What do you understand by Landscape Character Assessment? How can you help to safeguard Landscape Character? Why Landscape Character is important.

What do you understand by Landscape Character Assessment? How can you help to safeguard Landscape Character? Why Landscape Character is important.Landscape character is defined as the natural and historical characteristics of a landscape, that give it a sense of place and distinctive locality. For instance, the South Downs have a rolling topography. Sheep graze and bleat in fields, scattered trees, sloe thickets and hawthorn hedges rustle in the wind; its a very distinctive landscape character. The National Parks Authority thought so too; recently the South Downs have been granted National Park status.

Another different landscape character area? The Ashdown Forest; open, bracken strewn, heather lowland heathland, nonetheless windswept and wild looking with a certain distinctive “look” within the High Weald landscape character area. One more?
The Norfolk Broads are wetlands, a very different landscape character type to the Downs, but just as important in terms of landscape character, just as distinctive...

So, what elements make these very different,landscape character types distinctive?
When someone mentions the South Downs to me, conjured up in my mind is an image of its intrinsic landscape character. South Downs equals = sheep grazing the slopes of the Downs on a sunny day with blue skies stretching away.
Norfolk Broads? = man rowing a boat, bulrushes, wetland birds settling on dark blue water.. sunsets...

You get the picture.

Why not do a few of these yourself?

You will probably come up with your "favourite" landscapes and its what makes them distinctive that gives them...yes, you've guessed it... their “landscape character”!

So, why should we preserve and protect these landscape character areas? How can you make a start?

Look at the area in which you live. If you are lucky enough to live in an SLA (Special Landscape Area) or an AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) then there will be plenty of natural landscape features such as woods, hedges and farmland, old listed buildings.

What makes your area distinctive? What are the historic settlement patterns? There may be listed buildings, old barns, oast houses even, surrounded by fields with empty hop poles..(very distinctive.)

Are there any natural features that derive from the soils and the topography?
What are these? Are you sure? What about escarpments and scarp slopes, dip slopes, valleys and ponds. (Yes, I knew your O level geography would come in useful.)What about the landscape, is it managed? Are there animals or is it largely urban? Are there any areas which could be improved?
How could we do this? Can you think of things that you could do to help?

You may ask why anyone would want to start doing these things, why start asking these questions?
Its quite simple. When your local authority asks for feedback on its local plan, you will be able to put forward your ideas! Equally, you could start a new group to safeguard features that you like. Or join a society to find out more about your local landscape, its history, how it evolved, the communities it has served.

Landscape character assessment is a very useful tool in planning too. It helps planners to earmark areas for protection and this means that any new developments must be carefully located so as to preserve and enhance the landscape for future generations to enjoy. In many cases the long term protection of our landscape requires active improvements to a particular locality. Not just a preservation of a place in moth balls. It requires active involvement.

If you have questions about how to improve your local landscape please email;charmaine@landvision.co.uk
if you have a landscape design inquiry or question on landscape character assessment, call Landvision 01892 782200 or visit; www.landvision.co.uk and take a look at our website today.

Wadhurst Tennis Club Floodlighting Planning Application is successful due to help by Landvision Landscape plans and ecology report.

Wadhurst Tennis Club is successful in obtaining planning permission for floodlights at Wadhurst Tennis Club, Wadhurst Recreation Ground. Landvision helped to obtain this planning permission.

Landvision has recently helped to obtain planning permission for Wadhurst Tennis Club to install floodlights at their courts in Wadhurst Recreation Ground. Despite opposition from some nearby residents, Landvision's detailed planting plan has helped to set out and implement a landscape scheme at Wadhurst Rec Ground. Landvision also undertook a bat survey to support the planning application by Wadhurst Tennis Club. Thanks to this ecological work and to our landscape design plans, the whole community of Wadhurst can now enjoy walking and cycling to play tennis in the winter months and evenings, whereas previously they would have to travel miles to play on other courts.

The planning application was supported by detailed planting, designed and drawn up by our landscape architects which specified the planting of interesting and attractive trees with all year round interest, good autumn colour and blossom in spring. The trees and hedgerows now add species diversity and valuable wildlife interest to the areas around the tennis courts which were previously uninspiring grass banks and a flat area of grass.

The planning application was further supported by a bat survey by Landvision's ecologists which found that the proposed floodlighting would not affect bats. It is likely that further planting of trees and hedging that bats favour will also be undertaken as part of mitigation measures and in order to further enhance the area for wildlife.

The trees planted comprise;

Carpinus betulus Fastigiata- Fastigiate hornbeam- a tree which is well suited to the heavy clay soil and has lovely golden autumn foliage colour.

Other trees specified by Landvision's landscape planting for Wadhurst Tennis club include;

Malus "John Downie" – lovely Spring blossom and edible crab apples, great for bees.
Sorbus aucuparia – mountain ash, an atttractive native tree with feathery foliage and orange/red berries.
Ilex aquifolium – native holly, berries and evergreen cover for wildlife.

The hedging specified comprises;
Eleagnus x ebbingei, Euonymus japonicus, Ligustrum ovalifolium and Ilex aquifolium.

On the advice of Landvision's landscape managers, a regular programme of weed spraying and mulching has discouraged weed growth and assisted the much stronger growth and establishment of existing Fagus sylvatica (beech) hedging, which now reaches 2 metres high from a previous height of 1.2m high. The beech hedging gives all year round interest with bronze foliage retained in winter. The beech hedge has been supplemented by the planting design of additional holly, eleagnus and ligustrum hedges which now soften the court perimeters and add valuable all year round visual interest to the park.


Our landscape architects undertook the setting out of the planting schemes and contract managed the planting and maintenance of trees and hedges which was undertaken by specialist landscape contractors.

As a result of Landvision's landscape planning work, the community of Wadhurst and surrounding villages can now enjoy playing tennis all year round.

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