Preferred Options consultation document
Search representations
Results for East Anglian Orienteering Club search
New searchObject
Preferred Options consultation document
AOS E - land to the north of Shouldham
Representation ID: 94689
Received: 26/10/2019
Respondent: East Anglian Orienteering Club
Summary: As a representative of the sport of orienteering in the region, I object strongly to the plan to develop mineral extraction in area AOS E. Any such development would severely damage the value of the area as a venue for orienteering, and could lead to the permanent loss of a unique area.
No comparable substitute areas exist, and other existing mapped areas are also under threat. Loss of Shouldham Warren would have a permanent significant negative impact on orienteering in East Anglia.
Area AOS E corresponds closely to a mapped area regularly used for Orienteering at local and national level, in particular by Norfolk Orienteering Club and other clubs in the East Anglian Orienteering Association region. The development of mineral extraction in this area would severely impact the feasibility of planning orienteering events in future and the loss of this area as an orienteering venue would have a significant adverse impact on the club, and the orienteering community in Norfolk and the region. I personally have been involved in organising events here as well as participating, and it is a favorite of mine due to the combination of water features and varied forest, not found elsewhere in East Anglia. I know may colleagues feel the same. This is in addition to the value of the area as an accessible woodland that can be enjoyed simply by being able to visit and explore on foot.
There are no alternative areas that could replace this, for the purposes of our sport. Access to other orienteering venues in the region is increasingly limited by safeguards to protect wildlife (even though the sport itself has been shown not to have any adverse impact), and so it is not correct to suggest, as the assessment does, that loss of the area has a neutral impact because people can just go somewhere else. Specifically, as orienteers, we cannot.
Area AOS E corresponds closely to a mapped area regularly used for Orienteering at local and national level, in particular by Norfolk Orienteering Club and other clubs in the East Anglian Orienteering Association region. The development of mineral extraction in this area would severely impact the feasibility of planning orienteering events in future and the loss of this area as an orienteering venue would have a significant adverse impact on the club, and the orienteering community in Norfolk and the region. I personally have been involved in organising events here as well as participating, and it is a favorite of mine due to the combination of water features and varied forest, not found elsewhere in East Anglia. I know may colleagues feel the same. This is in addition to the value of the area as an accessible woodland that can be enjoyed simply by being able to visit and explore on foot.
There are no alternative areas that could replace this, for the purposes of our sport. Access to other orienteering venues in the region is increasingly limited by safeguards to protect wildlife (even though the sport itself has been shown not to have any adverse impact), and so it is not correct to suggest, as the assessment does, that loss of the area has a neutral impact because people can just go somewhere else. Specifically, as orienteers, we cannot.
