Landscape Planning

Treveth Holdings are an innovative development company providing new homes and commercial space in Cornwall. They are one of the first developers in the UK to receive B-Corp status.

Treveth wished to better understand better the statutory frameworks and processes of Biodiversity Net Gain, Carbon markets and Nutrient Neutrality and maximise the opportunities arising from these drivers, commercially and environmentally.

Gain produced a thorough piece of guidance for Treveth which detailed the requirements for BNG, Carbon Credits and Nutrient Neutrality through the lens of Treveth’s operation, appraising Treveth’s holdings, assessing the potential requirement for Biodiversity and Nutrient Neutrality Units and the potential for the generation of Carbon Credits and creation of Habitat Banks.

Gain was appointed by Natural England to produce joint guidance for the production of Management Plans for National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and The Broads. The guidance takes forward the government commitment made in its response to the Glover Review of Protected Landscapes.

The guidance is comprehensive, covering context and background of protected landscapes, policy and legislative frameworks, processes of production, creating content and plan delivery. The guidance covers the role of Protected Landscapes Management Plans and Partnerships in several key initiatives, including their critical role in delivering 30 by 30 and tackling climate change.

Gain liaised with a steering group of Protected Landscapes managers and several working groups from both National Parks and AONBs. The guidance is now in text format, awaiting further consultation across the Protected Landscapes family and the intention is for the final guidance to be a web based resource for use by Protected Landscapes across the country.

Gain has completed a comprehensive Open Spaces Strategy on behalf of Bodmin Town Council. The Bodmin Open Spaces Strategy is in two parts.

Part I is the strategic assessment which establishes if Bodmin has enough of the right types of open spaces and whether the are close enough to the communities that they serve. It reinforces the size of new open space to be delivered via new strategic developments in Bodmin. The strategy also establishes key management principles for Bodmin Town Council’s Open Spaces and outlines future strategic open space projects. The strategy was informed by the results of a comprehensive community consultation.

Part II examines 19 parks and open spaces under the management of Bodmin Town Council. It sets out a detailed profile, describing the open space and identifies pressures and condition issues, making recommendations for future management.

Gain supported Land Use Consultants in the production of a new Landscape Character Assessment for Cornwall, using our in-depth knowledge of Cornwall’s unique landscapes. The revision of Cornwall’s LCA involved creating a character types map for Cornwall, reviewing and remapping of Character Area boundaries, revision of the Landscape Character Area descriptions and, importantly, a review of the local planning designation of Areas of Great Landscape Value (AGLV).

Gain worked to map and described individual character areas for the settlements of Portreath and Bridge on behalf of the Portreath Neighbourhood Development Plan, producing a comprehensive Village Character Assessment. This involved developing a settlement edge assessment and planning guidelines for each area along with training volunteers to assist with field survey.

Gain worked with the Gweek Neighbourhood Plan group to develop a comprehensive landscape evidence base to support the Gweek Parish Neighbourhood Plan. The work involved landscape characterisation and descriptions, a settlement edge assessment, and the production of planning guidelines.