Client: Copeland Borough Council
Location: Copeland, Cumbria
Date: 2019-20
As part of the evidence base for their local plan review, Copeland Council asked us to prepare a landscape sensitivity study for the main towns and smaller settlements in the borough. Copeland is on the western edge of the Lake District, bounded by some dramatic coastline and the high fells of the National Park. The area has a rich history and a diverse landscape, which bears the evidence of it’s mining and industrial history.
Our task was to identify which areas were particularly susceptible to new development and to provide broad landscape based parameters for new development proposals. We used our own fieldwork to define the characteristics and qualities of the landscapes around built up areas and their particular landscape sensitivities to new building. Individual settlement studies picked up on these broad themes and applied them to the areas towns and villages. The result is a living, working document of great practical help to local communities, planners and developers.