Vitacress Salads is preparing a planning application to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to seek planning permission for the creation of new wetlands at Lower Link Farm.
This website provides more information on the proposals, and invites the submission of comments, as part of pre-application consultation on the proposals. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, this consultation is being undertaken online.
The Lower Link Farm site is approximately 21 hectares in area and is situated to the south of the village of St Mary Bourne in Hampshire.
Lower Link Farm is used for the cultivation of watercress and for the washing and preparation of salads and related products grown elsewhere prior to distribution to the retail market. The latter activities take place in the packhouse building located in the centre of the site.
The current water management system on site abstracts groundwater from the underlying Chalk aquifer via a number of abstraction wells on the site. The water is then used to irrigate watercress bed blocks before discharge to the Bourne Rivulet.
Water is also abstracted from the ground and used for washing salad within the packhouse building, and is then used to irrigate three watercress bed blocks before discharge to the eastern channel of the Bourne Rivulet
The abstractions and discharges are all controlled under Environment Agency Permits.
Vitacress proposes to further improve the quality of discharge waters through a wetland pond system which will involve the creation of three new wetland pond areas within the site.
Detailed Design Plan Overview
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One will be created above the existing eastern channel discharge point; one created above the existing Bourne Rivulet discharge point; and a third (and largest) new pond system created to the north of the existing watercress beds and Leylandii hedge in the northern meadow. After confirmation from the Environment Agency, the new wetland ponds will not be lined. The images on this page illustrate the proposals – detailed plans will be submitted as part of the planning application.
Top Meadow Plan View
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Western Channel Plan View
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Eastern Channel Plan View
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Water from the existing agricultural and packhouse operations on site will be directed to these 3 new wetland pond systems prior to discharge to the Bourne Rivulet. A new additional settlement tank is also proposed as part of the project, to be located in the centre of the site. This tank will provide holding capacity to ensure that the new wetland pond systems can be managed as wetland areas and do not dry out. Other associated infrastructure such as underground pipes and pumps, a plant room and parabolic screens are also proposed. Landscaping and habitat creation in the form of planting and raised landscaped walkways for maintenance purposes are also included within the proposals.
Proposed Pond Section
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Proposed Swale Section
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Subject to the grant of planning permission, the proposed wetland pond system would be constructed during 2021 and 2022 in a number of discrete phases. Plant and equipment would mostly be brought to site and remain for the duration of the works, moving between pond locations. Construction is currently anticipated to last for three periods of three months each, including landscaping and reinstatement of the completed site.
New Settlement tank, screens and below ground pipework
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Top Meadow Indicative Sections
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The new wetland pond system will enable farm and packhouse water to be treated through a complex range of processes including sedimentation, nutrient uptake and pathogen reduction through Ultra Violet from natural sunlight.
The scheme will not only function by mimicking the water treatment properties of a natural wetland, it will also provide additional benefits such as creating wildlife habitats, improving visual impacts and natural pest management. The new wetland pond system provides an opportunity to resource educational visits, and is specifically designed to be low energy and low maintenance, as opposed to using conventional engineered water treatment options such as Ozone.
Top Meadow Planting Regime
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Western Channel Planting Regime
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Eastern Channel Planting Regime
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Detailed assessments of potential impacts of the construction and operation of the scheme are being undertaken as part of the preparation of an Environmental Impact Assessment. This will be reported in an Environmental Statement, to be submitted as part of the planning application.
There will be construction activities on site for the duration of construction, and this has the potential to give rise to localised temporary impacts. These will be minimised and mitigated by the adoption of best practice construction techniques and adoption of measures including limiting construction hours, use of dust suppression measures, construction traffic routeing etc. These will be set out in detail in the planning application.
The construction of the wetland pond system will change the visual appearance of the site, and the site is in a sensitive location within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and adjoining Conservation Areas. However, the ponds have been located and designed to be natural forms within the landscape and are predicted, once completed, to be beneficial in landscape terms. The proposed new settlement tank is located centrally within the site and will be seen in the context of the existing buildings.
A detailed assessment of flood risk, water quality, hydrology and ecological impacts is being completed, in close consultation with the Environment Agency. From the work undertaken to date, the scheme is not predicted to give rise to increased flood risk elsewhere, nor to lead to adverse water quality, hydrological or ecological impacts. On the contrary, the scheme is proposed to deliver environmental benefits through the enhanced water treatment and new habitats that will be created.
Having read the information on this page, we would welcome your views on the proposed wetland pond system scheme.
If you would like to submit your comments, please use the online feedback form provided below, or alternatively send an email direct to our project team.
Comments will be taken into consideration by Vitacress as part of its planning application and a summary of the comments received, and Vitacress’ response to them will be included in the planning application.
Please provide any comments by 25th January 2021.