TE2: Green and Blue Infrastructure
Policy Ideas
The community has identified that one of the things that they loved living in Totton was living in close proximity to nature and green spaces, whether that be the New Forest, Eling, or the River Test valley. The Neighbourhood Plan will therefore designate a Totton and Eling Green and Blue Infrastructure Network in order to safeguard these spaces from harm through future development and identify opportunities for improving what already exists. New development will also be required to retain trees and hedgerows and to secure opportunities to create connected habitats suitable for species adaption to climate change. Proposals will need to ensure that any potential impacts upon rare and threatened species are fully assessed, and that, where necessary, mitigation measures are incorporated to safeguard and protect those species.
The Neighbourhood Plan work to date has also identified a number of opportunities to improve the network, so proposed development within or adjoining it will need to respond to this including delivering a net gain to biodiversity, in the design of their layouts, landscaping schemes and public open space provisions. The policy will specifically highlight opportunities for creating a vital green link between the coast and the town through improvements to Bartley Water as well as improving signposting to public routes on the network to improve awareness. Proposals should also take into account the opportunities presented for Totton and Eling within the Hampshire Nature Recovery Strategy (once published)
In addition, development proposals should maximise the opportunities available for canopy cover, including tree retention and planting or the provision of other green infrastructure (such as green roofs and walls) where they can offer similar benefits to trees. This may be a different standard within the defined Town Centre and outside of it.
This policy takes a parish wide look at the Green and Blue Infrastructure (GI) network. GI a term that covers a wide range of natural, ecological and recreational features, including parks, woodlands, water bodies, hedgerows, mature trees, lines of street trees, allotments etc that combine to create habitat networks.
In areas like Totton and Eling, where there is a mixture or urban and rural spaces these networks extend from the surrounding countryside into quite densely built-up areas, where open spaces and ecological value is more difficult to come by. All those features need to be mapped to show not just where they are but also to point to where the network may be improved to be better connected if land is developed or redeveloped.
The policy can also identify Bartley Water, highly valued by the community to ensure that future development assists in promoting and protecting this locally important site of nature conservation including the improvement and provision of accessible walkways. The policy can also seek to take account of, and respond to, the opportunities for land management projects and initiatives set out in the Hampshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy where applicable. It can also respond to the desire to seek to continue to improve air quality (the AQE Monitoring Data indicates that Totton is in pollution band 1 – Low) by mitigating exposure to pollution through urban greening measures in the design of buildings, hard surfacing and landscaping, particularly in the town centre e.g planting trees and other vegetation in the right places to form a barrier between people and pollutants and using planting to remove some particulates as part of the Green Infrastructure network.
The policy could also include measures such as increasing the number of trees in streets and tree canopy cover, encouraging the use of green walls and the introduction of pocket parks and where trees are removed through development that they are replaced 2 for 1.
It was noted at the Scoping Session that the Corporate Strategy aims to require new development to include Bird and Bat Boxes, hedgehog corridors etc.. to assist in nature in travelling through in the Town, and the facilitation of habitats which will aid in the growth of population of these species. This will be included within Policy TE5 Design Principles.
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