118 - Bristol, Avon Valleys and Ridges : 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: Conserve and manage the distinction between small rural settlements and the densely urban City of Bristol, the urban fringe transitional zone and the commuter settlements; and ensure that new development is sensitively designed to contribute to settlement character, reduce the impact of the urban fringe and provide well-designed green infrastructure to enhance recreation, biodiversity and water flow regulation.

For example by:

• Working with local planning authorities to regulate and mitigate the impact of residential and commercial development pressure, which is particularly prevalent along the M5 corridor and around the Bristol
  conurbation. This will safeguard the countryside, greenbelt and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
• Enhancing the many recreational opportunities offered, through active management and provision of quality infrastructure such as the development of multi-user paths, clear signposting and better
  interpretation, to improve understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the natural, historic and built environment, while planning for increasing recreational pressure due to population expansion.
• Protecting the strong character of the old City of Bristol, its port and its historic associations.
• Working with landowners and local planning authorities to manage increasing urban fringe pressures on agricultural land, including the difficulties of managing urban fringe farms.
• Encouraging local planning authorities and developers to incorporate landscape design into urban extensions from the start of the process, to include biodiversity, green infrastructure and access enhancements together with well-planned transport routes, including public transport, to reduce the impact of traffic.
• Improving the links between settlements, particularly the City of Bristol and the surrounding countryside, to improve access to the countryside, utilising the rights of way network, river corridors and sustainable transport networks.
• Promoting sustainable drainage in development to increase permeable surfacing, to reduce run-off and increase water filtration in urban areas. This will slow the water entering the system.
• Protecting and maintaining the surface water environment through sustainable use of water resources by ensuring that low water consumption devices are included in all developments.
• Maintaining characteristic settlement patterns of the ridges and vales and encouraging sensitive development or alterations in villages, using vernacular materials to maintain their local and rural character.
• Managing the continued quarrying of local stone, ensuring that it is sensitive to the needs of geological interests, biodiversity and landscape.

SEO 2

SEO 2: Protect and manage the strong sense of history and many historical assets ranging from prehistoric barrows to the mining legacy, as well as the Avon Gorge and the many varied geological exposures within this geologically significant landscape, to enable recreation and access, education, tourism and continued enjoyment of the heritage of the area.

For example by:

• Protecting evidence of Neolithic, bronze-age and iron-age activity in the landscape – for example, Neolithic long barrows and the stone circle at Stanton Drew, bronze- and iron-age barrows and features such as Cadbury hill fort – through appropriate land management, such as permanent grassland to protect below-ground features.
• Promoting the importance of the port at Sea Mills during the Roman period and protecting the evidence of villas either side of the Avon Valley and on the fertile soils north of the Mendip Hills, with interpretation for educational and recreational uses.
• Protecting the remaining earthworks of the Saxon Wansdyke.
• Protecting medieval field patterns and ridge and furrow through permanent grassland.
• Conserving and enhancing, for the enjoyment of all, the area s diverse range of architecture, including its traditional buildings and farmsteads, and Bristol’s historic port and its suburbs, houses and buildings constructed from the wealth that it generated, evident in parks and mansions such as Dyrham Park, Tyntesfield, Doddington House, Blaise Castle and Ashton Court.
• Conserving and providing interpretation for the area s rich and complex industrial history, particularly features associated with the coal and copper industries, rural mills and early port and industrial buildings; and the legacy of Brunel through the architecture of Temple Meads station and the Clifton Suspension Bridge.
• Conserving and managing the area s important range of historic parklands, many of which are designated as Registered Historic Parks and Gardens. This will ensure a high-quality experience for all visitors and the retention of the important contribution of the parklands to landscape character, including through the establishment of new generations of trees, appropriate management of ancient and veteran trees and retention of deadwood fauna and flora.
• Conserving and protecting the area s many ancient and veteran trees through the use of Tree Preservation Orders to ensure that they are properly considered in planning decision-making; and promoting best practice to ensure a succession of veteran trees in woodland and the wider landscape.
• Conserving and protecting the geological features representative of the complex geology of the area through working with landowners and land managers to manage these features appropriately, and by providing good-quality access and interpretation to improve the understanding of the significance of the geology of this area, as well as to provide recreation opportunities.
• Ensuring that interpretation of Bristol’s historic port, city and industrial legacy brings out their role in the development of landscape over time and continues to provide inspiration through the sense of place that the area provides.

SEO 3

SEO 3: Conserve and sustainably manage the gentle clay vales and limestone ridges and downs of the rural agricultural landscape and enhance the network of semi-natural habitats, linking them together to create a coherent and resilient ecological network, enabling ecosystems to adapt both to climate change and for the benefits to landscape, biodiversity, water flow, water quality, soil quality, soil erosion, rural heritage and culture.

