News
Shared Space – reducing the dominance of motor vehicles
Does shared space still have a place in urban design? A movement away from car dominance in our urban areas is a progressive and positive step, but shared space needs to be delivered thoughtfully to achieve the intended benefits to society.
Putting a Price on Ecosystem Services
There has been a lot of recent media coverage of the wide range of environmental factors that affect human health, including the urgent need to bring air pollution down to within legal limits and the effect of exposure to urban environments on mental...
Short-sighted Government housing policy will not meet objectives
The National Policy for the Built Environment Committee was appointed on 11 June 2015 to consider the development and implementation of national policy for the built environment. The function of Lords Select Committees is not to shadow the work of...
The Lawton Report, Five Years On
In the autumn of 2010 the report ‘Making Space for Nature: A review of England’s Wildlife Sites and Ecological Network’ (the Lawton Report) was submitted to the Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The report was chaired by...
Landscape and Visual Impact (LVIA) – practice update
In summary, the purpose of the LVIA process is to inform accurate decision making, so it is important that the LVIA report is proportionate to the development proposed. Huge tomes produced for small scale assessments are both unnecessary and costly, and will probably alienate readers, local residents and local authorities alike. The most important attributes of LVIAs are clarity, transparency and accessibility.
Planning permission granted for brownfield solar PV at Snowdown Colliery
The Landmark Practice has secured full planning permission for a 5MW solar park at Snowdown Colliery at Aylesham in Kent. Landmark’s Environmental Planners Bernice Roberts and Gemma Melvill worked with developer BNRG Renewables and Dover District Council to...
Branching out – The future for street trees
As concerns grow about the quality of the urban environment in towns and cities throughout the world, the importance of protecting and expanding urban forests can only increase. Trees make people happier. This is something we intrinsically understand, from walking down a leafy urban street and exploring quiet woodland, but there is also a wide range of academic evidence to support this statement. Since studies completed by Ulrich in the 1940s, showing hospital patients recovered faster in rooms with views of trees, the medical evidence for the value of street trees has grown. As well as overall wellbeing, the evidence points to the health benefits of living in areas with abundant street trees range ranging from lower instances of skin cancer to improved mental health.
Housing and Planning Bill – what does it mean for development?
After years of battling conflicting policies to meet demand for housing, planners can only welcome the government priority to deliver housing in England. There is no doubt that the planning system should be straightforward but planning for housing is not simply a question of numbers set centrally.
Climate Change News Review
UK Energy Policy to increase CO2 and consumer costs Energy Secretary Amber Rudd’s admission in November that the UK does not have the right climate adaptation policies to meet its renewable energy targets was no surprise to the energy and environmental...
Triodos Windfarm Virtual Tour – Education for the Future
In July 2015, Landmark was pleased to be invited to take part in an educational school visit to the Triodos Renewables turbines at Avonmouth, Bristol. We are proud to have worked with Wessex Water in gaining planning consent for the four wind turbines at the...
Bats and Hibernation
There are approximately 17 species of bat in Britain; two belonging to the Rhinolophid family (the horseshoe bats) and the other 15 (or so) belonging to the Vespertilionidae family (or vesper bats meaning ‘evening’). Some other species may be resident here at...
BIM: Demystifying Building Information Modelling
By 2016 all parties involved with new Government construction projects or public sector projects over £50 mill require level of Building Information Modelling (BIM). The Landmark Practice realises that this may leave clients in the dark as to the implications of these...
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