Access for All, Capability Brown 1716 – 2016: Celebrating 300 years

In 2012 Liz Lake, a trustee of the Landscape Design Trust, was part of the initiative to encourage organisations to participate in the celebration of the tercentenary of Capability Brown’s birth in 2016. In June over 150 delegates visited the Brown landscape at Ampthill Park in Bedfordshire. The purpose of the day was to look at the practical issues that might face owners opening their Brown landscapes for varying periods of time.

The Trust’s contribution to the day was to prepare an advice sheet on Access for All. Since 1996 it has been unlawful to treat disabled people less favourably than other people for a reason related to their disability. Previously called DDA, compliance is now required with the Equalities Act 2010. We defined the aims as the creation of a range of routes to suit different user groups providing dignified access for all without compromising a landscape’s special interest. Advice was provided on parking, types of visitor routes, what people value, identifying barriers and creating accessible routes for all kinds of disabilities.

The advice sheet was very well received by both owners with existing arrangements in place and those with no experience seeking to open for a short period of time.  

Download the advice sheet here.

A Children's Journey

The 'Big Idea':

Landscape and green space makes an enormous contribution to social and physical health yet this resource is under used and under-funded. Our project will use the historic landscape of Runnymede, to provide a teaching resource to connect children to landscape and the history of democracy. This is a prototype for what we hope will become a major new Landscape Design Trust initiative throughout the country.

Welcome to Landscape Design Trust

We promote quality of landscape through education and campaigning. We aim to influence and educate those who plan, design, build, maintain, manage and use the outdoor environment.

We are an independent organisation, registered as a charity. We do not have members or shareholders; we operate through a team of staff and volunteers.

Find out more about the Landscape Design Trust