Heritage and Archaeology – Page 6
Heritage significance, harm tests, listed building consent and archaeological evidence.
Heritage and Archaeology articles – page 6
210 articlesChance archaeological finds and the Treasure Act
An unexpected find during groundworks triggers a reporting duty under the Treasure Act 1996 and, usually, a planning condition. Here is the sequence that keeps the delay short.
Deliberate neglect and the heritage balance explained
Policy tells decision makers to disregard the deteriorated state of a heritage asset where neglect caused it. Here is what that means for condition and viability arguments, and how to evidence a real case of decay.
When Historic England must be consulted on an application
Grade I and II consent applications go to Historic England as of right. Grade II applications only go where demolition is involved. Here is how the triggers work and what they do to the programme.
Class consents for works to a scheduled monument
Some works to a scheduled monument are already consented by the Ancient Monuments (Class Consents) Order 1994. The agricultural class is the one that matters on a farm, and it is narrower than most owners assume.
Listed building consent orders and local orders
Consent orders grant listed building consent for described works without an application. Here is the difference between national and local orders, what they typically cover, and how to check one applies.
Heritage partnership agreements and what they simplify
A heritage partnership agreement can pre-authorise recurring repairs to listed buildings across an estate. Here is what it can and cannot grant, the significance work it rests on, and why so few exist.
Registered battlefields and development in their area
A registered battlefield has no separate consent regime and the highest level of policy protection. The evidence sits in the plough soil, not in standing remains.
Grade I and II applications and national consultation
Works to a Grade I or II building bring a statutory consultee and, if the council disagrees with it, a referral to the Secretary of State. Plan the submission around that.
Shopfronts on listed buildings and advertisement consent
Signage on a listed shop is two applications, not one. Getting the fascia, lettering and illumination right before you apply saves a refusal and an enforcement letter.
Using historic maps in a heritage or archaeology assessment
A half-day of historic map research feeds the heritage statement, the archaeology assessment and the contamination desk study. Here is the method and its limits.
Heritage statements for a solar array on farmland
A farmland solar array harms setting rather than fabric, and reversibility only reduces the weight of that harm. How to assess and present it properly.
Salvaged materials and the honesty of repair
Conservation repair asks two questions of any material choice: does it protect significance, and can a future reader still tell what is original. Matching is not automatically the answer.
Article 4 directions: finding what was actually removed
Knowing a direction exists is not enough. The schedule lists the classes withdrawn, the map defines the land, and the confirmation date decides when it bit.
Demolition in a conservation area and relevant demolition
Conservation area consent went in 2013 and demolition control moved into planning permission. This covers relevant demolition, the offence and its defence, partial demolition, and the evidence a case needs.
Archaeology conditions: watching brief or evaluation
Choosing between pre-determination trenching and a watching brief is a risk decision. This compares the archaeological stages, what each delivers and how to negotiate the condition wording.
Dendrochronology and paint analysis: when councils ask
Scientific fabric analysis is requested when a date is disputed and the answer changes the decision. Taking the sample can itself need listed building consent.
Human remains on site: the licence and the procedure
Removing buried human remains needs a Ministry of Justice licence, or a faculty in consecrated ground. Before either, the coroner has to release the find.
Substantial harm and the exceptional justification test
Substantial harm is a threshold, not a sliding scale. Crossing it swaps the public benefits balance for a cumulative test on reasonable uses, marketing, funding and ownership.
Recording a building before demolition or conversion
The condition bites before any works start. How the recording levels differ, what a usable record contains, and the sequence that keeps it off the critical path.
Post-excavation assessment, archive and publication
The fieldwork invoice is roughly the halfway point. How post-excavation assessment, analysis, publication and archive deposition work, and why the condition stays live for years.
Sections 66 and 72 and what they require of decisions
Neither duty prohibits anything. They put a thumb on the scale, and the courts have been specific about how heavy that thumb is.
Heritage at risk: grants, repairs notices and urgent works
A heritage at risk entry carries no legal effect, but the powers behind it do. Urgent works, repairs notices and minimum compensation all sit in the 1990 Act.
Internal alterations that harm significance
Nothing has to be visible from the street for listed building consent to be needed. Plan form, hidden fabric, and the limits of the reversibility argument.
Historic shopfronts, signage and advertisement consent
Three regimes can apply to one shopfront job. How planning permission, listed building consent and advertisement consent fit together, and what each application needs.
Not sure which documents your council will ask for?
Enter your postcode and PlanScope recommends the right reports for your project, then drafts them in minutes.
Enter your postcode on PlanScope