Green Infrastructure

What is Green Infrastructure?

'Green infrastructure' is the green assets within and between our settlements.

Instead of looking at green assets individually, policy and guidance encourages us to take a more joined-up approach and look at them as a network of green infrastructure. This helps to identify opportunities for improving and linking green assets such as open space, river corridors, allotments, footpaths, cycle ways, woodland, parks and gardens and historic sites.

What are the benefits of good quality green infrastructure?

Looking at our green assets in a more joined up way can achieve benefits including:

• Addressing climate change
• Tackling flooding risks
• Improving the look and quality of where we live
• Improving health and social well-being
• Increasing tourism
• Increasing land and property values
• Sustaining economic growth and investment
• Enhancing recreational and leisure opportunities
• Protecting and enhancing landscape character and biodiversity

How can we make our green infrastructure better?

The green infrastructure within Rotherham forms part of the character of our landscape and townscape and contributes to the enjoyment of where we live. However, there are opportunities for improving what we have and making sure that future development incorporates high quality green infrastructure as well as the traditional grey infrastructure (roads, utilities and the like). A key foundation of which is the:

Yorkshire & Humber Green Infrastructure Mapping Project

Natural England has identified a network of green infrastructure corridors across Yorkshire and the Humber.

The Yorkshire and Humber Green Infrastructure Mapping Project was carried out to help local authorities protect and create green infrastructure through their Local Development Frameworks (LDFs). Natural England, working in partnership with all local authorities in the region, as well as other partners, worked to ensure a consistent approach was taken to green infrastructure mapping.

The output from the project is available from the Natural England Web Site

The methodology explains the process used and suggests some uses of the data. The results are presented as written descriptions of the corridors which include highlights of the key sites and functions, and as regional maps.

Over 130 green infrastructure corridors were identified across the region and placed in a simple hierarchy (Regional, Sub-regional and District) based on fifteen green infrastructure functions, the corridor size and local knowledge of initiatives and likely opportunities for interventions. Of these, 8 are of direct relevance to Rotherham.

Their geographic extent can also be seen on our ROAM maps.

A further local corridor (Anston Brook & Sandbeck) was also identified during the project, but as it performed 7 or less functions, it was not taken forward within the Natural England mapping process. This was because it was not considered strategic enough to appear on a regional or sub-regional map. However, we have logged this corridor and identified its extent within our ROAM maps so that it can now be considered further for inclusion in Rotherham's LDF, particularly as it may link in to the more strategic corridors at Maltby and Chesterfield Canal.

Issues to consider before making comments

• The Natural England work presented was completed at a Regional scale of 1:50,000 and as such formed a snapshot in time. We are therefore not requesting any suggestions that would impact on this Regional picture
• However, we fully understand the need to refine the GI corridors at a local scale to reflect changing landuse, Council policy, new evidence and community need. As such, it is entirely reasonable that the corridors are refined at appropriate scales below 1:50,000 to reflect the more local scale and to possibly define new local corridors that were not picked up as regionally significant
• The key value of the corridors is to highlight the linkages between GI assets. Therefore any changes to the boundaries need to be based on sound evidence (i.e. through answering those questions asked within Issues 13 & 14 of the Sites & Policies DPD) and not simply a desire to limit or expand them. Similarly we would recommend using defined edges to any new or revised corridors
• In assessing changes to the corridors it is important to stress that they are representative at regionally significant scale and are based on multi-functional assets and linkages. Very small scale sites or ones which served only one or two functions were deliberately omitted
• This work is about infrastructure i.e. networks that add up to more than the sum of their parts. Any additions need to contribute to the concept of infrastructure and not simply a bolt on which primarily serves another purpose
• We would also caution against an approach based on tidying up the edges of corridors or narrowing them to the exact boundaries of footpaths as this could potentially involve a lot of work for little or no gain

How to comment

Views on Rotherham's Green Infrastructure are being sought as part of consultation on the Local Development Framework. Please respond to us via our online consultation portal - provide link to Limehouse by the end of the consultation on 16th September 2011.

Further points of interest

We are also currently consulting on a new green infrastructure policy in the Core Strategy consultation - policy reference CS8 - which seeks to improve existing green infrastructure and ensure that development includes carefully planned green infrastructure.

The South Yorkshire Green Infrastructure Strategy, produced by South Yorkshire Forest Partnership*, provides a series of ambitious, high-level goals, which are supported by the kind of proposals that can deliver these goals. Also, a masterplan is included which identifies priority areas for improvement in specific locations. Aspects of this document may in due course be considered for adoption as a Supplementary Planning Document. Please note, however, that we are not consulting on the Strategy at this time.

In due course, the Natural England mapping project, the South Yorkshire Green Infrastructure Strategy and the outcomes of this current consultation will provide the basis for future preparation of a Rotherham Green Infrastructure Strategy. This will set Rotherham's priorities for green infrastructure.

* This document represents Part 1 of the South Yorkshire Green Infrastructure strategy.  Part 1 is an advocacy document steered via a partnership, including Rotherham MBC. The content contained within this document is currently undergoing publishing before being widely distributed; therefore this PDF is for RMBC use only.   The authors of the strategy (South Yorkshire Forest Partnership) authorise acceptable use of this PDF file.  Each PDF file user may view, download, make one copy, or make one print, of the PDF file.  We ask that you do not distribute, or transfer the PDF or printed file; any permitted copies of the PDF file shall retain the copyright notice, and any other proprietary notices contained in the file. Acceptable use of the PDF file does not include (1) resale of the PDF file or copies (2) republishing the content (3) publishing excerpts (4) editing or modification of the PDF file (5) posting on network servers or distribution by electronic mail or from electronic storage devices, and (6) translation to other languages or conversion to other electronic formats, without prior consent.

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Last update: 09/07/2011