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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Monuments of Scotland (
.
gov.uk/pastmap.html) provides details
of scheduled ancient monuments, listed
buildings and registered gardens or designed
landscapes, as well as information held by
local authorities in historic environment
records. However, it is not always up to date,
and it is best to check with the local authority
whether a building is protected.
The Scottish Historic Environment
Policy
(SHEP) is the principal source of
guidance on policies for the scheduling,
listing and designations and for their
management through the consent system.
It was updated in 2011 and is a substantial
document with over 90 pages (compared to
just two pages in England’s NPPF).
Under the Planning (Listed Buildings
and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act
1997, any work which affects the character
of a listed building will require LBC. SHEP
gives two examples of work that might
not require consent: a like-for-like repair
such as pointing a wall; and ‘altering part
of a building which does not contribute
to the overall special interest’ (SHEP
3.31–3.32). Nevertheless, the decision of
whether an LBC application is required
rests with the local planning authority.
LBC applications must demonstrate
an understanding of the importance of the
building and those features which contribute
to its special interest. ‘In general the more
extensive the intervention which is proposed,
the more supporting information applications
should provide.’ A statement which justifies
the intervention would be required if the
building’s special interest is adversely
affected, and it should demonstrate that the
benefits of the scheme could not be achieved
without the intervention (SHEP 3.42–3.43).
Proposals which involve the alteration
or adaptation of a listed building will usually
be accepted where the use of the building
will be sustained or enhanced, provided that
its special interest is not adversely affected
(SHEP 3.48).
If its special interest is adversely affected,
key considerations are:
a. the relative importance of the special
interest of the building
b. the scale of the impact of the proposals
on that special interest
c. whether there are other options which
would ensure a continuing beneficial use
for the building with less impact on its
special interest
d. whether there are significant benefits
for economic growth or the wider
community which justify a departure
from the presumption in favour (SHEP
3.49).
Ecclesiastical exemption
from the need
for LBC applies to any building used for
‘ecclesiastical purposes’ in Scotland. However,
most churches have agreed under a voluntary
arrangement to accept secular requirements
controlling works to the exterior.
Managing Change in the Historic
Environment
is a series of concise guidance
notes published by Historic Scotland to
support and expand on the policies outlined
in SHEP. For example, the edition on
windows provides useful guidance on repairs,
alterations and improvements, including when
double glazing might be accepted. Others in
the series include Accessibility, Battlefields,
Boundaries, Demolition, Doorways,
Engineering Structures, External fixtures,
External Walls, Extensions, Interiors, Micro-
renewables, Roofs, Setting, Shopfronts, and
Works on Scheduled Monuments.
LISTED BUILDINGS IN WALES
Cadw, which means to keep or protect, is the
Welsh Government’s historic environment
service and is part of the Welsh Government’s
Culture and Sport Department.
Lists can be found on the Historic Wales
portal,
.
jsp, which provides access via a map to details
of listed buildings and scheduled ancient
monuments as well as information held in
historic environment records and Coflein, the
online database for the National Monuments
Record of Wales.
The nation shares primary legislation
with England (Planning (Listed Buildings
and Conservation Areas) Act 1990) and the
principal government policy and guidance
on its application is contained in Chapter 6
of the Welsh Government’s Planning Policy
Wales and Circular 61/96 Planning and the
Historic Environment. However, the heritage
protection system operating in Wales is
currently under review and a heritage bill is
scheduled for introduction to the National
Assembly for Wales in 2015.
Ecclesiastical exemption
from the
need for LBC and CAC in Wales applies
only to those denominations which have
internal systems of control approved
by the Welsh Ministers. The Church of
England, the Church in Wales, the Roman
Catholic Church, the Methodist Church,
the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the
Baptist Union of Wales and the United
Reformed Church are all exempt. Each
exempt denomination will invite Cadw and
the local planning authority to comment
on proposed works to churches under the
ecclesiastical exemption arrangements.
In most other cases applications for
LBC are made to the local authority, and
Cadw is notified of applications to which an
authority is minded to approve so that the
Welsh Ministers can consider if a particular
application should be called in for their
determination. An application made by a local
planning authority for a listed building in its
area is determined by the Welsh Ministers.
Circular 61/96
gives advice on the
level of information required to support
an application for LBC: applicants ‘must
provide the local planning authority with
full information to enable them to assess
the likely impact of their proposals on the
special architectural or historic interest of
the building and on its setting’ (Section 69).
It explains that ‘achieving a proper balance
between the specialist interest of a listed
building and proposals for alterations or
extensions is demanding and should always
be based on specialist expertise’ (Section 97).
Repairs are unlikely to require LBC
unless they involve a degree of alteration
which would affect the character of the listed
building. However Circular 61/96 points out
that ‘Whether proposed works constitute
alterations or demolition is a matter of fact
and degree which must be determined in each
case’ (Section 67).
An appendix to Annex D contains
succinct advice on many typical features and
details which contribute to the character
of historic buildings or which affect their
performance. For example, it explains why
lime mortars and renders are important and
why modern cement-based alternatives are so
damaging. Features such as roofs, windows
and doors are each given long entries. Under
roofs for example it explains that ‘Details
such as swept valleys should always be
retained, as should regional construction
traditions such as grouted slate roofs of
the western coast.’ The result may not deal
with every possible detail, but in practice it
provides non-specialist architects and owners
useful advance warning of the sort of issues
that a conservation officer will be looking
for. It is to be hoped that Cadw finds room
for such practical advice in future guidance
too, whether in this form or in the form
of Historic Scotland’s excellent Managing
Change guidance notes.
AUTHOR
This article was prepared by the
Directory’s editor,
Jonathan Taylor
, with
the help of
Matthew Coward
(Cadw),
Anne
Menary
(Northern Ireland Environment
Agency),
Richard Morrice
(English Heritage)
and
Luke Wormald
(Historic Scotland).
Corwen, Denbighshire from the churchyard of
St Mael and St Sulien (Grade II*): the bell tower
in the centre belongs to a former workhouse of
1837 (Corwen Manor), which is listed Grade II*.
Otherwise the visible townscape is protected only by
its inclusion in the conservation area.
