Introduced in May 2012, this deregulatory draft legislation (1) includes four heritage protection reforms aimed at improving efficiency without affecting protection. They were all promoted in the draft Heritage Protection Bill (2) in 2008 that failed to enter Parliament through lack of time. They were also all recommendations of the Penfold Review of non-planning consents (3). The proposals are:
- Conservation area consent is replaced with planning permission;
- Heritage partnership agreements may be entered into between local authorities and owners setting out works for which listed building consent is granted (excluding demolition);
- Extent of protection of a listed building can be better defined by excluding attached buildings and structures and those within the curtilage of the principal listed building from protection, and by stating definitively that some feature of a listed building is not of special architectural or historic interest.
- Allowing a certificate of immunity from listing to be applied for at any time.
- A system of local and national class consents under which works of the type described in the local or national class consent order will not need listed building consent.
- A certificate of lawful proposed works is introduced (valid for ten years) that categorically confirms that the works described in it do not affect the character of the listed building and do not therefore require consent.
The Bill is expected to be made law in early 2013.
This post originally by English Heritage.
