The Role of the National Amenity Societies & the Planning System

THE ROLE OF THE NATIONAL AMENITY SOCIETIES & THE PLANNING SYSTEM

COUNTY GARDENS TRUSTS ~ EAST OF ENGLAND REGIONAL FORUM

28th October 2014Bury St Edmunds

Bob Kindred MBE BA IHBC MRTPI

Scale of the resource in East Anglia

211Registered Historic Parks, Gardens & Cemeteries

1,200 Conservation Areas some of which may contain other parks & gardens of local heritage interest & where there is control over lopping, topping and felling of trees. Some parks were initially protected as Conservation Areas before being added to the national Register. This might still form some form of “interim” protection.

6Registered Historic Parks & Gardens on the 2014 Heritage at Risk Register:

•Shrubland Hall, Suffolk

•Old Warden Park, Beds,

•Wolterton, Hall, Norfolk

•Easton Lodge, Essex

•Bawdsey Manor, Suffolk

•Hemel Water Gardens, Herts

National Amenity Societies

Local planning authorities must notify the National Amenity Societies of any application for works of partial or total demolition of a listed building (of whatever grade).

•The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings

•The Ancient Monuments Society

•The Council for British Archaeology

•The Georgian Group

•The Victorian Society

•The Twentieth Century Society, and

For works to historic parks & gardens

•The Garden History Society

Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings

The oldest building conservation body in the UK founded by William Morris and others in 1877, andstill operates according to Morris's original manifesto.

Deals with the protection of and threats to buildings dating from 1720 or before; by advice, training, awards & campaigning on the repair and maintenance of the structural fabric and finishes.Publishes a wide range of guidance and runs a free telephone technical advice service on weekday mornings. The Society is also very proactive in training programmes for professionals, running bursary schemes for conservation specialists (Lethaby Scholarships) & craftspeople (William Morris Craft Fellowships); and also runs a range of courses for home owners and others.

Ancient Monuments Society

Name dates from1924 but doesn’t advise on ancient monuments or archaeology (within the remit of CBA) “AMS – Defending Historic Buildings” stressing broad concern for buildings of all periods. Campaigns against needless loss, alteration or neglect, but also addition of buildings onto the National Heritage List (especially those of multi-period). Monitors o behalf of all the national amenity societies, the total number of listed building consents for demolitions per annum. This is a bell-weather of the state of the heritage sector. A few years ago demolitions were running at an average of one per day. Now there are perhaps 18-20 per year. Progress.

Council for British Archaeology

Founded in 1944 in response to anticipated post-war tasks & opportunities.

Has become the leading independent body for UK archaeology, bringing together professionals, volunteers and communities to open up access to archaeology.

Has a particular interest in historic buildings is as part of the material evidence of past human behavior - not with aesthetics, or amenity considerations, but with the archaeological evidence contained in building fabric.

Uses a network of expert local correspondents, a specialist panel of advisors and professional staff to advise on how to minimise the impact of any development proposals; and on assessment and recording. Also makes its casework available to all via an online database.

Georgian Group

Founded 1937 to promote a better understanding of 18th & and early 19th Century architecture and designed landscapes.Consulted on applications for alterations & demolition affecting listed buildings from1700 to 1837 (or works affecting setting).

Also advises owners & architects; campaigns; holds annual awards promoting excellence & has a small grants scheme for historic buildings (Cleary Fund) distributed annually in September.

Victorian Society

Founded 1958. Campaigning for the preservation of important buildings dating from 1837-1914. Consulted on applications for demolition, alteration or addition to buildings of the Victorian & Edwardian eras.Advises LPAs and churches on the preservation of important buildings. Campaigns to save threatened buildings & publishes a journal which contributes to the academic literature about the period. The Society also runs an extensive programme of training, education and events.

Twentieth Century Society

Campaigns to protect architecture & design from 1914 onwards –the prime objectives being conservation of, & education about the buildings and design that characterises the Twentieth Century. Aims to extend knowledge and appreciation ranging from iconic buildings like the Royal Festival Hall to every artefacts, like red telephone boxes.

Garden History Society

Founded in 1966 and the oldest society in the world dedicated to the conservation and study of historic designed gardens and landscapes.

A statutory consultee since 1995 on planning proposals affecting historic designed landscapes on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England.

