Memorandum submitted by Hugh Bayley MP
As Member of Parliament for the City of York,
I should like to submit my views on the draft Heritage Protection
Bill for consideration by your committee.
There are a range of national, regional and
local organisations in my constituency with a particular interest
and expertise in heritage issues and I have had the benefit of
discussions with a number of them in recent weeks.
Along with the majority of the heritage sector,
I very much welcome the publication of the draft Bill and look
forward to the opportunity to debating the full Bill in the next
Parliamentary session. It contains a number of new initiatives
which will modernise and open up many aspects of the current heritage
protection system, as well as bringing together all elements of
the historic environment into a single holistic system which is
fully in line with modem professional practice.
However, much of the detail of the proposals
is yet to be published, including the important underpinning Planning
Policy Statement which will be crucial for managing change for
designated and undesignated heritage in a complex archaeological
and historic city centre like York. Details of the as yet unpublished
proposals for Conservation Area designations and local listing
will be particularly relevant for a historic city like York. A
clear schedule for publication of these details would enable all
parties to be better placed to make informed judgements on the
full implications and resources required for the proposed new
system. I should like the government to publish its new Planning
policy Statement before the Bill is debated by Parliament.
An issue which is particularly relevant to York
is the proposal to revoke the Area of Archaeological Importance
designation (repealing the second part of the 1979 Ancient Monuments
and Archaeological Areas Act). It is surprising that there has
been no consultation with the City of York Council or the designated
authority (the York Archaeological Trust) to review the impact
of this proposal. Currently the AAI status is especially beneficial
in covering work by utility companies which are not covered by
the planning process, and it is indicative of its perceived value
that the York Archaeological Trust (an educational charity) currently
funds this work from its own resources. I suggest that there should
be a formal review of the impact of the removal of AAI status
to ensure that there is no loss of protection for the historic
city centre of York under the proposed new arrangements.
A review of the implications of the loss of
York's AAI status could be part of a pilot study using York as
a test bed for the full implications of the proposed new Heritage
Asset Consent procedures and Heritage Partnership Agreements.
The city would make an excellent case study for a realistic assessment
of the resource implications for the local authority to successfully
implement the new heritage protection reforms.
June 2008
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