Somerset Landscape Sensitivity Assessment

The European Landscape Convention (ELC) came into force in the UK in March 2007. It established the need to recognise landscape in law; to develop landscape policies dedicated to the protection, management and planning of landscapes; and to establish procedures for the participation of the general public and other stakeholders in the creation and implementation of landscape policies. The ELC remains relevant despite the UK’s departure from the EU.

The ELC definition of ‘landscape’ recognises that all landscapes matter, be they ordinary, degraded or outstanding:

“Landscape means an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors.”

Signing up to the ELC means that the UK is committed to protect, manage and plan our landscapes for the future. The Convention also advocates work to raise landscape awareness, involvement and enjoyment amongst local and visiting communities. Landscape character is defined by the ELC as “a distinct, recognisable and consistent pattern of elements in the landscape that makes one landscape different from another, rather than better or worse”. Again, this reinforces the underlying message that ‘all landscapes matter’.

The UK Government published the updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) in December 2024 which sets out the environmental, social and economic planning policies for England. This update reversed changes made in the previous (2023) revision, introduced mandatory housing targets, placed an emphasis on developing “grey belt” land and altered requirements for greenbelt development. The NPPF was then further amended in 2025 within minor changes.

One of the overarching objectives that underpins the NPPF is set out in Paragraph 8: “an environmental objective – to contribute to protecting and enhancing our natural, built and historic environment.”

Paragraph 20 states ‘Strategic policies should set out an overall strategy for the pattern, scale and quality of development, and make sufficient provision for:

• a) homes (including affordable homes), employment, retail, leisure and other commercial development;
• b) infrastructure for transport, telecommunications, security, waste management, water supply, wastewater, flood risk and coastal change management, and the provision of minerals and energy (including heat);
• c) community facilities (such as health, education and cultural infrastructure); and
• d) conservation and enhancement of the natural, built and historic environment, including landscapes and green infrastructure, and planning measures to address climate change mitigation and adaptation’

Paragraph 135 states ‘Planning policies and decisions should ensure that developments:

• a) will function well and add to the overall quality of the area, not just for the short term but over the lifetime of the development;
• b) are visually attractive as a result of good architecture, layout and appropriate and effective landscaping;
• c) are sympathetic to local character and history, including the surrounding built environment and landscape setting, while not preventing or discouraging appropriate innovation or change (such as increased densities);
• d) establish or maintain a strong sense of place, using the arrangement of streets, spaces, building types and materials to create attractive, welcoming and distinctive places to live, work and visit.
• e) optimise the potential of the site to accommodate and sustain an appropriate amount and mix of development (including green and other public space) and support local facilities and transport networks; and
• f) create places that are safe, inclusive and accessible and which promote health and well-being, with a high standard of amenity for existing and future users; and where crime and disorder, and the fear of crime, do not undermine the quality of life or community cohesion and resilience’.

Paragraph 187 states that ‘planning policies and decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by… protecting and enhancing valued landscapes’ and ‘recognising the intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside’.

Paragraph 188 states ‘Plans should: distinguish between the hierarchy of international, national and locally designated sites; allocate land with the least environmental or amenity value, where consistent with other policies in this Framework; take a strategic approach to maintaining and enhancing networks of habitats and green infrastructure; and plan for the enhancement of natural capital at a catchment or landscape scale across local authority boundaries’.

Paragraph 189 states ‘Great weight should be given to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in National Parks, the Broads and which have the highest status of protection in relation to these issues. The conservation and enhancement of wildlife and cultural heritage are also important considerations in these areas, and should be given great weight in National Parks and the Broads. The scale and extent of development within all these designated areas should be limited, while development within their setting should be sensitively located and designed to avoid or minimise adverse impacts on the designated areas.’

Further guidance is provided in the NPPG. Paragraph: 037 notes the following under the heading of ‘How can the character of the landscape be assessed?’:

“To help assess the type and scale of development that might be able to be accommodated without compromising landscape character, a Landscape Sensitivity and Capacity Assessment can be completed.”

Somerset Council was formed from four previous district councils in April 2023, and as a result there is no current single Local Plan for the authority area. Each former district area currently has a separate adopted local plan, listed below:

• Mendip (East): Mendip Local Plan Parts I and II (2006 to 2029)
• Sedgemoor (North): Sedgemoor Local Plan (2011 to 2032)
• Somerset West and Taunton (West): Taunton Deane (2011 to 2028) and West Somerset (to 2032) Local Plans
• South Somerset (South): South Somerset Local Plan (2006 to 2028).

The Council is currently progressing a new Somerset Local Plan, and this study will serve as an important component of the evidence base for the new plan.