Consultation paper - protecting our historic environment
'Protecting our historic environment: Making the system work better' - A Consultation Paper from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, July 2003
17 July saw the launch of what the Government has called "A Consultation Paper with radical ideas" to simplify and improve the executive and administrative system for the protection of built heritage in England. The Paper is the long awaited final stage of a process that began way back in December 2001. It amounts to a top-to-bottom review of what some in the property industry refer to as 'one of the dark arts' – historic building control.
Think for a moment about the different structures that come within this area of development and heritage control:
- listed buildings (over half a million of them in England alone)
- conservation areas (over 9,000 conservation areas)
- scheduled monuments (over 18,000)
- historic parks and gardens (more than 1500)
- historic battlefields (43 in number)
- world heritage sites (15 in England and another 11 on the 'Tentative List').
They represent a huge variety of structures across the English countryside and cityscape.
For some time the Government has been aware of the need to change the way in which owners are informed why their property is protected; what is considered important about the property and how they can best look after it; the need for local authorities to have clearer guidance about how to enable change and apply controls and the need for developers to enjoy greater certainty when promoting development that affects built heritage.
Government regards this consultation as a way of providing benefits, via a simple system and proposes new responsibilities, for everyone.
Why are these changes so important, and what do they mean for the property industry?
- The list of protected buildings and sites continues to grow each year. In 1970 there were approximately 90,000 listed buildings: there are now half a million. It is, as Government recognises, a rich inheritance but it requires a large-scale operation to manage such a huge stock of buildings. The Government wants to improve the system, in the way that it operates and in its efficiency.
- The list of protected buildings and sites, as it grows, adds constraints to the development of land in England, both in the countryside and in cities.
- The Government continues to seek to push developers - via Central, Regional and Local planning policies - into the cities with a view to using brownfield land. If this is to be the long term future of development in England, then it is increasingly likely that when developing England's urban areas, those involved in the process will come up against and have to manage development solutions that take into account the built heritage.
With all of this in mind, the Consultation Paper looks to recognise the need to work more effectively within the system, whilst protecting the built heritage.
- The key areas for change proposed in the Consultation Paper are:
- a single unified list to cover all of the important historical, architectural and archaeological structures in England
- the management and maintenance of the List to be transferred from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to English Heritage (with some management constraints based in Statute)
- wider consultation on the procedure of listing a building for its special architectural or historical importance
- a statutory right of appeal against the listing of a property
- the introduction of 'Statements of Significance' for listed properties that would show the reasons for listing; what is significant about an item on the Statement, and an indication of what works to the listed items would require consents from local planning authorities.
Comments on the consultation proposals are required by Government to be submitted by 31 October 2003.
