Somerset Council is a new unitary authority formed from four former district councils.  The project brings together and updates several older assessments from these councils. LUC’s landscape planning team has strong experience in producing consolidated assessments for larger-scale unitary authorities, in line with the government’s push for sub-regional planning set out in the December 2024 Devolution White Paper.

This work provides a comprehensive view of Somerset’s varied landscapes and their sensitivity to change. The assessments will support informed planning, landscape management and climate adaptations across the area for years to come. 

The assessments are brought to life through a fully interactive website, offering a dynamic and engaging way to explore the landscape evidence base.

Each Landscape Character Type (LCT) and Landscape Character Assessment (LCA) profile is paired with an interactive map, enabling users to explore relevant data with ease. A geolocated photography layer provides visual references for each area, based on fieldwork conducted during the assessment, and creates a baseline for monitoring change over time. A searchable database of the Landscape Sensitivity Assessment (LSA) parcels allows users to filter the parcels by name and intermediary and final scores, again providing an elevated user experience when compared to a standard report.

This digital approach makes these assessments more user-friendly and allows a far richer presentation than a traditional PDF report, improving accessibility for planners, communities, developers and other stakeholders.

The Landscape Character Assessment identifies and describes the features that make Somerset’s landscapes distinctive. It captures the interplay of natural, cultural and perceptual influences that shape each part of the county and provides practical guidance for how those qualities can be protected and enhanced.

The area is now mapped into 26 Landscape Character Types, each with its own profile describing key characteristics, valued features, sensitivities and management guidelines.

A Landscape Sensitivity Assessment of land surrounding key settlements in the Somerset Council Local Plan area identifies how sensitive the landscape is to residential and commercial development, using a five-point scale.

The assessment follows the principles set out in Natural England’s 2019 guidance and provides both general and parcel-specific development management guidance.

This evidence gives Somerset Council a robust basis for making planning decisions that respond to the character and capacity of the landscape, helping to steer growth to the most appropriate locations.

This work supports multiple positive outcomes for Somerset:

• For people, it encourages new development to respect local character, enhance place identity and support community wellbeing.
• For nature, it identifies and promotes the conservation of valued landscape.
• For climate resilience, it strengthens evidence for spatial planning that works with natural systems, supporting biodiversity, carbon storage and flood mitigation.

We are proud to have delivered this important study for Somerset Council and to have helped lay the foundations for well-informed, landscape-led planning across the area.