Memorandum of evidence by English Heritage
THE CONTEXT
1. English Heritage is the Government's
statutory adviser on all matters relating to the historic environment
in England. We are a non-departmental public body established
under the National Heritage Act 1983 to help protect England's
historic environment and promote awareness, understanding and
enjoyment of it.
2. There are very few, if any, places in
England that have not been shaped in some way by human activity.
The historic environment should not therefore be regarded as containing
simply those heritage assets that have been formally designated,
but rather as the backdrop to everybody's everyday lives. Historic
buildings, streetscapes, landscapes, open spaces and archaeology
represent our most accessible cultural resource and have a powerful
influence on peoples' sense of identity and community—they
are the source of local character, distinctiveness and sense of
place and lie at the heart of the well-planned, successful and
sustainable growth that the Government is aiming for.
3. English Heritage acknowledges the need
for Government to accelerate the rate of housing supply, not least
because this could relieve pressure in historic areas where there
is currently extremely high demand. However, it is important that
large-scale new housing is carefully planned and designed to ensure
that it enhances and complements existing local character.
ECO-TOWNS
4. The importance of understanding what
already exists as a starting point cannot be overstated in order
to maximise the benefits of development and the creation of "place".
Historic landscape characterisation and historic area assessments
are central to this understanding and much work has been done
by English Heritage and others which can be filtered into this
process. We would like to see any eco town proposals which go
forward to the next stage to be underpinned by a rapid historic
landscape characterisation from the outset if the work has not
already been carried out in the area. English Heritage is able
to provide advice on the commissioning of such work.
5. English Heritage's overall concern is
that historic environment issues should be identified and addressed
as part of the proposals, and for it to be clearly demonstrated
that the proposed growth point and eco-town programmes do not
have an adverse impact on historic assets, local character and
the vitality of existing adjacent settlements. High quality public
realm and good design will also be key to the success of the proposals.
Eco-town submissions must be able to demonstrate convincingly
that they deliver benefits to the economic, social and environmental
well-being of an area. The environmental considerations should
include those affecting natural, built and historic environment
rather than just the ecological that a narrow interpretation of
the suffix "eco" might imply.
6. A key consideration in ensuring that
the eco-towns are fully sustainable is to ensure that they are
properly embedded within the spatial planning process at a regional
level. The Regional Spatial Strategies have been arrived at following
careful consideration of the economic, social and environmental
implications of the proposed changes and the eco-towns need to
be tested against that framework.
CODE FOR
SUSTAINABLE HOMES
7. English Heritage has no detailed comments
on the Code for Sustainable Homes other than to stress that local
authorities need to make careful use of PPS3 when identifying
sites for new homes if the environmental benefits to be accrued
from the Code are not to be outweighed by the emissions generated
from extra and unnecessary traffic and journeys.
GREENFIELD AND
GREEN BELT
DEVELOPMENTS
8. English Heritage is currently drawing
up a broad land-use policy to join up thinking on the strategic
implications to the historic environment of development on previously
undeveloped and brownfield land. We are also mindful of the implications
for both the historic core and the suburbs of existing settlements.
In coming to a view, English Heritage will be seeking to ensure
that the inevitable changes in development patterns have both
the minimum possible impact on the historic environment and create
new high quality environments that complement their settings.
We hope that in time these new developments will be of sufficient
quality to become as valued as much of our older built environment.
INFRASTRUCTURE
9. The new Infrastructure Planning Commission
(IPC) will assume responsibility for major infrastructure projects
once it is up and running. In order to ensure that such projects
are truly sustainable, the IPC will need to give careful consideration
to the importance of the historic environment both by ensuring
its membership includes relevant expertise and in the way heritage
issues are considered when it determines planning proposals. English
Heritage has sought confirmation that it will be a statutory consultee
for applications considered by the IPC. Now that the thresholds
for various types of national infrastructure projects have been
proposed, English Heritage will be seeking more information on
the types and numbers of applications that the IPC is likely to
deal with. Of particular concern is the need to ensure that where
single commissioners take decisions, they are informed by a proper
assessment of the full range of impacts, including those relating
to the historic environment.
April 2008
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