Special Landscape Areas: Landscape conservation or confusion in the town and country planning system?

Local landscape designations in Scotland: Opportunity or barrier to effective landscape management?

“…Research in Wales highlighted significant strategic and operational problems in LLD implementation, exacerbated by planner attitudes that emphasised protective functions (Scott and Bullen, 2004). On the positive side, the recent development of LANDMAP in Wales had undoubtedly improved the rigour for LLD designation which some local authorities were actively pursuing in development plans (CCW, 2001;Scott, 2002).…”

“…A working definition of LLDs sees these landscapes as being "of at least county importance for reasons of their rarity, representativeness or variety" (Cobham Resource Consultants, 1993: 3.14). What limited evidence there is, mainly focussed on Wales, tends to suggest that such designations are failing to deliver substantive conservation or rural development benefits due to lack of public awareness, incentives and structures for effective management (Scott, 2001;Scott and Bullen, 2004;Tickle and Clark, 2000;OECD, 2004).…”

“…Within the UK such collaborative landscape management is largely confined to Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), National Scenic Areas, National and Regional Parks and Green Belts. However, a far more insular approach is taken by local authorities towards the protection of their own landscapes which escape such designations (Scott and Bullen, 2004). These differences in scale and approach are interesting and inform our key research question particularly in light of the absence of such designations in other European states.…”

“…Widely used by local authorities since the 1960s for landscape management in the UK, LLDs remain significantly hidden from public and policy debate and academic study (Scott and Bullen, 2004;Scott, 2001). Yet, in theory, they offer a potential avenue within which local landscape priorities can be identified and realised in policy terms.…”

“…Local designations, in comparison to their national counterparts have largely operated through local authority-led initiatives with little research or evaluation into their efficacy and added value in planning practice (Scott and Bullen, 2004).…”