89 - Northamptonshire Vales : Summary and Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity

Summary

The Northamptonshire Vales National Character Area (NCA) consists of a series of low-lying clay vales and river valleys, including the valleys of the rivers Nene and Welland and their tributaries. The area is 10 per cent urban, and settlement is often visually dominant. Major road networks that traverse the area include the M1, A45, A6 and A5. This area adjoins the Leicestershire Vales NCA to the north-west and has many similar characteristics.

Despite the predominance of built settlements and related levels of low tranquillity, this contrasts strongly with a distinctly more rural feel and higher levels of tranquillity particularly along river corridors and in areas of arable and pastoral farmland.

This area is rich in historic character, with country houses, historic parkland, ridge and furrow and open field patterns, especially in the valleys of the Welland, Ise and Nene. These river valleys are striking features of the area, with their riverside meadows and waterside trees and shrubs. Also common are the flooded gravel pits and their associated wetlands, which result from reclamation schemes. These have given rise to some of the most important freshwater wetlands in the Midlands, supporting large numbers of wetland birds and wildfowl, especially over winter. The Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits were designated as a Special Protection Area in 2011 in recognition of their wetland bird assemblage, which includes non-breeding great bittern, gadwall and European golden plover. The rivers and associated habitats also provide regional ecosystem services such as regulating water flow, quality and availability, as well as providing extensive recreational and biodiversity resources for the surrounding urban areas.

Challenges for this area include retaining the sense of place in light of ongoing pressure for development growth, and protecting and enhancing key features such as the many heritage assets, meadows, woodlands and hedgerows in the light of new development, continuing gravel extraction and the pressure to produce more food. However, these issues also provide opportunities to strengthen and increase habitat networks and appropriate recreational provision for the surrounding urban communities.

Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity (SEO)

See the Statements of Environmental Opportunity section for more details on the headlines listed below.

SEO 1

Appropriately manage the flood plains of the River Nene and River Welland, their tributaries, and the Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits Special Protection Area, and deliver the most beneficial restoration of sand and gravel extraction sites, to enhance associated habitats and biodiversity and connections with the farmed environment; to regulate water flow, water quality and water availability; to enhance landscape character; and to increase the opportunities for informal recreation.

SEO 2

Sustainably manage the soils, productive farming, woodlands, coverts and spinneys that contribute to the sense of place, maintaining viable longterm food production and protecting historical and cultural assets such as the ridge-and-furrow sites found in the Nene and Welland valleys, the historic parklands and the variety of field patterns.

SEO 3

Plan ongoing strategic growth and development within the area so that it strengthens the sense of place and increases biodiversity, incorporating extended and restored hedgerow networks, open spaces and the conservation, management and promotion of geological features as part of green infrastructure planning.