HDA has provided landscape support for a number of local authorities, include South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) which is local to our Wallingford office. Support included landscape advice for planning applications, pre-applications within sensitive landscape locations (The North Wessex Downs and Chilterns National Landscapes) and scoping responses.
Through a separate commission, as part of the preparation for the SODC Local Plan review, HDA undertook a review of the Council’s landscape evidence base which considered the landscape and visual sensitivity of 10 strategic sites being promoted for allocation with the Local Plan. The initial part of the study considered previous evidence submitted for each site and whether the findings of that evidence was considered sound. Advice was provided in relation to the existing landscape quality and sensitivity of each site, strategic Green Infrastructure (GI) to be protected within each site and opportunities for additional strategic GI. A final assessment of Landscape Capacity was provided.
