Supporting Document for Proposed Local Development Plan 2015 East Dunbartonshire Evidence Report 4: Campsie Fells Statement of Importance Strategic Environmental Assessment: Environment Report Action Programme Habitats Regulations Appraisal Equality Impact Assessment Policy Background Reports Evidence Report 1: Addressing Housing Need and Demand in East Dunbartonshire Evidence Report 2: Housing Land Audit 2014 Evidence Report 3: Site Assessments Evidence Report 4: Campsie Fells Statement of Importance Evidence Report 5: Kilpatrick Hills Statement of Importance Evidence Report 6: Retail Capacity Assessment Evidence Report 7: Wind Energy Framework Evidence Report 4: Campsie Fells Statement of Importance Proposed Campsie Fells Local Landscape Area Statement of Importance Contents 1. Introduction 2. Policy Context 3. Background and Study Approach 4. Statement of Importance 4.1 Landscape Overview 4.2 Landscape Description 4.3 Landscape Character 4.4 Special Landscape Qualities 4.5 Local Landscape Area Boundary 4.6 Landscape Change 4.7 Other Interests Appendix 1 – Nature Conservation, Geodiversity and Gardens and Designed Landscape Interest within the Campsie Fells, Information on Features 1 Evidence Report 4: Campsie Fells Statement of Importance 1. Introduction The Campsie Fells are the highest part of the range of hills to the north of the Clyde Valley basin. This document explains the reasons why the Campsie Fells have been selected for designation as a Local Landscape Area. It will establish a framework for managing change and the protection and enhancement of the area’s special qualities. 2. Policy Context Scotland’s landscapes are recognised as a major asset, contributing to national, regional and local identities, adding to the quality of many people’s lives and providing attractive settings which help to promote social and economic development. The importance of landscape is acknowledged internationally by the European Landscape Convention, which promotes the protection, management and planning of European landscapes and organises European co-operation on landscape issues. The Convention provides a framework for Scotland’s approach to landscape, based on a set of five principles. It defines: • ‘landscape’ as an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors • ‘landscape protection’ as actions to conserve and maintain the significant or characteristic features of a landscape, justified by its heritage value derived from its natural configuration and/or from human activity. Improving the natural environment and the sustainable use and enjoyment of it is one of the Government’s 16 national outcomes detailing how its central purpose of delivering sustainable economic growth will be delivered. Scottish Planning Policy (SPP) The principal policy on sustainability states that planning policies and decisions should protect, enhance and promote access to natural heritage, including green infrastructure, landscape and the wider environment. Its subject policy valuing the natural environment includes the policy principle that the planning system should facilitate positive change while maintaining and enhancing distinctive landscape character. SPP states that the purpose of areas of local landscape value should be to: • safeguard and enhance the character and quality of a landscape which is important or particularly valued locally or regionally; or • promote understanding and awareness of the distinctive character and special qualities of local landscapes; or • safeguard and promote important local settings for outdoor recreation and tourism. It is important therefore to understand local landscape character and its sensitivity to change. 2 Evidence Report 4: Campsie Fells Statement of Importance The European Landscape Convention and SPP advocate an ‘all-landscapes’ approach which recognises the landscape is important everywhere, not just in special places, and whether beautiful or degraded. Alongside this approach, landscape designations play an important role in protecting and enhancing those areas which are of particular value and merit special attention. National Scenic Areas (NSAs) are areas which are nationally important for their scenic quality. NSAs are complemented by local designations – Local Landscape Areas – which protect, enhance and encourage the enjoyment and understanding of locally important landscapes. The value of the Campsie Fells as an important landscape has been recognised by development plans for over 30 years. Their designation as a Regional Scenic Area emerged from the 1981 Strathclyde Structure Plan, with the boundaries identified in subsequent local plans. The southern part of the Campsie Fells is within East Dunbartonshire. The name Campsie means "crooked fairy hill", from the