Our Policies & Consultations

The Landscape Institute is regularly invited to comment on discussion papers covering a broad range of environmental topics. We have reproduced some of our recent responses on this page.

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Our Consultations

Draft Brownfield Skills Strategy (PDF, 3434 kb)

Date:: 13th March 2008
Originator:: English Partnerships and ASC

This is a strategy applying to England. English Partnerships and the Academy for Sustainable Communities (ASC) work within England only. Therefore, all facts, figures, policies, and actions refer to England only, except where stated otherwise. National also refers to England only, except where stipulated otherwise. However, we very much hope that the findings and recommendations will be considered by the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Executive and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Planning Policy Statement 4 (PDF, 40 kb)

Date:: 11th February 2008
Originator:: LI

Planning Policy Statement 4 – Sustainable Economic Development

Draft Strategy for Sustainable Construction (PDF, 89 kb)

Date:: 30th November 2007
Originator:: LI

Response of the Landscape Institute

Commission of the European Communities consultation response (PDF, 72 kb)

Date:: 27th November 2007
Originator:: LI

Green Paper: Adapting to Climate Change in Europe – Options for EU Action {SEC (2007) 849}

Response of the Landscape Institute.

Department for Communities and Local Government, Housing Green Paper consultation, October 2007 (PDF, 55 kb)

Date:: 16th October 2007
Originator:: LI

Response of the Landscape Institute

Natural England Consultation for draft Climate Change Policy, September 2007 (PDF, 52 kb)

Date:: 14th September 2007
Originator:: LI

Response of the Landscape Institute to Natural England Consultation for draft Climate Change Policy, September 2007

Department for Communities and Local Government, Communities England consultation (PDF, 55 kb)

Date:: 14th September 2007
Originator:: LI

The Landscape Institute's response to the Department for Communities and Local Government, Communities England consultation

Questions for three supplementary papers for the Planning White Paper (PDF, 41 kb)

Date:: 17th August 2007
Originator:: LI

Questions for three supplementary papers for the Planning White Paper

Landscape Institute's response to Planning White Paper (PDF, 199 kb)

Date:: 17th August 2007
Originator:: LI

The Landscape Institute is pleased to provide its response to the Planning White Paper.

Landscape Institute’s response to DeFRA's consultation on the Draft Rural Development Programme for England 2007-2013 (PDF, 42 kb)

Date:: 6th July 2007
Originator:: LI

The Landscape Institute is pleased to provide its response to the DEFRA consultation on the draft Rural Development Programme 2007-2013

LI Response to Barker Review of Land Use Planning (PDF, 260 kb)

Date:: 9th March 2007
Originator:: LI

LI Response to Barker Review of Land Use Planning

Planning Policy Statement: Planning and Climate Change - Supplement to Planning Policy Statement 1 (PDF, 120 kb)

Date:: 9th March 2007
Originator:: LI

Planning Policy Statement: Planning and Climate Change - Supplement to Planning Policy Statement 1

Landscape Institute Development Plan 2007-2012 (PDF, 68 kb)

Date:: 3rd November 2006
Originator:: Landscape Institute

The Landscape Institute’s Development Plan 2007-2012 was approved by Council on 30 October 2006 following consultation with members and key stakeholders. The Landscape Institute’s committees, branches and secretariat will draw up an action plan to implement the priorities for 2007-8 outlined in the plan, which will be monitored by the Council.

Wales Transport Strategy (PDF, 24 kb)

Date:: 10th July 2006
Originator:: Welsh Assembly Government
Response:: Response (PDF, 75 kb)
Response Date:: 11th October 2006

The new Transport (Wales) Act 2006 and the Railways Act 2005 give the Assembly Government more powers to plan and improve the transport system. Amongst the most important changes is the requirement to produce a Wales Transport Strategy, new powers to promote regional transport planning, and direct control of local and regional rail services in Wales. This first stage focuses on the role that transport can play in delivering the wider policy agenda of integrating transport with spatial planning, economic development, education, health, social services, environment and tourism. The role of this Strategy is to maximise the contribution transport can make to these outcomes and ultimately to contribute to the delivery of the strategic agenda. Once comments on the draft outcomes have been received, an action plan will be produced for the Assembly Government. The full consultation can be found at: http://new.wales.gov.uk/consultations/currentconsultation/transcurrcons/545295/?lang=en

Changes to the Development Control System in Wales (PDF, 537 kb)

Date:: 1st July 2006
Originator:: Welsh Assembly Government
Response:: Response (PDF, 70 kb)
Response Date:: 25th September 2006

This consultation document puts forward proposals for changes to the Development Control system to be introduced in 2007. These flow from the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (P&CPA 2004) and include related changes to the Use Classes Order, the General Development Procedure Order and the General Permitted Development Order and the Listed Buildings Regulations. The Landscape Institute comments focus on the requirement of Design Statements in the Development Control system.

