Method of Approach Adopted for the Project
Supplementary Planning Guidance Consultation
Early on in the project, the project team had concluded that, if the study was to have sufficient weight as a supporting document to the emerging Test Valley Borough Local Plan and as one of the planning tools available to the Test Valley planning team, it needed to be adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG).
During consultation on the Deposit Draft of the emerging Local Plan, many consultees had commented on the landscape issues contained within the Local Plan and made reference to the value and currency of the Test Valley landscape character assessment process. It was therefore also important to engage these bodies in the stakeholder consultation process.
Consequently the Draft Summary for Consultation October 2003 document (based on the First Draft Landscape Character Assessment) was produced for a major consultation exercise, inviting national bodies, local authorities, parish councils, national and local interest groups, developers and their advisors to comment on the classification of the Test Valley landscape into character types and character areas and their descriptions, key characteristics, key and local issues and general strategies. The detailed Guidelines were omitted in this document to enable the drawing up of guidelines to be better informed by the consultees and the focus group members. In the meantime draft guidelines were considered by Test Valley Borough.
Some 200 copies of the Draft Summary for Consultation were sent out, with a 25% response.
At the same time members of the focus groups were also sent a copy of the Draft Summary for Consultation, in advance of their workshop, to help their understanding of the work that they were being asked to contribute to.
A questionnaire was compiled to ease recording of responses, tailored to the main sections under each landscape character type and landscape character area.