Marlow Winery – Bucks

Marlow Winery – Marlow Bottom, Bucks

David Williams Landscape Consultancy (DWLC) played a major role in assisting HJH Wines Ltd (Mr H Laithwaite) in obtaining planning approval from Wycombe District Council for a new winery building and tractor store on a vineyard within the Green Belt and Chiltern Hills AONB near Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
 
Marlow WineryDWLC was appointed following WDC request that the client withdraw an earlier application for a larger rectangular winery building and tractor store set back the lane and located to the north of Capel Cillia (a dwelling surrounded by the vineyard). The LPA also required that the development should be informed by a landscape and visual assessment including justification of the position of the development within the site. 

DWLC produced a robust assessment using a project specific methodology adapted from the “Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment” (which was agreed with the LPA prior to commencing the work).
The assessment addressed the main concerns raised by the Council’s landscape officer and those from The Chilterns Conservation Board (CCB), and demonstrates that the proposed development will have limited local impact and the effects of the development on the character and visual appearance of the wider Chilterns AONB will not be significant or harmful.
 
The LVIA was referred to in the Planning Officers Committee Report. WDC considered that the report was “…thorough and clear… accompanied by excellent drawings and photographs using a methodology of assessment that the Council’s Landscape Officer considers to be sound…
 
The Committee Report also concluded that “…while the buildings will have a moderate to substantial impact on the landscape after construction, after ten years when mitigating landscaping has had an opportunity to become established the impact of the development is expected to become slightly beneficial.
 
The Committee members agreed with the planning officer’s recommendation to permit the application. DWLC has been appointed to prepare the detailed landscape proposals required to discharge with the planning conditions.

Recent Work