Public consultation: How can UK Gov improve Heritage Protection?

Submitted by Andy B on Friday, 04 April 2003 Page Views: 1993

Opinions are to be sought and open discussion encouraged as part of the first ever full review of heritage protection to take place in 50 years, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced today. The wide-ranging Review will take into full consideration all of the means by which England's historic environment receives statutory protection, from the listing of buildings and scheduling of ancient monuments to the registration of historic parks, gardens and battlefields.

The relationship between different safeguarding regimes will also be considered.

Introducing this stage of the Review, Arts Minister Baroness Blackstone said today:
"Heritage protection has been a part of our legal framework for over 50 years. The current system is highly regarded both at home and
abroad, and has been widely emulated around the globe. But perceptions and priorities have evolved over time from an initial focus on individual buildings and monuments towards a wider interest in the urban and rural landscape as a whole, in historic parks and gardens, and in our more recent past.

"We now need a new approach to the management of our heritage, one that will be effective, sustainable, inclusive and transparent. Our
goal is a legislative framework that remains robust in the protection it affords but at the same time provides for the management and
enabling of change, rather than its prevention."

The Government will work in partnership with English Heritage and spend the next two months gathering ideas from interested parties.
These views will be reflected in a public Consultation Paper expected to be launched in July.

Welcoming the review, Sir Neil Cossons, Chairman of English Heritage, said:
"English Heritage is pleased to be the government's lead partner in this Review. The current system has an impressive record of
protecting the best of our past, tried and tested over many years, but as we all acknowledge the system needs to change with the modern world if it is to flourish. The legislative framework must be a tool to help us manage change in an intelligent way. The historic
environment is the key to our prosperity and a social asset of immense value. The places where people most want to live, work and
visit are those where the historic environment has a powerful influence. We look forward to working with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and many other partners to ensure that we achieve the right balance between caring for what is best from the past and the promotion of what is best for the future."

Geoffrey Wilson, former Chair of Greycoat plc, Chair of English Heritage's Urban Panel and the Chair of the Review of Heritage
Protection Steering Committee, stated: "I strongly welcome this timely Review. This country has a proud history of protecting our heritage and yet enabling change to take place. The legislation has served us well for over 50 years but it needs refreshing and bringing up to date. We have a rapidly growing understanding of our historic environment and how new buildings can be designed to enhance the whole City or landscape. We need to be sure that the law does not impede the best practice and is fit for the years ahead."

Sir Stuart Lipton, Chairman of CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment also spoke today in favour of reform,
saying:

"CABE welcomes the forthcoming Review of Designation, and looks forward to taking part in a timely overhaul of the system. The
purpose of the Review should be to create a dynamic and flexible system which recognises that the historic environment is an integral
part of our towns and cities rather than a world set apart, and avoids the setting up of unnecessary barriers to the process of
social, economic and environmental regeneration."

Matthew Saunders of the Ancient Monuments Society said:
"This is the most important review for 50 years of a system which is admired throughout the world. We welcome the openness of government in soliciting views on this critical matter and look forward to playing our part in the debate."

The Government made a commitment to review heritage protection legislation in A Force for our Future, a joint policy framework for
the future of the historic environment published in December 2001.

The current overhaul of the planning legislation by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister provides an opportunity to improve the way in
which the planning and historic environment regimes work together.

Notes:

1. The Secretary of State announced the Review of Heritage Protection Legislation in November 2002 at the launch of the State of the
Historic Environment Report.

2. The review is a DCMS-led project with English Heritage, the government's statutory adviser on the historic environment, as the
leading partner. It will actively engage the full range of stakeholders across the historic environment, planning and development sectors, amenity societies, community groups and the wider public.

3. The review will examine the management of the whole historic environment including the current designatory regimes of Conservation
Areas; Listed Buildings; The Register of Historic Battlefields; The Register of Parks and Gardens; Scheduled Ancient Monuments; World Heritage Sites and the regulatory regimes that flow from them.

The Current System:

There are several different protection regimes. The main ones are:
- Scheduling of ancient monuments , which dates back to the 1880s, has been much revised and is now consolidated under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. It is concerned with safeguarding monuments of "national importance" that are generally not amenable to heavy use or substantial change.
- Listing of buildings of "special architectural or historic interest", which originates in the planning legislation of the 1940s and was consolidated in the Planning (listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. The system was designed to protect buildings but within a context of change management.

