INTRODUCTION
Field survey provides the important ground level view that shows how
the landscape is seen by people. It can also identify key elements or
features that are not apparent from the desk study, and it can help to
record aesthetic and perceptual qualities of the area. For very large
areas, there will be more reliance on desk study, combined with limited
field survey, largely for verification purposes. When the area is
small, more comprehensive field survey will usually be required. For
assessments of local authority areas or equivalent, the aim should be
to survey each of the areas identified in the desk study as likely to
have homogeneous character - that is the draft landscape character types
and/or areas.
PLANNING
THE FIELD SURVEY
Careful planning of the field survey is essential to ensure efficient
use of time and resources. The aim should be to move through the study
area, visiting all of the draft landscape character types and/or areas
and recording a range of information about them. Routes should be
planned to achieve this, and in each area around three points should be
selected to give a representative view of the landscape. Each point
should be publicly accessible and be firmly within the area in
question. For example, it is often tempting to select high points or
panoramic viewpoints because of the expansive views which they offer.
Such points often give views over several different types of landscape
and so can confuse the survey, although they can be useful for
orientation and to provide a general overview, and for verification and
refinement of landscape character type or area boundaries.
Experience
has shown that surveys are best carried out in pairs. This certainly
helps with the practicalities of navigating and recording at the same
time and encourages a consensus to be reached about reactions to the
landscape. Ideal pairings for such work would be two landscape
professionals, who will be used to taking a broad overview of the
landscape, or one landscape professional working with an ecologist or
an archaeologist or landscape historian, who will have specific
knowledge of an aspect of the landscape. In a perfect world all three
or more might work together.
|
