This page includes every official clarification that has been made regarding the Guidance for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (3rd edition) since its publication and is important reading for users of the document.
GLVIA3 Statement of Clarification 1/13 10-06-13
Purpose of Statement of Clarification:
As a result of questions posed by members and a request for a response from the GLVIA3 Panel, the Panel has prepared this statement of clarification which has been approved by the Chair and a member of the Technical Committee on behalf of the Committee. The statement deals with the following:
1 GLVIA3 and how it should be understood;
2 The use of the phrase ‘significant in EIA terms’;
3 The use of the term ‘significant’; and
4 How the assessment process may differ between Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment undertaken for EIA purposes and landscape and visual impact appraisal undertaken for other purposes.
Statement of Clarification 1 GLVIA3 and how it should be understood:
The guidance in GLVIA3 should be read with common sense. Chapters 1 and 2 are introductory, setting the context in general terms and are aimed at general readers. Chapter 3 and those which follow provide advice for the landscape professional. Chapter 3 establishes the principles to which later chapters conform. Therefore if there appears to be a measure of ambiguity between something stated in Chapter 1 and Chapter 3, then the professional is encouraged to regard Chapter 3’s advice as having primacy.
Statement of Clarification 2 The Phrase ‘Significant in EIA Terms’:
In carrying out LVIAs, landscape professionals have on occasion identified effects as being ‘significant in EIA terms’. It is recommended that this phrase should not be used in a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA). It is understood that the phrase does not appear in any relevant EIA Regulations or associated statutory publications. (see GLVIA3 Page 40, Para 3.32)
Statement of Clarification 3 Significance Concerning ‘significance’:
It is for the assessor to define what the assessor considers significant. Members may find the following helpful: In simple terms, assume an environment (A). Then assume a proposed development (B). B is placed into A and, as a result, gives rise to impacts which permit the identification of effects of various sorts. The level of, or degree of, effect may then be judged. This may be achieved, for example, by determining magnitude and registering it against sensitivity, each as defined in GLVIA3 in Paras 3.23 to 3.30. Depending on the means of judgement and terminology (which should be explicitly set out), effects of varying degrees of change (or levels of change), may be derived. The assessor should then establish (and it is for the assessor to decide and explain) the degree or level of change that is considered to be significant.
Statement of Clarification 4 For Non-EIA Landscape and Visual Impact Appraisal:
In carrying out appraisals, the same principles and process as LVIA may be applied but, in so doing, it is not required to establish whether the effects arising are or are not significant given that the exercise is not being undertaken for EIA purposes. The reason is that should a landscape professional apply LVIA principles and processes in carrying out an appraisal and then go on to determine that certain effects would be likely be significant, given the term ‘significant’ is enshrined in EIA Regulations, such a judgement could trigger the requirement for a formal EIA. The emphasis on likely ‘significant effects’ in formal LVIA stresses the need for an approach that is GLVIA3 Statement of Clarification 1/13 10-06-13 proportional to the scale of the project that is being assessed and the nature of its likely effects. The same principle – focussing on a proportional approach – also applies to appraisals of landscape and visual impacts outside the formal requirements of EIA.
GLVIA3 Statement of Clarification 2/13 8-07-13
Purpose of Statement of Clarification:
As a result of question posed by a member and a request for a response from the GLVIA3 Panel, the Panel has prepared this statement of clarification which has been approved by the Chair and a member of the Technical Committee on behalf of the Committee. The statement deals with the following:
1 An error in the text within Figure 5.10 ‘Scale of Significance’,
Statement of Clarification 1:
In Figure 5.10, in the upper box attached to ‘More significant’ the phrase ‘Loss of lower-value elements…’ should read: ‘Loss of higher-value elements…’
GLVIA3 Statement of Clarification 1/14 28-01-14
Purpose of Statement of Clarification:
As a result of questions posed by a member and a request for a response from the GLVIA3 Panel, the Panel has prepared this statement of clarification which has been approved by the Chair and a member of the Technical Committee on behalf of the Committee. The statement deals with the following:
1: Table 3.1, to clarify the role of mitigation in relation to LVIA as part of landscape ‘appraisal’;
2: Paragraph 3.25 and an explanation of the process of Appraising Effects.
Statement of Clarification 1 Table 3.1, to clarify mitigation in relation to LVIA role in landscape ‘appraisal’:
In Table 3.1, on page 28, the Mitigation component of the EIA process is described as “Makes proposals for measures designed to avoid/prevent, reduce or offset (or compensate for) any significant negative (adverse) effects”, and for landscape appraisal is indicated as “if required”. In line with the LI’s GLVIA3 Statement of Clarification 1/13 Note 4, consideration of significance of effects is not a requirement of non EIA Landscape and Visual Impact Appraisals, but it may be appropriate to consider mitigation of adverse effects identified in the course of the appraisal, without the need to assess the significance of those effects.
Statement of Clarification 2…Paragraph 3.25 and an explanation of the process of Appraising Effects:
In landscape appraisals, a similar process is followed, omitting the step of “Combine to assess significance of effect”. As advised in the LI’s GLVIA3 Statement of Clarification 1/13, “the same principle – focussing on a proportional approach – also applies to appraisals of landscape and visual impacts outside the formal requirements of EIA” (Note 4) and “the level of, or degree of, effect may then be judged, for example, by determining magnitude and registering it against sensitivity. Depending on the means of judgement and terminology (which should be explicitly set out), effects of varying degrees of change (or levels of change), may be derived” (Note 3). The appraisal process is completed with a final statement of the effects identified, which may identify the relative importance of the effects, but without assessing their likely significance.
GLVIA3 Statement of Clarification 2/14 28-01-14
Purpose of Statement of Clarification
As a result of question posed by a member and a request for a response from the GLVIA3 Panel, the Panel has prepared this statement of clarification which has been approved by the Chair and a member of the Technical Committee on behalf of the Committee. The statement deals with the following:
1: Clarification of LVIA and the assessment/appraisal of Residential Amenity
Statement of Clarification 1 Clarification of LVIA and the assessment/appraisal of Residential Amenity:
Paragraph 6.17 (page 107) and bullet point 8 on page 117 make reference to the assessment/appraisal of visual effects in relation to private viewpoints from residential properties. The assessor should be clear as to the purpose of such assessment/appraisal. On the one hand, assessment of the effect of a proposed development from private residential property can be used to inform the overall landscape and visual impact assessment/appraisal. At the same time, the information so gained may also be used to contribute to a residential amenity assessment/appraisal. It should be borne in mind that the assessment/appraisal of effect, usually with regard to the visual component of residential amenity, is but one aspect of residential amenity – a concept which is much broader in scope than the effect on a view often limited to one sector of the compass. Not only may other viewing opportunities in other directions be available, residential amenity assessment/appraisal can include aural and olfactory conditions, air quality, the reliability of water supplies and other utilities as well as access to facilities and services and it is usually undertaken by the planning professional having regard to planning policy.
