The mixed farming and woodland character of the parish should be preserved.
The countryside should be maintained and enhanced, with the emphasis on wildlife and habitat conservation and a tranquil and safe rural environment.
Little Wenlock is recognised within the Wrekin Local Plan as a particularly sensitive countryside area, containing, as it does, the only part of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the Borough, three of its eight SSSIs, its only Local Nature Reserve and the largest single area of its designated Wildlife Sites and Ancient Woodland.
This sensitivity is made all the more important by the close proximity of these valuable landscape and countryside resources to the expanding urban area of Telford. And by the fact that, unlike much of the open area in and around the town, little if any of the parish is considered to be derelict land.
A substantial part of the parish is, furthermore, recognised as a special case in both the Shropshire Structure Plan and the Shropshire Minerals Local Plan for the cumulative impact of coal and fireclay working in the area. As such, with Broseley/Shirlett, it is accorded special status in minerals planning policy (M21D).
The Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and its associated Ancient Monument, SSSI, Nature Reserves, Wildlife Sites and Ancient Woodland are, without doubt, one of the Boroughís greatest environmental and ecological assets. Not least for the fact that, in the Wrekin, they represent a significant part of its identity.
The parish considers it essential that these assets are protected from development and preserved from degradation, both through excessive or inappropriate use and as a result of neglect.
Equally important to protect and preserve - and perhaps even more vulnerable for their size and more isolated nature - are the SSSI at Lydebrook Dingle, the Wildlife Sites at Marmers Covert and Lydebrook Dingle, and the Ancient Monument at New Works Wood.
Given the delicate ecological balance which exists between these designated areas and their surrounding habitats, the parish strongly believes that the protection accorded them must extend to the areas of open land in their immediate proximity.
In many cases, this land provides a vital wildlife bridge between the designated areas as well as an important landscape setting and context for them.
The main areas are identified in Maps 2-6.
Agriculture, and to a lesser extent forestry, has been the main force responsible for shaping the post-industrial landscape of the area.
Farming remains the main land use and its primarily mixed grazing livestock nature is vital to the preservation of a landscape characterised by relatively small fields, substantial hedgerows and numerous coppices and areas of woodland.
The rearing of game-birds for shooting has become increasingly important to the maintenance of this countryside pattern as financial pressures on traditional dairy, beef and sheep enterprises have grown.
The few remaining farming businesses in the parish have yet to seriously diversify from their mixed livestock roots. However, increasing levels of diversification seem inevitable in the face of the continued decline in profitability of these enterprises.
Equally inevitable under these circumstances is a progressive growth in the size and intensity ofY´ livestock production as the farms seek progressively greater economies of scale.
This presents the parish with a serious dilemma. To preserve the character of the countryside it clearly needs to see the continued dominance of profitable grazing livestock systems. The alternatives are an agriculture increasingly dependent on arable crop production or a progressive decline in the quality of the existing pastureland and its maintenance, both of which would be to the detriment of the present rural character.
At the same time, increasing intensification of existing enterprises could be equally damaging, leading to the use of ever-larger machinery and more cost-efficient operations, resulting in increased field amalgamation, noise and traffic hazard. The greater pollution hazard presented by larger livestock units (particularly those under acute financial pressure) also needs to be taken into account. As does the pressure to accept farm diversifications that may have their own negative impacts in order to ensure the continuation of the core grazing livestock systems.-
A similar dilemma exists as far as the wooded areas of the parish are concerned. These clearly need to be managed while being protected from the sort of developments - including large scale timber removal and recreational activities - that would adversely affect their character and ecological value.
Rather than merely preserving it, the parish is keen to enhance the richness and diversity of the countrysideís flora and fauna.
In particular, it wishes to see the most sympathetic management of existing wildlife resources and habitats; the improved maintenance and planting of verges; and additional hedgerow trees.-
At the same time, it is conscious of the need to carefully manage the bodies of open water, ponds and streams (especially the Lyde Brook and its tributaries) in the area for greatest wildlife and landscape value.´ In this context, it believes, the clearance of overgrown ponds is important.-
The parish sees Countryside Stewardship schemes undertaken by farmers and landowners as an important means of securing such environmental benefits. -
Also valuable in this respect, it believes, are conservation agreements, commitments and undertakings obtained as part of planning applications, together with financial and other support for specific projects from grant-giving bodies and organisations.
