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At an event held in our Birmingham Office, key representatives from across the region, including developers, landowners, Local Authorities and the architectural community, discussed what is likely to be the most significant shake-up of the heritage system in years.

The draft Bill, published in February 2008, seeks to reform the system for protecting and managing the historic environment of England and Wales.

Dawn Summers, Senior Heritage Planner at Turley Associates London explained that several of the major changes being proposed have already caused significant reaction from developers and property practitioners. Alex Greenbank, Associate Director at Turley Associates Birmingham, said: “Many of our projects are influenced by heritage issues. We are very keen as a practice to understand and be responsive to the implications of the Bill in order to help our clients deliver positive regeneration on sensitive heritage sites within the West Midlands.”

Under the new Bill, listed buildings and scheduled ancient monuments will be renamed as ‘Heritage Structures’ and new categories of heritage asset will be introduced, such as ‘Heritage Open Spaces’, which would include significant battlefields, parks and gardens, giving them statutory protection for the first time. The Bill will also introduce a system of interim registering in place of spot-listings meaning that heritage assets will be automatically regarded as ‘provisionally registered’ from the moment their application for designation is received by English Heritage even if the decision is not to register.

Though some of the proposed changes could appear to be a tightening of the rules for developers, the Bill also proposes to bring about more autonomy in the case of minor works. For example, it is anticipated that owners of more complex heritage sites could secure a Heritage Partnership Agreement, allowing them to undertake small-scale ongoing maintenance works without reference to the local authority, therefore potentially making things simpler for site owners.

Dan Roberts, Urban Design and Conservation Manager at Lichfield District Council commented: “We welcome the more holistic and inclusive approach to heritage that the Bill may bring. It offers an ideal opportunity to embrace a full revision of conservation area legislation, which is important to local practitioners, but is not included at present. The resource implications for Local Authorities do however need to be looked at more closely by the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) if we are to implement the Bill’s aspirations effectively.”

What may prove to be an area of contention for many owners and developers would be the proposed requirement to demonstrate that an application ‘enhances’, rather than simply ‘preserves’ the special interest of a conservation area. This will create a greater design challenge for new developments in places such as the Jewellery Quarter or Edgbaston conservation areas.

The Regional Director for English Heritage West Midlands, Tim Johnston commented: “I am grateful that Turley Associates has decided to raise awareness of the Draft Bill. It is important that relevant parties including developers, landowners, Local Authority representatives and members of the architectural and legal community discuss the likely impact of perhaps the most significant overhaul of the heritage regime for many years.”

A Comment that we have produced on the Draft Heritage Bill can be downloaded below.

Draft Heritage Protection Bill (June 2008)

The Draft Heritage Protection Bill was published in February 2008 as the latest in a series of government publications considering the review of the heritage planning system.

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