24 C O N T E X T 1 2 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2 S taken this further. A detailed Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) ground-profile analysis of most of the park has discovered more than 20,000 new sites and deposits previously unknown, revealing many from beneath tree cover. And an understanding has been greatly deepened of sites which were known but which were too big to explore properly on the ground. LiDAR has even been used inventively in enforcement, measuring the heights of buildings to spot development without consent. The final project has studied second world war remains in the park, mapping buildings and sites using photographic evidence and oral history work. This project has involved local people, for example recording where Land Girl fields were in the area. Green’s conclusion was that evidence is everything. It is much easier for heritage to be ignored if supposition and conjecture are the basis for decision-making. In his experience, evidence has been invaluable in defining significance as well as in getting local people behind the future of the national park’s historic environment. Jules Brown Significance and change in the historic landscape Kim Wilkie, a landscape architect heading his own practice, gave a thought-provoking talk focusing on the dynamics of living and constantly changing landscapes in terms of use, function and perceived qualities.With reference to Alexander Pope’s ‘Genius of the Place’, he showed that understanding how land has been used over time can inform approaches to future management and designing new interventions. With reference to three case studies, Wilkie outlined an approach that looked beyond conventional methodologies of considering landscape in terms of its sensitivity to change in favour of a process based on a closer understanding of how changes in land use practices can impact on a landscape’s visual qualities and our perception of its significance. One case study referred to a project at Richmond, London, linked to the Thames Landscape Strategy, Wilkie’s 100-year plan for the river through London, The ruins of the former chapter house, Winchester Cathedral Frank Green discusses the nature and importance of the evidence base for decision-making in the New Forest National Park.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=