| Archaeological sites: |
Archaeological sites that are listed in a schedule compiled by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and are protected by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The data available in Interactive Maps indicate only areas considered as having high archaeological potential as it is not possible to show all archaeological sites known.
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| Areas of special character: |
Areas with a particular period or character worthy of protection, but not justified as to merit the comprehensive protection afforded to a conservation area. |
| Areas of special landscape importance: |
Areas designated to protect the open countryside character or special landscape qualities of an area, particularly where land uses or built development would have a detrimental impact.
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| Buildings of traditional landscape value: |
Buildings of particular interest, but which are not of such merit that they are included on the statutory Department for Culture, Media and Sport list of listed buildings. |
| Conservation areas: |
Areas given statutory protection under the Planning Acts, in order to preserve and enhance their unique character. Conservation areas very often contain listed buildings. Wokingham Borough has 13 existing conservation areas. |
| Countryside: |
Land outside the boundaries of the defined settlement areas.
(see policy WCC1 of the Wokingham District Local Plan document). |
| Flash flood locations: |
Addresses affected by flash flooding during July 2007. |
| Green belt: |
An area designated to protect against inappropriate development in order to check unrestricted urban sprawl, safeguard the countryside from urban encroachment, prevent towns merging, preserve the special character of historic towns and assist urban regeneration. The area of green belt in the Wokingham Borough forms part of the Metropolitan Green Belt surrounding Greater London. |
| Green wedges and gaps: |
Green wedges are areas of open space penetrating, partly enclosed by, or separating identified settlements. Green gaps comprise of open land which provides physical or visual separation between distinct identified settlements. Development in these areas, that would lead to coalescence and threaten their essential function in the physical and visual separation of settlements, will not be permitted.
(see policy WCC2 of the Wokingham District Local Plan document) |
| Land liable to flooding: |
Areas of land liable to flooding, as defined by the Environment Agency. Development in these areas could cause increased flood risk in surrounding areas and downstream.
Please note.The flood plain maps will be altered and updated over time and the version viewed on Interactive Maps should be used as only an indicative map. The developer must therefore check with the Council or the Environment Agency for the latest available version on the extent of flood risk in the Borough. |
| Listed buildings: |
Building of special or architectural interest that is included on a statutory Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s list. A listed building in England is assigned a grade from I, II* or II. Can also include structures other than buildings, such as walls, bridges and telephone boxes. |
| Local nature reserves (LNRs): |
Areas designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 as being of particular importance to nature conservation, and where public understanding of nature conservation issues is encouraged. There are five LNRs in the Wokingham Borough. |
| National Trust sites: |
Land owned by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, and therefore protected under the National Trust Act 1907 (and amendments). |
| Public open spaces: |
Areas of land provided in urban and rural areas as open space or for public recreational facilities. These can be publicly or privately owned. |
| Sites of special scientific interest: |
Protected areas of nature conservation or wildlife interest, designated by Natural England under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000). They are determined against national criteria of special scientific interest for flora, fauna, geological or physiographic features. |
| Sites of urban landscape value: |
The concept that there are within settlements open areas that should be protected. They are important to local character and amenity. These sites are primarily important in landscape terms, but could additionally include areas of wildlife and recreational importance. |
| Wildlife heritage sites: |
Sites of local importance for nature conservation, which have been identified against agreed criteria in conjunction with the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). These sites do not have the same status or protection as Sites of Special Scientific Interest or Local Nature Reserves, however Wildlife Heritage Sites enjoy priority status for conservation management grants and their value is taken into account in planning decisions. |
| Other map symbols: |
The background maps that our own data is displayed on are owned by Ordnance Survey. If you would like to find out more about the features on these maps, please visit the Ordnance Survey website. |
