Landscape Planning
WHLandscape has considerable experience in the field of landscape planning, with particular expertise in landscape assessment of development proposals in highly sensitive and valued landscapes. With a broad range of expertise, including providing expert witness evidence at planning appeals, WHLandscape is able to offer clients a comprehensive landscape planning service, from project inception through to the granting of planning permission and condition discharge.
Our core services focus on landscape assessment to support planning applications, ranging from straightforward Landscape Statements and Appraisals for small scale projects, to sophisticated and highly detailed Landscape and Visual Impact Assessments for inclusion within Environmental Statements. WHLandscape also has an established track record in providing landscape advice to Local Planning Authorities and other public bodies. Additionally, we offer a strategic landscape assessment service to guide projects in order that the consideration of the landscape becomes an integral element of development proposals at an early stage.
Where formal assessment is not required for small or uncontroversial projects, Landscape Statements can provide clients with quick turn-around reports, focused of specific aspects of a scheme or site. These can be as simple as desk top studies for inclusion within scoping reports, or more targeted site appraisals and feasibility studies to provide up front advice on the development potential and likely landscape and visual effects of sites.
Landscape and Visual Appraisals (LVA) offer a flexible and proportional tool to identify the potential effects of development proposals on landscape and visual amenity without the requirement for a formal Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA).
LVAs are best suited for smaller scale projects and those which are unlikely to be overly controversial. They are also helpful to understand the ability of a site to accept a potential development proposal and in helping to refine the proposals by identifying potential conflicts as the design stage progresses.
Landscape and Visual Impact Assessments (LVIA) provide a formal assessment of the likely effects of change resulting from development, both on the landscape as an environmental resource in its own right and on views and visual amenity. An LVIA is usually undertaken where the development proposed is large, complex or where there are possible noteworthy effects on sensitive landscapes.
These documents comprise detailed assessment methodologies and wide-ranging desk studies to help support both outline and detailed planning applications. WHLandscape also liaises with Local Authorities and other relevant third parties to ensure all aspects of the application are covered and that a precise and robust assessment is provided.
WHLandscape can also offer Townscape and Visual Impact Assessments (TVIA) that follow a similar methodology and workflow to an LVIA, but for urban sites where the character and composition of the built environment is assessed.
For more complex projects, where it has been determined that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required, WHLandscape can provide Landscape and Visual Impact Assessments (LVIA) as one of the technical chapters within the Environmental Statement (ES). It differs from other non-EIA LVIAs by including an assessment of the likely significance of the effects of change on the receiving environment resulting from proposed development. This work often requires a landscape input in the preliminary screening and scoping stages of the EIA.
The team at WHLandscape are also able to help in compiling ES documents and liaising with the other professionals who are providing technical chapters.