LANDSCAPE PLANNING AT THE REGIONAL SCALE

Landscape planning in the UK tends to concentrate on the site and the landscape scales. Concepts of sustainable development and the new-found importance of regional level planning suggest, however, that there is a growing case for the landscape community to develop a regional planning perspective and to engage in wider areas of decision making in order to forward landscape planning goals. This chapter explores these challenges with particular reference to the North West of England which, through the work of an organisation called Sustainability North West and the production of a Regional Landscape Strategy, has been at the forefront of regional level landscape planning in the UK. The chapter provides an account of the production of the Regional Landscape Strategy and some reflections on this experience highlighting some of the problems and potentials of the approach. An outline of the new regional arrangements in England is then given and their relevance to landscape planning interests is highlighted. Movement towards sustainable development is a central element in the new regional planning structures and the chapter concludes with some discussion on the links between landscape and sustainability thinking with particular reference to the regional scale.