In March 1995 landscape consultants, Gillespies, were commissioned jointly by Humberside County Council and the Countryside Commission to undertake a Landscape Assessment of the County of Humberside. The brief for the assessment identified the main need for the preparation of a countywide landscape assessment and guidelines as the following:

• Assist in the formulation of Local Authority policies;
• Aid development control;
• Enable a sustainable approach to landscape through policy formulation and action;
• Aid the monitoring and influencing of landscape change;
• Help in targeting areas in most need of resources;
• Act as an aid to the decision making of land managers.

With Local Government Reorganisation in 1996, Humberside County was abolished and the area was split between four new unitary authorities – East Riding of Yorkshire, Hull, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire – thus negating the need for a countywide landscape assessment. The purpose of this Landscape Assessment is, therefore, to provide a landscape character assessment and accompanying guidelines for the Borough of North East Lincolnshire, using the original assessment carried out for Humberside. The notes have been amended and updated to show changing organisation titles and to reflect the Countryside Agency’s publication “Countryside Character, Volume 3: Yorkshire and the Humber” (CCP 357) produced in 1998. (The Countryside Agency was succeeded in 2006 by Natural England.)

The Landscape Assessment and guidelines will be used as a basis for ensuring landscape considerations are taken into account in the development of future Local Development Framework policy and in the allocation of sites. It will also be a material consideration in the determination of planning applications.

This document falls into several sections:

• Section 1 – Introduction provides a background to this assessment and describes the methodology employed to undertake the systematic assessment of the Borough’s landscape.
• Section 2 – Summary of Landscape Assessment summarises the assessment results and provides a brief description of the Borough’s three Landscape Character Areas (LCAs) and its six Local Landscape Types (LLTs).
• Section 3 – Change in the Landscape evaluates the broad patterns of landscape change that have operated through the area, both in recent years and historically.
• Sections 4, 5 and 6 – Landscape Assessment provide the detailed results of the landscape assessment and identify landscape guidelines for each of the three LCAs identified within the Borough. Each section is divided into three parts detailing the following:- the landscape’s character; landscape guidelines for the whole LCA; landscape guidelines for each LLT within the LCA.
• Section 7 – The Way Forward summarises the assessment and guidelines and outlines a vision for the future, a strategy for the empowerment of the document.
• Section 8 – Mechanisms for Implementation of the Landscape Guidelines describes the means by which the landscape guidelines can influence decisions which affect the character of North East Lincolnshire’s landscape.
• Section 9 – Further Advice lists useful contacts in relation to landscape character.