62 - Cheshire Sandstone Ridge : 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: Manage and enhance the rivers, streams and wetland habitats, including flood plain grazing marsh and wet woodland, protecting them from diffuse pollution and maintaining the integrity and unique conditions for the preservation of the lakes and standing waters of internationally important sites such as Oak Mere and Abbots Moss to benefit water availability, water quality, landscape character, biodiversity and climate regulation.

For example by:

• Encouraging the uptake of the Catchment Sensitive Farming Programme to benefit water quality and availability by encouraging rainwater harvesting and over-wintering storage of water; to reduce incidences of foul run-off from outdoor feeding areas, silage clamps, yards and cattle tracks; to prevent stock from entering streams or poaching stream banks; and to prevent the poaching of fields by cattle movement.
• Addressing the reasons for the poor ecological condition of rivers in the Weaver/Gowy catchment, as identified by the Water Framework Directive assessment, by preventing the deterioration of water quality caused by high nutrient levels and sedimentation, naturalising channel modifications, removing obstacles to aquatic species and introducing buffer strips.
• Increasing the area of wet woodland and priority wetland sites to improve the connectivity of wetland habitats and rivers to their flood plains to benefit water flow, biodiversity and climate regulation, for example along the Pettypool Brook Valley.
• Raising public awareness of the importance and fragility of meres, mosses and other wetland habitats and the benefits they provide to climate regulation through better interpretation and increased access where possible.
• Encouraging the retention of infield ponds, a characteristic of the Cheshire landscape, especially in arable areas where the threat of infilling is greatest, through the uptake of agri-environment scheme options to benefit biodiversity, sense of place and history.
• Planning and managing sympathetically the restoration of mineral extraction sites to ensure their integration into the pastoral landscape to maintain the sense of place and to provide opportunities for wetland habitat creation and recreation.
• Increasing areas of riparian woodland to benefit the regulation of water flow, availability and biodiversity.
• Avoiding uniform pollarding to conserve and manage mature and overmature trees within riparian environments, thus ensuring a supply of coarse woody debris, important for aquatic and invertebrate species and to help regulate water flow.
• Judiciously managing riparian woodland to provide adequate shade which can significantly reduce peak summer temperatures, thus maintaining water temperatures within a favourable range for fish and other sensitive freshwater fauna.
• Managing the Shropshire Union Canal and its associated assets to maximise landscape, cultural heritage and recreational value.
• Encouraging landscape-scale partnerships whose objectives contribute to the management and enhancement of the landscape in a holistic way for the benefit of riverine and wetland character biodiversity, climate regulation and recreation.
• Training volunteers to assist with the surveillance of priority habitats and species by surveying to monitor the spread of invasive non-native species and the distribution and population sizes of priority species as evidence of habitat quality.

SEO 2

SEO 2: Manage and expand areas of semi-natural woodland, restore and reinstate hedgerows and hedgerow trees, protect and restore ancient woodland, for example in the Delamere Forest Park and throughout the Mersey Forest, thus reducing habitat fragmentation to benefit landscape character, biodiversity, resource protection and climate regulation while enhancing the recreational, educational and experiential qualities of the NCA.

For example by:

• Encouraging the management of woodland and, where it does not compromise other habitats and is appropriate to landscape character, encouraging new planting that will link blocks of existing woodland, thus reducing habitat fragmentation and reinforcing the wooded character of the National Character Area (NCA) and sense of history.
• Expanding woodland around Delamere Forest, along the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge and the long-distance trail, avoiding the escarpment ridgeline, with a diversity of species to increase resilience to pests, diseases and climate change.
• Encouraging landscape-scale partnerships in creating and maintaining woodland, for example community woodlands in the Mersey Forest, to provide opportunities for volunteering, education and recreation that also benefit biodiversity, climate regulation and the local economy.
• Finding a financially sustainable solution to woodland management by seeking an economic return on the by-products of woodland management – encouraging woodland allotment schemes, developing supply chains and encouraging demand for wood fuel in urban areas and encouraging the installation of wood fuel boilers in local amenity buildings.
• Increasing access to woodland as part of woodland management, thus increasing the opportunities for quiet recreation and to experience tranquillity, while ensuring that this does not compromise sensitive habitats and bio-security.
• Increasing access to woodland, providing circular routes and all-ability paths to provide opportunities for all sections of the community to experience the benefits of nature for physical activity, health and wellbeing.
• Restoring native woodland in plantations on ancient woodland sites.
• Encouraging the restoration of hedgerows with typical species, by gapping-up and planting their accompanying hedgerow trees; and adopting appropriate cutting regimes and tagging to extend the age range and species diversity to benefit biodiversity and sense of place.
• Encouraging the restoration of hedgerows and boundary sandstone walls to protect the soil resource, particularly on elevated sites and in areas of lighter soils.
• In urban areas, planting blocks of trees and street trees to provide shade, thus mitigating the effects of the urban heat island, increasing water infiltration rates and purifying the air.
• Planting trees around settlements and major highways to screen the visually intrusive urban areas from the surrounding landscape.

