COUNTRYSIDE ASSESSMENTS
To carry out Countryside Assessments
as part of the preparation of development plans.
Northern Ireland is blessed with a rich
diversity of countryside. The distinctive character is dependent on
the combination of the many different elements of the natural and
man-made landscape. A quality countryside is a very important
resource and should be highly valued. It contributes significantly
to the identity of rural Northern Ireland and is a source of
enjoyment and inspiration. A high priority will be given to its
conservation and enhancement.
The Department proposes to carry out Countryside Assessments as part
of the development plan-making process. These assessments will be an
essential foundation for the environmental appraisal of lands being
considered for development within towns and villages and will help
to highlight the opportunities for, or constraints on, that
development. They will also contribute to site development briefs
and identify features worthy of retention or protection. The
District Councils will have an important consultative role in
relation to the preparation and use of the Countryside Assessments.
Countryside Assessments will be concerned with topography, landscape
and settlement including among other things landform, elevation,
aspect, vegetation, wildlife habitats, archaeological and historic
features, and buildings. They will describe the particular
characteristics and features of significance, to allow subdivision
of the countryside into areas of broadly similar character. Each
assessment will identify the forms of development traditional and
appropriate to particular countryside areas. It will also identify
the capacity of the landscape, within each area, to absorb further
development and the manner in which such development might best be
integrated into the particular landscape setting.
The assessments will assist in defining:
- the planned limits of development
of towns and villages;
- the opportunities and constraints
imposed on development by the character and features of the
landscape within these planned limits;
- the urban fringe and the potential
for restoration or enhancement of degraded landscapes;
- areas of countryside subject to,
or likely to be subject to, excessive development pressure, relative
to the capacity of their landscapes to absorb development and where
loss of rural character would result;
- areas of special landscape
quality, or specific locations of national or regional significance,
where any development would be undesirable because of its adverse
effect;
- and areas of countryside where
rural character is not under threat from excessive development
pressure and where the landscape has capacity to absorb more
development without loss of character.
Areas identified as under threat
from excessive or inappropriate development will be designated as
Green Belts or Countryside Policy Areas through the development plan
system. The relevant regional development control policies will
apply to each area - see policies
GB/CPA1,
GB/CPA2,
GB/CPA3,
GB/CPA4. Additional local
policies may be drafted, in the development plan, to amplify the
regional policies on matters specific to the local circumstances of
particular countryside areas. |