Land West of Bewley Road, Angmering

Agricultural Land Report

An Agricultural Land Classifications and Considerations report has been submitted as part of the planning application.

Local Plan Policy SO DM1 requires the loss of best and most versatile (BMV) agricultural land to be balanced against the need for development.

BMV is considered to be land categorised as Grade 1/2/3a.

The Agricultural Land Classification assessment confirms that no land is classified as grade 1 agricultural land. The majority of the land is subgrade 3a and 3b (75%), grade 2 (19%) or non agricultural land. The table below shows the full breakdown.

Access & Movement

Access to the development will be through a continuation of Bewley Road and has been designed in accordance with Manual for Streets and West Sussex County Council Local Design Guideline. The following diagrams show how access to the Site will be laid out.

Proposed Site Access

Proposed Parking Improvement Plan

Sustainable Transport Connections

We understand that walking connections are important. On top of a 2m wide footpath along the access we are also considering enhancements, where possible, to the surrounding Public Footpath network.

Photograph 1 visualises the existing Public Right of Way (PROW) network, with Photographs 2 and 3 illustrating examples of potential PROW improvements and how this may look.

PHOTOGRAPH 1: EXISTING PROW.

PHOTOGRAPH 2: EXAMPLE OF A POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENT TO THE PROW.

PHOTOGRAPH 3: EXAMPLE OF A POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENT TO THE PROW.

Site Sustainability

The Site is located within walking distance of the No.9 public bus service which provides hourly services to Angmering Train Station (8 minutes), Worthing (30 minutes), Arundel (50 minutes) and Anchor Springs/Littlehampton (37 minutes) on Weekdays and Saturdays.

The Site is also located within a comfortable walking distance of a number of key services and facilities located in the centre of Angmering providing for a range of retail, education, community and employment uses. These factors reduce the need for car travel, promoting healthier lifestyles and sustainable development.

Landscape

The project team has undertaken extensive work to understand the surrounding landscape to help guide development and reduce the impact on the wider landscape character.

The Site has the following characteristics;.

The Site is largely flat, falling gently from the south-east to the north-west.
The boundaries of the Site in the northern area are characterised by trees and hedgerows which, where possible, will be protected, enhanced, and integrated into the development. Boundaries in the southern area are predominantly open or fenced.
There are no national or local landscape designations within or relevant to the Site.
The South Downs National Park (SDNP) is located 650m north of the Site, separated by the A27 and dense woodland.

A review of the Council’s Landscape Character Assessments concludes that the Site does not have any elevated landscape value or importance, and that there are no visual relationships between the Site and SDNP.

Overall, the Site is very well contained to the north, east, and south and the extent of potential visual receptors is limited. Views do open to the west but are restricted to a small number of receptors within the local landscape.

Proposed landscaping will be layered throughout the development, with focus along the western boundary to soften views and integrate the development into the local setting. This will be bolstered by the focus on Green Infrastructure connectivity between habitats and spaces within and surrounding the development.

The proposed landscaping will also support the provision of Biodiversity Net Gain by introducing higher quality habitats.

Public Open Space

Large informal Public Open Space in the northern area of the Site is proposed with tree planting and meadow grassland. Connectivity to the wider footpath network will increase

The table below shows the breakdown of open space against the requirement.

Visual Appraisal

Geophysical survey

Heritage & Archaeology

Ecology

The Site is not subject to or near any ecological designated sites.
The Site is of low ecological value, dominated by arable fields. Hedgerows, ditches and trees occur along some of the field boundaries.
An Ecological Impact Assessment Report accompanies the Planning Application and includes a Biodiversity Net Gain Assessment.
The Proposed Development goes beyond the mandatory 10% Biodiversity Net Gain requirement; a minimum of 20% is proposed. Hedgerows and trees are prioritised for retention. New habitats would be created including wildflower meadow, hedgerows, traditional orchard, woodland, SUDS, trees and mixed scrub. Bird boxes, bat boxes, insect boxes, small-mammal boxes, reptile hibernation sites and hedgehog passes are also proposed.
Impacts on habitats and protected-species during construction will be avoided and/or mitigated in accordance with Construction Management Plans. All retained and proposed habitats will be managed post-construction in accordance with a Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan.