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Green
Infrastructure Project updates |
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Catton
Park
Construction of the education
building is complete. The single storey building has
been finished in Sweet Chestnut to help blend into
the surrounding woodlands. A formal opening of
the building took place on 2 September
2011. The building is now available for schools and community
groups to hire.
Mousehold Heath –
Heathland Extension
The
GNDP and Open Academy jointly worked to deliver this heathland
extension project. Heathland has been recreated and expanded
onto the adjacent playing field which is owned by the Open
Academy.
The project was made up of the following
elements:
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Creating
a new area of acid heath on the playing field. This work
involved removing a layer of top soil and mixing it wil
heather seed.
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Pathway
improvements and link with existing heath creating a
heathland corridor between the two sites.
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Wildflower
meadow mix has been sown on the South East end of the
playing field.
Ongoing maintenance
is now being arranged for the site though BTCV and Open
Academy.
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Yare Valley
Connections
Due to land ownership
issues at the Harford Tip site, a new location was found for
the canoe platform off Sandy Lane in Old Lakenham,
Norwich.
The new
platform offers access to the River Yare above the tidal
limit. Southern Norwich Scouts will look after the
platform in the long term and will manage use by Scouts,
Guides, community organisations and the public.
Grapes
Hill Community Garden
As part of the
Dereham Road Bus Rapid Transit project, £36,000 was allocated
to the 2nd phase of the Grapes Hill Community Garden Project.
Work started on the
construction of the garden in mid September 2010. This
included the removal of tarmac, the construction of gates and
railings and hard and soft landscaping. The garden is now
complete and is open to the public daily. Opening hours are
9am - 6pm in the Summer (March - October) and 9am - 4.30pm
(November - February).
The Group have a website which
is kept regularly
up to date with news, events and information: www.grapeshillcommunitygarden.org.uk
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Other updates |
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Community Infrastructure Levy
(CIL)
The
Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a new levy that local
authorities in England and Wales can charge on new
developments in their area. The Levy will be used to
support development by funding infr astructure that the council,
local community and neighbourhoods want – for example, new or safer
road schemes, public transport and walking and cycling schemes, park
improvements or a community hall.
The system is very simple. It applies to most new buildings
and charges are fixed based on the size, type and location of the
new development.
The three councils of Broadland, Norwich and South
Norfolk have chosen to work together and adopt a
co-ordinated approach to the implementation of CIL. The anticipated
timetable for introduction of a CIL is:
- Consultation on a
Preliminary Draft Charging Schedule - 3 October - 14 November
2011
- Publication
– January 2012
- Submission –
March 2012
- Examination –
March – July 2012
- Adoption – Summer
2012
The Preliminary Draft Charging Schedule consultation
commenced on 3 October 2011 and will run for a 6
week period until the 14 November
2011.
To find out more visit www.gndp.org.uk/our-work/cil
IGreen
Infrastructure Topic Paper
As part of the
CIL background evidence the GNDP have produced a topic paper for
green infrastructure which provides an updated evaluation of costs
for green infrastructure and open space requirements over the period
of the Joint Core Strategy (2008-2026).
The
Greater Norwich Infrastructure Needs and Funding Study (2009)
assessed the full infrastructure requirements associated with the
delivery of new homes and employment development. There were some
limitations in the study; assumptions were made particularly around
the open space provision, resulting in an overestimation of certain
costs.
The
topic paper can been found on the GNDP website: www.gndp.org.uk
Visitor
Pressure
The recently
adopted Joint Core Strategy was subject to a Habitats Regulation
Assessment in February 2010. This assessment concluded that it was
highly unlikely that the Joint Core Strategy policies would have a
significant direct or indirect impact on the European and Ramsar
designated sites. However it also highlighted that uncertainty
remained regarding the potential of in-combination and cumulative
effects associated with growth and tourism on European and Ramsar
designated sites resulting from the planned growth within the
Greater Norwich area. The document stated that this uncertainty
could be reduced, and any significant effects avoided, through the
implementation of green infrastructure developments and the
allocation of green space to protect specific natural assets and
designated sites.
We have recently had a series of
meetings with Natural England and some of the Norfolk LAs to discuss
the best way t o assess the carrying capacity for visitors at
specified international sites across Norfolk. Following a study
completed by Norfolk Wildlife Services a number of sites were
identified where the surveys will be carried out;
these included Stumpshaw, Hickling, Ranworth and Hoveton
Great Broad.
During the summer months (from the end of
May to start of September) volunteers have surveyed visitors at
the identified sites to find out the reasons why people are visiting
the sites, where they have come from, how often they come to the
site.
By observing
visitor behaviour at the sites we can estimate the impacts new
housing growth will have on designated sites. Mitigation measures
can then be implemented to respond to the impacts, such as
educational materials, wardening, fencing, signage
etc.
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