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OPEN SPACE VISION FOR THE FUTURE - Summary of Launch Event
Held on 21st  August 2006
 
The Document Open Space Vision of the Future, was launched at the Municipal Buildings Crewe:
 
This summary paper forms part of the findings and recommendations arising from the 30th of March 2005 consultation and 21st of August 2006 Launch consultation, which should be read in conjunction with launch document and the Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council Open Space and PPG17 Review Interim Final Draft Report October 2005 by consultants Wardell Armstrong.
 
The event had at least 50 listed Organisations including Companies/Businesses, Farmers, Wildlife Watch Groups and Parish Councils, Council Officers, Landowners/Managers.  Of course not all attended, but none the less the document was well received and largely the report and its contents, findings and recommendations were endorsed and agreed upon.
 
The Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) was highlighted as the best way forward for improvement of pathways and corridors and the promotion of the visitor economy.
 
Landowners and Parish Councils would find support for joint plans to encourage and identification of deficiencies in the network of corridors and pathways throughout the Borough.
 
The following must be considered in the fuller public consultation on open space to which the Board would be well advised to follow and further investigate to allow a vigorous enough consultation process to prevail.
Recommendations
Recruit and extend membership to the LSP Natural & Built Environment and Culture & Leisure task groups.
  • The Wardell Armstrong and Open Space Vision of the Future documents to be made available to the LSP N. &B E and C & L task groups.
  • A need for the LSP to adopt a vision to, then involve people on a  local level.
  • Put both reports on the Councils web site.
  • Link Parish Plans through the Parish Conference to promote corridors and pathways within the Borough and highlight deficiencies to the network and improve links from the Towns to the countryside.
  • Important to create links in to the New Regional Park (Weaver Valley County Park).
  • Build relationships with partners e.g. Duchy, Farmers/Landowners, MMU, Business chamber (SCC of Commerce) and Parishes.
  • Explore ECOnet Project links in Cheshire.
  • Go in line with a Nature Conservation Strategy and involve Cheshire Wildlife Trust through the LSP and ensure that contacts are updated to move forward with others and their strategies.
  • A linkage to an overall Play Strategy.
  • A need to bring Open/Play Spaces to Urban Areas and importance should be given to getting the site right and fit for purpose.
  • A need to look at areas lacking open space.
  • Consultation when looking at sites for disposal to involve at a very early stage the following organisations: Community Consultation Panel on Allotments, C&N Sustainability Alliance, Neighbourhood Initiatives Charity and adopt the National Playing Fields Association (NPFA) Space Plan as a template/tool for consultation with local people.
  • Find out the best way of evaluating open space for consultations and implement effectiveness of potential wildlife corridors.
  • Pocket Parks sites to be identified throughout the Borough.
  • Involve local environmental groups in the consultation.
  • Use international, national, local policies on rights of way and access to the countryside.
  • Encourage local groups to join umbrella organisations to achieve fully their aims and ambitions for a greener Borough through funding and delivery of projects.
  • Involve the business community in assisting with environmental projects. 
  • School playing fields should be part of the review along with allotments.
  • Open space should be there to be looked at and should be appraised on Quality of Life indicators, how people relate to their local environment and state of health and well-being.
  • We need to have a policy on what we do with the proceeds from the disposal of unwanted open space. It should be earmarked for other open space projects though not necessarily in the same area of the Borough.
  • There is a need for more publicity and information for public footpaths and other places where people can go for a pleasant walk.
  • Although we (SECOS) support the principles of creating 'green space networks' and 'pocket parks', allowing open access to these areas to the general public is not always conducive to bird populations. 
  • The term open space is used in the document to imply areas of value for wildlife, not all areas of open space are suitable as sites for the protection and conservation of biodiversity.
  • Many of these open spaces may have relatively low nature conservation value, but offer high amenity value to the community.
  • There needs to be a distinction between sites that are to be managed for wildlife and those that will be used primarily for leisure and recreation, as the two do not always go hand in hand.
  • Public access can in certain circumstances disturb wildlife and may threaten the biodiversity interest of these sites.
  • There should be reference in the document to the Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) for the Cheshire region, known as the Countdown Programme. This is a partnership based process for the conservation of rare and endangered species and habitats in Cheshire which all district councils including C&N are partners to.
  • Of particular relevance to your document is a Gardens and Allotment BAP.

    Is the local authority aware of the following:-
 
  • English Nature has a longstanding priority to promote the provision of natural greenspace in urban areas to serve both community and conservation needs.
  • In support of this aim the following Accessible Natural Greenspace Standards have been developed:
  • Provision of at least 1 ha of Local Nature Reserve per 1,000 population
  • That there should be one accessible 20 ha site within 2 km from home.
  • That there should be one accessible 100 ha site within 5 km.
  • That there should be one accessible 500 ha site within 10 km.
  • Community Involvement in Planning. A Consultation Document.  It was felt that the report was admirable, with a comprehensive list of consulates and appropriate ways of conducting the consultation process. However, good intentions are not enough and consultation must be genuine with comments, suggestions and criticisms taken on board and responded to adequately. Also it was felt that Planning Officers do not have enough teeth and their ability to turn applications down is limited. Sustainability issues must be integrated.
  • There needs to be a planned effort to link communities via Green Ways and imaginative use of allotments to ensure they are not lost to building   
  • The consultation event that I held on 30th March 2005 was unfortunately skewed towards allotments but it was a good thing because the following streamed from actions that allotment holders would like to see. An example came from Hungerford Road Allotments who had an area transformed from a composting area to a haven for wildlife with ponds and wildflower meadow.
 
This has a two fold effect.
 
  • One, to set aside an area so that Local Biodiversity Action Plans can commence to help organic gardening practices and help plot holders to garden for the benefit of wildlife to predate on pests, to build up a balanced growing regime.
  • Secondly, if future growth in plots is required some of the set aside area can be used for cultivation.
  • Reduce site size to reflect the number of plots used.
  • A need for a community resource such as a greenhouse. Some allotment holders would like to see the redundant glasshouses in the Queen's Park put to better use. If plot holders were given them they could bear the cost of running them, heating and upkeep, through charges to their rent.
  • Uptake of plots could be improved upon with the use of taster plots (half size mini plots).
  • Sustrans, the cycling charity,  they would like to see provision made for cycle ways through the green corridors; this would help build and fund pathways for multipurpose usage.
  • Policy on how section 106 monies are allocated this is a key recommendation of this study.
  • No specific policy on developer obligation or commuted sums of developer contribution referred to in RT1 & RT3 in the local plan.
  • NE4 Policy Green-Gaps need additional protection in order to maintain their definition and separation of communities, as opposed to physically improving the open space network.
  • No policy on Urban Fringe apart from maintaining spaces between settlements in the green gaps policy.
  • NE9 The Local Planning Authority will implement a programme of tree planting, landscaping and subsequent management on land within its ownership on sites identified in the policy wording. No specific policy other than those mentioned above.
  • One of the main elements of PPG 17 (2002) planning obligations to remedy local deficiencies and improve Quality and quantity of provision (paragraph 33).
  • The report has highlighted the use of development plans for open space and its end users through its community groups' liaison network such as the Community Consultation Panel on Allotments (allotment development plan 2002) and the Marshfield Greenwatch Group's community consultation document 2001-2002.
  • This plan is aimed at increasing participation in allotments and is in need of updating.
  • The plan acknowledges that barriers, which deter the uptake of allotment plots, are vandalism and theft, poor image of allotment gardening (although this changing) the untidy appearance of sites and the work required prior to cultivation.
  • The plan aimed to provide accessibility to plots: the site at Welshman's Lane in Nantwich is a model for other sites around the Borough to achieve and aim for.
  • In 2002 there were community plots at Alton Street, Brookhouse, Henry Street and Ruskin Road. It's no accident that some sites mentioned above are in deprived areas and deprivation at ward level varies significantly, with some wards in comparison nationwide being among the top 20% (i.e. most affluent Welshman's Lane a good example) and others being among the most deprived 10%.
  • In the report it is recognised that tackling regeneration, social exclusion and sustainable development will need a joined up approach.
  • The fact of the matter is sites in the super output areas of wards most targeted for tackling disadvantage have no community plots or very well run sites within that area.
  • The exception is BUGS (Brookhouse Urban Garden Scheme) that manages some plots on the Claughton Avenue allotments site.
  • Throughout this exercise local users of open space in all its forms have been consulted by a range of means. But we all know from experience that the moment something on the ground starts to happen, locals say they have not heard or seen anyone to talk to about changes to their local Open Space.
  • So what is the solution to this age old problem? I think the answer is an easy one - let them have their say via public meetings and focus groups.
  • Let them understand the way forward is that it is their decision to help themselves improve the area in which they live.
  • The same applies to Allotments. This is to some extent more easily dealt with because not only are they important to those who use them, but they contribute a lot to our own promotion of health policies, they encourage community cohesion and with an influx of migrant workers to the borough we need them.
  • The lowest levels of allotment occupancy are in those areas where the migrant workers choose to live: in or near to the West end of Crewe not Nantwich, Willaston or Wistaston.
 
(a)       So I recommend that the Allotments Strategy be updated. As can be seen in the report a body already exists that could help steer this - the Community Consultation Panel on Allotments - along with the Sustainability Alliance.  This could be a model to adopt for other areas of open space which are in need of this local touch.
 
(b)       I feel it is important to further the aims of our green corridors and strengthen any gaps or deficiencies in the network. To highlight the economic benefits to landowners who wish to fill in those gaps.
There are no national standards in relation to the quantity of greencorridors per 1,000 population, however there is a wide network of public rights of way, bridleways and cycle ways. In order to support the council's sustainability agenda a standard for green corridors of every resident being within 500Km of access to the network has been recommended.
  • There are a number of Open Spaces within the Borough that are not accessible via the network and these have been highlighted on the base plan. 
  • These include Cholmondeley and Doddington plan Green Corridors NL06936/04.
  • The need to allow a greater number of people to travel from Towns and into the Countryside via green corridors safely will arise in the near future because of the need to find ways of cutting our C02 emissions.   We also need to make the journey into the countryside a sustainable one for walkers, cyclists and horse riders whether for leisure purposes or travel, and give opportunities for wildlife migration: this will have wider benefits for education and potential as a learning resource.
  • There is a network of green corridors within the Borough, covering both.
  • The more urban and rural areas. In addition to some corridors that link urban areas together, there is a dispersed rural network that goes some way to meeting the needs of the rural population. But why is it dispersed and how can the anomaly be remedied, and does the rural network function for all its users effectively? I suspect not. Because it is a case of supply and demand and has to be led from the landowner and from the user to some degree.
  • This can be seen as a job for the Council's planning, economic, and environmental departments to encourage landowners to see the wider benefits of green corridors and take opportunities to use established linear routes, such as disused railway lines, roads or canal and riverbanks, as green corridors and supplement them by proposals to plug in access to them from as wide an area as possible.
  • The delivery of new opportunities through policy RT9 of the local plan goes some way to addressing this requirement. So there may be more scope to further develop planning policies.