National Recovery Guidance - Infrastructure Issues - Historic Environment

Background and Context

Natural and man made emergencies have a devastating impact on the historic environment – buildings, archaeological remains, historic landscapes – and on cultural property contained in museums, art galleries, libraries, archives and peoples' homes. Many people find that losing treasured items such wedding albums, treasured heirlooms or photographs of children can be the worst long term impact of the emergency once rebuilding has taken place.

Policy and Guidance

England

The historic environment is protected in a variety of ways – by legislation and by planning controls.

The main statutory provisions relating to planning controls on listed buildings are contained in The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Regulations 1990 [SI 1990/1519] as amended.

Scheduled Ancient Monuments are protected under the 1979 Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act as amended. It is a criminal offence to undertake works to listed buildings or scheduled ancient monuments without detailed written consent, although there are certain exceptions for emergency works provided authorisations are given by the appropriate authorities (Local Authority, English Heritage or Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS).

The main guidance is Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) 15: Planning and the Historic Environment [external website]. This was published in September 1994 by the then Department of the Environment and Department of National Heritage (now DCMS). It provides a full statement of Government policies for the identification and protection of historic buildings (including the listing of buildings of special architectural or historic interest), conservation areas, and other elements of the historic environment, such as World Heritage Sites, Registered Historic Parks and Gardens, Historic Battlefields, and explains the role played by the planning system in their protection. It is intended not only for local authorities, but also for other public authorities, property owners, developers, amenity bodies and members of the public with an interest in this subject. It complements the guidance in Planning Policy Guidance 16: Archaeology and Planning [external website].

Amendments to PPG 15 have been included in DETR Circular 01/2001 [external website], ODPM Circular 09/2005 [external website] and DCLG Circular 01/2007 [external website].

Paragraphs 3.16ff of PPG 15 cover demolition of historic buildings, and paragraphs 7.1ff cover their upkeep and repair, including the need for urgent works, repairs notices, and compulsory acquisition of listed buildings needing repair. Paragraph 6.31 covers the removal of buildings from the list where they no longer meet the statutory criteria. The Government has recently published a White Paper Heritage protection for the 21st Century [external website] which sets out its proposals for creating a single Historic Asset designation and single register.

Devolved Administrations

The 1990 Act referred to above, and the regulations made under it, relate to England and Wales, though analogous legislation was made in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Planning is a devolved matter, and Wales generally now adopts separate but analogous regulations to those which apply in England.

Roles and Responsibilities

Local and Regional

Applications for listed building and conservation area consent are handled by local planning authorities, though the Secretary of State deals with appeals against an authority's decision or failure to give a decision, and may direct that an application be referred for his/her own decision. English Heritage are consulted on applications involving Grade 1 and 2* buildings, registered Parks and Gardens, Battlefields and World Heritage Sites, and on applications involving Grade 2 listed buildings in London. A separate system exists for scheduled monuments and applicants seek permission from DCMS who are advised by English Heritage. Local Authorities handle the archaeological aspects of planning applications as part of their normal planning control process.

There are no statutory controls over cultural property akin to the designation and planning systems outlined above, although certain museums, libraries and archives are designated national repositories. Applications for export licences of cultural property are dealt with by DCMS. The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council administer schemes relating to museums, libraries and archives, and these include provision for emergency planning and business continuity. Some regions, such as the East Midlands, have collaboration arrangements offering mutual assistance in the event of an emergency (a good example of this model is REDS – Regional Emergency and Disaster Support [external website]). Many local authorities have contracts in place with emergency organisations, and libraries, archives and museums are advised to find out if they are covered by such schemes as part of their normal business continuity and emergency planning arrangements.

Individuals who have cultural property affected by emergencies (whether that be damage to a rare book, the architectural features of an historic house, or a treasured family photograph) may wish to use professional conservators to help repair damage and are advised to contact the Institute of Conservation for advice on appointing conservators (see Contacts below).

Preventative measures

Local Authorities can encourage everyone who owns cultural property to help protect it by making plans of what to do in an emergency. These plans (emergency plans) should examine what needs to be done in different scenarios, eg flood or fire; identify key priority items and make arrangements for their salvage; and run regular exercises checking that the plans work and this will include arrangements for reviewing and updating the plans in light of the results. Further advice on this issue can be found in the English Heritage Flooding and Historic Buildings Technical Advice Note [external website].

Lead Government Department

Communities and Local Government (CLG) are the Lead Government Department for planning controls on the historic environment.

The Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) are responsible for the listing of buildings. English Heritage administers the listing system on behalf of the DCMS Secretary of State and gives grants for historic environment repair.

Other Government Involvement

DEFRA operate European Union funding schemes such as Environmental Stewardship schemes and grant schemes funded by the waste industry.

The Treasury are involved, together with DCMS, with certain tax exemption schemes which are both general and specific to the historic environment. These include the Acceptance in Lieu scheme where cultural property is transferred to public ownership while paying inheritance tax or one of its earlier forms. The tax payer is given the full marked value of the item. 

