South Ayrshire Local Plan

Green Spaces

Maintained (and other) green space makes a significant contribution to the environment of settlements, especially within residential areas. National planning guidance suggests that this contribution arises from a range of visual, amenity, townscape and recreational benefits. Green spaces are often used for more than one purpose, and even dedicated sports pitches may have more than one benefit to the community as a whole.

Green spaces also act as “green lungs” for urban areas, providing green landscape corridors, which are important for wildlife. The Council’s Wildlife Strategy emphasises the importance of wildlife corridors and green spaces more generally as providing an essential element of supporting wildlife in the wider environment. In addition a number of landscape corridors have been identified. These corridors play an important role in linking key areas of green space, and not surprisingly these often coincide with the wildlife corridors. The landscape corridors are outlined on the map of the Wildlife Strategy (Appendix II)

The Council has undertaken a fundamental review of green spaces within South Ayrshire by assessing the provision of different types and sizes of spaces especially in terms of the quality of these areas in relation to distances from residential and other catchment areas. Whilst the Plan seeks to safeguard all green space which is important to amenity or recreational use, some sites have been identified on the Proposals Map to emphasise their contribution to the wider environment. However, the Council also recognises that even small spaces may have significance to their locality and whilst these do not have strategic importance and are, therefore, not identified on the Proposals Map they may nonetheless be unable to absorb development without impact on the local environment or townscape. In such instances, development proposals shall require to be carefully assessed against the criteria of policy STRAT 5.

The Council recognises that green spaces are important local resources and will continue to safeguard them accordingly. However, it is recognised that not all functional green space (such as a dedicated sports pitch) have amenity merits and there may therefore be opportunities to enhance these facilities- for example through the provision of changing facilities or a more intensive use. Exceptionally, it may be acceptable to displace an existing facility to another site where the amenity value of the original site is not also a significant reason for its retention.

STRATEGIC POLICY ENV5

The Council will presume in favour of safeguarding from development all green spaces which are important to local amenity or recreational use. Recreational spaces includes sports fields, pitches, greens and other similar open air facilities. Those green spaces which are identified on the Proposals Map make, in addition to their local importance, a valued and valuable contribution to the wider environment.

NOTE 1 Development to provide facilities associated with an amenity or recreational open space may be acceptable if they meet the following criteria:

(i) where the development is appropriate in terms of scale, use and design to the existing character of the green space and there is no individual or cumulative adverse effect on the amenity or recreational value of that site; and
(ii) proposals for development that result in the loss of an existing facility must include measures to ensure the provision of a substitute facility of enhanced quality in an acceptable location; and

(iii) where any replacement facility is provided it must be within the same catchment area as the existing unless the Council decides otherwise.

PROPOSAL1

An area of 4.8 Hectares of land to the south of the existing sports facilities at Fullarton is allocated for use as sports pitches.

PROPOSAL1

An area of 4.8 Hectares of land to the south of the existing sports facilities at Fullarton is allocated for use as sports pitches.

The Council, through the principles of policies ENV3, ENV4 and ENV5, recognises the importance of maintaining a network of green corridors. The undeveloped areas of the Rivers Ayr and Rivers Doon are considered to be particularly significant in landscape, recreational and biodiversity terms. The River Doon area, especially, has a long established recognition of being environmentally sensitive and has been specifically safeguarded from development since the 1950s..

POLICY ENV7u

The Council will presume in favour of the protection of the banks of the River Ayr and River Doon, for their nature conservation interests, landscape importance and informal recreational purposes.

NOTE
In Policy ENV7 the reference to landscape importance means that the Council will have particular regard to development which affects the delicate balance of developed/undeveloped parts of these areas. Proposals which, by their very nature, alter this balance to the extent that their impact on the locality is significantly adverse will not be permitted.