VISUAL IMPACT PROVISION Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment of Existing Electricity Transmission Infrastructure in Nationally Protected Landscapes in England and Wales VISUAL IMPACT PROVISION Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment of Existing Electricity Transmission Infrastructure in Nationally Protected Landscapes in England and Wales Technical Report Professor Carys Swanwick Gillespies Land Use Consultants October 2014 VIP Project Technical Report Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment October 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report has been written by Professor Carys Swanwick acting as Independent Adviser to National Grid on the Visual Impact Provision Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment project, with contributions from the teams from Gillespies and Land Use Consultants who carried out the detailed field survey work for the project. We would like to acknowledge the assistance provided by Ian McKenna and Hector Pearson at National Grid, the helpful comments from members of the Stakeholder Advisory Group, and the input from landscape staff of the authorities responsible for the National Parks and AONBs that were visited. The core project teams for the consultants were: Gillespies Sarah Gibson Rebecca Greatrix Rob Meetham Luke McGuiness Peter Livings Land Use Consultants Kate Ahern Rebecca Knight Sam Oxley Paul Macrae Edith Lendak Contact Details: Professor Carys Swanwick Gillespies Land Use Consultants [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] 2 VIP Project Technical Report Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment October 2014 CONTENTS PART ONE: ASSESSMENT OVERVIEW Chapter 1: Introduction 9 1.1 The Visual Impact provision 9 1.5 The Stakeholder Advisory Group 9 1.9 The Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment Project 10 1.16 This report 11 Chapter 2: Assessment Method 14 2.1 Overall approach to assessment 14 2.1 Origins of the method 14 2.3 Scope and definitions 14 2.4 Overview of approach and method 14 2.5 Details of the assessment method 15 2.5 Development of the method 15 2.7 Outline of the method 15 2.8 Determining appropriate scope of the work 16 2.10 Definition of assessment subsections 16 2.12 Desk study and baseline information 16 2.15 Identifying landscape and visual receptors 17 2.22 Viewpoint Selection 18 2.24 Assessing the importance of the impacts 19 2.24 General framework 19 2.27 Assessment of impacts on landscape 19 2.37 Assessment of impacts on views and visual amenity 24 2.46 Assessing the overall importance of landscape and visual impacts on 26 assessment subsections 2.50 Identification of mitigation opportunities 27 Chapter 3: Outcomes of the assessment 29 3.1 Assessment sections and subsections 29 3.2 Comparing relative importance of sections and subsections 29 3.5 Step 1 29 3.7 Step 2 30 3.8 Step 3 30 3 VIP Project Technical Report Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment October 2014 3.9 Step 4 30 3.13 Step 5 32 3.17 Suggested shortlist of subsections for further investigation 33 PART TWO: DESIGNATED AREA SUMMARIES Chapter 4: National Parks 55 4.1 Brecon Beacons 55 4.7 Lake District 56 4.9 New Forest 56 4.19 North York Moors 58 4.22 Peak District 58 4.31 Snowdonia 60 4.40 South Downs 61 Chapter 5: Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty 68 5.1 Anglesey 68 5.5 Blackdown Hills 68 5.7 Cannock Chase 69 5.10 Chilterns 69 5.18 Clwydian Range and Dee Valley 70 5.22 Cornwall 71 5.24 Cotswolds 71 5.33 Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire 73 5.37 Dedham Vale 73 5.40 Dorset 74 5.52 Forest of Bowland 76 5.56 High Weald 76 5.63 Kent Downs 77 5.74 North Wessex Downs 79 5.93 Shropshire Hills 82 5.96 Solway Coast 82 5.100 Suffolk Coast and Heaths 83 5.103 Tamar Valley 83 5.106 Wye Valley 84 4 VIP Project Technical Report Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment October 2014 Chapter 6: Lines adjacent to designated areas 105 6.1 Northumberland National Park 105 6.5 Pembrokeshire Coast National Park 105 6.7 Howardian Hills AONB 106 6.10 Quantock Hills AONB 106 APPENDIX Sample survey record sheets with guidance on interpretation 113-125 List of Tables Table 2.1 Factors considered in judging the susceptibility of landscape receptors Table 2.2 Factors considered in judging value of landscape receptors Table 2.3 Judging the scale of the impact on the landscape Table 2.4 Judging the geographical extent of the impact on the landscape Table 2.5 Judging the importance of the impact on the landscape Table 2.6 Judging the value of the view from each viewpoint Table 2.7 Judging the scale of the impact at the viewpoint Table 2.8 Judging the importance of the impact at the viewpoint Table 2.9 Judging the geographical extent of the visual impact Table 2.10 Judging importance of the impact on visual amenity of the receptor group Table 2.11 Example of scoring summary on survey record sheet Table 3.5 Comparison of effects of different