Shetland Local Landscape Designation Review: Final Report

2 Introduction
2.1 Following a change in national planning policy, Shetland Islands Council (SIC)
is taking a new approach to the protection of landscape at a local level. At
present, a number of Local Protection Areas are designated for a range of
reasons including landscape, biodiversity and archaeology. New national
policy encourages local authorities to employ local designations for distinct
purposes, backed by robust justification. As such, the current multi-purpose
Local Protection Areas are no longer suitable. SIC proposes therefore to
develop a new suite of local landscape designations which will accord with
national policy, based on a review of landscape character.
2.2 In April 2011, Land Use Consultants (LUC) was commissioned to undertake
this local landscape designation review (LLDR). LUC’s brief was to develop a
robust set of criteria and carry out a comprehensive assessment aimed at
replacing the current set of designations with a new, more robustly justified
suite of Local Landscape Areas.
2.3 This report presents the findings of the review process, including a
comparative evaluation of the Shetland landscape, and the selection of
candidate Local Landscape Areas. This report builds on an interim report
(May 2011), which set out the proposed methodology and baseline studies.
This was discussed and agreed with SIC. Key elements of the study, such as
the specific purposes of the new designation, were therefore agreed at the
project outset, in order that the outcome fully reflects SIC’s intentions.
STUDY CONTEXT
Scottish Planning Policy
2.4 In 2010, the Scottish Government published Scottish Planning Policy (SPP),
their updated statement on nationally important land use planning matters.
This includes policy on local designations, and states that “planning authorities
are encouraged to limit non-statutory designations to two types - local landscape
areas and local nature conservation sites” (paragraph 139).
2.5 SPP also recommends that the “reasons for designation should be clearly
explained” (paragraph 139), and states that:
“The purpose of designating a local landscape area in the development plan should
be to:
safeguard and enhance the character and quality of landscapes which are
important or particularly valued locally or regionally, or
promote understanding and awareness of the distinctive character and special
qualities of local landscapes, or
safeguard and promote important settings for outdoor recreation and tourism
locally” (paragraph 140).
2.6 Under the terms of this policy, the Local Protection Areas (LPA) identified in
the adopted Shetland Local Plan (2004) are no longer appropriate, since they
Shetland Islands Local Landscape Designation Review
Land Use Consultants
Final Report 3 October 2011