Northamptonshire Environmental Character and Green Infrastructure Suite: Adapting for Growth

Consultation with client to develop ECA approach.

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Identified as part of the Milton Keynes and South Midlands Growth Area, Northamptonshire is to provide 100,000 extra homes by 2021 to help meet the demand for houses in the south east of England and to stimulate a commensurate level of economic growth. The majority of the new development is planned to be located in and around the county's main towns but will result in significant change to both rural and urban areas.

To ensure that new development will be well planned and make a positive contribution to the county's landscapes and townscapes, LDA Design was appointed by the River Nene Regional Park Community Interest Company (RNRP CIC). Our role was to co-ordinate and deliver a full suite of landscape character assessments, landscape strategies and green infrastructure (GI) plans for the county, working in partnership with a range of other environmental experts.

We undertook a current landscape assessment and managed a team of specialists to conduct historic landscape and biodiversity character assessments. Our leadership role ensured that the assessments were methodologically robust and applicable to a wide range of applications from strategic planning to site development. The suite of environmental character assessments, strategies and guidelines led to the preparation of a GI Strategy which presents an environmental framework for future growth and development in Northamptonshire. Our role included project design, co-ordination and delivery, organising collaborative workshops and assisting with the development of an interactive website.

The resulting Environmental Character and GI Suite represents one of the most advanced landscape planning tools available in England and the two complementary studies have been recognised as benchmarks in their respective disciplines.

The suite is currently informing growth plans for several Northamptonshire towns and has been awarded a number of national awards including two Landscape Institute Awards and a Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Award.