Conservation and Heritage Statements
Liz Humble
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A conservation management plan for Acklam Hall (late 17th century, Grade I) has guided the building’s owner,
Middlesbrough Council, in the future development of the hall and surrounding parkland. |
Conservation of our historic places
does not mean preventing all change,
preserving a place as if frozen in time.
Nor is conservation about restoring a place to
how it appeared at one period in time. Implicit
in the term conservation is an acceptance of
appropriate change as society’s requirements
for buildings or places alter over the years.
Conservation and heritage statements
enable the significance and special character
of historic places to be understood and
consequently retained in a sustainable way
as they continue to evolve.
This objective is recognised
in England in the 2012 National Planning
Policy Framework (NPPF), which defines
conservation as the ‘process of maintaining
and managing change to a heritage asset in
a way that sustains, and where appropriate,
enhances its significance’. This ethos and
approach to the process of conservation is
shared by most statutory bodies across the UK.
This article considers the most commonly
prepared heritage documents for historic
buildings: conservation management plans,
conservation statements and heritage
statements. Depending on the nature of the
site, other specialist reports (on structural
stability, archaeology, ecology, etc) may also
be required as part of the process of managing
change and applying for the necessary
permissions and consents.
WHAT ARE THEY FOR?
Conservation and heritage statements
play an important role in the dynamic
process of conservation across the UK
and they are drawn up for a number of
reasons. They can be a requirement of the
planning system, a condition of accessing
funding streams or an integral part of
the management of large estates.
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Plaster ceiling at Acklam Hall |
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Conservation management plans are a
requirement of Round 2 Heritage Lottery
Fund applications for Heritage Grants or
Heritage Enterprise programmes for projects
involving capital works of £2 million or
more. Major custodians such as the National
Trust, English Heritage, Historic Scotland,
Cadw and government departments also
tend to commission or prepare conservation
management plans to inform the management
of their properties.
Conservation statements and
management plans can be used to guide a
development project, to assess the impact of
existing or future projects on the significance
identified, and to prepare detailed, costed
management proposals.
For large estates
it is often beneficial to prepare an overall
‘framework’ conservation management plan.
This allows for bespoke heritage statements
to be prepared in response to proposals
for individual buildings or components, as
development projects come forwards.
In contrast, heritage statements tend to be
less detailed reports that are produced to support
applications for planning permission and listed
building or scheduled monument consent.
This is set out in statutory planning
guidance and policy by each of the home
nations, as well as in the British Standard,
Guide to the conservation of historic buildings.
Paragraph 4.1 of BS7913:2013 states that:
Research and appraisal into the
heritage values and significance of the
historic building should be carried
out to ensure that decisions resulting
in change are informed by a thorough
understanding of them. The level of the
research appropriate is dependent on
the nature and history of the historic
building (for example, any statutory
protection) and any proposed works.
Together these plans and statements are
a vital part in the management of historic
places, ensuring that the history, development,
character and significance of our heritage
assets is understood, and enabling well
informed proposals for new work, alterations,
repairs or demolition.
SECULAR HERITAGE PROTECTION
The origins and development of our system
of legislative control and statutory guidance
have been expertly summarised elsewhere,
for example in Nicholas Doggett’s and Stuart
Eydmann’s article in the 2007 edition of
The Building Conservation Directory (see
Recommended Reading). Given the speed of
recent changes it is, however, worth briefly
summarising the principal changes to the
system of heritage protection since 2007
as they apply to England, Scotland, Wales
and Northern Ireland, since this underpins
the process of managing change within our
historic environment.
The secular heritage protection and control
system for the devolved nations runs along
closely parallel lines with a shared ethos, albeit
with some differences in detail. The penalties
for carrying out unauthorised work (which is a
criminal offence) can be severe. The legislation
remains unchanged since 2007, although the
anticipated draft Heritage Bill is expected to be
passed into law by the Welsh Assembly in 2015.
Policy guidance for England supporting the
Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation
Areas) Act 1990 has been updated with the
National Planning Policy Framework (2012) and
the accompanying Planning Practice Guidance (2014). In Scotland the renewed policy guidance
is currently contained within the Scottish
Historic Environment Policy (2011).
Historic England (the new name for the
protection arm of English Heritage), Cadw,
Historic Scotland and the Department of
the Environment – the statutory advisors
in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland respectively – provide additional
guidance. The various national amenity
societies are also statutory consultees.
