Planning matters

On 10th November, Historic England (HE) published a revised draft of ‘Conservation Principles for the Sustainable Management of the Historic Environment’. This was first launched in 2008 and its sets out HE’s understanding of the term ‘historic significance’ as applied to heritage protection and planning. It will be open for consultation until 2nd February 2018.

The guidance is intended by HE to guide their own staff on best practice, but as a corporate statement by UK government’s statutory advisor and consultee on aspects of the historic environment the document has naturally become a standard reference document for practitioners within the sector, and it underpins the methodologies followed by Lichfields’ heritage team in assessing heritage impact.

Since the introduction of the NPPF in 2012, a major issue has been the misalignment between language and terminology used in ‘Conservation Principles’ and the definition of significance provided in the NPPF glossary.  In the 2008 guidance significance was defined as four heritage values: Evidential, Communal, Aesthetic and Historic. These are now replaced by four types of heritage interest: Historic, Archaeological, and Architectural and Artistic. ‘Significant places’ are now referred to as ‘Heritage Assets’, and the role of undesignated heritage assets now has a recognised place in the guidance.

Complying with the NPPF’s streamlined approach, the draft sees three concise chapters replacing eight more lengthy chapters.

This change of terminology, structure and content used in the ‘Conservation Principles’ will be welcomed by those working in the heritage sector, who previously had to grapple with two sets of distinct but overlapping terminology when writing Heritage Impact Assessments and conservation management plans. The realignment of HE’s corporate position with the NPPF also clears up any uncertainty around the status of the HE’s definitions.

If you would like to discuss the draft ‘Conservation Principles’ in more detail, please contact the Heritage Team at Lichfields.