Landscape and Environment Studies

In a survey of residents’ views conducted in 2014, it was clear that the environment in Woodford is very important to the people who live here. The word environment encompasses a wide range of concepts, including natural features, wildlife, ecology, landscape, history, culture and people.

On behalf of Woodford Neighbourhood Forum, the Management Committee commissioned a Heritage and Character Assessment by AECOM and a Habitat Distinctiveness Study by Cheshire Wildlife Trust (CWT), which have contributed to the evidence being compiled to support the policies currently being drafted for the Neighbourhood Plan.

To complement these largely desk-top, professional studies, members of the Management Committee have conducted surveys on the ground, with kind permission of local landowners. These aimed to provide detail of key local habitats for wildlife in the farmland and open spaces, with the focus on trees, woodland, hedgerows, ponds and streams in our Neighbourhood Area.

The full report of our Woodford Environment Surveys can be found here.

The detailed data has been entered into a map of Natural Features which can be found here.

More than three quarters of the land in the Neighbourhood Area is  farmland (with a small amount of amenity land). Less than one quarter forms the built curtilage and roads. A map of land use in Woodford can be found here.

These volunteer and professional studies have provided a comprehensive and detailed description of the environment in Woodford, helping us all to protect what we love.

They have revealed a predominantly rural area with a deep history, beautiful landscapes, and numerous magnificent mature native trees and hedgerows, many of which will be hundreds of years old, together with many ponds and ditches, providing ecological niches for our fellow inhabitants in the complex web of life on earth.