New Zealand s coastal scenery is a significant resource both intrinsically and economically. The Resource Management Act (RM A 1991) s5 Purpose of the Act and s6 Matters of National Importance identify the need to protect scenic landscapes but do not provide criteria by which such landscapes are to be distinguished or compared. Accordingly, scenic assessment for resource management implementation in New Zealand is often based on subjective evaluations of multiple values that do not specifically address the impacts of development on coastal scenery. In an attempt to find a practical solution to the problem of scenic assessment for coastal resource management purposes a novel quantitative methodology was applied to 36 sites along the North Canterbury coast.