Land Studio helps win appeal

Getting planning permission for a replacement dwelling is not always straightforward, especially in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

We are increasingly working closely with architects to help them show how a new building and the visual aspect of the landscape it sits in can be sensitively and successfully integrated.

Our detailed landscape feasibility studies inform their brief and subsequent planning applications.

We were delighted with the result of a recent planning appeal decision for a significantly larger replacement dwelling in Red Wharf Bay on Anglesey designed by WM Design & Architecture.

At appeal, the application for a two-storey house to replace an existing bungalow was shown to be of high quality in terms of its design, and without a significantly greater visual impact. The appeal was allowed.

In conjunction with the house design, we produced a detailed landscape layout illustrating the retention of hedgerows, trees and showed a proposed planting scheme that draws on the coastal character of the bay and character of the surrounding area.

We also demonstrated the landscape context in which the site sits and assessed the potential impact of views from a dozen different viewpoints, proving that there would be little or no visual change in the landscape.

Our streetscape study reviewed the proposed new house in relation to the architectural style, scale and existing character of its surrounding buildings.

We even drew up night time visualisations of the house and its neighbouring properties as viewed from the beach so the planners could see how it would seamlessly blend in.

As landscape architects, we have a responsibility to cut through the jargon, and the complexity and to address the wider issues in a clear, visual and graphical way.

We often work on projects in sensitive landscapes and in rural and semi-rural locations across the North West and Wales. We enjoy the challenge of solving planning issues with a focus on the benefits to the landscape because it allows good development to happen.