Landscape Planning

Landscape Planning guides change to deliver positive effects upon landscapes, their character and the way they function.

Landscape planners work both strategically and at a site level to help inform both the principle of a change and its detailed design. The following sets out some key national and local context.

More information can be found in the Guidance section.

National

Proposing changes within a National Park is a privilege and responsibility. The Defra Circular sets out what is different about developing in Nationally Protected Landscapes.

Used alongside the Defra Circular, the National Planning Policy Framework [NPPF] sets expectations for how landscape should be considered within Protected Landscapes, including National Parks. It affords them and their setting, the highest level of protection.

Natural England are the Government’s Statutory advisor on Landscape. They produce guidance on landscapes which is referenced in the Guidance section.

Landscape change proposed through the planning system is expected to meet the SDNP’s statutory first purpose; to conserve and enhance, natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage, or in other words – landscape.
Local

Landscape change proposed through the planning system is expected to meet the SDNP’s statutory first purpose; to conserve and enhance, natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage, or in other words – landscape.

The best way to achieve this is to consider landscape first, before any decisions are made. This means considering every element of landscape, not only views – and far more than just aesthetics. More details about this can be found here.

To help guide a Landscape-led Approach the South Downs Local Plan sets out a series of Policies. The Plan should be read as a whole, rather than choosing policies to meet. The majority of the Local Plan policies relate to landscape and together with landscape evidence, these policies guide what might be achievable on a site.