PRESS RELEASE
Date of issue: 7th January 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UK organisations call on Governments to reaffirm commitment to the European Landscape Convention
An alliance of over 60 organisations and individuals have signed an open letter to the UK Government, Scottish Government, Welsh Assembly Government and Northern Ireland Assembly urging them all to reaffirm the nation’s commitment to the European Landscape Convention. The letter, dated 10th January 2011, calls for a clear indication from the governments that:
• A system of monitoring and proofing all new relevant legislation, policy and guidance will be carried
out to ensure compliance with the Convention
• The principles of the Convention will be central in the upcoming Natural Environment White Paper
in England and similar country-wide initiatives of the devolved governments.
The European Landscape Convention was developed by the Council of Europe. It was ratified by the
UK Government in November 2006. The Government thereby committed the UK to recognise landscape in law and to integrate landscape into all relevant areas of policy, including cultural, environmental, economic and social policies. It also made a commitment to engage all members of society in the protection, management and planning of landscapes. The UK has contributed much to the rising awareness of landscape values throughout the world, and UK experts were central in drafting the Convention. However, the commitments described above have not yet been fully honoured in any of the four UK administrations. The signatories of the letter request that the commitments set out by the Convention are brought forward, particularly at a time when governments are reviewing policies and seeking new partnerships with local stakeholders. The signatories believe that landscape is an important national asset, a key factor in people’s quality of life, a major economic resource, a stimulus for community action and a potential focus for building the ‘Big Society’.
The core benefits of the Convention are that it helps to fulfil the following purposes of public policy:
• Reinforce democracy, in that landscape belongs to everyone.
• Promote co-responsibility, in that every member of civil society, every property owner, every user
of land can influence landscape for good or ill.
• Strengthen good governance, in that concern within communities for their landscape can lead to
the development of greater environmental responsibility.
• Encourage localism, in that landscape not only contributes to the formation of local cultures and
local quality of life, but the ELC also respects the principle of subsidiarity at every administrative
level and landscape scale.
• Secure a valuable economic resource, in that landscape protection, management and planning can
contribute to job creation, as well as social, cultural, environmental and economic value.
• Advance integration, in that landscape issues can provide the stimulus and framework for
integrated policy-making and action affecting environmental change.
Key figures from organisations with a concern for landscape have voiced their support of the open letter, calling for Governments to re-affirm their commitment to the Convention. For example, Jo Watkins, president of the Landscape Institute, commented: “In times of recession, where we currently find ourselves, the benefits of careful intervention in the landscape become more relevant. What you do with a landscape, how it is nurtured and improved to the benefit of the environment of which it is a part and the communities that use it, becomes significant…it also begs the question: if you’re not thinking about landscape, are you really thinking sustainably?”
Peter Ogden, Director of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales (CPRW), said:
“Reaffirming the nation’s commitment to the European Landscape Convention is particularly timely
and an obligation that our existing and forthcoming Assembly Government must publicly reaffirm.
Doing so now is particularly important given the need for local communities to have increasing
involvement in shaping their local environments”.
Neil Sinden, Director of Policy at the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), said:
"Landscapes shape all of us and we shape our landscapes. This relationship has given us some of
the most beautiful, distinctive and diverse urban and rural landscapes in the world. It's not for
sentimental reasons that we should work to protect and enhance this beauty and diversity. It has
great social, cultural and economic, as well as environmental value. The integrity and quality of all
the landscapes in which we live our lives, across the country, should be given the highest status in
Government policies and decisions."
John Mayhew, convenor of Scottish Environment LINK’s Landscape Taskforce, said:
“We have made a good start in Scotland through the creation of Scotland’s Landscape Charter, but
without wider backing for landscape from the Scottish Government, the UK Government and the
other devolved administrations there is a danger than it will continue to take a back seat.”
Letter to Prime Minister linked to above Press Release - http://landscapeinstitute.org/PDF/Contribute/UKorganisationscallonGovernmentstoreaffirmcommitmenttotheEuropea
Spatial%20planning%20for%20landscape.pdf taken from http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/heritage/landscape/reunionateliers/ATEP-72.pdf
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