Assessing Landscape Sensitivity: What It Means and Why It’s Crucial for Planning

What is landscape sensitivity?

In simple terms, landscape sensitivity is a judgement about how susceptible a landscape is to change arising from a particular type of development. According to GLVIA3, it results from a combination of:

• Susceptibility to change — the inherent characteristics of a landscape that affect its ability to accommodate a specific form of development without unacceptable adverse effects.
• Landscape value — including designations, perceptual qualities (such as tranquillity or scenic quality), cultural associations and evidence of landscape condition or intactness.

Importantly, this is a context-specific judgement. A landscape may be highly sensitive to one form of development (e.g. tall structures) but less so to another (e.g. low-profile solar panels). It may also be highly valued yet visually enclosed, or degraded but visually prominent. The assessor’s role is to weigh these factors with care and precision.

The role of sensitivity in LVIA work

In the formal process of LVIA — as set out in GLVIA3 and reinforced by LITGN 01/24 (2024) — sensitivity plays a crucial role in determining the significance of effects. Specifically:

• Sensitivity is combined with the magnitude of change to determine whether an effect on landscape character is likely to be significant in planning terms.
• This informs not only the conclusions of the LVIA but also design refinements, landscape mitigation strategy, and the planning balance.

Misjudging sensitivity can skew the entire assessment. Underestimating it may downplay potential harm, while overestimating it may preclude development unnecessarily.

Factors that influence sensitivity

While every LVIA assessment should take a bespoke approach, several common factors are considered when determining sensitivity:

• Landscape character and intactness: Is the area well-defined, cohesive and well-maintained — or fragmented and degraded?
• Topography and enclosure: Open, elevated landscapes often exhibit greater sensitivity to visual intrusion than those that are enclosed or complex.
• Land use and human influence: Rural, semi-natural or historic landscapes tend to have higher sensitivity than those with strong anthropogenic modification.
• Perceptual qualities: Qualities such as tranquillity, wildness, or remoteness may enhance sensitivity, even if not formally designated.
• Recreational or cultural value: Landscapes with frequent use, iconic views or cultural associations tend to be more sensitive.
• Scale and grain: Fine-grained, intimate landscapes are often less capable of absorbing large-scale development than more expansive, robust character types.

In some cases, reference may also be made to published Landscape Character Assessments (LCA) or sensitivity studies — though these must be interpreted with caution and updated as needed.

Sensitivity vs capacity: a necessary distinction

A common misunderstanding is the confusion between landscape sensitivity and landscape capacity. While related, these are not the same.

• Sensitivity refers to how vulnerable a landscape is to change.
• Capacity refers to how much development it can absorb without significant adverse effects.

Capacity involves a wider planning judgement, including need, alternatives, mitigation potential and acceptability thresholds. Sensitivity, by contrast, is more narrowly focused on how landscape qualities respond to a specific form of proposed change.

LVIA practitioners must therefore be careful not to imply that a landscape with 'low sensitivity' has 'high capacity' for all forms of development. The relationship is more nuanced and must always be justified.