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Table of contents
1. HERITAGE IN DANGER..............................................................................................................................

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Document 1 of 1

HERITAGE IN DANGER
Author: Morris, Huw
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Abstract: For more than 40 years, conservation areas have been protected for their special character and
appearance and to many they are urban jewels. English Heritage has invested more than L65 million in the past
decade to improve them. Indeed, English Heritage CEO Simon Thurley argues that while people may not visit a
castle or stately home, very few "could spend a whole day without passing through a conservation area". The
analysis is now complete and when the government's historic environment watchdog unveiled its annual
Heritage at Risk register, few could have predicted how grim the national picture would be. The current
tumultuous economic climate is presenting particular problems for saving archaeological sites that do not
generate an income. English Heritage argues that when damaged or destroyed, scheduled monuments and the
information that they contain cannot be replaced. For those at high risk, urgent action is needed to pass them
on to future generations in good condition.
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Full text: Headnote
English Heritage's annual register of risk puts the spotlight on conservation areas where joint action by
residents, local groups and councils is necessary to arrest creeping decay, discovers Hu w Morris
Simon Thurley points to a common misconception that confines historic protection merely to listed buildings.
The reality is more extensive. "Millions of us live in, work in, pass through or visit conservation areas," says
English Heritage's chief executive. "They are centres of historic towns and villages, 19305 suburbs or estates of
industrial workers' cottages - the local heritage that gives England its distinctiveness."
For more than 40 years, conservation areas have been protected for their special character and appearance
and to many they are urban jewels. English Heritage has invested more than 65 million in the past decade to
improve them. Indeed, Thurley argues that while people may not visit a castle or stately home, very few "could
spend a whole day without passing through a conservation area".
But are they suffering the same level of neglect or damage as other parts of the heritage sector? In March, the
agency began its Domesday Book of the country's 9,300 conservation areas by asking councils to fill in a
questionnaire about their condition. A whopping 75 per cent responded. The analysis is now complete and
when the government's historic environment watchdog unveiled its annual Heritage at Risk register, few could
have predicted how grim the national picture would be. Only 15 per cent indicated that conservation areas had
improved since 2006.
Four out of five conservation areas are under threat from a plague of plastic windows and doors. Other
menaces include badly maintained roads and pavements, street clutter, ugly satellite dishes and advertising
hoardings. Bit by bit, the value and character of conservation areas are being eroded. Altogether, one in seven
is at risk of neglect, decay or damaging change. "Analysing the results, the problems fall into two main areas what owners do to their properties and what councils do or fail to do to streets, pavements, parks and public
spaces," Thurley explains.
English Heritage's rescue package has three strands and they feature in its campaign to get residents, local
groups and authorities to save their special places before it is too late. Council departments have to come out of
their silos and work together. This means that highways, environmental services, health and education
departments must step forward to save the public parts of conservation areas from decay. In short, conservation
is too important to be left solely to conservation officers. As the Historic Towns Forum points out, street clutter

