Webinar on Local Heritage Listing

MHCLG Local Heritage Listing Initiative

Which areas received funding?

MHCLG doubled its original funding for the initiative, following overwhelmingly positive interest from local authorities. As a result, funding of £1.5 million is being distributed to the following areas (22 instead of the 10 originally envisaged):

• Lancashire
• Greater Manchester
• Dorset
• County Durham
• Surrey
• Somerset
• South Yorkshire
• Buckinghamshire
• Lincolnshire
• Cambridgeshire
• Cheshire
• Tyne and Wear
• Cumbria
• Merseyside (Knowsley, Sefton and Wirral)
• West Yorkshire
• The Black Country
• Gloucestershire (Gloucester, Tewkesbury)
• Cotswolds (Cotswold, Forest of Dean, West Oxfordshire)
• Hampshire
• Milton Keynes
• Peterborough
• Cornwall

Will the ‘local to statutory’ toolkit be made available to all?

Yes, in due course. The current Local Heritage Listing initiative is also serving as something of a pilot. Much is available already on the Historic England website but the toolkit will provide tailored lists outlining key reference material and guidance for use when those working on local heritage lists find fabric of potentially greater than local interest.

Statutory Listing

How is the eligibility of a heritage asset for statutory listing decided?

Eligibility for statutory designation is determined by meeting the definition set out in the relevant legislation. The statutory criteria are expanded upon through DCMS policy statements (see Principles of Selection for Listed Buildings, and Scheduled Monuments & Nationally Important But Non-Scheduled Monuments) and illustrated further through guides on the Historic England website. Following careful analysis and evaluation of compliance with the criteria, decisions on listed buildings and scheduled monuments are made by the Secretary of State.

Registered Parks and Gardens and Battlefields follow a similar system of criteria and assessment, but the decisions are made for these cases by Historic England. Further information is available on the Historic England website.

Historic England has to prioritise cases, and as such applications are only taken forward where the building or site is something capable of being listed, scheduled or registered and it falls under one of the following:
• Is under serious threat of demolition or major alteration
• Is within the remit of one of Historic England’s strategic listing priorities
• Has very strong potential for inclusion on the NHLE (see Historic England’s Listing Guidance).

How can homeowners apply to have their house de-listed?

Anyone can apply to have a building considered for removal from the list if they feel that it no longer has the special architectural or historic interest that led to its designation. The form to apply for this is available on the Historic England website, where guidance is also available.

Can historic harbours, docks, jetties and ships be:

a) Locally listed?

Yes, if they meet the definition of a heritage asset (see below). A historic ship still capable of movement will not meet this definition.

b) Statutorily listed?

Many harbours docks, capstans, cranes, coastguard offices and associated buildings are on the National Heritage List for England and Historic England is always glad to receive further applications for examples not currently receiving this level of protection. The application form is available on the Historic England website, and the Selection Guides provide a further steer on what might meet the bar for scheduling or listing.

Ships of special interest may be protected by the Protection of Wrecks Act or – within certain limits of the coastline – may be scheduled. The Selection Guide on ‘Ships and Boats’ gives further information on this.

Where can information be found about assets considered for designation but not listed?

This information can be found on the Heritage Gateway.

 
Local Heritage Listing

What is the definition of a non-designated heritage asset?

The Planning Practice Guidance provides a helpful definition of non-designated heritage assets:

Non-designated heritage assets are buildings, monuments, sites, places, areas or landscapes identified by plan-making bodies as having a degree of heritage significance meriting consideration in planning decisions but which do not meet the criteria for designated heritage assets.

This is explored further in the updated HEAN 7.

How are non-designated heritage assets identified as such?

As noted in the definition above, non-designated heritage assets must be identified by plan-making bodies as having ‘a degree of heritage significance meriting consideration in planning decisions’. There are a number of ways in which this identification process can occur, in addition to the production of local lists:

• Local Plan preparation
• Neighbourhood Plan preparation
• Conservation area appraisal and review
• Decision-making on planning applications

It is worth noting that the inclusion of a site or structure in a Historic Environment Record (HER) does not itself identify it as a non-designated heritage asset: inclusion merely records valuable information about it, and does not reflect the planning judgement needed to determine whether it does in fact have a degree of heritage significance which merits consideration in planning decisions. However, the information within the HER will help to identify candidates for possible inclusion in a local heritage list

How is the eligibility of a heritage asset for local listing decided?

Eligibility of buildings, monuments, sites, places, areas or landscapes for inclusion in local lists requires them first to be identified as heritage assets, that is being identified by plan-making bodies as having ‘a degree of heritage significance meriting consideration in planning decisions’. They must then meet the criteria for particular local lists.

Are criteria essential for adding items to local lists/identifying non-designated heritage assets?

Local list selection criteria – ideally developed through community engagement – are very strongly recommended. They are very important for supporting the soundness of the list and the inclusion of heritage assets within it, and also ensure that the distinct qualities of an area’s heritage are reflected. Further advice on the development of criteria is contained within HEAN 7.

Is public consultation/engagement required in the identification of non-designated heritage assets?

Community involvement in the identification of non-designated heritage assets and/or production of local heritage lists is strongly recommended, not least as this helps to ensure that local heritage lists reflect the breadth of opinion on the historic environment in an area, and that they are inclusive and representative of the communities that surround them. Communities can usefully be involved in both the development of selection criteria and the nomination of assets.

What types of assets can be locally listed?

A wide range of asset types can be locally listed: buildings, monuments, sites, places, areas or landscapes. A local heritage list that includes, for example, buildings, monuments, and parks and gardens is more likely to be representative of the heritage of an area than one limited to buildings alone.

What role do non-designated archaeological sites play in local lists?

