environmental statement - Rotherham's Online Application for ...

oundaries are marked by hedges. On the steeper slopes in the northern
part of the site and beyond to the west, field boundaries and sizes are
governed by the alignment of landform, tending to run perpendicular to the
slope. Although there are no blocks of woodland on the site itself, there
are tree groups located beyond its boundary to the south (Spring Wood),
to the north (around Swallow Mills Pond) and on the road corridors of the
M1 and M18 junction. Roads and tracks on the site tend to be adjacent to
or are bound by hedgerows varying condition. A few hedgerows contain
mature hedgerow trees. These trees tend to be deciduous and hedge
boundaries tend to comprise deciduous species such as hawthorn,
sycamore and ash. Some of the hedgerows on site are rather gappy
whereas others are more intact. Field boundaries also comprise native
herbaceous species and the fields themselves tend to contain grain crops.
6.135 Further west, arable land use tends to be interspersed with deciduous
woodlands and trees associated with Ulley Reservoir and Ulley village.
HISTORICAL LANDSCAPE INTERPRETATION
6.136 Aerial photographs show that the field structure of the site area was finer
in the past and, as is typical of 20 th century farming practices, hedge
boundaries have been removed to enlarge fields. This is particularly
evident around Ulley Beeches which indicates that this was a working farm
in the past.
6.137 Aerial photographs indicate an underground service line has been laid
across the site and beyond in the recent past.
6.138 The title „Swallow Mills Ponds‟ next to a woodland block on the north
eastern site boundary indicates that there was some earlier milling activity
although there are no obvious historical references remaining on the
surface.
SENSORY EXPERIENCE
6.139 The site is experienced by travelling the lanes or tracks and paths which
cross the site or by viewing it from distant elevated vantage points. When
on the site itself, long views across the site and the surrounding landscape
tend to be intermittent due to the over grown hedgerows and these
compartmentalise views. The site tends to be viewed in the two parts
separated by Penny Hill Lane: To the north, the site is back-dropped by
the steep slopes of the opposite valley with longer views to the southern
districts of Rotherham; and to the south, views are dominated by the
rolling landform of the localised hills within the site and beyond. The
telecommunications mast located just south of the boundary dominates
these views. The development site is perceived as part of a broad
undeveloped ridge line of elevated country side when viewed from the hill
sides to the north and west which themselves tend to be characterised by
urban development.
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Penny Hill Wind Farm
Environmental Statement