Both listing and scheduling are powers vested in the Secretary of State who has a duty to seek (but not necessarily to take) English
Heritage's advice.

Once a monument or building is listed or scheduled the owner has to apply for consent to demolish or alter it.

Important distinctions between the two regimes include:
- With scheduling, the Secretary of State has discretion about whether or not to designate. No such discretion exists for listing,
where the Secretary of State must designate if a building fulfils the criteria for selection.
- The consent regimes flowing from scheduling and listing are vested in different government departments; scheduled monument consent in DCMS, listed building consent in ODPM and local planning authorities.

- Registers of historic parks and gardens and historic battlefields: complied by English Heritage under the National Heritage Act 1983.
The controls over registered items are less far-reaching than for scheduling and listing. Registration is a "material consideration" to
be taken into account by local planning authorities when proposals for change are made but the weight to be attached to them is a matter for the decision-maker.

- Conservation area status is widely employed by local authorities to embrace areas of special architectural and historic interest,
however in practice this does not afford as great a level of protection against development as listing or scheduling.

4. The current phase of the review marks the beginning of DCMS and EH's information gathering process. Interviews and focus groups are underway in all the English regions. These will involve County Archaeologists, local authority members, conservation officers and
planning staff, RDA members, academics, historical environment experts, developers, architects, property owners, those with
experience in leading major regeneration schemes, those with knowledge of the designed landscape and the agri- environment,
members of other Government Departments and NDPBs, and experienced individuals who can provide comparators with other sectors. A formal public consultation paper will be issued in the summer, with the results expected to be published later in the year.

5. The review is being overseen by a Steering Committee chaired by Geoffrey Wilson, former chairman of Greycoat PLC. The other members of the Committee are
Robin Broadhurst, European Director, Jones Lang Lasalle;
David Fursdon, Country Landowners and Business Association;
Nicholas Johnson, Historic Environment Service Manager, Cornwall
County Council;
Deborah Lamb, Director of Policy, English Heritage;
Mike McGuinness, Land Securities PLC;
Clare Pillman, Head of Architecture and Historic Environment Division, DCMS;
John Sell, Chair of Joint Committee of National Amenities;
Yasmin Shariff, Partner in Denis Sharp Architects and a Non-Executive Director the
East of England Development Agency;
Les Sparkes OBE, Commissioner of English Heritage and the Council for Architecture and the Built Environment;
and Peter Studdart, Director of Environment and Planning, Cambridge City Council.

6. Case studies available on request.

Key facts about designation:
Numbers of features protected by designation
- There are currently some:
376,000 listed buildings;
19,000 scheduled monuments;
9,000 designated Conservation Areas;
1,500 Historic Parks and Gardens;
14 World Heritage Sites; and
43 sites on the Battlefields Register.
- In 1995 the Monuments at Risk survey found that there were some 300, 000 recorded monuments in England. Of these 6% were scheduled and a further 12% had some form of protection.
- Listed Buildings are designated within 3 grades as follows: Grade I: 2.5%; Grade II* 5.7% and Grade II 91.8%.

Management of change through consent process
- In 2001-2 there were 8058 requests for English Heritage advice on Listed Building Consent. Around 90% of applications for Listed
Building Consent are approved.
- The number of large-scale planning applications in Conservation Areas increased by 12% between 200-1 and 2001-2.
- In 2001 the Garden History Society recorded 124 planning applications that affected Grade I and 171 that affected Grade II*
parks and gardens. These figures are much higher than for any other designation.

Public opinion about designation
- 77% disagree that we preserve too much (MORI 2000)
- 75% think that the best of our post-war building should be preserved, rising to 95% of the 16-24 age group (MORI 2000)
- When surveyed 59% of owners of listed buildings were pleased that their building was listed; 16% thought it a bad thing (MORI 2000)

Public Enquiries: 0207 211 6200
Internet: http://www.culture.gov.uk

Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH

Contributor Bio for Andy B: Megalithic Portal Founding Editor.

<< War in Iraq threatens relics of ancient civilization

Sites under Threat

Iraq, the Cradle of Civilization at Risk >>