The IHBC has submitted its response to Historic England’s (HE’s) HEAN 7 (Historic England Advice Note 7 (Second Edition) on Local Heritage Listing: Identifying and Conserving Local Heritage, which will supersede the 2016 edition and reflect the changes made to the Planning Practice Guidance in 2019.
… should be defined by …established and relevant (formally adopted) criteria…
… should have been the subject of formal public consultation…
…should be the subject of periodic review…
The IHBC writes:
…Local heritage builds and reinforces local character and distinctiveness in the historic environment and that it can be identified in various ways, one of which is through a local heritage list. This advice is needed to support communities and local authorities in introducing a local heritage list in their area or making changes to an existing list. In that regard IHBC advocates that consistent principles for identifying and conserving local heritage are required:
- such assets should be defined by a set of clearly established and relevant (formally adopted) criteria
- they should have been the subject of formal public consultation with the owners and occupiers of the nominated properties and with the public within the council’s administrative area;
- that following consultation any resultant schedule of assets (or individual additions) should have been formally approved by the relevant council committee and made publicly available; and
- that the schedule should be the subject of periodic review.
These procedures are needed to ensure that selection is based within a broad and consistent overview, has public support and avoids capricious inclusion without proper public scrutiny and approval. It is only through the implementation of such a framework that consistency in the identification and management off local heritage assets can be achieved which will result in the creation of benefits to owners and developers in understanding local development opportunities and constraints….
