James Truscott is a Chartered Landscape Architect with over forty years of professional experience in facilitating well-designed and sensitively sited development within the landscape, throughout the UK and abroad.
James is a former Partner and subsequently, Director and co-owner, of Glasgow-based Landscape Architects ASH design+assessment Ltd (ASH).
Since retiring from ASH in 2018, James set up his own freelance consultancy business, The James Truscott Consultancy Ltd., of which he is sole director and owner., assisting other companies requiring LVIA, Landscape Planning, Expert Witness and other professional landscape services.
He has lived in Scotland since he graduated in 1978 and joined ASH in 1994. However during this time he has also worked extensively throughout the UK, from Shetland to Cornwall and from Northern Ireland to Kent; and abroad, this work has taken him to Malta, and as far afield as South Africa and Botswana. He has obtained a broad range of experience in both the public and private sectors and specialisms include environmental impact assessment (landscape and visual), historic and designed landscapes and landscape planning. Extensive work in the renewable energy sector has seen him involved in the siting, layout design and landscape and visual assessment of wind turbine developments, transmission line upgrades and electricity substations throughout the UK. In addition, landscape design, masterplanning and assessment of the built environment including residential developments and business parks as well as transport infrastructure such as roads and canals has formed a major part of his workload. Assessment of Aquaculture developments up and down the West Coast of Scotland and the Hebrides has also been a consistent area of study during this period.
James has appeared as expert witness at a number of Public and Parliamentary Inquiries and Planning Appeals throughout the UK in respect of wind turbine developments, rail and tramways, roads, a power station and residential developments and has won, or been placed in, a number of design competitions and been the recipient of a number of design awards in the capacity of Team Leader and Designer.
James has also been involved in feasibility studies and public consultations and has provided advice on how development designs can be sympathetic to the landscape, including within sensitive sites. He is widely experienced in providing practical landscape advice and liaising constructively with other groups and individuals involved in the EIA process.
As an author, he has made numerous written contributions to “Country Life” “Scottish Field” and other well-known magazines and is the author of the book “Private Gardens of Scotland” published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson. A recent example of his one articles published by Country Life on August 25th 2020 can be found HERE.
James is supported by his wife Joyce, who, after forty years as a Senior Radiographer in the NHS, a large part of which was running a busy CT Scanning Unit in one of Glasgow’s largest hospitals, now carries out the day-to-day administrative and PA activities of the consultancy.