Knowing Your Place –

heritage and community led planning in the countrysideCotswolds AONB Annual Forum , March 2011

Rohan Torkildsen, Planning Adviser, English Heritage

Introduction/purpose/content

• Context

• Recent practice

• The case for considering heritage in community led planning

• ACRE

• EH guidance – Knowing Your Place

• Relevance to the CotswoldsMinster Lovell hall

Context

• Localism agenda

• A history of community led planning practice

• Learning from past practice

• Supporting better practice

The case for considering heritage

• A collective passion

• A community cause

• An educator

• An income generator

• A place shaper

Why should a community worry about its past?

• Without an understanding of ones heritage, well intended recommendations and actions could cause damage that might be difficult or impossible to put right.

• Inform change

• Bring people together

• Inspire and stimulate

change

• A rolling stone gathers no moss

• Haste makes waste

change

Key research findings

• 80% of the 964 community led plans considered had little or no HE content even though many will seek to influence physical development.

• Only 10% of VDS had little or no HE content (because VDS more concerned with physical change and environmental quality).

• Inconsistent - the type of HE content varies widely.

Key research findings

• 95% of VDS failed to recognize the SMR, HER. Poorly signposted to authoritative HE info.

• Archeology, the historic morphology or historic landscape features were rarely addressed.

• 60% of VDS failed to consider the historic townscape.

• Clearly a missed opportunity.

Key research findings

• There was a general theme of disappointment that having expended considerable time and effort in producing community led plans LAs did not pay more attention to them.

• Guidance and support clearly needed to realise the considerable potential for opening community’s eyes to all the different aspects of the HE.

ACRE

• Action with communities in rural England

• ACRE produce the primary national guidance for local communities to undertake community led plans.

Where to find Knowing Your Place

Knowing Your Place - heritage and community led planning in the countryside

• Complement and augment the ACRE guidance and other more local guidance

• Encourage people to consider their past, and really get to know the place they live in.

• Includes a series of easy to use checklists

• Signpost sources to help communities identify local heritage without having to employ professional help.

• Shows what to look for and how to consider it.

• How to recognise opportunities make recommendations

Key advice within Knowing Your Place

• Don’t forget, the historic environment is a broad term.

• Don’t get bogged down.

• Learn from others.

• Appreciate where to access heritage information

• Consider the often overlooked

Knowing Your Place –greater detailed advice…

How to consider, understand, and respond to:

• landscape, village layout, historic buildings, places of worship, character and townscape, green spaces, views, conservation areas, archaeology…

Campden house lodges and gateway

Recognising opportunities and making recommendations

• Responding to condition of the HE

• Considering a local list• Suggesting new uses for

historic buildings • Action in conservation areas • Taking ownership

• Improving places of worship• Encouraging good design• Action to enhance

streetscape• Maintaining heritage in the

surrounding landscape• Improving interpretation and

understanding• Funding

Community led planning in the Cotswolds?

• Complements the AONB management plan

• It can show local communities how they can consider heritage if/when planning independently at the local level

• Indicates the broad range of sources of historic information and advice available.

• It may help inform the review of the AONB management plan (runs until 2013)

• It can provide evidence to inform emerging LDFs

In summary

• The value of understanding the historic evolution of a place as a basis for making design recommendations about change cannot be underestimated.

• Ltd HE recognition in CLP to date = a lost opportunity.

• Hopefully, Knowing Your Place will help demonstrate how this may be put right.

Thank you