East Midlands Landscape Framework

1 August 2010

The East Midlands Landscape Partnership

The East Midlands Landscape Partnership (EMLP) was established in March 2009 and since then has been actively working on a number of key landscape products that provide a level of information that has never been available before. This information will add  to the region’s evidence base to help everyone better understand  and appreciate what makes our landscape what it is today and that we work together to take informed actions that will guide and allow us to take strong action for a better approach to our region’s future landscape protection, planning and management.   

The partners who contribute to the Landscape Partnership Steering Group are:

Natural England, Peak District National Park Authority, Derbyshire County Council, River Nene Regional Park CIC
Nottinghamshire County Council, Lincolnshire County Council, Campaign to Protect Rural England, English Heritage, East Midlands Councils, British Geological Survey, Representatives from the Regional Biodiversity Partnership & Geodiversity Sub-group

Click here to look at the Partnership's Advocacy leaflet: The East Midlands Landscape: Making it Matter: (749kb)

The East Midlands Landscape Framework is a collective term that the Partnership uses to  describe the tools that it has developed to help it in its aim of being a strong voice to raise awareness of the region’s landscape and to promote, encourage and co-ordinate a consistency of approach between national, regional and local partners in landscape policy, delivery and research.

EMRLCA and WOM Update: Proposed abolishment of Regional Spatial Strategies

The East Midlands Landscape Partnership has received several queries regarding the relevance of the above work in-light of the proposal to abolish Regional Spatial Strategies.  The Partnership would like to re-assure stakeholders and communities that the work remains completely relevant and provides a recent and robust  assessment of the East Midlands landscape for use in informing a range of projects and initiatives including the spatial planning process at the county and district level.

Given the new emphasis on localism, and the removal of the Regional Spatial Strategy, this East Midlands-wide Landscape Character Assessment is an effective means of bridging the gap between the national and local agendas.  The Regional Landscape Character Types (RLCTs) have been identified by using natural, physical and cultural components of the landscape to determine environmentally derived boundaries. Often the extent of the RLCTs straddle arbitrary administrative boundaries.  This means that the RLCTs  provide a useful spatial tool for enabling cross boundary working based upon a consistent  baseline and approach.
 
The East Midlands Regional Landscape Character Assessment (EMRLCA) has been subject to  full public consultation.  The EMRLCA and the Woodland Opportunity Mapping (WOM) provide a sound and robust evidence base which can inform and underpin local policy and local decision making and inform a range of initiatives that require an integrated and strategic approach for example, climate change adaptation strategies, green infrastructure strategy and eco-system service studies across Local Authority boundaries.

The East Midlands Regional Landscape Character Assessment (EMRLCA)

The aim of the East Midlands Region Landscape Character Assessment (EMRLCA) is to increase understanding of the region’s varied landscape, by identifying distinctive, rare or special characteristics. EMRLCA presents objective, non-technical descriptions of each of the 31 regional landscape character types.

The EMRLCA is the key underpinning tool that helps us all to appreciate the distinct and varied character of all our regions landscapes. At a strategic level it describes the major forces for change that our landscapes are experiencing and where these are being experienced.  It provides broad level guidance, which if followed by regional policy and decision makers and used to inform the practical actions of other regional stakeholders and organisations will help ensure that we will all be working together to shape a future enhanced landscape that will be rich, diverse, sustainable and of benefit to all the region’s stakeholders and communities.

The East Midlands Regional Landscape Character Assessment was completed in April 2010.  The assessment was undertaken by LDA Design and has benefited from the expertise and guidance of a number partners who form the East Midlands Landscape Partnership.

A full public consultation was undertaken in autumn 2009 of the draft EMRLCA. The responses have been taken into consideration and the necessary changes made to the final EMRLCA publication. A summary of consultation responses is available to download: (67kb).

The EMRLCA has been divided into a set of PDF documents that correspond with each of the main sections of the report and the accompanying Figures. The review of the consultation responses will be summarised under the same sub-headings.

EMRLCA Executive Summary: (324kb)

Section 1 - Introduction: (999kb)

Section 2 - Existing Character Assessments: (250kb)

Section 3 - Foundations of the Landscape: (1.61mb)

Section 4 - Group 1: Coast and Sea & Group 2: Fenland and Fenland Margins: (6.72mb)

Section 4 - Group 3: River Valley Floodplains & Group 4: Lowland Vales: (4.07mb)

Section 4 - Group 5: Village Farmlands & Group 6: Limestone Farmlands: (5.06mb)

Section 4 - Group 7: Chalk Wolds, Group 8: Clay Wolds & Group 9: Coalfields: (5.34mb)

Section 4 - Group 10: Woods & Forests & Group 11: Gritstone Moors and Fringes: (6.03mb)

Section 5 - Summary of Forces for Change: (1.16mb)

Section 6 - Additional information: (1.24mb)

Section 7 - Supporting figures: (4.93mb)

Section 8 - Appendices: (4.96mb)

Map of Regional Landscape Character types: (858kb) (please note: file may take a few minutes to load)

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