New guidance on golf courses in historic landscapes is to be produced by Land Use Consultants for English Heritage. This will review the past, present and future effects of golf course development on historic landscapes, provide criteria for assessment of golf course developments and best practice advice on design, management and planning control and policy.
The project will question assumptions on developments such as golf courses in the historic environment and will thoroughly examine the current situation and future trends. The aim is to produce a positive and practical guidance document of use to a wide audience from golf course architects to developers, local planning officers and golf course owners and managers.
The study will focus on golf within nationally designated landscapes in particular those on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest, but it will also consider best practice within the wider historic environment including World Heritage Sites, Listed Battlefields, Conservation Areas, National Parks, AONBs, and on the settings of Listed Buildings within these landscapes.
Working with Land Use Consultants on the project will be the landscape historian David Lambert, formerly Conservation Officer for the Garden History Society, and golf course architect Tom Mackenzie of Donald Steel and Company.
Land Use Consultants are environmental planners, designers and managers employing over 80 staff in offices in London, Bristol and Glasgow. The practice was formed in 1966. Core skills are landscape architecture, landscape planning and management, land use and resource planning, ecology, integrated rural development and urban design.
Tom Mackenzie, a Full Member of EIGCA, joined Donald Steel in 1989. He has designed more than 25 new golf course projects including The Carnegie Course at Skibo Castle near Dornoch and The National Golf Centre at Woodhall Spa for the English Golf Union. He has also worked on redesign projects at more than 30 established clubs.
Consultation will be an important part of the process of developing the guidance and initial input is sought from individuals and organisations involved in golf course development, management and the historic environment. Details of good practice in design, planning policy and practice and landscape management would be particularly welcome. A consultation form is available to be downloaded from www.landuse.co.uk or english-heritage.org.uk/parksandgardens or by contacting Jane Wilson of Land Use Consultants on 020 7383 5784.
A full consultation on the draft document will take place in Autumn 2004, with final publication planned for early 2005.
Guidance on golf in historic landscapes
