Landscape and Visual Appraisal & Landscape Mitigation Plan, provided for Surface Plannings Flexible Energy Facility.
Our client, Surface Planning, sought planning permission for a BESS in Wetley Rocks, Staffordshire. We were initially engaged in 2021 to undertake a Landscape and Visual Appraisal (LVA) which was submitted to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council in October 2021. This application was refused by the council in June 2022.
In a bid to land an approval, our Landscape team in Wetherby, supported by our Visuals team, once again provided support to Surface Planning with their application. Following further consultation with the applicant, the development proposal was amended to further reduce the long-term visual impacts associated with the main structures of the development. Our team was also agile enough to support the applicant with the production of an updated LVA which was submitted to the council in July 2022.
In addition to the LVA, we also provided annotated photosheets, a Landscape Mitigation Plan and photomontages with the latter illustrating the mitigation measures that had been proposed. These efforts resulted in the application being approved by Staffordshire Moorlands District Council in December 2022.
Landscape Mitigation Plan 2022
More recently, the site has been acquired by a renewable energy asset developer and discussions are ongoing with Stephenson Halliday to provide support to discharge conditions relating to Landscape matters including the provision of detailed hard and soft landscape mitigation plans and a Landscape Maintenance and Management Plan.
“An excellent win – thanks for all your and your team’s assistance on this. The visuals and landscaping were really critical to getting the members on board.”
– Quote from the Client’s Planning Agent