For example by:

• Protecting and managing existing species-rich lowland meadow, lowland calcareous and flood plain grassland UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) priority habitats for the species they support; and restoring, creating and consolidating areas of semi-improved grasslands, which have an important role in accentuating underlying geology and in maintaining a sense of locality. This will create a functional and resilient grassland network.
• Sensitively managing road verges, which can play an important part in linking grasslands and provide important sources of nectar for pollinating insects, thus benefiting agriculture.
• Continuing to encourage the conservation and active management of existing woodland, including ancient woodland, mixed woodland blocks and shelterbelts; and promoting new planting where appropriate in accordance with the strategic ambition of the Forest of Avon Community Forest and the Mendip Hills AONB and Cotswolds AONB management plans. This will enhance the contribution of woodland to the landscape, recreation and biodiversity.
• Managing and restoring the historic network of field boundaries, including hedgerows and hedgerow trees. This will enhance historic landscape value, facilitate their key function of reducing surface water flows and soil erosion and recognise their importance, in combination with the area’s geology, as habitats for rare species, in particular the greater horseshoe bat.
• Connecting the woodland network by managing hedgerows appropriately, to link woodland with other wooded habitats – such as traditional orchards and wood pasture and parkland.
• Managing, restoring and planting traditional orchards, to conserve the genetic continuity of fruit species; to retain significant archaeology and wood pasture habitats, including a continuity of deadwood and rot holes; and to improve the condition of the underlying grassland to enhance the lowland meadow resource.
• Managing and restoring field boundaries including hedgerows, hedgerow trees, drystone walls and drainage ditches in keeping with local styles and management traditions.
• Protecting the unique and rare species of the Avon Gorge.
• Promoting sustainable farming practices that encourage the movement and support of species.
• Managing peat soils in the Gordano Valley and managing other wetland habitats so that biodiversity value associated with wet meadow, reedbed and carr communities and carbon sequestration and protection of existing carbon storage is fully realised.
• Encouraging the restoration of natural condition to those watercourses in the NCA that are classed as heavily modified or artificial waterbodies and seeking mitigation work through new development to help restore natural conditions.
• Managing river corridors to utilise existing river flows for the maximum ecological benefit and protecting and enhancing the ability of waterbodies to provide wildlife corridors.

SEO 4

SEO 4: Protect and manage the landscape, heritage and biodiversity associated with the Avon River corridor, other river valleys and lakes, planning for a landscape-scale enhancement of wetlands, wet woodland and semi-natural grasslands along river flood plains for the benefits to biodiversity, climate regulation, water quality and flooding mitigation.

For example by:

• Enhancing and protecting the river landscape, particularly the Avon, through landscape-scale approaches to conservation and restoration of semi-natural habitat, particularly flood plain habitat such as wet woodland and flood meadows. This will create a coherent river and flood plain ecological network.
• Promoting catchment sensitive farming practices, reducing sources of diffuse agricultural pollution and the volume and rates of run-off and soil erosion. This will protect the water quality of open water, such as the internationally important Chew Valley Lake and Blagdon Lake, as well as the rivers of the area, benefiting many ecosystem services, including soil quality, soil erosion, water quality, water availability and biodiversity.
• Conserving and expanding areas of semi-natural habitat, woodland and hedgerows, which slow the flow of water across the landscape. Potentially this will reduce peak flow levels during high rainfall, mitigating flooding and helping to slow soil erosion; will maintain higher flow during dry periods for the benefit of people and biodiversity; and will allow opportunities for flood water storage to be realised where they are identified.
• Encouraging the re-profiling and naturalisation of watercourses to reduce the speed of water flow through river and stream channels.
• Ensuring that water companies, local authorities, highways agencies and developers create surface water management strategies that include sustainable urban drainage, to reduce the volume of water running directly into drains and therefore watercourses.
• Influencing and delivering improvements through the Bristol Avon Catchment Plan (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Bristol Avon catchment-based approach pilot).
• Increase understanding and awareness of the importance of the area’s water resources among groups such as visitors, schools and landowners.

Additional opportunity 1

Additional opportunity 1: Manage the recreational and tourism opportunities of both the City of Bristol and its surrounding countryside to improve opportunities for enjoyment and understanding of the area’s heritage, countryside and coast for their inspirational and diverse qualities.

For example by:

• Maintaining and developing multi-user routes and improved route connectivity to provide sustainable transport options wherever possible and enable more people to access the natural and built environment.
• Enhancing the many recreational, educational and tourism opportunities offered while managing visitor demand through provision of sufficient good-quality infrastructure and information.
• Ensuring completion of the Wansdyke ditch long distance footpath, which would provide many opportunities for historical interpretation.
• Promoting sustainable tourism initiatives that target a broad range of visitors and reduce car dependency. This involves accommodating high visitor numbers while conserving the natural and built environment, for example through promotion of the Bristol waterbus ferry service, the National Cycle Network and good rail connections.