In providing access to the countryside for residents and visitors, the parish's extensive network of footpaths, bridleways and Roads Used as Public Paths (RUPPs) is considered to be a particularly important asset. While there is no major desire to add new rights of way, the parish wishes to ensure the greatest possible appropriate use of the existing network through unambiguous designations, effective maintenance and adequate signage.
As far as designations are concerned, the reclassification of RUPPs to footpath, bridleway or byway status is an important current priority; especially so given recent interest from external organisations in ëopening upí green lanes for recreational vehicle use.
Also important, with the growing popularity of horse riding and the increasing volumes of traffic using the parishís lanes, is the effective classification of bridleways to ensure the needs of both walkers and riders are adequately catered for.
The extensive review currently being undertaken through the North Telford Parish Paths Partnership is designed to identify and classify all rights of way, ensuring they are provided with the appropriate legal status to minimise misuse and disputes.
As one of the Boroughís greatest countryside assets, the Wrekin and Ercall attract growing numbers of visitors each year. This is placing increasing presure on local facilities - most obviously car parking, refuse disposal and public toilets.
Roadside parking has reached the stage that it causes serious road safety concerns. Inadequate waste bins are compounding the local litter problem. And the closure of the public toilets has created difficulties for many visitors.
The parish believes Telford & Wrekin Council needs to prioritise the maintenance of this important Borough amenity if it is not to become overwhelmed by these pressures.
The narrowness of many of the parishís lanes and the growing volume of road traffic using them presents an increasing road safety problem. All the more so given the extent to which local rights of way are interconnected by these lanes.
Balancing the needs of walkers, horse-riders, cyclists and drivers is no easy matter. Yet it is becoming particularly critical in several locations - including the area around the Wrekin - where the lanes are especially narrow and their recreational use notably high.
Vehicle size and weight restrictions and road signs can help, but these do not address the main problem of cars travelling too fast and with too little appreciation of the dangers involved. Nor can traffic calming measures which are only permissible within statutory speed limits.
Under these circumstances, the parish is interested in designating certain of its roads as Quiet Lanes to allow them to be managed to prioritise the needs of walkers, cyclists and horse riders within a statutory designation.
Quiet Lanes are considered especially appropriate in the areas around the Wrekin because of their recreational popularity and existing network of rights of way - including both the parishís long distance paths.
Quiet Lane designation is also seen as an effective way of maintaining the tranquillity of such areas and maximising their value for recreational enjoyment.
The parish has suffered the deprivations of open cast coal mining in repeated sites across a substantial area over several decades. Although temporary in nature, the mining process has resulted in considerable noise, dust, disruption and loss of amenity to large numbers of residents over an extended period.
Restorations have, in many cases, left much to be desired, resulting in a far less attractive and ecologically valuable countryside than the landscapes replaced.
The Development Plan recognises the cumulative impact of open cast mining on the area, granting it special status in local mineral planning terms.
Now the major areas of local derelict land have been reclaimed and the axis of mining has moved away from the area, the parish believes the adverse impacts of coal extraction far outweigh any economic or community benefits to be derived from it.
The ready availability of imported coal and the declining popularity of the fuel as an energy source means there is currently no national need for open cast coal that cannot be met from alternative, less damaging sources.
Whereas previously regarded as derelict by virtue of past coal mining, the extent of natural regeneration on the land above the bulk of the parishís remaining coal reserves means these areas are now regarded as valuable landscape resources in their own right. Part of the locality has even recently been designated an Ancient Monument in recognition of its historical value.
The scale of recent housing developments on the edge of Telford in close proximity to these areas further makes open-casting, with its associated fears of health problems as well as dust and noise nuisance, even more unacceptable in the parish.
Voids created by open-cast mining have meant the parish has been the location of a series of landfilling operations over many years. The final site has a projected further lifetime of 4-5 years.
Serious problems have been experienced with this land use. Even with modern licence conditions, poor operation and supervision of sites has resulted in a catalogue of vermin, litter, smell, poor road condition and other complaints. As well as repeated failures to comply with licence conditions, the present operator has recently been the subject of a major court case for falsifying records and illegal disposals.
Restorations have generally been poor, leaving an inevitable legacy of prominent venting pipework, flare stacks and minimal vegetation value. And one site on the edge of New Works has resulted in long-term gas migration problems for local residents.
While accepting the need for land-filling, the parish believes it has borne more than its fair share of waste operations to date and is firmly opposed to future developments that might create suitable land-fill sites.