
• Agreeing management strategies to protect buried archaeology by adopting shallow cultivation methods or protecting under permanent grass leys.

SEO 4

SEO 4: Take an integrated approach to managing the natural environment that reflects the strong link between geology and its influence on landscape, biodiversity, industrial development, heritage and settlement pattern of the National Character Area; promote greater understanding of today’s link between wildlife and geodiversity, particularly in the distribution of habitats and species, and recognise the importance of former extraction sites for both geodiversity and biodiversity.

For example by:

• Conserving post-industrial sites of ecological value and recognising that local features resulting from quarrying and mining activity, such as flashes created by subsidence, have potential as wildlife and recreation sites.
• Recognising the biodiversity potential of open mosaic habitats on previously developed land; identifying a suite of sites and protecting them for the niche habitats they provide for invertebrates and first succession plants.
• Encouraging the natural regeneration and management of heathland on spoil tips and, where ecological conditions allow, planting new areas of heathland to reverse the fragmentation of this habitat that once covered the coalfield, in order to increase carbon sequestration and for its value as a late source of nectar.
• Protecting and maintaining the natural geomorphological features and exposures in the river valleys and stream banks to maintain ecological status, and providing opportunities for research and education to study past environmental change and enhance recreational experience.
• Providing interpretation and educational material at heritage centres, considering new technological solutions to interpret and describe the important role of geodiversity in the heritage and development of the landscape over time.
• Developing and promoting geology trails, in partnerships with, for example, the British Geological Survey and The National Forest.
• Raising awareness of local geodiversity assets, for example fossil and mineral collections at local museums and heritage centres, and providing areas for recreational fossil hunting.
• Supporting the objectives of the Local Geodiversity Action Plan, by conserving and managing the suite of Local Sites to protect and improve their condition by agreeing management plans with owners and occupiers and undertaking restorative management of designated sites.
• Encouraging geodiversity partnerships to train volunteers in surveying techniques and geo-conservation methods, with the objectives to improve the quality of sites and to retain the knowledge and skills required for future management of sites.
• Ensuring that the restoration proposals for former mineral extraction sites, for example at Acreswood Quarry and Cadeby Gravel Pit, include provision of geological exposures for recreation, education and scientific research; and, where appropriate, improving access to cuttings, quarries and other geological features by improving footpaths and providing signage and interpretation.

Additional opportunity 1

Additional opportunity 1: Ensuring that, in this open landscape, the design of urban-fringe developments of warehousing, light industrial units and large retail outlets mitigates the visual impact on the landscape and that levels of noise and light pollution are minimised to preserve areas of tranquillity.

For example by:

• Ensuring the careful design and positioning of lighting and buildings in the urban-fringe areas and mitigating visual impact by planting shelterbelts or constructing bunds where appropriate and compatible with the landscape character.
• Ensuring that all new developments provide areas of greenspace, thus contributing to green infrastructure, and incorporate elements of sustainable urban drainage – for example, unsealed surfaces that allow water infiltration; and seeking ways to expand the rights-of-way network both within and between new developments.
• Planting blocks of trees and street trees in urban areas to provide shade, thus mitigating the effect of the urban heat island, increasing water infiltration rates and purifying the air, and helping to reduce the impact of higher summer temperatures through climate change.
• Ensuring that the designs of expanding settlements contribute to high- quality built and natural environments that respect the juxtaposition, scale and materials of traditional local buildings characteristic of the area.
• Minimising signage and the use of inappropriate street furniture and urban-style highway improvements in traditional settlements.
• Retaining areas of open landscape, resisting urban development into undisturbed areas, and buffering where appropriate to retain areas of tranquillity.