Landscape Character Assessment

I (Jenny Gay) recently attended a Landscape Institute CPD event ‘Landscape Character Assessment Training’, where a renowned group of landscape specialists gathered to impart their experience, knowledge and thoughts.  It was a useful morning, running through the basic processes of Landscape Character Assessment (LCA), but for me it became more interesting towards the afternoon, with the speakers discussing their thoughts on landscape change and LCA methodology.

The two themes that interested me the most were how to incorporate landscape within Neighbourhood Plans and understanding peoples’ attitude to change in the landscape.

Local distinctiveness

As landscape professionals we are aware of national, regional and local landscape character assessment work.  The introduction of Neighbourhood Planning requires a more local understanding of the landscape in respect of directing development growth and focusing on local aspirations.  A finer grain understanding of the landscape identifies what matters to the local communities and why.  It also enables us to describe local distinctiveness, which is used to inform the nature and location of new development and opportunities for management of the landscape.

There is currently limited guidance on the inclusion of landscape within Neighbourhood Plans, and this is often something that local communities omit during their preparation of such plans.  Having recently completed a questionnaire in relation to the forthcoming Neighbourhood Plan in my Parish, I noted that landscape character was not a key consideration, although thoughts on important green links and spaces were invited.

Is this something our profession needs to push forward – how do we inform local communities?

Following discussions at the event, I believe that public consultation events are a means of gaining insight into local opinion but also where we, as professionals, can impart our knowledge and educate communities about understanding landscape.  Communities need to be able to reach out to us, and get landscape and planning professionals involved in the creation of their Neighbourhood Plan.  With this in mind, information and guidance on consideration of landscape in Neighbourhood Planning needs to be made available by local government.

Why are we scared of change?

Following on from thoughts on neighbourhood level landscape characterisation, is the attitude of people to landscape change.  My experience is that people generally view change to the landscape as negative, particularly in relation to housing development in the present climate.

Landscape Architects are specialists in reading the landscape, which is why it is important for us to be involved in planning, development and design from the start.  Our expertise and understanding should be used to inform changes to our landscape that meet future needs.

We must consider the physical appearance of the landscape but it is also key that we understand the meaning and value of the landscape, using regional texts and local knowledge to inform conclusions.  It then comes down to us providing a strong, narrative description of the landscape character that in turn informs our judgements of landscape sensitivity and capacity.  We can then determine what the implications upon the landscape would be if elements were lost.

Our existing landscapes have been created through change (natural and human), so why are we now trying to stop it?