Green Way Signage Design Guide - Introduction

Introduction

1.1 Green Way is the collective name for spaces and routes that provide year-round walking and recreational opportunities that are intended to deflect visitors away from the sensitive areas of the New Forest National Park. Green Way comprises two main elements:

• provision of new areas of publicly accessible alternative natural recreational greenspace (ANRG); and
• enhancement of existing greenspace, public rights way and other permissive paths in all settlements where new development takes place.

1.2 Alongside the wider visitor management (including the provision of rangers for the New Forest European sites) and a monitoring programme, these form the New Forest District (outside of the National Park) Mitigation for Recreational Impacts on New Forest European Sites. Details of this programme are set out in the Supplementary Planning Document available to view at: https://www.newforest.gov.uk/article/1938/Recreational-Mitigation-Strategy

1.3 This guide provides further technical detail on the requirements and standards for the signage of Green Way projects.

Green Way Projects

Purpose

1.4 A high-quality signage scheme with a clear overarching strategy is required for each project to promote the key principles of Green Way and to build awareness in the local community.

1.5 The interpretation panels and signage should be consistently recognisable but designed sympathetically to the natural characteristics of their setting. Visual clutter should be avoided, whilst ensuring that users of the place are able to interpret and navigate the place.

1.6 The design and the choice of materials of the signage should contribute to a quality of attractiveness (usually naturalness) for informal recreation across the Green Way projects.

Scope

1.7 This guidance sets out the expected signage requirements and standards for Green Way projects; both those delivered on-site by developers as part of a residential-led development and those delivered off-site by New Forest District Council (NFDC) and its partners

1.8 Within the scope of this document is the guidance for the signage of dog activity areas within the Green Way projects. Whereas the signage expectations for children's play areas provided on ANRG is outside the scope of this document.

Strategy

1.9 A signage strategy will be expected to be prepared for each Green Way project. The strategy shall set out how the signage and interpretation panels have been designed and sited to enable the Green Way project to be understood and well used.

1.10 Each Green Way project should be concise and clear, illustrated through an annotated map of the Green Way and with key descriptive details (e.g. proposed text for interpretation panels) set out on 1-2 pages of an accompanying document (using appendices where appropriate).