Did you know Agricultural Land Classifications (ALC) can impact the viability of a potential site?
In this article we'll be walking you through our ALC data. If you'd like to see it in action, watch our tutorial video below.
What are Agricultural Land Classifications?
ALC is a method for assessing the quality of farmland in England and Wales. The ALC system classifies land into five grades, with 1 being the best and 5 being the worst quality.
As part of the due diligence process, developers need to assess whether a development proposal is likely to affect Best and Most Versatile (BMV) agricultural land.
What do the grades mean?
You can view information on the grades using the link to GOV.UK above.
How are these useful?
These classifications will have an impact on your potential developments likelihood of success
If the landed is graded as good quality (i.e. grade 1 or 2) this is a risk to the chances of your developments success
Land graded as 3 will likely need a survey, whereas 3a is less likely and 3b more likely to be approved
Showing 3a and 3b land is something that we have worked hard to achieve, and that you won't always find elsewhere.
How can I access this data?
To find Agricultural Land Classifications data, look to the Explore panel on the left and head to the layers drop-down. From here you can:
Select 'All layers' and scroll down to find Agricultural Land Classifications
Select the 'Power & Utilities' layer bundle to see Agricultural Land Classifications
Where does your data come from?
We include data for both England and Wales, with the two suppliers being Natural England, and Natural Resources Wales.
We aim to update this data whenever a new dataset is made available.
ALC data in Scotland
The classifications work a little differently in Scotland so we list this data is in its own dropdown, listed just beneath the England and Wales data.
Where possible we’ve matched the symbology to the England and Wales data to indicate Best and Most Valuable (BMV) land in red.
If you weren't aware, Policy 5 in the Scottish National Policy Framework 4 explicitly states the need for ALC assessment in Scottish development policy. That means this is a vital dataset for clients working in Scotland.
Top tip: if you're navigating through areas in Scotland and can't see the colour-coded overlay for ALC data on the map, try zooming in a little.