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and a plethora of lines and signs is as detrimental to historic areas as UPVC windows and satellite dishes,
underlining the need for all professional disciplines to co-operate to achieve better quality places.
Local people must also get involved. "Our survey shows that those conservation areas with community support
are more than twice as likely to have improved over the past three years as those without," says Thurley. "And
there are countless examples of civic societies and residents' groups helping councils by finding out what local
people value by doing street audits, commenting on planning applications or contributing to local lists of historic
buildings." English Heritage argues that the financial benefits of caring for conservation areas can be
considerable. Its poll of estate agents found that 82 per cent regard original features as adding value to
properties and 75 per cent think that being in a well-kept conservation area raises house prices.
The third response covers the tools already available to councils. This concerns the use - or rather lack of use of article 4 directions under the General Permitted Development Order 1995 to protect what Thurley calls "the
small but important original details such as windows, doors and front gardens". Only 13 per cent of conservation
areas have one, says English Heritage. "Lose these and slowly but inevitably you lose the character and history
that made the area special," warns Thurley. "Where there are neglected or derelict buildings, councils should
use their powers to encourage owners to repair or sell them."
This theme has been particularly championed by the Historic Towns Forum. "Designation of a conservation
area is very much the beginning of the process, not the end," says chairman Sam Howes, who is deputy chief
executive at Chiches ter District Council. "If designation is to result in real improvements to an area's character
or appearance then it must be matched by a commitment to positive management and the use of additional
controls where appropriate."
Indeed according to research carried out on behalf of the forum by RPS Planning last year, more than 80 per
cent of authorities surveyed had article 4 directions covering all or part of their conservation areas. They are
applied either selectively to certain properties or cast across the entire conservation area to capture all potential
permitted developments. More than two-thirds of directions have been made since 1995, when the need to
secure the secretary of state's approval was removed from certain categories.
Moreover, the introduction of such controls does not necessarily mean an increase in applications because
residents know that if they apply there is a strong likelihood that they will be refused. The forum says none of
the local authorities surveyed reported any incidents of compensation being claimed as a result of removal of
permitted development rights. All the evidence suggests that introducing controls alongside positive
management arrangements provides authorities with the tools to enhance their conservation areas and that "the
time and resources required to do this are not as onerous as some believe".
Elsewhere, the Heritage at Risk register offers a bleak outlook. A grand total of 5,094 nationally designated sites
are at risk of neglect, decay or inappropriate change. For the first time, the list includes registered parks and
gardens. Six per cent or 96 of the 1,600 across the country are at risk. The chief factors are neglect, the impact
of development in or near registered sites and multiple owners. Many of the landscapes at risk were originally
designed as the gardens or grounds of family homes but in the aoth century they were broken up, posing
considerable problems for coordinating conservation.
The current tumultuous economic climate is presenting particular problems for saving archaeological sites that
do not generate an income. A total of 3,535 scheduled monuments are identified as being in decline. Some of
these sites span more than 6,000 years of life from Bronze Age barrows in Dorset to the ruins of a Tudor water
conduit in the London Borough of Greenwich and First World War artillery buildings on the Northumberland
coast.
This represents 18 per cent of all scheduled monuments and contrasts with only 3.1 per cent of grade I and
grade II* buildings that are at risk. While they are vulnerable to pressure from development, they are also
exposed to problems beyond the scope of the planning system. The main culprits are such farming activities as
ploughing and drainage and tree and scrub growth as well as forestry, animal burrowing and neglect.
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English Heritage argues that when damaged or destroyed, scheduled monuments and the information that they
contain cannot be replaced. For those at high risk, urgent action is needed to pass them on to future
generations in good condition. Yet paradoxically, it adds that the amount of effort required to ensure their
survival is often minimal and inexpensive, for example rerouting a footpath, protecting against burrowing rabbits
or removing brambles.
"While the condition of the nation's listed historic buildings has improved, this year's register shows that
proportionately, England's other nationally designated heritage assets such as scheduled monuments still face
much greater levels of risk," says senior policy adviser Vince Holyoak. "Working with owners and local
authorities, we aim to achieve similar success in reducing risk to these important signposts of our distant past.
But it won't be easy. Archaeological sites do not generate an income even in more prosperous times. Their
importance as part of our heritage is nevertheless immeasurable and their urgent needs must not be ignored."
Sidebar
Bit by bit, the value and character of conservation areas are being eroded one in seven is at risk of neglect,
decay or damaging change
Sidebar
Conservation areas: four out of five sites are at risk and local authorities are urged to use powers to encourage
owners to repair or sell derelict buildings in a bid to preserve their character and history
Sidebar
TOP TEN THREATS
The top ten threats and percentage of conservation areas affected
* Plastic windows and doors - 83 per cent.
* Poorly maintained roads and pavements 60 per cent.
* Street clutter - 45 per cent.
* Loss of front garden walls, fences and hedges - 43 per cent.
* Unsightly satellite dishes - 38 per cent.
* Traffic calming or traffic management 36 per cent.
* Alterations to building frontages, roofs and chimneys - 34 per cent.
* Unsympathetic extensions - 31 per cent.
* Advertisements - 23 per cent.
* Neglected green spaces - 18 per cent.
Sidebar
At risk: scheduled monuments and registered parks and gardens require urgent action to preserve heritage
sites for future generations
The tumultuous economic climate is presenting particular problems for saving archaeological sites that do not
generate an income
PLACES AT RISK
* One in 30 grade I and II* buildings, or 3.1 per cent - marginally down from 3.2 per cent last year.
* One in 40 grade Il listed buildings in London.
* One in five scheduled monuments or 3,535 sites.
* Forty-one per cent or 1,443 scheduled monuments at risk from ploughing or other agricultural practices.
* Twenty-six per cent or 927 of monuments.
* Forty-one per cent of scheduled sites at risk are in the South West, a region that contains 35 per cent of
England's scheduled monuments.
* One in 15 registered parks and gardens.
* One in six registered battlefields.
* One in five protected wreck sites.
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* In the past four years, English Heritage has handed out 60 million in grants to listed buildings but only 15 per
cent have shown any improvement.
Sidebar
Heritage at Risk is available at PlanningResource. co.uk/doc
Subject: Urban planning; Historic preservation; Associations; Risk;
Location: United Kingdom--UK
Company / organization: Name: English Heritage; NAICS: 813410;
Classification: 9175: Western Europe; 1200: Social policy; 9540: Non-profit institutions
Publication title: Planning
Issue: 1825
Pages: 14-16
Number of pages: 3
Publication year: 2009
Publication date: Jul 3, 2009
Section: CONSERVATION
Publisher: Haymarket Business Publications Ltd.
Place of publication: London
Country of publication: United Kingdom
Publication subject: Housing And Urban Planning
ISSN: 14672073
Source type: Magazines
Language of publication: English
Document type: Feature
Document feature: Photographs
ProQuest document ID: 229876970
Document URL: http://search.proquest.com/docview/229876970?accountid=13969
Copyright: Copyright Haymarket Business Publications Ltd. Jul 3, 2009
Last updated: 2013-04-30
Database: ProQuest Business Collection

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