Services

Landscape and visual impact assessment

Landscape planning

Visualisations and Graphic Support

Key Tasks

Site options appraisal

Seascape and visual impact assessment

Seascape capacity study

Photomontages

Stakeholder consultation

What we did

To comply with a request from the Scottish Government, Scottish Natural Heritage commissioned ASH in September 2010 to undertake a landscape and seascape capacity study for aquaculture in the Outer Hebrides.

This involved undertaking an assessment by applying the recommended methodology set out in the SNH document Guidance on Landscape/Seascape Capacity for Aquaculture (2008) for four pilot study areas pre-selected by a Steering Group.

The pilot study areas were chosen to reflect the different scales and types of landscapes and seascapes found throughout the Outer Hebrides. The study assessed  potential development of both finfish and shellfish developments at agreed scenarios of scale.

This included a review of the existing landscape and seascape baseline within an agreed 3km study area extending from the coastline. This helped to establish  Regional Coastal Character Areas (RCCA), which were at a broad scale; these were subsequently refined and Local Coastal Character Areas (LCCA) identified. Using the agreed sensitivity criteria, these LCCA’s were assessed to establish their capacity for potential aquaculture development resulting in recommendations for each individual LCCA.