iema: Updating EIA Practice, Cardiff 07 March 2012

1. iema: Updating EIA Practice,Cardiff07 March 2012

2. Guidelines for Landscape & Visual Impact Assessment3rd Edition Mary O’Connor AIEMA CMLI iema 2012_03_07

3. Mary O’Connor … • AIEMA & CMLI • Associate Director in WYG • Member of the working party that produced & contributor to the current (2nd, 2002) edition of the Guidelines • Currently, member of the LI Advisory Panel guiding the production of the 3rd edition iema 2012_03_07

4. This presentation … • Contribution to iema EIA update to members • Briefing you on GLVIA3 • Encouraging you to take part in the consultation • Part of WYG’s commitment as holders of iema EIA Quality Mark iema 2012_03_07

5. Practitioner led guidance to establish good practice and raise standards: editions 1 & 2 • Draft of 3rd Edition out for consultation iema 2012_03_07

6. Background • Role of LVIA generally accepted and understood • Understanding of approaches and methods has evolved – and continues to evolve • Need for 3rd edition to update guidance to reflect changed understanding and methodologies iema 2012_03_07

7. Updating the LVIA Guidance • A shared endeavour … • Advisory Panel of LI and IEMA members • The writer: Professor Carys Swanwick • Consultation both before and after appointment of writer • Two rounds of consultation on structure • Now: Consultation Draft of 3rd Edition iema 2012_03_07

8. Programme • General consultation on Draft of 3rd Edition commenced 15 February 2012 • Closing date: 14 March 2012 • Advisory Panel and writer meet to review responses, late March 2012 • To be published jointly by the Landscape Institute and iema, late 2012/early 2013 iema 2012_03_07

9. Initial consultations: Key issues • Future proofing • Focus on principles • Areas of practice & techniques subject change: appendices? Interim guidance notes? • Applicability to devolved nations and overseas – emphasise principles not individual policy contexts iema 2012_03_07

10. Initial consultations: Key issues • Clear separation of landscape and visual aspects • “Ecosystem services” need to be addressed • Recognition of historic landscape and heritage agendas • Townscape, seascape … • Cumulative impact assessment iema 2012_03_07

11. Initial consultations: Key issues • Significance – debate whether the guidance should be prescriptive or illustrative • Iterative design-focussed nature of LVIA … a process • … many other comments filling a table of nearly 50 pages in length, summarised on LI GLVIA webpage iema 2012_03_07

12. Some other points • Opportunity to achieve alignment with other documents undergoing revision and updating • Need for consistency with new DMRB Chapter on Landscape and Visual matters for Highways • Cumulative assessment – how is this being approached and what should be advocated iema 2012_03_07

13. Some other points • How to engage with the public and take their views into account • Case Studies – are they helpful, how best to include them? iema 2012_03_07

14. Some other points Need for retrospective review of what actually happened after LVIA completed Images: Top: Pre-existing view Middle: Photomontage of proposals Bottom: As-built view iema 2012_03_07

15. Some background

16. L&VIA derived from EIA Directive & UK Regulations • Description of aspects of the environment likely to be significantly affected to include “in particular”: … population … landscape, and inter-relationship between them iema 2012_03_07

17. Understanding of “landscape”: ELC • European Landscape Convention 2000 • Definition : “Landscape” means an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action andinteraction of natural and/or human factors iema 2012_03_07

18. Population = viewers of landscape • Visual impact assessment addresses the inter-relationship of landscape and population iema 2012_03_07

19. The Guidelines

20. Structure of 2Ed • 9 Parts • Parts 1-3: Scope, principles, background • Parts 4-5: The proposals, mitigation • Parts 6-7: Baseline studies, assessment of effects • Part 8: Presentation • Part 9: Consultation and review iema 2012_03_07

21. Structure of 3Ed • Two parts, 9 Chapters • Part 1: Introduction, scope, context • Part 2: Principles, process, presentation iema 2012_03_07

22. Part 1

23. Landscape & Visual Amenity: separate but related topics, defined in 2Ed • Landscape effects derive from changes in the physical landscape, which may give rise to changes in its character and how this is experienced • Visual effects relate to the changes that arise in the composition of available views as a result of changes to the landscape, to people’s responses to the changes, and to the overall effects with respect to visual amenity iema 2012_03_07

24. Landscape & Visual Amenity: principle retained in 3Ed but re-expressed • Landscape effects assessment: deals with changes to landscape as a resource. Society as a whole has an interest in this and it is recognised as one of the key dimensions of environmental interest, alongside matters such as biodiversity, or cultural heritage. It is concerned with issues like protected landscapes, the contribution of landscape character to sense of place and quality of life for all, and the way that change may affect individual components of the landscape iema 2012_03_07

25. Landscape & Visual Amenity: principle retained in 3Ed but re-expressed • Landscape effects assessment: deals with changes to landscape as a resource. Society as a whole has an interest in this and it is recognised as one of the key dimensions of environmental interest, alongside matters such as biodiversity, or cultural heritage. It is concerned with issues like protected landscapes, the contribution of landscape character to sense of place and quality of life for all, and the way that change may affect individual components of the landscape • Visual effects assessment: is concerned with how the surroundings of individuals or groups of people may be specifically affected by change in the landscape. This means assessing changes in specific views and in the general visual amenity experienced by particular people in particular places iema 2012_03_07

