INTRODUCTION
The use of Landscape Character Assessment in making judgements is a
fast-moving scene amongst practitioners. This chapter sets out some
main principles on the subject. Topic
Paper 6, Techniques and criteria for judging capacity and
sensitivity, will address one of the key areas where practitioners need
to make judgements on this topic.
The
main value of having a Landscape Character
Assessment is to help in the process of
managing change in a particular place. All
sorts of change will shape future landscapes, and by applying this tool
in an appropriate way, alongside other tools, we can help to ensure
that such changes make a 'positive' contribution.
For
this reason, most assessments will usually
move beyond the characterisation stage to the
stage of making judgements to inform
particular decisions. Making judgements as part of an assessment should
not concentrate only on the maintenance of existing character. This may
be one part of the judgements made. The focus should be on ensuring
that land-use change or development proposals are planned and designed
to achieve an appropriate relationship (and most often a 'fit') with
their surroundings, and wherever possible contribute to enhancement of
the landscape, in some cases by creating a new character.
Judgements
based on landscape character need to take account of several factors.
Most importantly it is vital to decide who is going to be involved in
making the judgements. For practical reasons some assessments may still
rely mainly on judgements made by professionals. It is nevertheless
important to involve stakeholders in this part of the process if the
judgements are to command wide support and are to be as fully informed
as possible. Many different stakeholder groups need to be given
opportunities to contribute, especially:
 those
who manage the land, especially farmers and foresters;
local residents and community groups;
other users of the land, including visitors and
those who take part in recreational
 activities.
An
historical perspective is important to help understand the way
in which a landscape has evolved over time to take on
its present character, and how both natural forces and
human intervention have contributed to its evolution. With such
understanding, decisions about future change can be placed in an
historical context and ideas about, for example, restoration of some
earlier historic character can be well-informed and based on a sound
historical rationale (see Topic Paper 5).
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