Relationships between Environmental Values and the Acceptability of Mobile Telecommunications Development in a Protected Area

This paper seeks to enhance understandings of underlying reasons for attitudes towards a recent landscape phenomenon— mobile telecommunications development— in a protected area. A public questionnaire survey was conducted, using photographs of mobile telecommunications development installed in the Peak District National Park, England. Building on existing theories about landscape perceptions and environmental values, the study examined the factors influencing the acceptability of such development: a) the degree of human influence in landscape; b) the purpose of development; and c) environmental values. The study highlights the fundamental influence of environmental values on people's attitudes towards incremental landscape change. The paper discusses the implications of people's generally high level of sensitivity to landscape change in a protected area and the predominance of ecocentric values for landscape planning and management.