Lepus Consulting Ltd was appointed by a private client to carry out a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (LVIA) relating to a proposed development for a 4MW solar farm at Otherton Farm, Rushwick, Worcestershire.

The LVIA report was written following the guidance and advice of the Landscape Institute and the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. The LVIA follows a standardised and prescriptive approach. It includes an assessment of impacts on landscape character and key receptors affecting visualisation of the Site. 

The LVIA includes viewpoint locations and photomontages which were chosen to demonstrate the range of visibility to the Site. They form only part of a wider photographic study undertaken as part of this LVIA. The viewpoints help interpret both the visual and landscape consequences of the proposed development. Lepus also produced a ZTV (Zone of Theoretical Visibility) map to inform the selection of viewpoints which have been used to prepare the LVIA. 

A total of 8 viewpoints have been included to reflect the important landscape and visual receptors. The LVIA considers the baseline conditions that included the existing situation both within the Site, and its locality, together with the sources of impact that could arise as a consequence of the proposed development.

Lepus proposed multiple mitigation strategies to help reduce the effects on the landscape resulting from the solar farm proposals. Lepus’ Landscape Design and Mitigation Strategy provided suggestions for landscaping recommended to achieve visual mitigation for the completed scheme.