Commissions: Countryside Planning

Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership, Aldershot, Hampshire

Review of Core Funding Options 2000-2010
(For Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership /Hampshire County Council)

We were appointed to carry out a review of the core funding requirements for the Blackwater Valley Recreation & Countryside Management Service. The Blackwater Valley is an extremely attractive area of countryside starting in Surrey's Waverley Borough & ending at the River Loddon in Berkshire's Wokingham District. It links in many sections with the restored Basingstoke canal. The service provides a strategic planning & management role designed to protect & enhance the valley environment. We interviewed key personnel from the local authorities located along the Blackwater Valley to identify their priorities & available funding resources.

Many aspects of the final report recommendations such as the establishment of a dedicated website & a riverside footpath along the whole length of the River Blackwater have been implemented by the management group aided by Hampshire County Council & Bracknell Forest Borough Council. For further information visit the Blackwater Valley website at www.blackwater-valley.org.uk

Alver Valley Feasibility Study, Gosport, Hampshire
(For Gosport Borough Council/Groundwork Solent)

We produced a visual assessment of the Alver valley between Rowner & Lee-on-the-Solent & drew up plans to provide access to new community facilities such as a country park visitor centre & a motorcycle scrambling circuit. New footpath & cycleway links were proposed & have been partly implemented along attractive north-south & east-west routes by a steering group representing Gosport Borough Council, Hampshire County Council, Groundwork Gosport & local community groups from Rowner & Lee-On-The-Solent.

Coastal Tourist Study in Sultanate of Oman- Al Mughsayl Bay/Wadi Shab
(For the Ministry of Tourism in the Sultanante of Oman)

We were commissioned by the Ministry of Tourism in the Sultanate of Oman to produce a feasibility study with costings for a number of delightful Omani coastal landscapes. Oman is promoting tourism throughout its territory & there is a strong determination to develop sensitively with respect to traditional architecture, geology, & wildlife. There are several attractive lush wadis located by the coast along with dramatic landscapes of limestone featuring blow holes or geysers, caves, & interesting rock formations. We provide a costed feasibility study to install an attractive timber footbridge across Wadi Shab that has been taken forward by the Ministry of Tourism. We also carried out a study of the dramatic coastline at Al Mughsayl to improve visitor facilities, interpretative signage, with sympathetic tree & shrub planting local to the area.