KEY DIFFERENCES |
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CONTENT |
APPLICATION |
Heritage
significance |
Conservation management |
Conservation
management
plans |
Detailed
assessment |
Detailed guidance
with policies and
action plans |
• Ongoing management of
complex heritage assets
• Required for HLF grants >£2m |
Conservation statements |
Detailed
assessment |
General
detailed where
relevant |
Similar to above, suitable for less
complex sites or where no major development is envisaged |
Heritage
statements |
General
detailed where
relevant |
Focus on impact of
specific proposals
on the heritage
identified |
One-off requirement for:
• LBC and SMC applications
• Planning applications affecting
designated heritage assets or
demolition of non-designated
heritage assets |
CONSERVATION STATEMENTS
AND MANAGEMENT PLANS
Conservation management plans first became
popular in Australia, where they were
developed by the National Trust for New
South Wales in 1982 in response to the Burra
Charter (see Recommended Reading entries
for James Semple Kerr and Kate Clark).
However, they did not become common in
the UK until 1996 when the Heritage Lottery
Fund made them a requirement of lottery
grant aid.
Conservation management plans are a
very useful tool for sustaining and managing
heritage assets. Indeed they ought to be
the starting point for the management
of any complex historic site, building or
landscape. The holistic approach to different
types of significance embedded in these
documents is particularly suited to large
sites with multiple management challenges
and opportunities, and various aspects of
cultural importance.
Conservation management plans provide owners
and decision-makers with a balanced
framework which summarises the context,
including both practical issues and heritage
aspects, and contains policies to safely steer
owners, managers and developers away
from the temptation of convenience at the
expense of the heritage values (see Glossary)
that contribute to the site’s significance.
Following a description of the heritage
asset and what is known about its origins,
history and management, the heart
of these documents is the assessment
of significance and the agreement of
conservation management policies
to ensure that this is not diminished
through the process of future change.
Conservation statements also follow this
significance-driven approach and can be a
cost-effective solution for less complicated
sites or where there are no major development
proposals. Unlike conservation management
plans, conservation statements only briefly
consider the current challenges affecting
significance and the potential opportunities
at a site. Moreover, they rarely include
the detailed formulation of conservation
management policies that provide the
conservation framework.
Conservation statements can therefore
allow for a greater degree of flexibility when
considering future options, as rigorous
conservation management policies are neither
appropriate nor especially useful for buildings
where future uses are uncertain. Rigid policies
may result in limitations that would severely
hinder design creativity and options for viable
reuse and stifle potential solutions..
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Terracotta detailing to the facade of Lincoln Constitutional Club (1895, Grade II):
a conservation statement guided proposals for development of this vacant site,
which had fallen into very poor condition. |
As a management tool, both conservation
management plans and conservation
statements are living documents that should
be revisited as required. It is particularly
important that they are updated following the
implementation of any development proposals
to ensure that they remain relevant, accurate
and effective
Often the most successful major projects
are those where a conservation management
plan is commissioned at the outset, providing
the strategic background understanding of a
place before informing forward planning and
master planning exercises.
One commonly
encountered pitfall occurs when conservation
management plans are commissioned too late
in the process and are expected to meekly
support projects that may be unsuitable.
Another problem is that conservation
statements and management plans are often
seen as one-off documents and do not form
part of the sustainable management strategy
of a site.
Two recent conservation management
plans serve to illustrate the range of challenges
and opportunities presented by different sites.
The late 17th-century Acklam Hall (Grade I)
is set in designed parkland that includes a
scheduled medieval fishpond. The occupant,
Middlesbrough College, was intending to
relocate and the report was prepared to guide
the owners, Middlesbrough Council, with
respect to the future development of the hall
and parkland.
In comparison, at the 19th-century
Ripon Workhouse Museum (Grade II) the
report focussed on the architectural and
social significance of the site, which had
been occupied by a poorhouse since 1776.
Of particular interest are the 1874 vagrants’
cellblock and dormitory. The conservation
management plan identified issues that have
the potential to determine the way in which
the site is managed and the plan provided
invaluable information for the museum’s
extension into additional buildings that were
previously part of the workhouse.
On a smaller scale, a conservation
statement at Lincoln Constitutional
(Conservative) Club guided proposals for
development of this vacant site, which had
fallen into very poor condition. Built in 1895,
this is a Grade II listed building in Lincoln’s
conservation area. It is now a successful
restaurant, bar, nightclub and events venue.
The most successful projects are those
that objectively consider the needs of a place
and engage the expertise and enthusiasm of
multiple stakeholder groups. This ensures
that local expertise informs the process and
that a consensus is achieved with dedicated
personnel, supportive of the plan, in place to
implement the recommendations and guide
change over the long term.
HERITAGE STATEMENTS
In contrast to conservation statements
and plans, which typically shape decisions
at an early stage, heritage statements
(also called heritage impact assessments)
respond to development proposals. They
incorporate a brief summary of a site’s
historical development and a description of
its current character, state of preservation
and significance and then assess the
likely impact of a proposed development
on the significance identified.
