7. Landscape Volume One those areas can be mitigated, provided the overall qualities and integrity of the wider outstanding natural feature and landscape are retained: (a) activities involving the development and operation of regionally significant infrastructure; (b) activities that enhance passive recreational opportunities for the public where these are of a smaller scale; and (c) activities involving the development and operation of renewable electricity generation schemes within Marlborough where the method of generation is reversible. This policy relaxes the direction provided by Policy 7.2.5 for outstanding natural features and landscapes in limited circumstances. These circumstances are described in (a) to (c) and reflect the considerable benefits that the listed activities provide to the social and economic wellbeing, health and safety of our community. Regionally significant infrastructure is essential to allowing our communities to function on a day- by-day basis. This infrastructure may need to be expanded in the future and that expansion may need to occur in areas of outstanding natural features and landscapes. In respect of (b), many outstanding natural features and landscapes can already be accessed for passive recreational purposes and the RMA seeks to maintain and enhance these amenity values. Enhancement may take the form of new tracks or huts in the landscape, but would be of a small scale. The MEP seeks to optimise the use of the Marlborough’s renewable energy and encourages the use and development of renewable electricity resources. This is recognised in (c) of the policy. However, (c) does not apply where the structures associated with the generation cannot be realistically removed from the environment with minimal trace, as any landscape effects in these circumstances are permanent. It is also important in consideration of this policy to acknowledge that the Council is required to give effect to the NPSREG, which sets out a framework to enable the sustainable management of renewable electricity generation. The policy does not allow the activities in (a) to (c) to occur without consideration of the impact they may have on outstanding natural features and landscapes. Any adverse effects on the biophysical, sensory or associative values within the landscape must still be mitigated as much as possible. As adverse effects can occur at various scales, there should also be consideration of the impacts of the proposed activity on the overall qualities and integrity of the wider outstanding natural feature or landscape. The policy requires that the overall quality and integrity of the landscape should be retained. This policy does not apply to activities occurring in the coastal environment, as Policy 15 of the NZCPS requires that adverse effects of activities on outstanding natural feature or landscape be avoided. [R, C, D] Policy 7.2.7 – Protect the values of outstanding natural features and landscapes and the high amenity values of the Wairau Dry Hills and the Marlborough Sounds Coastal Landscapes by: (a) In respect of structures: (i) avoiding visual intrusion on skylines, particularly when viewed from public places; (ii) avoiding new dwellings in close proximity to the foreshore; (iii) using reflectivity levels and building materials that complement the colours in the surrounding landscape; (iv) limiting the scale, height and placement of structures to minimise intrusion of built form into the landscape; 7 – 8