The main aims of the Society are:

• To promote the study of the history of gardening, landscape gardening and horticulture in all its aspects

• To promote the protection and conservation of historic parks, gardens and designed landscapes, and to advise on their restoration

• To encourage the creation of new parks, gardens and designed landscapes

Conservation Resources Crisis

34% fall in conservation officers since 2006 as a result of retirement (many specialists were recruited in the late ‘80s and ‘90s) redundancies, downgrading of posts and disestablishment of posts.

Now they are often relatively junior, relatively inexperienced in relation to their planning colleagues and under severe time and workload constraints.

East Anglia has 47 District & Unitary Authorities. Of these:

4district LPAs have 3000+ list entries, one LPA has no Conservation Officer.

7districts have 2000+ list entries but they rarely employ more than one officer.

Two of the above have ‘merged’ = 6,100+ list entries but only 3 FTEs.

Resource can’t be adequately managed to an acceptable professional standard on that basis.

Conservation Officer Priorities...

Based on a study of 1500+ posts by IHBC since 1998 the general order of priority is:

Advice on Development Management;
Specialist Technical Advice to owners;
Conservation Area Designation & Appraisal;
Schemes of Grant Aid (THI etc.);
Advice on Policy (LDFs SPGs);
Enforcement and Heritage at Risk;
Schemes of Environmental Enhancement
Other miscellaneous functions

There is a premium on short-term workload (response to planning applications) versus long-term workload (Supplementary Planning Guidance on e.g. historic landscapes. Furthermore if skills and policies are not embedded within the workings of the authority, they are often lost when the post-holder moves on.

National Planning Policy Framework [NPPF]

Replaces an alleged 7,000 pages of guidance with 56 pages. Heritage occupies 18 paragraphs (instead of 57). Finding historic landscape elements requires something of a ‘magpie’ approach.

Planning policies & decisions must reflect and where appropriate promote relevant EU obligations and statutory requirements. (para 2) e.g. the European Landscape Convention ratified by the UK 1st March 2007?

There are three dimensions to sustainable development: economic, social and environmental – contributes to protecting and enhancing natural, built and historic environment; These should not be undertaken in isolation, because they are mutually dependent. (paras 7 & 8)

Core principles include recognition of the character of different areas (para 17) including the beauty of the countryside; the conservation of heritage and the protection & enhancement of valued landscapes (para 109); which may involve preservation, restoration and re-creation of priority habitats (para 117) – so biodiversity and sustainability elements.

Local Plans should include a positive historic environment strategy (para 126) and identify and assess assets of particular significance (para 129) taking account of the available evidence and any necessary expertise (including the skills within County Garden Trusts).

In considering impact of proposals, the more important the asset, the greater the weight should be given to its conservation. Substantial harm to or loss of a grade II listed park or garden should be exceptional. Substantial harm to or loss of grade I and II* registered parks and gardens, should be wholly exceptional. (para 132)

Effect of applications on the significance of a non-designated heritage assets should be taken into account (para 135) requiring a balanced judgment in relation to the scale of any harm or loss. Conservation areas are designated heritage assets so parks and gardens within them have some material weight. Consideration will also be given to parks and gardens outside conservation areas if on a formally approved local authority list.

PPS 5 Practice Guide accompanying the NPPF

Emphasises the value of desk-based assessment of existing information and cites further guidance available e.g. through the Landscape Design Trust’s Parks and Gardens: a Researcher’s Guide to Documentary Sources for Designed Landscapes, (2006).

The aim is the assembly of the available information about the architectural, historic, artistic and/or archaeological interest of the site and to assess what, if any, further expert investigation and on-site evaluation may be needed.

Local Planning Policy

In collecting evidence as the basis for Local Plans, English Heritage has advised LPAs that some types of heritage asset are not currently well-recorded e.g. the national Register of Parks and Gardens of Historic Interest.

This is thought to represent only around two-thirds of sites potentially deserving inclusion. The remainder are non-designated heritage assets for the purposes of the NPPF.

A strong evidence base not only assists authorities to prepare their plans, it also in meets NPPF requirements for sound decision-making. Local Plans should include strategic policies to conserve and enhance the historic environment and these will obviously derive from an overall strategy to deliver conservation and enjoyment of the area’s heritage assets

On conserving and enhancing the natural environment questions to be asked include:

•How have valued historic landscapes been identified, protected and enhanced?

•How have aspects of the historic landscape covering noise, tranquillity, light pollution and dark landscapes been covered? (i.e. issues about the impact of the wider setting).

Bob Kindred MBE BAIHBC MRTPI

Bob Kindred Heritage Consultants Ltd

01473 259441