Member Article

North East tops tranquillity chart

The North East plays home to some of the most tranquil areas in the country, according to a new tranquillity map published today. Countryside campaigners Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE)’s colourful map of England reveals how likely the local surroundings are to make a visitor feel tranquil.

The map reveals that the most tranquil region is the North East, with Northumberland identified as the most tranquil county, followed by Cumbria and North Yorkshire. The least tranquil region is London and the South East and the least tranquil county is Surrey, followed by Cheshire and Hertfordshire (third from bottom).

To make the new map, researchers from Northumbria and Newcastle Universities first consulted more than 1,300 countryside users and visitors across England on their perceptions – what it was in their surroundings that did, and didn’t, make them feel tranquil. The new measurement method takes into account factors contributing to feelings of tranquillity, such as sweeping views of open countryside, and factors detracting from those feelings – like busy roads and large man-made structures intruding into views. Working from these responses, the team employed computer-based techniques and geographical databases to show how likely every part of England is to make a visitor feel tranquil. England’s land mass was divided into squares measuring 500 metres by 500 metres, each given a tranquillity score and colour-coded.

CPRE Chief Executive Shaun Spiers says: ’Tranquillity is one of the greatest benefits we get from the countryside. But we know that tranquil areas are shrinking and fragmenting because of the remorseless growth in road traffic and flying and the gradual spread of towns, cities and infrastructure into the countryside. “Our new mapping method gives us a practical, reliable method of showing where tranquil places can still be found. This is the start of our campaign to persuade national and local government, planners, developers, business, and public bodies to start using it, in order to safeguard tranquil areas for the future and even enhance them. “And we want people to use our new maps to campaign for tranquillity in their local countryside.”

A copy of the map is available in the CPRE’s ‘Saving Tranquil Places’ Report.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .