Annex 1 — Check­list for assess­ment of effects on Spe­cial Land­scape Qual­it­ies (SLQs)

This Check­list includes the steps which need to be taken to assess the effects of a pro­pos­al on Spe­cial Land­scape Qual­it­ies (SLQ). Refer to the main guid­ance, includ­ing appen­dices for more detailed information.

Step 1 Review and describe the proposal

• Review and describe the pro­pos­al (includ­ing asso­ci­ated ele­ments such as access tracks, bor­row pits, light­ing, drain­age and plant­ing), focus­ing on aspects rel­ev­ant to poten­tial effects on the SLQs.

• Refer to rel­ev­ant sup­port­ing mater­i­al, e.g. design state­ment, Envir­on­ment­al Impact Assess­ment Report (EIAR), Land­scape and Visu­al Impact Assessment/​Appraisal (LVIA/LVA) and/​or visu­al­isa­tions and Zone of The­or­et­ic­al Vis­ib­il­ity (ZTV) maps.

By the end of Step 1 you should have:

• A sum­mary of the pro­pos­al that focuses on aspects rel­ev­ant to the SLQs

Step 2 Identi­fy the SLQs that may be affected by the proposal

Step 2a Refer to rel­ev­ant information

• Refer to the SLQ report for the Nation­al Scen­ic Area or Nation­al Park and the SLQ descrip­tions (plus SLQ maps if available).

• Refer to oth­er land­scape mater­i­al which may provide more inform­a­tion or con­text for the SLQs. This may include:

  • Land­scape Char­ac­ter Assessment
  • Coastal Char­ac­ter Assessment
  • Wild Land Area description
  • Sites of his­tor­ic sig­ni­fic­ance descriptions

Step 2b Site vis­it and identi­fy key SLQs

• Identi­fy on site the likely key SLQs that are rel­ev­ant to and might be affected by the proposal.

• Con­sider how the indi­vidu­al key SLQs come togeth­er and are exper­i­enced by people.

• Con­sider how the SLQs are exper­i­enced from dif­fer­ent parts of the NSA/ Nation­al Park, includ­ing whilst mov­ing through the area and from key loc­a­tions (for example arrival, exit or cross­ing points, hill tops, or pub­lic attractions).

• Identi­fy assess­ment points/​routes for assess­ing poten­tial effects on the key SLQs.

• Con­sider from where the pro­pos­al would be vis­ible in rela­tion to the SLQs iden­ti­fied above.

Step 2c Identi­fy the study area

• Identi­fy the area over which the pro­pos­al is likely to have effects on the key SLQs.

• Pro­duce a map of the study area show­ing its bound­ary, loc­a­tion of all ele­ments of the pro­pos­al and the assess­ment points.

Step 2^d Assess the sens­it­iv­ity of the key SLQs to the proposal

• Assess the sens­it­iv­ity of the key SLQs iden­ti­fied (step 2b) to the pro­pos­al with­in the study area (step 2c).

• Con­sider wheth­er SLQs may be grouped based on being exper­i­enced togeth­er and hav­ing sim­il­ar sens­it­iv­ity to the pro­pos­al. If SLQ are grouped, explain the reas­ons behind each of these groups.

Step 2^e Con­sult rel­ev­ant organisations

• Dis­cuss and agree key SLQs and pro­posed study area with rel­ev­ant decision-mak­ing author­ity and/​or consultees.

By the end of Step 2 you should have:

• A sum­mary of the key SLQs, any group­ings of these and their sensitivity
• A map of the study area show­ing its bound­ary, loc­a­tion of all ele­ments of the pro­pos­al and assess­ment points
• Sum­mary of decision-maker and/​or con­sul­tees’ responses and how these have/​will be con­sidered and addressed

Step 3 Assess­ment of effects on SLQs and design objectives

Step 3a Design object­ives in dir­ect response to SLQs

• Identi­fy design object­ives in dir­ect response to the key SLQs iden­ti­fied in Step 2 and the pro­pos­al (examples in Table 1 of the main guid­ance document).

• Con­sider how the pro­posed design may con­serve and enhance the SLQs.

Step 3b Assess­ment of effects on SLQS

• Assess the effects of all ele­ments of the pro­pos­al on the key SLQs (includ­ing cumu­lat­ive effects and primary (embed­ded) mitigation).

• Assess the sig­ni­fic­ance of these effects (assign­ing defined levels if useful).

Step 3c Fur­ther mit­ig­a­tion, design amend­ment and final assess­ment of resid­ual effects

• Identi­fy if any fur­ther mitigation/​enhance­ment meas­ures could be imple­men­ted to avoid, min­im­ise and/​or com­pensate for any pre­dicted sig­ni­fic­ant effects on key SLQs. Make changes to the design of the pro­pos­al as a consequence.

• Assess the sig­ni­fic­ance of resid­ual effects of the pro­pos­al on the key SLQs after all mit­ig­a­tion has been incorporated

By the end of Step 3 you should have:

• Iden­ti­fied design object­ives in rela­tion to rel­ev­ant SLQs
• Assessed effects and mit­ig­a­tion meas­ures to reduce pre­dicted sig­ni­fic­ant effects
• Assessed resid­ual sig­ni­fic­ant effects on key SLQs with­in the study area and assessed how the pro­pos­al will con­serve and enhance the SLQs

Step 4 Sum­mary of sig­ni­fic­ant effects on SLQs

• Based on the ana­lys­is in Steps 2 – 3, draw out the type, loc­a­tion, extent, pat­tern, dur­a­tion, per­man­ence and level of sig­ni­fic­ant effects on the key SLQs (indi­vidu­al and grouped) in rela­tion to the extent of the SLQs and the study area.

By the end of Step 4 you should have:

• A sum­mary of sig­ni­fic­ant effects on key SLQs with­in the study area