Scottish Gaelic and "Fell" originates from the Old Norse word fjal, meaning hill. The northern part of the Campsie Fells are designated by Stirling Council in the Southern Hills Local Landscape Area and this proposed designation will complement this for the section of the Campsie Fells in East Dunbartonshire, following the former Campsie Fells Regional Scenic Area landscape designation. Lairs Hill & Escarpment from the Road to Torrance 3. Study Approach Within the above context, the East Dunbartonshire Local Plan2, 2011, PolicyNE4 – Protection of Landscape Character referred to the need to protect the Campsie Fells Regional Scenic Area. The Local Development Plan Main Issues Report 2013 identified the need to ensure that natural heritage designations are in line with SPP and continue to be protected. East Dunbartonshire Council (EDC) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) have subsequently worked together to prepare this ‘Statement 3 Evidence Report 4: Campsie Fells Statement of Importance of Importance’ for the proposed Campsie Fells LLA which confirms its extent and landscape character, including those qualities identified as special, explaining the reasons for the designation. The Statement of Importance has been prepared following three key stages: i. An inception meeting held in September 2014 with landscape and planning staff from SNH North Lanarkshire Council and East Dunbartonshire Council to discuss the approach to a review of the landscape attributes of the Campsie Fells; ii. A desk review of the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Landscape Character Assessment (1999), historic mapping and local documentation; iii. Fieldwork assessment within the Campsie Fells, carried out over four days in October 2014) by SNH landscape adviser and Council planning staff (individual field assessment sheets and locations are available at Appendix x). The Statement of Case was produced by planning staff with support from SNH. Adjacent local authorities have been consulted on its content. 4. Statement of Importance 4.1 Landscape Overview The Campsie Fells are the highest part of the range of hills that form the northern edge of the Clyde Basin. They are an important feature in the setting of Glasgow and the towns and villages of East Dunbartonshire. The special qualities of the hills include the distinctive escarpment and cliffs of the Campsie Fault, striking views from the range of hills out over surrounding valleys and urban areas and diversity of landscape experience with the rugged moorland hills and intimate river valleys. The southern part of the Campsie Fells is within East Dunbartonshire. The name Campsie means "crooked fairy hill", from the Scottish Gaelic and "Fell" originates from the Old Norse word fjal, meaning hill. The northern part of the Campsie Fells are designated by Stirling Council in the Southern Hills Local Landscape Area and this proposed designation will complement this for the section of the Campsie Fells in East Dunbartonshire, following the former Campsie Fells Regional Scenic Area landscape designation. 4.2 Landscape Description Landscape Context Together the Campsie Fells, and Kilpatrick and Kilsyth Hills form a broken line of rugged moorland hills which encloses Glasgow and the Clyde Valley to the north. These hills are marked by steep south facing slopes which are visible from much of the conurbation. From Earl’s Seat in the Campsie Fells there are panoramic views north west to the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park. From Lecket Hill/ Cort Ma Law in the Campsie Fells there are views north east over Meikle Bin and the Carron Valley and reservoir, and Stirling Council Southern Hills 4 Evidence Report 4: Campsie Fells Statement of Importance Local Landscape Area, from Cort Ma Law and Lairs and there are dramatic views south and south west over the Glazert Valley Local Landscape Area and south over the Kelvin Valley. The headwaters of the River Carron rise in the Campsie Fells, just north east of the boundary of East Dunbartonshire. Although the Campsie Fells are lower than the mountains beyond the highland boundary fault to the north, they are the highest in the region and their dramatic form and largely open character make them a defining feature in the overall landscape composition. The southern edge of the Campsie Fells, and the Kilsyth Hills in North Lanarkshire, is defined by the Campsie fault, creating the distinctive escarpment slopes along the Glazert and Kelvin Valleys. The skylines and edges of these are a key feature in the setting of the East Dunbartonshire towns and villages, Frontiers of the Roman Empire (Antonine Wall) World Heritage Site and Forth and Clyde Canal. With such an extensive visual envelope, and large viewing