rankings to top ranked sections Table 3.6 Assessment table for lines adjacent to designated areas Assessment Tables (All at the end of Chapter 3 – Pages 35 to 52) Table 3.1 Alphabetical assessment table including accommodation and scenic routes Table 3.2 Ranked assessment table including accommodation and scenic routes Table 3.3 Alphabetical assessment table minus accommodation and scenic routes Table 3.4 Ranked assessment table minus accommodation and scenic routes 5 VIP Project Technical Report Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment October 2014 List of Figures Figure 1 National Grid transmission infrastructure and designated landscapes 13 Overviews for National Parks (all at the end of Chapter 4 – Pages 64 to 70) Figure 2 Overview map and assessment scores for Brecon Beacons National Park Figure 3 Overview map and assessment scores for Lake District National Park Figure 4 Overview map and assessment scores for New Forest National Park Figure 5 Overview map and assessment scores for North York Moors National Park Figure 6 Overview map and assessment scores for Peak District National Park Figure 7 Overview map and assessment scores for Snowdonia National Park Figure 8 Overview map and assessment scores for South Downs National Park Overview maps for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (all at the end of Chapter 5 – Pages 85 to 104) Figure 9 Overview map and assessment scores for Anglesey AONB Figure 10 Overview map and assessment scores for Blackdown Hills AONB Figure 11 Overview map and assessment scores for Cannock Chase AONB Figure 12 Overview map and assessment scores for Chilterns AONB Figure 13 Overview map and assessment scores for Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB Figure 14 Overview map and assessment scores for Cornwall AONB Figure 15 Overview map and assessment scores for Cotswolds AONB Figure 16 Overview map and assessment scores for Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire AONB Figure 17 Overview map and assessment scores for Dedham Vale AONB Figure 18 Overview map and assessment scores for Dorset AONB Figure 19 Overview map and assessment scores for Forest of Bowland AONB Figure 20 Overview map and assessment scores for High Weald AONB Figure 21 Overview map and assessment scores for Kent Downs AONB Figure 22 Overview map and assessment scores for North Wessex Downs AONB Figure 23 Overview map and assessment scores for Shropshire Hills AONB Figure 24 Overview map and assessment scores for Solway Coast AONB Figure 25 Overview map and assessment scores for Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB Figure 26 Overview map and assessment scores for Tamar Valley AONB Figure 27 Overview map and assessment scores for Wye Valley AONB Overview maps for lines adjacent to designated landscapes (all at the end of Chapter 6 – Pages 108 to 118) Figure 28 Overview map and assessment scores for Northumberland National Park Figure 29 Overview map and assessment scores for Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Figure 30 Overview map and assessment scores for Howardian Hills AONB Figure 31 Overview map and assessment scores for Quantock Hills AONB 6 VIP Project Technical Report Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment October 2014 PART ONE OVERVIEW OF ASSESSMENT 7 VIP Project Technical Report Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment October 2014 8 VIP Project Technical Report Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment October 2014 Chapter 1: Introduction The Visual Impact Provision 1.1 Ofgem and National Grid have agreed a new set of price controls and incentives for the period from April 2013 to March 2021. This includes a provision of £500 million for electricity transmission owners to mitigate the visual impact of existing electricity infrastructure in nationally protected landscapes in Great Britain. For National Grid, which is the transmission owner in England and Wales, this means considering the effects of existing infrastructure on the visual amenity and landscapes of National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs). National Grid have referred to this as the Visual Impact Provision (VIP). 1.2 In 2012-13 National Grid prepared a Visual Impact Provision policy setting out how the fund would be used and how stakeholders would be engaged in identifying opportunities for maximising benefits from it. After a public consultation on the draft between July and September 2013 the policy statement was presented to Ofgem for review. The policy statement made it clear that National Grid’s objective: “is to achieve the maximum enhancement to the landscape from the available funds whilst ensuring that no significant adverse impacts arise as a result”. 1.3 The policy document included a set of guiding principles and a commitment to the creation of a Stakeholder Advisory Group consisting of stakeholders with national remits for England and Wales, and ways of engaging other stakeholders.