Craigavon Plateau Landscape

Key Characteristics

• Undulating plateau, with steeper slopes on the edges of the Donaghcloney Valley and the Upper Bann valley.
• Small, winding, steep-sided valleys on the southern slopes of the plateau.
• Varied landscape pattern, with pasture, paddocks and small-holdings, as well as some larger farms and estates.
• Numerous hedgerows and roadside trees.
• Extensive recent urban and infrastructure development, particularly on the periphery of the larger villages and the urban fringe.
• Prominent churches are local landmarks.

Landscape Description

The Craigavon Plateau is the south western tip of the Upper Ballinderry Plateau area. It is found to the south of the Lough Neagh Peatlands landscape and the M1 Motorway and includes the extensive urban areas of Lurgan, Craigavon, and east Portadown. The plateau has a gently rolling or undulating landform, with steeper slopes on the margins of the Donaghcloney Valley, to the north east and to the valley of the Upper Bann to the south. Small, winding, steep-sided valleys are attractive features on the southern edges of the plateau. The landscape is characterised by a relatively small-scale pattern of fields bounded by hedgerows, hedgerow trees, rural roads and roadside ash, beech, oak and scattered conifers. Other tree species include sweet chestnut and poplar.

The continuity of the landscape pattern is broken by the A26 and B3 roads and by extensive, scattered residential and roadside development in some areas. However, substantial pockets of relatively tranquil, rural landscape remain and there are many stone walls, gate posts, stone bridges, and some thatched cottages. Church spires are often local landmarks, but the character of most settlements, such as Bleary and Waringstown, is dominated by extensive new housing estates and scattered peripheral development. Landuses include pasture, horse grazing, horticulture (including some orchards) and small blocks of mixed woodland. There is a more unified agricultural landscape pattern on the slopes overlooking the Donaghcloney Valley, where land quality is relatively high.

Landscape Condition and Sensitivity to Change

The quality and condition of the landscape is mixed; a result of the influence of the urban fringe and the associated wide range of land uses. There are pockets of good quality farmland on the plateau but also areas of neglect, particularly towards the River Bann valley. The sensitivity of this plateau landscape is generally low, although the steeper slopes on the margins of the River Bann and the Lagan valley are more visible and therefore more sensitive. Vertical elements and large-scale buildings would be prominent and inappropriate on the plateau, but small-scale residential and mixed development could be accommodated if carefully designed and associated with new structure planting which integrates and reinforces the existing farmland pattern.

Principles for Landscape Management

• The deterioration in the quality and character of local roadside landscapes would be counteracted by extensive tree planting schemes which are carefully designed to enhance the character and diversity of local settlements, particularly at principal entry points.

Principles for Accommodating New Development

• The existing character of the smaller villages and plateau settlements is threatened by extensive, relatively homogeneous new development; further new development could be subject to a local design guide which identifies and analyses the traditional patterns and relationships between landscape and settlement so that these can be used as a model for the future.
• There is little scope for further built development on the edges of the Lagan and Upper Bann valleys unless it is very carefully sited and designed and associated with new hedgerow and tree planting; elsewhere, new development can be integrated within the landscape if it is planned strategically and grouped in clusters rather than along roads.