26. Landscape & Visual Amenity LVIA deals with both and should clearly demonstrate understanding of the difference between them iema 2012_03_07

27. Landscape – scope enlarged in 3Ed • Rural landscapes • Urban contexts – townscape • Marine and coastal landscapes – seascape iema 2012_03_07

28. LVIA & other EIA topics • Cultural heritage • Ecology • Strategic and spatial planning • Interactions e.g. of mitigation measures iema 2012_03_07

29. LVIA & wider environmental concerns • Climate change – a force for change in the landscape in its own right and influence on assessment of proposals in the long term • Ecosystem services – many valued landscape features perform a wide range of functions and accommodate “services” from the environment • Sustainable development – an underlying concept in the planning system iema 2012_03_07

30. Purposes of LVIA • To understand and explain how the landscape or visual amenity will be changed as a result of the proposal • To apply a systematic process of description, analysis, reasoning and judgement … • … leading to conclusions concerning the significance of those changes • Characteristic of LVIA: frequently part of the project design process iema 2012_03_07

31. Part 2: Principles & Process

32. Principles • Overview in Chapter 4 • EIA process & Screening • Project description • Scoping • Baseline studies • Identification and description of effects • Mitigation • Assessment of effects • Engagement with stakeholders and the public iema 2012_03_07

33. Process: Chapters 5 - 8 • 3Ed differs from 2Ed in aggregating guidelines for the different aspects of LVIA iema 2012_03_07

34. Chapters 5 - 8 • 5 The proposals being assessed • Describing the project proposals • The iterative nature of LVIA in the design process • Main discussion of mitigation iema 2012_03_07

35. Chapters 5 - 8 • 5 The proposals being assessed • 6 Dealing with landscape effects iema 2012_03_07

36. Chapters 5 - 8 • 5 The proposals being assessed • 6 Dealing with landscape effects • 7 Dealing with visual effects iema 2012_03_07

37. Chapters 5 - 8 • 5 The proposals being assessed • 6 Dealing with landscape effects • 7 Dealing with visual effects • 8 Dealing with cumulative effects iema 2012_03_07

38. Each topic … • Establishing the baseline, the receptors • Predicting and describing effects • Evaluating the significance of effects • Relating the nature of the receptors to the nature of the change iema 2012_03_07

39. Evaluating the significance of effects • Receptors • Sensitivity • Importance/value • Magnitude of change • Geographic extent • Duration and reversibility • Significance of effects iema 2012_03_07

40. Sensitivity of receptors • Landscape sensitivity: • “The relative ability of a landscape to respond to and, where appropriate, accommodate change …” • Sensitivity of viewers: • Occupation or activity of people experiencing the view • Extent to which their attention is focused on the landscape iema 2012_03_07

41. Importance or value • Separate from sensitivity • Landscape: • Designations as indicators • Value of individual components and contribution to landscape character • Viewers: • Nature of the view • Numbers of people affected • Length of time view experienced • Recognised importance of view iema 2012_03_07

42. Magnitude of change, extent, duration • The “amount of change” • Geographic extent: Large change affecting local area or a small change spread over large area • Duration: short, medium, long term; limited lifetime, reversibility iema 2012_03_07

43. Cumulative assessment • 2Ed provided only brief overview • 3Ed devotes Chapter 8 to the topic, discussing: • Types of development to include • Timescale of proposals to be included • Defining study areas • Assessing cumulative landscape effects • Assessing cumulative visual effects • A complex and evolving field – your responses sought! iema 2012_03_07

44. Assessment Judgements of significance are arrived at by a process of reasoning based upon the analysis of baseline conditions and sensitivity, and of the degree and nature of changes arising from the proposals iema 2012_03_07

45. Assessment principles • Clearly defined criteria and their application fully explained • Numerical scoring or weighting to be avoided – spurious level of precision • Verbal scales with three to six categories preferred • Two way matrices or tables may be useful • Overall judgement of significance should be made as consistently and transparently as possible iema 2012_03_07

46. Presentation • Provide information in a way that will help decision-makers, not usually expert in the field • Narrative text helps non-experts to understand the issues • Illustrations for quick and easy communication – in support of the text, proportionate to the task in hand • Tables and matrices to support and summarise narrative descriptive text, not to replace it iema 2012_03_07

47. Presentation • L&VIA often said to be subjective • Therefore, there is greater importance on explaining the process of analysis and reasoning that led to the conclusions iema 2012_03_07

48. Review, Validation & Verification • Review packages for structured look at the content of environmental statements • iema: EIA Quality Mark - ES Review Criteria • Scottish Natural Heritage: Handbook on EIA • EC Guidance iema 2012_03_07

49. Hopes for GLVIA3 To provide the basis for coping with the evolution of LVIA into the future – at least for another 10 years iema 2012_03_07

50. Take part in the consultation … • LI GLVIA3 webpage:http://www.landscapeinstitute.org/knowledge/GLVIA.php • Download the text: http://landscapeinstitute-news.org/6KZ-PAE6-NAG80-9NW4Y-1/c.aspx • Online questionnaire: http://landscapeinstitute-news.org/6KZ-PAE6-NAG80-9NW1Z-1/c.aspx iema 2012_03_07