Sustainability in Schools (PDF, 365 kb)

Date:: 1st September 2006
Originator:: DfES
Response:: Response (PDF, 66 kb)
Response Date:: 1st September 2006

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has produced a sustainable action plan that responds to the Government’s UK sustainable development strategy; embedding sustainable development in schools is a key strand of that plan. Many schools are already some way down the path to sustainable development – even if they are not calling it that. For example, many schools are working to improve the food they offer, encouraging healthy ways to travel to school, and looking at how they can use energy and water more efficiently. In developing the consultation DfES has tried to find a way for schools to draw together all of these activities, link them to other agendas and highlight the opportunities for school improvement. The framework asks schools to consider how they can extend their commitment to sustainable development through eight key areas – or ‘doorways’ (food and drink, energy and water, travel and traffic, purchasing and waste, buildings and grounds, inclusion and participation, local well-being, global dimension). They all interconnect, providing different openings onto a set of common challenges. Each can be taken forward through the major areas of school life – the curriculum, campus and community. The consultation recognises that schools will need a lot of cooperation and support from a host of people and organisations to achieve its aims and the DfES sought the views of individuals and organisations who have a part to play – large or small – in meeting the government’s desire for all schools to become models of sustainable development for their communities.

Sustainability in Schools (PDF, 365 kb)

Date:: 1st September 2006
Originator:: DfES
Response:: Response (PDF, 66 kb)
Response Date:: 1st September 2006

England's Trees, Woods and Forests (PDF, 4 kb)

Date:: 8th May 2006
Originator:: DEFRA
Response:: Response (PDF, 125 kb)
Response Date:: 9th August 2006

DEFRA is reviewing its England Forest Strategy which was last reviewed in 1998. Since then the policy landscape has changed and the importance of integrating policy for trees, woods and forests into wider land use and social policy is acknowledged. In addition, the evidence base has grown and continued to increase our understanding of the benefits forestry can provide. DEFRA intend to use this consultation to help them produce a new strategy that reflects these changes and give a clear vision for society’s use of trees, woods and forests in the next 20 years.

DEFRA Rural Development Programme 2007-2013 Consultation (PDF, 310 kb)

Date:: 1st March 2006
Originator:: DEFRA
Response:: Response (PDF, 81 kb)
Response Date:: 23rd May 2006

DEFRA’s document proposes priorities for the next Rural Development Programme for England 2007-2013. the programme proposes three core themes: enhancing the environment and countryside, making agriculture and forestry more competitive and sustainable, and enhancing opportunity in rural areas for those who are disadvantaged. The results of the consultation will help to guide Defra and their delivery partners, Natural England, Forestry Commission and Regional Development Agencies, in setting the direction and detail of the new programme.

Care of Scottish Landscapes (PDF, 62 kb)

Date:: 30th January 2006
Originator:: Landscape and Habitats Division Scottish Executive Environment andRural Affairs Department
Response:: Response (PDF, 113 kb)
Response Date:: 24th April 2006

Care of Scottish Landscapes The full text of the consultation is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/01/27145442/0

Strategy for Sustainable Construction (PDF, 296 kb)

Date:: 24th January 2006
Originator:: DTI
Response:: Response (PDF, 67 kb)
Response Date:: 24th April 2006

The existing strategy for sustainable construction was published more than five years ago. The aim of this revision to the 2000 strategy is to consider what has been achieved over the past 5 years and to provide an effective framework to guide future government policies where they are relevant to construction. It is also hoped that industry will respond positively to some of the big questions the strategy poses.

Barker Review of Land Use Planning (PDF, 89 kb)

Date:: 24th January 2006
Originator:: Kate Barker
Response:: Response (PDF, 108 kb)
Response Date:: 28th March 2006

Kate Barker has been invited by the Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister to conduct an independent review of land use planning in England. The terms of reference are to consider how, in the context of globalisation, and building on the reforms already put in place in England, planning policy and procedures can better deliver economic growth and prosperity alongside other sustainable development goals. In particular it will assess:

Ways of further improving efficiency and speed of the system;
Ways of increasing the flexibility, transparency and predictability that enterprise requires;
The relationship between planning and productivity, and how the outcomes of the planning system can better deliver its sustainable economic objectives; and
The relationship between economic and other sustainable development goals in the delivery of sustainable communities.