English Heritage is a repository of expertise on the protection of historic buildings, and as well as advising Government, it is required to be notified by local authorities of applications affecting buildings of outstanding national interest (normally those listed Grade I and II*).

Devolved Administrations

Wales

The Welsh Assembly Government supports the historic environment through its division Cadw [external website] and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW)[external website].

Cadw works to promote the conservation of Wales' historic environment and provides:

• Advice on the conservation and maintenance of historic buildings, ancient monuments, historic landscapes and underwater archaeology.
• Grants for conservation and repairs for the historic environment.
• Comments on applications for development or demolition that impact upon the historic environment.

Scotland

Historic Scotland is an executive agency of The Scottish Executive responsible for discharging the functions in relation to the protection and presentation of Scotland's built heritage and advising on built heritage policy. It administers statutory duties for the listing and protection of historic buildings and for the scheduling and protection of ancient monuments under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The agency is also responsible for producing the Memorandum of Guidance on Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas. A series of Technical Advice Notes (TANs) offer detailed guidance on various issues related to the use and repair of historic buildings and traditional building materials. Historic Scotland is also responsible for the direct management and promotion of over 300 historic properties in State care.

Northern Ireland

[TBC]

Funding

In the case of damage due to natural causes, the owner of the property would be expected to meet costs, supported by any insurance if available.

Devolved Administrations

As noted above.

Links to Other Topic Sheets

• Dealing with insurance issues 
• Displaced communities
• Repairs to domestic property  

Case Studies (Incidents and Exercises)

• Buscot and Coleshill Estate flooding
• Calke Abbey flooding
• Lewes flooding: 12 October 2000 
• Boscastle Flooding: 16 August 2004
• Cumbria Floods 2009

Other Documents

Disease

• Gently does it; guidance on disinfecting buildings after foot and mouth disease English Heritage 2001 [external website].

Flood

• Repairing Flood Damage, BRE Good Repair Guide 11, Garston: BRE (Building Research Establishment), 1997.
• Reducing the impact of flooding – extempore measures, CIRIA (Construction Industry Research and Information Association), 2002.
• Preparing for floods: interim guidance for improving the flood resistance of domestic and small business properties, London: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2003. Available online in PDF format [external website].
• English Heritage., Flooding and Historic Buildings Technical Advice Note, London 2004 – available free from English Heritage customer services or website [external website].
• Stokes, R. Repair and restoration of buildings following floods, CIRIA (Construction Industry Research and Information Association), 2002.

Fire

• English Heritage, The use of intumescent products in historic buildings, London: English Heritage, 1997.
• English Heritage, Timber panelled doors and fire. Upgrading the fire resistance performance of timber panelled doors and frames, London: English Heritage, 1997.
• English Heritage, Fire safety management in cathedrals, London: English Heritage:1997.
• English Heritage, Prevention of loss or damage by fire in cathedrals, London: English Heritage, 1997.
• English Heritage, Smoke detection systems for cathedrals, London: English Heritage, 1997.
• English Heritage, Surge protection equipment: A guide to selection and installation in historic buildings, London: English Heritage, 2003.
• Historic Scotland, Technical Advice Note 11, Fire protection measures in Scottish historic buildings, Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 1997.
• Historic Scotland, Technical Advice Note 14, Sprinkler protection of historic buildings, Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 1998.
• Kidd,S., Fire safety management in heritage buildings. Historic Scotland Technical Advice Note 28, Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 2005. ISBN 1-904966-11-X.
• Kidd, S. ed., Heritage under Fire: A Guide to the Protection of Historic Buildings, Second Edition, London: Fire Protection Association, 1995. ISBN 0-902167-90-1.
• Maxwell, I. et al, eds., Fire Protection and the Built Heritage, Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, 1999. ISBN 1-9001 68-72-3.

Cultural Property

• Ball, C. and Yardley-Jones, A., Help! A survivor's guide to emergency preparedness, Alberta: Museums Alberta, 2001. ISBN 0-9694518-1-4.
• Clarke, J., Hope for the best but plan for the worst – the need for disaster planning, Employment Relations Today, Vol 22, No 4, 1995.
• Dorge,V., Jones, S. L. eds., Building an emergency plan: a guide for museums and other cultural institutions, Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 1999. ISBN 089236-529-3.
• Stovel, H., Risk preparedness: a management manual for world cultural heritage, Rome: ICCROM, 1998. ISBN 92-9077-152-6.
• Wellheiser, J., Scott, J., An ounce of prevention: Integrated disaster planning for archives, libraries and record centres, 2nd Edition, London: Scarecrow Press, 2002. ISBN 0 8108-4176-2.

List of Contacts

• Institute of Conservation [external website]
• English Heritage [external website]
• Historic Scotland [external website]
• Cadw [external website]
• DoE NI Environment and Heritage Service [external website]
• Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) [external website]