What is to be Done?

There is no catch-all solution. Different assets have differing needs, however all historic assets benefit from sound management and from informed planning policies. The government’s proposed heritage protection reforms will make even clearer the critical role to be played by local planning authorities, both in administering the consents regime and in making sure that the needs of the historic environment are taken into account in the planning system.

Just as important as the role of the planning system is the contribution of the private and public owners in whose stewardship the majority of our heritage assets lie.  A proportion of buildings at risk, along with some threatened monuments, landscapes and wreck sites do require significant public resources to allow major repairs, stabilise their condition, or change the way in which the land is being used. These resources come from a range of sources, including English Heritage, the Heritage Lottery Fund and agri-environment schemes.

Some assets cannot be reused and the high cost of full repair is not always justifiable. For such structures and sites, the only long-term solution is one of managed decline once the historic significance of the asset has been carefully recorded. In a world of constrained resources, not everything can be saved.

English Heritage has resources available to address some of the issues revealed by this review. However, our annual investment in sites outside of English Heritage care amounts to no more than around £25m per year.  Our current investment policy gives priority to heritage assets at risk whilst also insisting on value for money. This will increasingly mean that our funds support ancillary activities, such as development proposals, and that major repair grants will necessarily be limited. However, we are keen to bring our expertise to bear early in the process: that way we will be certain that our response is appropriate.

In exceptional circumstances and when it is clear that all other avenues have been explored, English Heritage will direct a part of these resources to historic assets that can only be dealt with by our own actions. We will buy them, reduce the risk by repairs, investigate and undertake any other appropriate activities, with a view to selling the site on for development by others.