Shetland Local Landscape Designation Review: Final Report

Subjective description or personal response to the landscape.
3.22 This approach draws on the SNH methodology employed in the definition of
special qualities of National Scenic Areas. 4 It seeks to draw out the key
characteristics of an area, which form part of the justification required for
each candidate Local Landscape Area. The detailed field survey was therefore
an iterative process, designed to verify and expand on the initial stage of the
evaluation. An example of the second-stage field survey form is included in
Appendix 1.
Identification of Candidate Local Landscape Areas
Analysis of the Area of Search
3.23 The evaluation process looked at each LCU as a whole, but did not seek to
identify variations within these units. The quantitative scoring of LCUs, while
providing a sound basis for selecting the most valuable areas, does not
correlate directly to the definition of candidate Local Landscape Areas.
3.24 Significant variations in landscape quality occur across LCUs, and as such may
not be brought out by an evaluation process that looks at LCUs as a whole.
Potentially, high-scoring LCUs may contain areas of lower quality, while lower
scoring LCUs may contain features of value. The potential for parts of
neighbouring LCUs combine to form valuable assemblages is also recognised.
Because of these variations, the wholesale adoption of high-scoring LCUs as
candidate Local Landscape Areas would have been inappropriate.
3.25 In order to refine the Area of Search, a more detailed qualitative analysis was
carried out, to enable a move away from the pre-defined LCUs, towards
potential candidate Local Landscape Areas.
3.26 This analysis drew on the non-ranked criteria, and on material gathered
during both stages of the field survey work. The following questions were
explored in relation to each of the LCUs in the Area of Search.
Which parts of the LCU perform best against the evaluation
criteria?
This question seeks to identify variations in relative landscape quality,
noting which specific locations contribute to the highest rankings. This is
particularly focused on the weighted criteria, and also draws on variations
noted under the non-ranked consistency criterion.
Are there parts of the LCU that contribute to important
composite landscapes?
This question was considered with reference to the non-ranked
relationships criterion, and seeks to identify where adjacent landscapes of
differing type combine to create valuable groupings. It also identifies areas
which may form an important setting to a high-quality landscape. This
included the consideration of areas outside the Area of Search, where
these contributed to the integrity of potential candidate Local Landscape
Areas.
4 SNH (2008) Guidance For Identifying The Special Qualities Of Scotland’s National Scenic Areas.
Shetland Islands Local Landscape Designation Review
Land Use Consultants
Final Report 14 October 2011