They are typically most effective when the
heritage specialists, conservation architects
or planners involved liaise closely with the
project architect and owner and provide
independent objective advice as early in the
process as possible and certainly before a
scheme is finalised on paper.
A heritage statement must be submitted
with any application for listed building
consent, scheduled monument consent or any
application for planning permission involving:
- designated heritage assets such as a
conservation area, world heritage site,
registered battlefield or registered
historic park and garden
- demolition or construction of a new
building within the curtilage of a listed
building or scheduled monument
- demolition of a nondesignated
heritage asset
- known archaeological sites.
A well-prepared heritage statement can
make a substantial difference to the outcome
of a proposal. In the case of an electricity
sub-station at Arlington Road, London a
proposal to convert the building to provide
21 apartments was refused consent. The
building is located within, and makes a
positive contribution to, the Camden Town
Conservation Area. While the council
accepted the principle of residential use, it
was concerned about the impact of a rooftop
addition and the design of a prominent
rear elevation. A heritage statement was
subsequently prepared to assess the impact
of the proposal. On appeal, the inspector
concurred with this new evidence and
concluded that the proposal would preserve
the appearance and enhance the character of
the conservation area.
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A heritage statement for St John’s College, Durham (early 18th century,
Grade II/II*) formed part of a successful application to secure planning
permission and listed building consent for the erection of two accommodation
blocks on this sensitive site inside a conservation area and adjacent to the
Durham Castle and Cathedral World Heritage Site. |
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A heritage statement for St John’s
College, Durham formed part of successful
applications to secure planning permission
and listed building consent for the erection
of two accommodation blocks for students.
This sensitive site, which forms part of the rear gardens of Grade II listed buildings
along South Bailey, lies adjacent to the
Grade I listed Durham Castle walls and the
world heritage site, and is located within
the Durham Conservation Area.
This
context imposed a number of constraints
on the design of the proposed buildings. In
particular, there was a need to respect the
scale, pattern and hierarchy of the existing
built form and castle walls. Furthermore,
the impact of the development, sitting on
the edge of a plateau above the River Wear,
needed to be considered in important views
from the south and east.
All these factors were relevant to the
preservation of the character and appearance
of the Durham Conservation Area and the
setting of the Durham Castle and Cathedral
World Heritage Site.
In the UK there over 460,000 listed
buildings, almost 34,000 scheduled
monuments, over 11,000 conservation areas
as well as numerous registered historic parks
and gardens, registered historic battlefields,
designated wrecks and world heritage
sites. Only a minority of these will require
conservation management plans, but every
historic site facing development works needs
some form of heritage appraisal in order to
inform sensitive management and change.
Flexibility in approach is critical to
success, as each report must be tailored to
the needs of the site and its owner and should
respond to practical constraints such as
the available budget, the timescale and the
nature and scale of the site and proposed
conservation or development works. The
current system of heritage protection was
never intended as a permanent barrier to
change: its aim is to ensure that change is
positive and responds sensitively to the special
interest of our collective historic environment.
Conservation and heritage statements are
often crucial to achieving positive outcomes.
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Recommended Reading
Ancient Monuments and Archaeological
Areas Act 1979 (England, Wales and
Scotland)
K Clark, Informed Conservation:
Understanding Historic Buildings and
Their Landscapes for Conservation,
English Heritage, 2001
K Clark, Conservation Plans in Action:
Proceedings of the Oxford Conference,
English Heritage, 1999
N Doggett and S Eydmann, ‘Heritage
Protection in Britain’, The Building
Conservation Directory, Cathedral
Communications Ltd, Tisbury, 2007
English Heritage, Conservation Principles,
Policies and Guidance for the Sustainable
Management of the Historic Environment,
London, 2008
C Mynors, Listed Buildings, Conservation
Areas & Monuments, 4th Edition, Sweet &
Maxwell, London, 2006
J Semple Kerr, The Conservation Plan, 7th Edition,
Australia ICOMOS, 2013
Glossary
The following definitions are set out in the
National Planning Policy Framework or,
in the case of heritage values, in English
Heritage’s Conservation Principles, Policies
and Guidance:
CONSERVATION (FOR HERITAGE POLICY) The process of maintaining and managing
change to a heritage asset in a way that
sustains and, where appropriate, enhances its
significance.
HERITAGE ASSET A building, monument, site,
place, area or landscape identified as having a
degree of significance meriting consideration
in planning decisions, because of its heritage
interest. Heritage asset includes designated
heritage assets and assets identified by the local
planning authority (including local listing).
HERITAGE VALUES Aspects of worth or
importance that have been attached to places
Significance (for heritage policy) The value of
a heritage asset to this and future generations
because of its heritage interest. That interest
may be archaeological, architectural, artistic
or historic. Significance derives not only from
a heritage asset’s physical presence, but also
from its setting.
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