Archaeological sites may usefully be identified in local heritage lists. As noted in HEAN 7, the majority of archaeological sites and landscapes remain undesignated. Scheduling is at the discretion of the Secretary of State, who may decide that it is not appropriate, even for sites which are found to be of national importance. Some archaeological sites cannot be designated because they are outside the scope of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 due to their physical nature, such as lithic scatters; these may be included in a local heritage list. Even in cases where they are added to a local heritage list, the interest and significance of archaeological assets may therefore also be national or regional.

Clarity as to where there is potential for the discovery of such archaeological heritage assets is helped if plans, both local and neighbourhood, indicate areas where such potential exists; these can be noted in the Historic Environment Record. The production of a local heritage list (or other process to identify non-designated heritage assets) can be a tool to identify and highlight both locally and nationally important, but unscheduled, archaeological sites, helping them to be given the appropriate level of consideration in planning decisions.

What status do local heritage lists have?

When prepared in line with national policy and local decision-making processes, local heritage lists have an important role in the planning system. By identifying non-designated heritage assets, they ensure that these receive the protection afforded by the relevant national policy, as set out in Chapter 16 of the NPPF. It is good practice to also have a relevant policy in the Local Plan (and/or Neighbourhood Plan) which sets out how proposals affecting the non-designated heritage assets on the list will be considered.

How do you deal with situations in which a particular site is strongly supported for local designation by a particular part of the community but is clearly not of special interest?

Community engagement in the development of selection criteria, and transparency regarding the decision-making process, should all help in ensuring that the reasoning is understood. Community support for the structure or site could result in alternative solutions to local listing, such as an exhibition or other community-related event.

Should all candidate assets be photographed or is that not essential for the list?

Photographs provide a visual record of the asset (taken from the public realm, concentrating on significant elements), and are strongly recommended as accompaniments to the nomination of heritage assets, and for illustrations of the heritage assets included within the local heritage list itself.

In the example of the selection criteria in the HEAN, why was social value a subset rather than the main category?

The selection criteria set out in HEAN 7 are illustrative rather than definitive, and represent commonly applied selection criteria for assessing the suitability of assets for inclusion in a local heritage list, intended as a starting point for locally-developed selection criteria.

HEAN 7 shows how social/communal interest may be understood to be part of historic interest. Historic interest is defined in the Planning Practice Guidance as follows:

An interest in past lives and events (including pre-historic). Heritage assets can illustrate or be associated with them. Heritage assets with historic interest not only provide a material record of our nation’s history, but can also provide meaning for communities derived from their collective experience of a place and can symbolise wider values such as faith and cultural identity.

Historic interest is one of the four interests defined in the NPPF as being part of overarching heritage interest:

Significance (for heritage policy): The value of a heritage asset to this and future generations because of its heritage interest. The interest may be archaeological, architectural, artistic or historic. Significance derives not only from a heritage asset’s physical presence, but also from its setting.

As significance/heritage interest is a key concept in applying the protections of the planning system, HEAN 7’s clarification of how social interest relates may be helpful in developing arguments in support of heritage assets’ conservation.

 
How do you encourage councils to update and assess their local list when they have lost their conservation officers?

The benefits of local heritage list preparation with regard to community engagement, appreciation of heritage, and heritage protection are strong arguments in support of local listing. The current MHCLG-funded initiative is also generating examples of good practice and toolkits, which, along with existing Historic England advice, should provide further useful support and information to make the task easier.

Is there any guidance on consistent recording practices for groups compiling the lists, to make their addition to Historic Environment Records more straightforward?

Currently available advice is limited to the following:

• HEAN 7: Local Heritage Listing – Identifying and Conserving Local Heritage
• A Guide to Historic Environment Records (HERs) in England

If an owner requests that their building is not included on a local list, can/should that ensure that the property is not added to the list, even if it meets the criteria?

As noted in HEAN 7, owners should be advised of the intention to locally list an asset, including an explanation of the planning implications, not least as local heritage listing is a good opportunity to develop a dialogue with owners, provide them with information on the significance of their property, and ensure that future management of non-designated heritage assets on local heritage lists. Nevertheless, it is important to put in place a process for handling requests not to designate, and to publicise this procedure.

Planning

How much planning weight is to be attributed to a building that is locally listed compared to a building that is statutorily listed?

Chapter 16 of the NPPF provides the answer. Statutorily listed buildings are designated heritage assets, and locally listed ones are ‘non-designated heritage assets’. NPPF policy is stronger for designated heritage assets, including the requirement for ‘great weight’ to be given to their conservation. The requirement for listed building consent, and the statutory duty in respect of listed buildings, are also of relevance, of course.

What protections are there for locally listed heritage assets?

The main source of protection for locally listed heritage assets is the NPPF policy relating to non-designated heritage assets (see Chapter 16, and particularly paragraph 197), which is relevant when planning permission is required. Local or neighbourhood plan policies can also helpfully set out how proposals affecting the non-designated heritage assets on a local heritage list will be considered.

Locally listed buildings within conservation areas are subject to controls over demolition, and the Planning Practice Guidance clarifies the consideration of harm to both buildings and ‘other elements which make a positive contribution to the significance of the conservation area, such as open spaces’. Article 4 Directions

Where appropriate, Article 4 Directions may provide further protections by removing permitted development rights.

Are the interior features of non-designated heritage assets interior protected by local listing?

In contrast to statutorily listed buildings, the interiors of locally listed buildings are not protected by their locally listed status. Local listing relies solely on the planning system for protection (rather than having a dedicated consent regime, as statutorily listed buildings do), and planning permission is not needed for internal works.

Are there any examples of Article 4 Directions being used to protect local listed buildings?

Examples include Sevenoaks, Kent; Redditch Borough Council; and Watford Borough Council.