Response from Mr Keith Reed (Individual)
1. Mr Keith Reed (Individual) : 28 Nov 2018 19:51:00
Please make your comments in the box below. When referring to the schedule, please include the appropriate reference number e.g. MM1_AONB.
I am making my comments on the Minor Modifications, rather than the Main Modifications, here because there does not appear to be anywhere else to do so.
I wish to object to Proposed Minor Modification MIN43_AONB in relation to ‘Inset 3: Silverdale – Part of Key Settlement Landscape S260 removed’. I do not object to the deletion proposed but object on the basis that it fails to delete enough of S260 from the area defined. I propose that the Minor Modification be extended to delete all of S260, with the exception of the two fields to the south of S258 and west of S261 (south of Bradshawgate Farm) and the single field at the southern end of S260 (known as ‘The Lots’).
In summary the reason for this is that this land does not meet the criteria for the definition of a Key Settlement Landscape and that the inconsistency thereby introduced threatens to devalue the protection provided by KSLs, potentially leading to an implication that other areas of private open space adjoining Silverdale are of less value than the bulk of S260.
The nature and function of Key Settlement Landscapes is set out in modified text 4.3.2. It states that KSLs are areas within the settlements, that they bring the countryside into the settlements and that they all form an important part of the distinctive character of the settlements within which they lie.
KSL 260 is a significant tract of land in the ownership of the National Trust but does not for the most part lie within the settlement of Silverdale. Apart from at its northern and southern end, it does not bring the countryside into the settlement of Silverdale. It is significantly larger than the largest area of KSL in Arnside (A18/19 together with A22-24 and A12) and differs from it in that it is not surrounded an all sides by built development.
I am very familiar with views of this land and it is more remote than the other KSLs proposed for Silverdale (including the adjoining KSLs S258, S261 and S54) and than those in Arnside. When viewed from Cove Lane, Cove Road, and Birch Drive as well as from the footpath across the Lots, it appears as open countryside, no different in character from land east of St. Johns Avenue or west of Lindeth Road. Moreover the area is not under threat from development since it is National Trust ownership and so allocation as a KSL is unnecessary.
