Conservation areas are dynamic, changing places that have evolved and developed over many years. They are made up of a variety of different heritage assets - buildings, landscapes, archaeology, and the spaces in between that form the all-important public open spaces and streetscape in which people meet and go about their business.
They are also vulnerable to change, some of it for the better but sometimes with the potential to do lasting damage to their special character, and thus to the social and economic life of the communities to which they belong.
The Current Situation
We now have a series of surveys of conservation areas across the country which give us a good idea of their condition and future prospects. This year, thanks to our colleagues in local authorities, even more conservation areas have been surveyed - now over 7,800 conservation areas, that's 80% of all conservation areas and 450 more than last year. This is really helping us to get a good picture of the condition of the country's special places and what is needed to halt further decline. This year, 6.6% of those conservation areas surveyed are considered to be at risk.
The Challenge Ahead
One single factor is rarely sufficient to put a conservation area at risk. More frequently it is an accumulation of small problems that collectively begin to erode the character of the area. The current economic climate means that even simple maintenance of buildings and spaces is being squeezed by tighter budgets and cumulatively, this will have a huge impact on the condition and quality of our conservation areas.
