The Institute of Historic Building Conservation has launched the first of its new-style Guidance Notes to improve our support for practitioners, here highlighting statutory and related ‘Planning Authority duties in… conservation advice in England’ and including a formal recommendation for authorities to specify how they address their ‘statutory and corporate duties to conservation’.
IHBC Membership Secretary Paul Butler said: ‘This is an excellent note that should be appreciated by Chief Planning Officers and conservation officers alike. It offers an easily accessible summary of the duties of LPAs in conservation matters, and is especially valuable as it points out that, alongside the ‘carrot’ of sustainability, there is also a regulatory ‘stick’. This will usually come from the Ombudsman, as our website resources on local authority skills record. However even the Secretary of State has a clear and formal role if things are seen to be slipping, and although to date there has only been one case of such high-level intervention, perhaps this note will stimulate calls for more!’
IHBC Director and lead author on the note, Seán O’Reilly said: ‘Our programme of practice guidance and research notes has been a long time in gestation, but I’m delighted that we can offer this first new-style IHBC Guidance Note as yet another tool for our members and their colleagues – as well as ourselves – to help us all challenge some of the lazier presumptions about conservation practice and standards.’
IHBC’s consultant editor for the new programme of research and guidance ‘Notes’, Bob Kindred, said: ‘This is the first of a series of occasional IHBC Guidance Notes offering advice on topics that we consider crucial to the promotion of good built and historic environment conservation policy and practice. I’m delighted to say that more such notes will be coming soon, so if there are any areas you think we need to explore under this programme do please let me know.’
Download the Guidance Note on LPA duties HERE
For work in progress on presenting the IHBC’s guidance and research see the website