SEO 3

SEO 3: Protect and manage the geological sites, with an emphasis on demonstrating the strong link between geology and its influence on landscape and industrial development, and promoting greater understanding of the link between wildlife and geodiversity, particularly in the distribution of habitats and species, recognising the importance of former extraction sites for both geodiversity and biodiversity.

For example by:

• Protecting and enhancing rock outcrops and the core designated sites, for example Raw Head geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the suite of Local Geological Sites, and managing them to improve their condition.
• Improving access to and the interpretation of past geo-morphological activity preserved at Local Geological Sites and the present-day geomorphological activity associated with the rivers Gowy and Weaver.
• Increasing the provision of information and interpretation of sites, thus helping landowners and land managers to understand and appreciate more the assets in their care and to enable visitors to value and enjoy them.
• Providing teaching materials and aids that assist local schools and other educational groups to use the sites for environmental and heritage education that includes industrial development and settlement patterns.
• Raising awareness through Local Geodiversity Action Plans and the planning system of the increasing importance of extractive sites to our understanding of industrial heritage and to the unique habitats they provide, for example the sand pits on the Delamere sand sheet.
• In partnership with geodiversity groups and site owners, enhancing the condition of former extraction sites and natural exposures for a range of mutually beneficial interests including geodiversity, biodiversity, volunteering and educational and scientific purposes.
• Encouraging people to volunteer and become involved in geoconservation and surveying to assist with the surveillance and ongoing management of sites.
• Raising awareness of other geological assets, for example mineral collections at local museums and the use of local stone in buildings.

SEO 4

SEO 4: Manage and, where appropriate, expand areas of characteristic heathland and other priority habitats, including lowland meadows and lowland grassland, thus reducing habitat fragmentation to benefit landscape character, sense of place, biodiversity and resource protection while enhancing the recreational and experiential qualities of the NCA.

For example by:

• Expanding and buffering core sites, for example Little Budworth Common and Bickerton Hill SSSI. Restoring degraded heathland through the removal of bracken and the thinning out of young trees to benefit sense of place.
• Seeking opportunities to expand the remaining lowland heathland and lowland acid grassland on the poorer arable land of the northern sandstone ridge. Seeking opportunities for the reversion from improved grassland to acid grassland and or lowland heathland.
• Seeking opportunities in areas under arable cultivation to provide habitats for farmland birds and invertebrates, planting flower-rich field margins to provide sources of nectar to benefit pollinators and support species of predators that can regulate populations of pests that adversely affect crop yields.
• Encouraging local authorities, highways and road maintenance to diversify the species mix of roadside verges to provide wildlife corridors that link areas of high biodiversity, thus providing a more robust ecological network.
• Reducing fertiliser and pesticide inputs, especially along the field margins and adjacent to semi-natural habitats.
• Monitoring the spread of and controlling invasive non-native species, for example Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed, and invasive arable weeds, for example broad-leaved dock and creeping thistle, and removing gorse and bracken and controlling brambles.
• Protecting and managing the priority habitat of lowland meadow, for example along the Pettypool Brook Valley and Shropshire Union Canal, and where appropriate seeking opportunities to expand these areas to reverse the fragmentation of this habitat.
• Supporting and encouraging volunteers to assist with the surveillance of priority habitats and recording the distribution and numbers of priority species as indicators of habitat quality.

Additional opportunity 1

Additional opportunity 1: Protect and manage historic landscape character and associated heritage assets that include iron-age hill forts, canals, castles and country houses, traditional orchards and drystone walls. Find sustainable solutions to manage visitor pressure at popular attractions, for example Delamere Forest Park and the Sandstone Trail, while maintaining a high level of public access to enjoy the wealth of recreational experiences on offer.

For example by:

• Encouraging the uptake of agri-environment scheme options that protect buried artefacts in the agricultural environment.
• Increasing the protection of archaeological sites, increasing the provision of information and interpretation of sites, thus helping landowners and land managers to understand and appreciate more the assets in their care.
• Increasing and improving the interpretation of the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge and its habitats and hill forts to aid visitors’ understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of its ecological and historical interest.
• Finding sustainable solutions to manage visitor pressure at popular locations, for example the Sandstone Trail, while maintaining a high level of public access to enjoy the wealth of recreational experiences the NCA offers.
• Protecting and reinstating drystone walls, gate posts and stiles of local sandstone and traditional Cheshire-style painted iron railings throughout the area.
• Increasing visitors’ contact with nature by providing better access, circular routes and all-ability trails, thus improving understanding and changing attitudes, as well as improving health and wellbeing.
• Encouraging a wide variety of individual and group participation, promoting health and wellbeing and lifelong learning through volunteering in specific conservation, access and interpretation initiatives.
• Developing educational experiences and resources, promoting the use of the local heritage resources for schools in the area.
• Providing opportunities for heritage and rural skills training to meet rural skills shortages.
• Capturing and sharing skills and good practice in heritage and access management, interpretation and community engagement.