The countryside in and around towns is both a challenge and an opportunity for landscape planning in a post Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 era. The Countryside Agency and Groundwork vision for linked multifunctional landscapes and Local Development Frameworks, reiterates this view. The pilot study of St Helens which has been developed through an experienced partnership led by The Mersey Forest is examined here. This firstly combines analysis of landscape character, land use, local authority policy and local knowledge within the functional context of the vision document. GIS collation of data allowed function categorisation; and subsequent linkage to a policy database identified drivers of the landscape state, positive and negative. Secondly aspirational policy statements and recommendations are being developed, accounting for existing and potential landscape functionality. This allows a clear trail between local authority priorities for biodiversity, landscape quality improvements and associated and appropriate spatial functionality to be identified.
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