Ministerial Foreword
Ministerial Foreword
Mr Keith Brown MSP
Minister for Transport and Veterans
Scotland has long been defined by the beauty and distinctiveness of its landscape. From the rugged coastline and drama of the Highlands through to the more gentle sheltered lowland areas, it is a landscape steeped in history and cultural significance. This landscape, and the way we interact with it, plays a key role in all aspects of our national life, whether economic, social or in terms of the quality of our environment. It is also a fundamental element in how Scotland is perceived around the world.
As custodians of this landscape we have a duty to respect, protect and where possible enhance the natural asset whilst managing, with sensitivity, the development pressures associated with a vibrant 21st century society. Good transport links are vital to enhanced social wellbeing and a crucial part of a strong and sustainable economy, whilst also offering visitors a window onto the landscape through which they pass.
It is important that these transport corridors are developed to promote and support sustainable travel objectives and deliver a transport infrastructure that respects and fits with the landscape, is resource efficient, and supports good place-making.
Through the application of this new Fitting Landscapes policy the Scottish Government seeks to further advance its commitment to quality in all aspects of landscape design and management in connection with transport infrastructure.
The policy will empower landscape architects, engineers and other relevant specialists to work together to deliver and maintain schemes that secure quality environments, promote design innovation and ensure a more sustainable approach to design and management, with greater capacity to adapt to future change.
The policy is based on best practice and lessons learned from more than a decade of applying the previous award-winning policy Cost Effective Landscape: Learning from Nature. It is applicable across all land-based transport modes and will be adopted as setting the high-level landscape design approach for all strategic road, rail and cycleway routes whilst being fully complementary to current Scottish Government policies on sustainability, biodiversity and the historic, built and natural environment.
In its landscape, Scotland has an enviable resource that can at once inspire, enthral and astound - it is deeply embedded in our national psyche and an enduring fascination for visitors from near and far.
As a resource it requires careful management to ensure it remains an integral part of the lives of future generations. The Fitting Landscapes policy is founded on this understanding and the belief that the pursuit of high-quality, sustainable design and management and a commitment to early stakeholder engagement will help deliver an efficient and attractive transport legacy, set within a landscape of enduring splendour and diversity, of which we can be rightly proud.
The Scottish landscape is a prime national asset which is often experienced through the window of the country's transport networks