All assessments prepared by Chartered Members of the Landscape Institute
LVIAs, appraisals and EIA chapters by Chartered Landscape Architects working across Staffordshire, from the Peak District fringe to Cannock Chase and the Green Belt.
Staffordshire runs from the moorland edge of the Peak District to the heaths of Cannock Chase and the farmland of the Trent valley, with Green Belt around both the West Midlands conurbation and the Potteries. It is also under strong pressure for logistics, battery storage, solar and housing. We prepare LVIAs, Landscape and Visual Appraisals, EIA landscape chapters and Technical Notes across the county from our Nottingham office.
| Planning authorities | Staffordshire County Council for minerals and waste; eight district and borough councils; Stoke-on-Trent City Council as a unitary authority; the Peak District National Park Authority in the north-east |
|---|---|
| Local plans | Plans are at different stages. South Staffordshire’s Local Plan Review 2023–2041 is at the final stage of examination, with main modifications consulted on in 2026 |
| Protected landscapes | Cannock Chase National Landscape (designated 1958, the smallest in mainland England); part of the Peak District National Park |
| Green Belt | The West Midlands Green Belt in the south of the county, and the North Staffordshire Green Belt around Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme |
| National Character Areas | White Peak (52), South West Peak (53), Shropshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire Plain (61), Potteries and Churnet Valley (64), Mid Severn Sandstone Plateau (66), Cannock Chase and Cank Wood (67), Needwood and South Derbyshire Claylands (68), Trent Valley Washlands (69), Mease/Sence Lowlands (72) |
| Other constraints to check early | Cannock Chase Special Area of Conservation mitigation for new homes within 15 kilometres; the Midland Meres and Mosses |
Cannock Chase and Cank Wood (NCA 67) is the heart of the county: a raised plateau of heath, birch and conifer woodland on the Chase, falling to a former coalfield landscape of towns, restored land and farmland to the south. The Chase is visible from much of the surrounding countryside, and its edges are sensitive to development.
To the north and west, the Shropshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire Plain (NCA 61) is a gently rolling pastoral landscape of hedged fields and farms, and the Mid Severn Sandstone Plateau (NCA 66) reaches the south-west edge of the county towards Wolverhampton. In the north, the Potteries and Churnet Valley (NCA 64) combine the city with steep wooded valleys, rising to the moorland of the South West Peak (NCA 53) and the White Peak (NCA 52).
In the east, the Trent Valley Washlands (NCA 69) are a broad, flat floodplain with gravel workings and power infrastructure, bordered by the Needwood and South Derbyshire Claylands (NCA 68) and the Mease/Sence Lowlands (NCA 72).
County-wide evidence comes from Planning for Landscape Change, the Staffordshire landscape character assessment adopted as guidance in 2001, supplemented by district studies and the Cannock Chase Management Plan.
Cannock Chase was designated in 1958 and is the smallest National Landscape in mainland England. Its heathland and woodland are also protected as a Special Area of Conservation. In the north-east, part of the county lies within the Peak District National Park, where the National Park Authority decides applications.
Since December 2023, public bodies have been under a statutory duty to “seek to further” the purposes of National Parks and National Landscapes. Many sites around the Chase are outside the boundary but within its setting.
Much of the south of the county lies within the West Midlands Green Belt, and the area around Stoke-on-Trent within the North Staffordshire Green Belt. Since the revised NPPF of August 2026, more Green Belt sites can be put forward as grey belt. Whether a site qualifies depends on how strongly it contributes to the Green Belt purposes, which is as much a landscape and visual question as a planning one: how open the site looks, how it relates to the settlement edge, and whether it reads as countryside. Our Green Belt and grey belt appraisals set out that evidence.
New homes within 15 kilometres of the Cannock Chase Special Area of Conservation contribute to recreation mitigation. For battery storage, logistics and other large schemes on the edge of the conurbation, landscape and visual effects, and the effect on the Green Belt, are usually the main issues.
See also our Warwickshire page and our projects.
Sources and further reading: Planning for Landscape Change, Cannock Chase SAC mitigation guidance, South Staffordshire Local Plan Review examination, Natural England National Character Area profiles. Information checked October 2026.