Planning Policy Statement 3: Housing (PDF, 522 kb)

Date:: 28th February 2006
Originator:: ODPM
Response:: Response (PDF, 70 kb)
Response Date:: 28th February 2006

PPS3 sets out the national planning policy framework for delivering the Government’s housing objectives. The Government believes that housing and planning policies need to support mixed and sustainable communities and the planning system has an important role to play in improving the responsiveness and flexibility of the housing market. As a result of this new policy, regional and local planning bodies will need to consider a variety of issues such as affordability, housing demand, infrastructure and environmental sustainability. The policy also sets out how the Government expects to prioritise brownfield development. It also stresses the importance of sustainability appraisals, design codes and the quality of new developments. The PPS3 consultation document can be found at www.odpm.gov.uk under planning consultation papers.

Planning Policy Statement 25: Development and Flood Risk (PDF, 805 kb)

Date:: 28th February 2006
Originator:: ODPM
Response:: Response (PDF, 78 kb)
Response Date:: 28th February 2006

PPS25 reflects the Government's planning Green Paper: Planning: delivering a fundamental change. In revising PPG25 the aim has been to focus on national policy and to provide clarity on what is required at regional and local levels to ensure that decisions are made at the most appropriate level and in a timely fashion to deliver sustainable planning for development and flood risk. The PPS25 consultation document can be found at www.odpm.gov.uk under planning consultation papers

Visual Assessment of Windfarms (PDF, 120 kb)

Date:: 22nd July 2005
Originator:: Scottish Natural Heritage
Response:: Response (PDF, 52 kb)
Response Date:: 22nd August 2005

Guidance & Information Specific to Landscape Draft good practice guidance for the visual analysis of windfarms has been developed. This builds on and extends the work originally undertaken by Professor John Benson and the University of Newcastle

Consultation on revision of Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) and Construction (Health, Safety and Welfare) (CHSW) Regulations (PDF, 31 kb)

Date:: 23rd June 2005
Originator:: HSE

This Consultative Document (CD) sets out the Health and Safety Commission's (HSC) proposals for a single set of Regulations, and supporting guidance, covering construction work in Great Britain. The proposed Regulations would consolidate and revise provisions in the Construction (Design and Management) (CDM) Regulations 1994a and the Construction(Health, Safety and Welfare) (CHSW) Regulations 1996b, which implemented the Temporary or Mobile Construction Sites Directive (TMCS) (1992/57/EEC)c.

Technical Guidance on capping and restoration of landfills (PDF, 63 kb)

Date:: 1st March 2005
Originator:: Environment Agency

This document provides technical guidance on the design, implementation and aftercare of capping and restoration schemes for landfill sites in accordance with: The implications of the EU Landfill Directive (99/31/EC) Domestic planning legislation and associated guidance.

English Nature Procedural Guidelines for the removal of an SSSI Notification (denotification) (PDF, 39 kb)

Date:: 1st March 2005
Originator:: English Nature

In 2003 Government consulted on and published Sites of Special Scientific Interest: Encouraging positive partnerships. This "Code of Guidance" responded to changes in procedures associated with the notification, protection and management of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), as a result of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CRoW). CRoW amended the provisions previously set out in sections 28-32 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (the 1981 Act).

Tree Preservation Orders (PDF, 323 kb)

Date:: 7th December 2004
Originator:: Scottish Executive Development Department
Response:: Response (PDF, 85 kb)
Response Date:: 23rd February 2005

Tree Preservation Orders The full text is available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations/planning/tpoc-00.asp

Consultation paper on Planning Policy Statement 10: Planning for Sustainable Waste Management (PDF, 66 kb)

Date:: 1st December 2004
Originator:: ODPM

This consultation seeks views and comments on the draft of the new Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 10 Planning for Sustainable Waste Management. The intention is that PPS10, together with an accompanying practice guide should, in due course, replace Planning Policy Guidance Note 10 (PPG10) Planning and Waste Management, published in 1999. The consultation forms part of a wider package of reform being taken forward with Defra. This is explained below and the full list of consultation documents, and their availability, is at Section 6.

Draft Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill (PDF, 34 kb)

Date:: 1st July 2004
Originator:: DEFRA

The Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill is designed to help achieve a rich and diverse natural environment and thriving rural communities, through modernised and simplified arrangements for delivering government policy. The Bill will implement key elements of the Governmet's Rural Strategy published in July 2004, and establish flexible new structures with a strong customer focus.

Scotland's Future Landscapes (PDF, 4 kb)

Date:: 1st November 2003
Originator:: Scottish Natural Heritage
Response:: Response (PDF, 119 kb)
Response Date:: 12th February 2004

Scotland’s Future Landscapes. The full text is also available at: http://www.snh.org.uk/strategy/sr-s100.asp