At a time of great change in the planning system,with the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) set to replace amongst others the Planning Policy Statement for the Historic Environment (PPS5), English Heritage’s recently published ‘Heritage Counts’ report serves as a reminder of the importance of the heritage sector in creating an appreciation of and respect for the historic environment,whilst recognising the part it has to play in the economic,social and cultural well being of the nation.
Conservation and restoration expert City & Country Group,who work tirelessly to save and conserve architectural treasures across the south of England and transform them into exceptional places with a viable, beneficial use that safeguards them in the long term, for the benefit of current and future generations, is amongst those who welcome the report.
Helen Moore, Residential Managing Director at City & Country Group, comments: “We fully support the simplification and streamlining of the planning system through the NPPF, with its presumption in favour of sustainable development. Development is a huge catalyst to economic growth and therefore to improving the economic fortunes of the country in these austere times. It is essential that more new homes are provided in order to address the current massive undersupply of homes in the country - only 121,000 homes were built in the year to April 2011 against the Government’s own target of 232,000 per annum.”
Helen continues: “Our own strongly held view is that the definition of sustainable development should mean that it is not only sustainable in its use of resources but also,and more importantly,sustainable in the value that future generations will place on the development. Sustainable development should mean that development is kept and cherished by future generations thereby avoiding wasting the resources used to build it in the first place. After all it takes between 35-50 years to recover the carbon used in building a new home. That is why restoring and conserving our irreplaceable heritage assets is the most sustainable form of development.”
Helen continues: “This country is blessed by an architectural legacy of truly exceptional buildings,but sadly many of these have been neglected or spoilt by very insensitive additions over the years. With the Government’s austerity measures and the lack of availability of private finance this is even more likely to become the case. At City & Country, we recognise the plight of these historic assets and as responsible developers we work closely with local authorities and English Heritage to ensure that some of the best examples of architecture are restored to their former glory. By giving these buildings a totally new lease of life and converting them into unique and sought-after homes we can secure their long term future and provide much needed new housing without the need to build homes on other greenfield sites.”
Helen concludes: “Planning within the historic environment is inevitably challenging as there are many difficult and complex issues to be explored and compromises have to be made to find the balanced and viable solution for each project. We therefore wholeheartedly agree that better and more well-informed decision making will result from setting out the challenges and the opportunities at an early stage through greater engagement with key stakeholders and the local community, aligning with the Government’s ‘Big Society’ initiative.”
As the recent national debate around the draft National Planning Policy Framework illustrates, the built environment plays an important role in shaping the lives of local communities. Moreover, it helps connect people to the past, present and future of where they live and work, and builds a sense of pride and wellbeing within a local community. In the current austere economic climate, it is also important to note the significant amount of local investment generated by historic restoration work. Research undertaken by English Heritage has shown that:
- For every £1 of investment in the historic environment, £1.6 of additional economic activity is created over a ten-year period;
- Approximately one in five visitors to areas which have had historic environment investment spend more in the local area than before,and one in four businesses has seen their number of customers increase;
- Investment in the historic environment attracts businesses, with one in four businesses agreeing that it is an important factor in deciding where to locate – the same as for road access; and
- Half of all jobs created by historic environment attractions are in local businesses.
For further information,on any of City & Country Group’s developments, please telephone: 01279 817882,or visit: www.cityandcountry.co.uk.