The Banks Group has implemented a wide range of projects which have landscape at the core of their design, reflecting the company’s Development With Care approach.

These projects provide an exciting and often unique opportunity to shape and enhance the landscape and create new and diverse features:

Wetlands and watercourses
Woodland
Wildflower meadows
Historic Parkland
Recreational parks
New landforms

In 2004 the Coal Authority recognised the company’s work in restoring surface mining sites in conjunction with local communities by awarding us an award for Environmental Excellence for the Community Woodland at our Pegswood site.

Visit www.northumberlandia.com to see our work alongside world renowned artist Charles Jencks for a landform park with a reclining human form – Northumberlandia - as its centrepiece.

Landscape Design
The diverse range of projects that the group is involved with means that a variety of landscape skills are required, many of which have been developed in-house or are resourced from external consultants.  As a result of the companies experience at working with complex design teams it enables us to provide design solutions of the highest standards, tailored to each individual project.

Elements of Landscape design include:
Hard landscape elements
Planting design
Land use design
Habitat creation
Site survey and analysis
Landform design

Landscape Planning
This is an important aspect of the design process, in particular at the conceptual stage.  Landscape planning considers a site in the context of the surrounding landscape and applies guidelines and considers the aspirations for the area in which it is located.  These are then worked into the design strategy so that it works to complete the ‘vision’ for the area.

Landscape Assessment
Assessment of landscape character and visual amenity is one of the elements that make up an Environmental Impact Assessment.  Visual and landscape character are assessed to evaluate how a development might affect the quality of the landscape, having a positive or negative impact.  With the companies in-house expertise in this field it is possible to assess the design proposals at an early stage so that they can be tailored to neutralize any negative aspects and maximize positive benefits.

Visualisation
This has become an important tool with the development of more powerful computers and sophisticated software.  Visualisations are used for a number of different applications including, public exhibitions, planning applications, marketing and as a powerful design tool.

One of the commonest forms of visualisation is the photomontage, combining photographic image with computer generated image.  The computer image must be generated from exactly the same relative location on a computer model as the photograph was taken from on the ground.

These montages have become accurate enough to be used as part of an EIA and in particular for the assessment of proposed wind farm developments.

With the companies experience in the development of minerals and waste management facilities it has been at the forefront of developing visualisation techniques that are now utilised for property and renewables developments and extend to include views from fully rendered computer models and animated fly-throughs.

Landscape Management
Without management most landscapes will quickly become degraded and unfit for its proposed use, which in turn encourages misuse, vandalism and anti-social behaviour.  It is therefore vital that a detailed management plan is prepared with local communities and stakeholders involved in its development, implementation and monitoring.

The company has a policy of setting up community liaison committees on its surface mining sites and these groups are an ideal framework for achieving this involvement in the management plans. We have successfully managed country parks, wildlife reserves, open space within housing developments and community woodlands with this mechanism.