Housing and
Planning Minister John Healey today announced new guidelines for
councils and developers to make the most of the nation’s historic
assets like Victorian stations or our network of canal sides for
imaginative new developments across the country.
This first integrated planning policy for protecting the historic
environment, affecting archaeology, historic areas, buildings and
landscapes, sends a clear message that the historic environment
should be seen as an asset, not an obstacle to development.
The new policy, which is accompanied by detailed guidance
from English Heritage, sets out that councils and developers
should use the historic environment to stimulate and inspire new
buildings and development of imaginative and high quality design.
Councils need to monitor all their historic assets, from
listed buildings, conservation areas, scheduled monuments and
archaeological sites and landscapes. Some historic buildings from
theatres to churches are decaying with age and require quick
decisions to secure their future instead of being left in place
unmaintained.
The policy also sets out that the historic environment should
be viewed in the context of climate change by encouraging the
reduction of CO2 emissions when decisions are taken about
modifying heritage assets.
John Healey said:
"Our historic assets are hugely important for local
people and for the tourist industry and we need to conserve and
protect them for future generations.
"This means making these assets part of our plans
for regenerating our towns and cities. If you’re redeveloping your
town centre you should be making the most of existing
streetscapes, canal side sites or former breweries. A prime
example is St Pancras where the old station was transformed into a
high standard railway whilst retaining Gilbert Scott’s original design.
"We need to be protecting what is significant about
a place while making the most of its potential and this means
quick and imaginative planning decisions. Our new policy sets out
that the historic environment is an asset not an obstacle to development."
The new Planning Policy Statement 15: Planning for the
Historic Environment replaces Planning Policy Guidance notes PPG15
and 16. It is accompanied by a Historic Environment Planning
Practice Guide.
Culture Minister Barbara Follett said:
"Historic places are a vital part of living
communities. They inspire and delight those that live and work in
them, and they attract visitors that boost local economies. This
statement matters because it confirms the Government's
commitment to preserving and protecting our heritage, and ensuring
that it is passed on to future generations.
"Its publication marks a milestone in our programme
of reforms to create a heritage protection system fit for the 21st
Century. In setting out how our objectives for heritage should be
delivered through the planning system, it paves the way for
publication later this year of the Government’s vision for the
historic environment."
Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, said:
"This is a major milestone in the Government’s
Heritage Protection Reform. I am delighted that this key element
is now available for discussion and I welcome the policy’s
succinct but comprehensive re-statement of the Government’s
commitment to the management and protection our heritage through
the planning system.
"A key shift in the Planning Policy Statement is
that it encourages everyone to first understand what is
significant about a particular building and site before
implementing change. This should cut the number of poorly
thought-through applications and ensure that our heritage can be
made fit for a wide range of purposes without damaging what makes
it special.
"Fundamentally, it will help owners of heritage
sites and buildings to make better applications, assist local
authorities in making robust decisions and ensure that future
generations are handed on a heritage that is attractive, useful
and relevant.
"I look forward to the discussions that English
Heritage will be facilitating during the consultation period so
that we can help make sure the Government’s policy is fairly
balanced and is as clear and helpful as it can be."
The new PPS:
Ensures there is a focus on understanding what is significant
about a building, site or landscape so that it becomes easier to
determine the impact of the proposed change. It uses the ‘values’
approach of English Heritage’s Conservation Principles as an
underlying philosophy to inform decision-making.Urges councils to
monitor all their historic assets. For example, local authorities
will be urged to create publicly-accessible Historic Environment
Records which developers will be expected to consult so that they
can take into account the historic environment impacts of their
applications.Supports constructive conservation. It encourages
active exploitation of the heritage as an asset rather than seeing
it as a potential barrier to development. Introduces new clearer
policies on setting and design, issues which are frequently the
source of the most contentious cases involving the historic
environment. Puts the historic environment in the context of the
challenge of climate change. Councils weigh carefully any loss of
enhancement of the asset and its setting against the benefits of
the application such as increased production of energy from low or
zero-carbon sources. The greater the negative impact on the
significance of the asset, the greater the benefits that will be
needed to justify approval. Deals with all types of heritage in a
single document. It brings in a new, integrated approach to the
historic environment and ‘heritage assets’, moving beyond the
outdated distinction between buildings and archaeology.Greater
emphasis on pre-application planning and discussion. Councils and
developers should learn about the significance of affected
heritage assets before designs are drawn up – the more they
understand the asset, the greater the chances of a successful
application. Maintains the same level of protection for the
historic environment as the current PPGs 15 and 16 but expresses
the policy much more succinctly making it easier for councils to
use (number of pages has been cut from over 100 to around 13).
Provides greater clarity on key topics e.g. archaeological
interest, conservation areas and their preservation and
enhancement, World Heritage Sites, conflicts with other planning
priorities and recording
We have also published today a new planning circular which
emphasises the importance of protecting our World Heritage Sites
and reflects the same message with the need to conserve what is
significant about a site and what gives it its universal value.
Notes to Editors
1. The new Planning Policy Statement (PPS) will replace Planning
Policy Guidance Notes 15 (Planning and the Historic Environment,
published in September 1994) and 16 (Archaeology and Planning,
published in November 1990). The consultation Paper can be viewed
online:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/consultationhistoricpps
2. The PPS will be supported by guidance prepared by English
Heritage. A draft of the guidance is on the English Heritage
website at www.english-heritage.org.uk/pps
3. The White Paper ‘Planning for a Sustainable Future’, published
in May 2007, underlined the Government’s aim to achieve a
significant streamlining of existing planning policy guidance and
statements by separating out policy from guidance.
4. The planning circular on World Heritage Sites fulfils a
commitment in the White Paper ‘Heritage Protection for the 21st
Century’, published in March 2007, to ‘further recognise in
national policy the need to protect World Heritage Sites as sites
of Outstanding Universal Value’. It is also supported by English
Heritage guidance (see www.english-heritage.org.uk/whcircular)
Contacts:
Rebecca Young
Phone: 020 7944 3049 Out of hours 020 7944 5945
press.office@communities.gsi.gov.uk