24 June 2011
Capita Symonds has been appointed by North Yorkshire
County Council to provide multidisciplinary services on a research
project that will inform the preparation of the North Yorkshire
Minerals and Waste Development Framework (MWDF).
Working in partnership with the County Council, English Heritage
is acting as sponsor for the project through its National Heritage
Protection Commissions Programme. English Heritage’s involvement is
in support of new research and policies which deliver sustainable
management of the historic environment.
The principal aim of the ‘Managing Landscape Change’ project
will be to develop an environmental evidence base from which to
assess environmental sensitivities and capacity to inform a spatial
planning strategy for the extraction of minerals within North
Yorkshire. The outputs will be used in the development of strategic
minerals planning policy, with the aim of minimising adverse
effects on the natural and historic environments.
Capita Symonds will be advising on historic environment,
biodiversity and landscape data, together with data about the
mineral producing geologies of North Yorkshire. The team will also
be working with archaeology specialists Oxford Archaeology.
The project will specifically involve the collation and GIS
mapping of a number of existing environmental datasets, followed by
the selection of a number of sample areas for further detailed
assessment through desk-based review, field visits, landform
element classification, land-use mapping, characterisation and
topographical modelling.
This will be followed by analysis of each sample area to
describe key environmental characteristics and significance as well
as the preparation of a short environmental research framework
which, will lead to the production of advice and guidance, to guide
implementation of environmental policy within the North Yorkshire
MWDF. Project outputs will include a final, illustrated report and
interactive digital resource and archive.
Barry Pilkington, Operations Director at Capita Symonds, said:
“The team demonstrated an innovative approach to delivery of the
varied aspects of the project which are broader in scope than the
archaeological resource assessment of aggregate area projects which
have been undertaken in some other local authority
areas.”