Agenda item

A report by the Assistant Director - Planning

The Assistant Director – Planning presented the report advising that on the 30th January 2021, Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities announced Lincolnshire (LCC as lead Authority) was one of 22 counties due to receive £70k to encourage the production of a local heritage list. Work began to deliver the project in April 2021. Since then, a project officer has been appointed, baseline data collected, a webpage and social media campaign launched and a public access platform produced and went live in 2021. The platform would be available to the public to enable residents to nominate local heritage assets of value to them, but would also allow streamlined sorting (using criteria) and digital storage of the data collected. Guidance and training would be provided.

The next steps for all 9 Local Authorities would be to adopt the criteria, which would become part of the shared platform and used to inform a consistent approach to identifying and assessing nominations. The Criteria have been adopted in East Lindsey, and South Holland District Council and currently going through the adoption process in other Local Authority Areas.

The National Planning Policy Framework (2021) set out in paragraph 192 that local planning authorities should maintain or have access to a historic environment record and that this should contain up-to-date evidence about the historic environment in their area. The Local List will form part of the Historic Environment Record for Lincolnshire. It is therefore considered that the production and adoption of the Local List is a non-executive function relating to planning.

The proposed listing criteria have already been scrutinised by specialist officers from all 9 authorities involved and follows the latest Historic England (HEAN7) guidance.

In the Council’s constitution, the Officer Scheme of Delegation (section 6.2 and 6.3) identifies that the Assistant Director for Planning has the responsibility for non-executive functions including heritage asset management, and proposing buildings for listing, making of conservation areas etc. Therefore the Council already has the relevant structures in place for it to adopt a Local List (and commence that process), consider future additions to the list, and make amendments to the process including the criteria in future as may be necessary.

This report has been brought forward to enable the Planning Committee to endorse the move to adopt a local list, and the implications moving forward.

Member comment followed which included the following:

The Chairman welcomed the list stating giving protection to those assets that failed to meet the criteria to be listed but still had a significant value to the community.  The list would ensure that properties captured would become a material consideration and whilst not guaranteeing they could be demolished, it would give greater degree of weight than currently.

Members supported the comments of the Chairman and the concept of the list.  They were advised that any person could request a building for consideration even if they were not the owner of the property.  The owner would then have to right to agree or decline.

The Assistant Director – Planning confirmed that any person buying a property on the list, would do so with the understanding of its local importance and being on the list could potentially open up funding.  

Buildings on the list could be de-listed and equally if improved, up-graded to the National list.   The list had mechanisms in place to allow movement and it would be regularly monitored. Historic Lincolnshire would be leading on the project and worked with the CBS and other heritage agencies throughout the country.

It was moved by Councillor Tom Ashton and seconded by Councillor Jonathon Noble that committee support the implementation of a Local List as per the officer recommendation.

Vote:   In favour 11.       Against:  0.      Abstentions:  0

RESOLVED:

That the committee support the implementation of a Local List based on the aforementioned project and acknowledge that in future, buildings may be brought forward for Local Listing and that such designations will be material to planning decision making.