Tranquillity and Intrusion

Tranquillity

Tranquillity is important for everyone - for our hearts, minds and bodies. Tranquil areas in the countryside allow us to escape the noise and stress of cities, towns and suburbs, to be inspired and to get refreshed. But these tranquil areas are under threat from increasing development from the spread of towns, more roads and traffic, and air traffic growth.

It has become harder to experience tranquillity over the past few decades - and may get harder still. Tranquillity is threatened by the steadily increasing urbanised area, the development of the road network, the growth in road and air traffic and the expansion of energy infrastructure.

CPRE has produced a series of national, regional and country tranquillity maps. Each 500m by 500m square of England has been given a tranquillity score, based on 44 different factors which add to or detract from people's feelings of tranquillity. These maps indicate the likelihood someone would experience tranquillity in any locality.

Click here for National, Regional and County tranquillity maps

The maps and datasets behind them are available free of charge to local authorities.

The draft Regional Plan now includes a reference to the need for tranquillity and dark skies.

Intrusion maps

CPRE have also produced a series of intrusion maps. These maps show the countryside which is close enough to towns and cities and major infrastructure such as roads, airports and power stations to be significantly disturbed by visual and noise intrusion. The areas of intrusion shown depend on the distances from various disturbing factors. These maps differ from the tranquillity maps as they do not include subjective criteria such as hearing birdsong or seeing a natural landscape.

Researchers created new intrusion maps for 2007 which, compared with maps for the 1960s and 1990s, show how noise and visual intrusion now blights much more of the countryside. The maps allow us accurately to calculate the areas affected.

The new intrusion maps for 2007 show a remorseless loss of undisturbed countryside. From the 1960s to 1990s the total area of the East Midlands disturbed by the noise and visual intrusion of roads, urban areas and major infrastructure rose from 26% to 41%. In the past 15 years alone another 10% has been blighted. At this rate of loss much of what remains could all but disappear in the next 80 years - within our children's lifetimes.

Click here for Intrusion maps for the East Midlands for 1960s, 1990s and 2007

See intrusion statistics for the East Midlands, including individual counties, in the Downloads below.  [to follow soon]

CPRE 2008

Downloads:
East Midlands Intrusion Statistics
 (117 Kb)