SWOT ANALYSIS - Natural and Built Environment
|
Weaknesses
- Lack of a cohesive management strategy for the natural environment
- The importance of gardens in the natural environment not being valued by planners, owners, developers
- Poor management of our trees and hedges – low levels of awareness of habitat loss due to disease
- Poor management of the village pond and other aquatic habitats
- Small patches of Greenbelt that could be infill opportunities by smaller developers.
- Large numbers of unprotected trees allowing indiscriminate destruction of mature natural environments.
- Over development of residential plots.
- Poor drainage allowing overflow into the natural watercourses causing contamination of fragile ecosystems.
- No importance of Nature to some people
|
Strengths
- A rural village environment within M25 surrounded by farmland, footpaths and public open spaces
- High % of Hedges and Living boundaries– public and private
- Diverse number of Trees – public and private land
- Woodlands, Grasslands in public and private ownership
- Local Nature Reserve
- Natural grass verges to highways
- Village Pond and other private ponds
- Older properties with large gardens containing a range of valuable mature habitats
- Significant areas of Greenbelt
- Restricted development opportunities with the Village Centre due to Settlement Area.
- Great network of villagers willing to help look after the green spaces.
- Part of the Parish is within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and Area of Great Landscape Value (AGLV)
Lots of natural footpaths and unmade roads
|
|
Opportunities
- Protect and enhance the natural environment and biodiversity of Tatsfield by ensuring any future development include the importance of gardens as natural habitats
- Ensure that any re-development of existing properties includes, at least, a like for like replacement of habitats
- A presumption against the use of hard landscaping in front gardens – parking etc. unless natural habitat is improved as part of this.
- Develop a maintenance strategy for our public open spaces that encourages greater biodiversity – meadows – ponds - hedges – trees and woodland
- Provide information and advice for land and garden owners on conserving and enhancing the natural environment
- The Parish Council to purchase the playing fields and develop opportunities for the children and teenagers to enjoy the facilities.
- Set status of land to AONB or SSSI where applicable (Ninehams Road)
- Creation of new official footpaths connecting parts of the Parish.
- Review Bye-laws (Westmore Green- No Ball Games) to see if they are restricting the use of Green Spaces
- Change management of verges to encourage natural flora and fauna
|
Threats
- New housing development that does not include suitable habitats
- New housing development that removes hedges, trees but does not replace etc
- Development of existing, larger, properties and replacing with smaller units and gardens with loss of habitat
- Reduction in budgets for management of public grassland and woodland resulting in deterioration of these important habitats
- Loss of the playing fields (TDC Land) and Beaver Waterworld area (private) for housing development
- Development of the golf course and other private land for housing
- Loss of the village pond and other aquatic habitats
- Loss of front gardens to hard standing – loss of habitat – loss of landscape value – loss of visual amenity
- Risk to dark skies due to commercial development of site like Parkwood Golf Course.
- Loss of access to privately owned green spaces like Golf Course periphery and Gorsey Down.
|