Galloper Wind Farm Project - National Infrastructure Planning

2890_mitigation
8
August 2011
Galloper Wind Farm Substation
� New hedgerows on the valley sides are not normally a top priority, however, gaps
in existing hedgerows should be replanted using a mix including hawthorn,
blackthorn, field maple (and hazel on heavier soils), with oak and ash as tree
species.
Relevant objectives and guidance in relation to the Sandlings Plateau with Farmland
landscape type includes:
� Retain and manage sympathetically all existing hedgerows, shelterbelts and pine
lines.
� Revert marginal areas of arable land to heathland or acid grassland and create
new areas of scrub or woodland.
� Tree and shrub planting - Recommended species choice:
− Hedgerows and shrub lines: Hawthorn, blackthorn, field maple.
− Trees: Scots pine, English oak, silver birch, ash.
It notes that in some parts of the Sandlings, Scots pines are an important feature in the
landscape and in these cases a planting mix with a large proportion of pine is
recommended. However, in many areas mature pines are not common, and therefore
should be avoided or only planted in small numbers.
2.1.5. Sizewell Estate Integrated Land Management Plan, December 2006
The Sizewell Estate Integrated Land Management Plan (ILMP) lays out commitments
required to enable British Energy to manage the resources of the Estate in the most
effective way. It is a record of land uses on the Estate and the evaluation of these to
produce land management policies and plans. Land uses considered are agriculture
and forestry.
Agriculture is separated into two distinct areas. ‘The environmentally high value
grassland and heaths where agricultural management is one of a number of
management tools to achieve an environmental objective, and in contrast, the highly
productive arable land is let to a farming tenant, where commercial returns are the
primary objective.’ (Paragraph 3.4.1)
Sizewell Wents is classified as woodland, the two fields to the east/south and
south/west are classified as arable and Broom Covert to the north-west is classified as
heathland (see Map 6 Land Use / Habitat in Appendix 1). The ILMP states that
heathland and acid grassland are closely related habitats and refers to them
collectively as lowland heath.
The ILMP was produced before the Suffolk Landscape Character Assessment was
published and considers character in relation to the national scale assessment and it
also describes a more detailed landscape character assessment of the Estate. The