Fencing
The type of fencing and its position can have a significant impact on the landscape of the South Downs National Park. Some fencing due to its location and type can alter the character of a landscape and views people may have of it.
The pattern of fields and their history is one characterising feature of the landscape.
- Make use of existing field boundaries, particularly those with natural features such as hedges and trees.
- Graze horses in pairs or herds if possible to reduce the need for additional fencing and improve well-being.
- Avoid the creation of individual turnout patches or small permanent enclosures.
- Where new boundaries are required, use contours and continue existing fence lines to create cohesiveness.
- Consider how the site may have changed and where old field boundaries have been lost, this may help inform decisions about where to put new fencing.
- Use equine wire netting and widely spaced wooden posts as preferred materials for permanent fencing.
- Use timber posts or black/brown/dark green plastic posts and dark electric rope or dark tape for semi-permanent fencing.
- For temporary fencing (days/weeks max) use dark plastic posts with electric rope or dark tape (existing white posts can be painted).
- Consider planting new native hedgerows along lost historic boundaries as a means of characteristic sub-division, as this kind of intervention could restore landscape character.
See the interactive South Downs National Park Landscape Character Assessment for further explanation about landscape character and using this to guide fencing installation.
Further advice can be sought from the SDNP.