The landscape of the County is a national asset. County Wicklow is richly endowed with a variety of landscape ‘types’ formed naturally over time and through the interactions of humans with the natural environment producing a variety of characteristic landscapes and landscape features. The increasing development pressure of recent years has caused changes in the natural landscape, which are unprecedented in scale and nature, and has led to the Government setting out guidelines for landscape appraisal. This assessment of the landscape is to ensure that “the environment and heritage generally are maintained in a sustainable manner, while at the same time enabling a proactive approach to development”.