The Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) review comprises a report and character areas map for every ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø District and Borough. You can find these as PDF files at the bottom of the page.
Please check file sizes before downloading as some are very large. If you have difficulty downloading a file, please contact us.
What is the ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Landscape Character Assessment?
The ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Landscape Character Assessment is a comprehensive assessment of the landscape character of the county. It takes account of the framework of the National Character Areas recently reviewed by Natural England and describes variations in the landscape character at a county level.
The ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø LCA review was undertaken by landscape consultants Hankinson Duckett Associates, in partnership with the environment team at ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø, Natural England and ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø's districts and boroughs. It has been informed by and now replaces the 1997 character assessment, entitled 'The future of ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø's Landscape and Woodlands'.
A landscape character assessment looks at the local landscapes and their unique qualities in a detailed way. It identifies the components of the landscape including the underlying geology, soils, topography, land cover hydrology, vegetation, historic and cultural development and physical features and describes how these elements and features combine together to make one place different from another. This leads to the classification and mapping of the landscape via landscape types and landscape character areas, which seek to describe the patterns and key features of each of the landscapes. It does not judge or rank the character of a place but describes the landscape of each area in a systematic way using those essential characteristics that make up each landscape.
The Landscape of ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø
ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø is one of the most wooded counties in England, but despite this it has a great variety of land cover due to its varied geology, landform and soils. It contains the flat areas in the Thames Basin, the hills of the North Downs and Wealden Greensand, large expanses of open heathland, enclosed wooded gills, river valleys and water bodies, intimate small scale farmland and open meadows. Woodland covers 22% of the county, but heathland and chalk downland are also particularly characteristic. Farmland, including that of the Low Weald is another main component of the landscape. The two river valleys of the Wey and Mole cut through these landscapes, flowing from south to north. They flow into the Thames, threading through a number of large reservoirs and water bodies in the northwest of the county, before joining the main river.
It is a highly valued landscape with over 25% of the county being designated as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), the ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Hills and the High Weald AONB. It contains extensive areas of high biodiversity value and internationally important habitats. The county also contains a number of high quality historic parklands.
Landscape character types and areas
The LCA has identified 21 generic Landscape Character Types across the county which consist of landscapes that consist of broadly similar patterns of geology, landform, soils, vegetation, land use settlement and field patterns. These are accompanied by two landscape types which consist of groups of small individual areas on the edges of, or surrounded by built up areas and are of a variety of land uses which do not readily fit into the other landscape types.
These landscape types areas are split into 140 locally related and named landscape character areas. Each landscape character area has a distinct and recognisable local identity.
Landscape Guidelines
Each landscape type has a number of guidelines to help provide a broad framework for managing the pressures for change which may affect them. They offer guidance on maintaining the diversity and essential characteristics identified to conserve the landscape for the future.
Mapping and descriptions
The study has been prepared on a Geographic Information System (GIS) with mapping undertaken at 1:25,000. This is available on the ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Interactive map. You can access the descriptions of landscape types and landscape character areas under the separate chapters of the landscape assessment, by downloading the relevant pdf below.
Purpose of assessment
Local authorities are encouraged to base planning policies and decisions on up to date information about the natural environment and other characteristics of the area. The purpose of the assessment is to provide up to date information about the environmental characteristics of ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø as a whole, and the distinctiveness of its different landscapes. This information sits alongside ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø's Historic Landscape Character Assessment which is also available on the ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Interactive map (see link above) to contribute valuable information on the environment of ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø and provide a landscape baseline. This can be used to support plan making, policy development and to help inform planning applications.
It will form the context of landscape capacity and sensitivity studies,