48 - Trent and Belvoir Vales : 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: Maximise the use of sustainable agricultural practices that protect and enhance ecological networks in order to help safeguard the long-term viability of farming in the area while benefiting biodiversity, landscape character, carbon storage as well as water quality, availability and flow.

For example by:

• Working with farmers and landowners to encourage sustainable farming practices, including the take up of conservation, organic and agri-environment schemes.
• Seeking diversification of agriculture which requires fewer inputs and which helps to sustain ecological systems.
• Enhancing soil condition through good soil management techniques that reduce erosion, improve productivity and have a positive effect on water quality, including by creating grass margins in arable fields and restoring hedgerows.
• Protecting and expanding areas of pasture and grassland habitats to counter the shift away from mixed farming, which has had an impact on local character, biodiversity and ecosystem services such as carbon storage, regulating soil erosion and regulating water quality, and also to protect remnants of medieval ridge-and-furrow cultivation patterns and other historical features.
• Working with farmers and landowners to protect and enhance habitat networks through the farmed landscape to enhance ecosystem services, such as intercepting surface water to improve water quality and provide more habitats for pollinator and pest-regulating species.
• Seeking to protect and improve soil quality by raising soil organic matter through, for example, reversion of arable land to pasture, reducing cultivation, increasing amounts of fallow rotational land and increasing the use of organic farming methods.
• Increasing the area and network of habitats for pollinators and pest-regulating species throughout the farmed landscape, for example by increasing the amount of flower-rich field margins, hedgerows and species-rich grasslands, and increasing the take up of organic methods such as the use of clover to increase soil fertility and to provide habitat for bees.
• Seeking opportunities for sustainable use of wetland habitats for food provision, such as flood plain grazing marsh for cattle grazing.

SEO 2

SEO 2: Enhance the woodland and hedgerow network through the planting of small woodlands, tree belts, hedgerow trees and new hedgerows to benefit landscape character, habitat connectivity and a range of ecosystem services, including the regulation of soil erosion, water quality and flow.

For example by:

• Protecting existing hedgerows and enhancing them through appropriate management, and planting new hedgerows to restore historic field patterns and create habitat linkages where they have been lost.
• Considerably increasing the number of hedgerows trees, even though these are not a significant feature at present, to enhance landscape diversity and ecosystem services including carbon storage and to counteract the threat to landscape character and biodiversity from tree diseases such as ash dieback.
• Expanding existing woodlands and planting new woodlands to increase carbon sequestration and storage and the provision of biomass, following the guidance produced for the area, while taking care that this does not have an adverse effect on other habitats and species (for example, where woodland has been planted or has developed on former heathland sites, it would be appropriate to remove trees and return land to heathland habitat).
• Protecting, enhancing and expanding ancient woodlands across the area, including sites of ancient replanted woodland, seeking to link these with other woodlands, hedgerows and semi-natural habitats to benefit the movement of species.
• Protecting and enhancing the belts of waterside trees and riparian habitats to distinguish watercourses, and planting trees and replacing lost hedgerows in flood plains to improve landscape character and attenuate flood flows.
• Restoring traditional orchards, once a distinctive feature on the edges of settlements, which contribute to the area’s sense of place, for example the Bramley apple.
• Using native, preferably local provenance stock for all new plantings and species characteristic of the National character Area (NCA).

SEO 3

SEO 3: Enhance the rivers and their flood plains for their ecological, historical and recreational importance, their contribution to biodiversity, soil quality, water availability and in regulating water flow and the important role they play in underpinning the character of the area.

For example by:

• Protecting and enhancing existing flood plain habitats such as flood plain grazing marsh and maximising opportunities to expand these habitats and their connections to rivers for the ecosystem services and landscape character they provide.
• Managing and enhancing the Trent flood plain for its flood storage capacity and identifying areas where bank and channel management can be altered to improve flow between the river and flood plain to restore natural flood plain function and improve landscape character.
• Managing extraction of the sand and gravel resource in the Trent flood plain to minimise damage to existing habitats, geodiversity features and archaeological sites by the use of policies within the Minerals Local Plan and by carefully worded planning conditions.
• Continuing to restore mineral extraction sites along the Trent to a variety of wetland habitats and to open water, where appropriate, for their multiple benefits for nature conservation, recreation and landscape interests.
• Protecting the rich archaeology in the Trent flood plain, including the gravel terraces, from ploughing damage by re-creating non arable uses such as pasture and grazing marsh and other grassland habitats.
• Enhancing and promoting the access network within, and connecting to, river corridors for biodiversity, geodiversity, recreation and health benefits.

SEO 4

SEO 4: Maintain and enhance the character of this gently undulating, rural landscape. Promote and carefully manage the many distinctive elements that contribute to the overarching sense of place and history of the Trent and Belvoir Vales.

For example by:

• Raising the profile of the area by promoting the Trent and Belvoir Vales ‘brand’, which includes distinctive features such as the powerful River Trent, the medieval farming system at Laxton, the dumbles and becks landscape and the historic buildings and settlements as well as its deeply rural and tranquil character.
• Promoting local traditions and products including, for example, Stilton cheese from the Vale of Belvoir and the Bramley apple from Southwell, to raise the profile of the area and its mixed farming heritage.
• Protecting settlement pattern and character in the historic market towns and network of small villages, following good design guidance found in landscape and historic character assessments and supplementary planning documents and through the use of traditional architectural styles and materials.
• Managing and further enhancing the access and recreation opportunities, which centre on enjoyment of the tranquil and deeply rural countryside via the network of quiet lanes, villages, footpaths and watercourses.
• Ensuring that new developments incorporate well-designed green infrastructure providing enhanced access and recreation opportunities for local communities and visitors as well as the health and economic benefits that access to good quality green space affords.
• Supporting the rural economy to ensure that the prevailing character of the area is able to remain predominantly rural and tranquil.
• Protecting and promoting the archaeological and geodiversity value of the River Trent and its flood plain, including its gravel terraces.
• Conserving the tranquillity of the area through the careful planning and design of new development which minimises road construction, car use and disturbance, and provides sustainable transport options and well-designed green infrastructure.
• Conserving and interpreting historic features in the landscape, including traditional farmsteads and buildings, archaeological earthworks including remnant ridge and furrow and sub-surface archaeology, while recognising the potential for undiscovered remains.
• Conserving and enhancing the network of geological sites that help in understanding the area’s geology, in particular the disused quarries and pits.
• Looking for opportunities to interpret geodiversity and relate geodiversity to the character and development of the NCA’s landscapes, settlement pattern, buildings and industries.