AGLV – Area of Great Landscape Value

 

An Area of Great Landscape Value, usually shortened to AGLV, is a local landscape designation used by some planning authorities to identify countryside with particular local landscape quality, character or scenic value.

An AGLV is not a statutory national landscape designation and it is not a fixed national “third tier” of landscape protection. Its planning effect comes from the development plan, the policies map and the landscape evidence which supports the particular designation.

Other local labels include Special Landscape Area (SLA) and Area of Special Landscape Importance (ASLI). The wording varies around England, which is why the local policy matters more than the acronym. National Landscapes and National Parks have a different statutory basis and should not be confused with an AGLV.

 

What does an AGLV mean in planning?

 

An AGLV is normally identified through a local plan or an older development plan policy which has been retained or saved. The authority may use it to protect distinctive landscape character, scenic quality, important views or other locally valued qualities.

There is no single national AGLV test. One council’s policy may focus on conserving landscape character, another may refer to visual quality, and another may have replaced its old AGLV policy with a criteria-based landscape policy. Always check the current adopted development plan rather than relying on the designation name alone.

Where the adopted plan contains an AGLV policy, it forms part of the development plan against which the planning application is decided. The age of the label does not, by itself, make the policy disappear.

 

Is an AGLV the same as a National Landscape?

 

No. A National Landscape is the current branding for an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a statutory designation under national legislation. National Parks and the Broads also have statutory purposes and duties.

An AGLV is a local planning designation. It does not automatically carry the statutory duties or the national policy test applying to a National Landscape or National Park. Describing it as a statutory “third level” below those designations is therefore misleading.

That does not make an AGLV unimportant. A current local-plan policy can carry substantial weight, and landscape character is a planning consideration even outside any designated landscape.

 

What does national planning policy say about local landscapes?

 

The August 2026 National Planning Policy Framework recognises locally designated areas of landscape value as part of the hierarchy of environmental designations which plans should identify. National policy also continues to recognise the intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside.

Planning Practice Guidance on landscape says planning policies can conserve and enhance locally designated landscapes as well as the wider countryside. Where a landscape has particular local value, its special characteristics should be identified and supported by proportionate evidence.

That evidence point is important. The planning question is not simply whether a red line falls inside an old mapped area; it is what landscape qualities the policy is protecting and how the proposed development would affect them.

 

Does AGLV status prevent development?

 

No. An AGLV is not normally a blanket no-development zone. The outcome depends on the wording of the local policy, the scale and nature of the landscape effect, any mitigation and the benefits of the proposal.

A modest, well-sited scheme may be capable of respecting the characteristics which justify the designation. A large or visually prominent development which erodes those same characteristics can create a serious conflict with the development plan.

The planning authority still needs to reach a planning judgement on the evidence rather than treating the acronym itself as an automatic reason for refusal.

 

What if the AGLV policy is old?

 

Many AGLV designations have been around for a long time. Some remain in current adopted plans, some have been reviewed, and others have been replaced by newer landscape character or sensitivity policies.

Check:

• whether the AGLV appears on the current adopted policies map
• whether the relevant policy is still part of the development plan
• whether it has been superseded, saved or replaced
• what landscape assessment or evidence supports the boundary
• whether a newer landscape character or sensitivity study changes the evidence
• what an emerging local plan proposes to do with the designation

A current adopted policy must still be applied. But the quality and currency of the supporting landscape evidence can be highly relevant when deciding how a particular proposal affects the area.

 

Can development outside an AGLV affect it?

 

Yes. There is no automatic national AGLV buffer, but landscape and visual effects do not stop at a policy boundary. A development on adjoining land can be relevant if it materially changes the character, views or qualities which the AGLV policy is intended to protect.

The reverse is also true: being just inside the boundary does not automatically make every development harmful. The assessment should deal with the actual relationship between the proposal and the landscape.

 

How should landscape effects be assessed?

 

The starting point is the local policy and its evidence base. For a larger or more sensitive proposal, the authority may expect a landscape appraisal or a Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment to explain the likely change in landscape character and views.

Useful evidence can include landscape character assessments, landscape sensitivity or capacity studies, site photographs, topography, public viewpoints, existing vegetation and cumulative development.

Mitigation should respond to the characteristics of the place. Moving a building, reducing its height, retaining a field boundary or changing lighting can sometimes be more effective than simply adding a belt of screening planting after the layout has already been fixed.

 

What should an applicant check?

 

• confirm whether the site is actually within the current AGLV boundary
• read the adopted policy and supporting landscape evidence
• check whether a newer local plan or evidence study changes the position
• identify the landscape characteristics which the policy is intended to protect
• consider effects from outside the boundary where there is a real visual or landscape relationship
• use early landscape work to shape siting, scale, materials, planting and lighting
• provide proportionate landscape evidence where significant effects are possible

 

Related planning guidance

 

For national protected landscapes see our guides to National Landscapes and National Parks.

Planning Practice Guidance – Landscape

Conservation, Heritage & Protected Sites

 

AGLV Page Updated: 27th August 2026