This presentation will explain how the process of marine planning (spurred on by the passing of the Marine & Coastal Access Act 2009), and more offshore development – particularly wind farms – began to identify a gap in knowledge and evidence on ‘seascape’. Prior to this, people only really considered views out to sea, including in the descriptions available in Landscape Character Assessments which include a coastline.
The talk will then explore the early origins of Seascape Character Assessment as a process in its own right, with examples from across the UK. These will include approaches that focus on 'visual envelopes' (e.g. in Wales and Scotland), versus more recent examples of a nested hierarchy of 'Seascape Character Types' and 'Seascape Character Areas' - more akin to the more established process of LCA.
The talk will also consider how Seascape Character Assessments can, and are being used. In addition, it will explore how Landscape and Seascape Character Assessments can be integrated together to provide seamless evidence on 'character' to inform policy and decision-making.