WIREDGOV

Today we have published guidance with Arts Council England on public libraries and archives advocating within local authority planning. The guide is designed to help anyone working within or alongside library and archive services to better understand the national planning context, local planning processes, and developer contribution schemes. By improving knowledge in these areas, archive and library professionals will be able to champion their organisations in future neighbourhood planning activities.

Along with the Arts Council, we want to see archives and libraries continuing to be part of local infrastructure development decisions. By collaborating and engaging in the planning process, libraries and archives can be a voice in decision-making shaping towns, cities and villages across England. Equally, in a period of limited funding, it is important for archives and libraries to engage with the latest developer contribution schemes outlined in this guidance, such as the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Section 106.

The guidance also reflects recent changes to planning frameworks and provides the most up-to-date insight into potential opportunities for both archives and libraries. Case studies are used to illustrate how archives and libraries have successfully engaged with local authority planning to realise benefits for themselves and the communities they serve.

We will work strategically with the library and archive sectors to support colleagues at both pragmatic and strategic levels. Crucially, the guidance serves as a springboard from which both sectors can work in partnership to undertake high level advocacy, engage with key stakeholders, and raise awareness of the contribution archives and libraries can make to local planning issues.

Dr Valerie Johnson, Director of Research and Collections at The National Archives, said: ‘Archives and libraries share a common ground in their work to create better places to live. By working together and extending our knowledge of planning, archives and libraries will be able to play an even greater role in the development of their local areas.

The guidance is available to view here.