Earlier this month Kate Ahern, LUC’s Director of Landscape Planning and Rebecca Knight, Associate Director of Landscape Planning, delivered training for Natural England staff, to help advance their understanding of the Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) process and how to effectively review and critique LVIAs.

They focused on matters such as setting issues related to designated landscapes, assessment of cumulative effects, how to mitigate effectively and how to use photographs and photomontages in LVIAs.

There were lively debates around setting issues, what constitutes a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ LVIA and how to determine the capacity of landscapes when assessing cumulative effects.

Kate and Rebecca enjoyed sharing their expertise with the Natural England staff, having collectively undertaken or reviewed over 60 LVIAs at LUC.