Defining coherence for landscape planning and management: a regional landscape strategy for North West England

The range of environmental activity in the North West of England is as diverse as its landscapes. These embrace some of the finest, but also some of the most degraded, landscapes in the UK; to date however, there has been no overall co-ordination of initiatives aimed at their protection and rehabilitation. The emergence of regional planning guidance, a regional economic strategy and the agenda of sustainable development demands a more integrative, strategic approach to environmental action. This paper details the development of a regional landscape strategy which seeks to provide the connection between action at the regional and the neighbourhood levels through the co-ordination, reinforcement and innovation of environmental activity. The regional landscape strategy provides a focus around which the interests of public, private and voluntary bodies can coalesce and a medium for the articulation of policy aspirations relating to the sustainable planning and management of landscapes.