Since the Countryside Agency and English Nature produced the Character Map of England in 1997, government policy has supported the use of landscape character analysis as a tool to understand the intrinsic character of the landscape and direct appropriate sustainable development.

The landscape assessment will build on studies already completed for parts of Essex, for example, Dedham Vale and Thames Chase and it will assimilate the results of the current historic landscape assessment of the County. Its purpose is to form a basis for a county-wide landscape strategy, to guide development control, regeneration and future landscape management and conservation.

Landscape Character Assessment of the Essex Coast is available on a CD ROM and can be purchased by contacting:

Landscape Architect
Landscape Design, Essex County Council, County Hall, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 1LX.
tel. 01245 437658

Essex Landscape Character Assessment is available on a CD ROM and can be purchased online at the Essex Eshop or by contacting:

Electronic Information Service, Essex County Council, County Hall, Chelmsford, Essex, CM1 1LX.
tel. 01245 430055