24 - Vale of Mowbray : Summary and Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity

Summary

The Vale of Mowbray lies immediately to the north of the Vale of York, occupying the undulating flood plains associated with the rivers Swale, Wiske and Cod Beck. It is framed by the uplands of the Pennines to the west and the North York Moors to the east. The whole National Character Area overlies the Sherwood Sandstone aquifer, the second largest aquifer in England and a major drinking water supply. The orientation of the Vale and its position between the Pennines and North York Moors, have made it a significant transport and communications route between north and south. The route of the A1 today is largely the same as that of the Roman Dere Street, along which Roman settlement and military activity were concentrated. Today the only sizeable towns are the county town of Northallerton and Thirsk, both historic market towns.

This is a farmed landscape, with a mix of livestock rearing, some dairying and arable cropping, making an important contribution to food security and the local economy. Tree and woodland cover tends to be in small copses and game coverts, and the network of hedgerows with hedgerow trees. Trees are also a feature in designed landscapes and parkland. Much of the semi-natural habitat of the Vale is now fragmented: there are remnant areas of high-quality wet grassland alongside the River Swale in the north of the area. The way in which the land is farmed is critical to the protection of the aquifer’s drinking water supply, in terms of both the quantity and the quality of the water. The area has been designated a Drinking Water Protected Area, and lies within the Yorkshire Ouse, Nidd and Swale Priority Catchment, where advice and grants are available to farmers to reduce the amounts of nutrients and pesticides entering the rivers. There are opportunities in this landscape to create new semi-natural habitat and to restore habitat networks in order to enhance biodiversity and sense of place, while protecting and improving both public water supply and the resources that farming is so dependent on.

Headline Statements of Environmental Opportunity (SEO)

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

SEO 1

Protect and enhance the water resources of the Vale, in particular the aquifer and rivers, by supporting sustainable management of the farmed landscape, retaining important levels of food provision while protecting soils and water quality, and establishing networks of habitats including restoration of wetland habitats in the flood plain.

SEO 2

Manage and extend the presently limited native woodland cover throughout the Vale, to develop woodland habitat networks, enhance sense of place, and assist in managing erosion, peak flow events and carbon storage.

SEO 3

Protect and promote understanding and enjoyment of the Vale’s geological and historic legacy, the Roman antecedent of the A1 transport corridor, historic buildings, field patterns and parkland, thus enhancing sense of place and local character.

SEO 4

Protect the pattern and character of scattered villages and farmsteads, ensuring that new development is based on sustainable resource use and contributes to sense of place, while limiting intrusion and loss of tranquillity in this rural area; ensure that green infrastructure is integral to new development in order to improve public access to, and enjoyment of, the landscape.