Planning Policy Statement for the Historic Environment
PPS 15 - A New Planning Policy
A major milestone in England's Heritage Protection Reform has been reached with the launch of the consultation draft of the Government's Planning Policy Statement 15: Planning for the Historic Environment .
This will update planning policy affecting archaeology, historic areas, buildings and landscapes. Once finalised, it will replace the current Planning Policy Guidance notes PPG 15 and 16.
PPS 15 is being accompanied by a Historic Environment Planning Practice Guide which explains how to apply the principles in the PPS .
English Heritage has had the opportunity to contribute significantly to the drafting of the PPS and has taken the lead in preparing this Practice Guide.
Key Changes
The most significant change is the separation of policy and guidance, the former in the PPS, the latter in the Practice Guide.
PPS 15 is much briefer and less discursive that PPGs 15 and 16 but all policy covered by those documents is either covered in the PPS or falls within Government's plans for new policy documents.
The Practice Guide will provide explanations and guidance for implementing those policies.
The key principle at the heart of the PPS is no different from PPGs15 and 16 - that successful conservation of our heritage is true to the simplest definition of sustainable development.
To download the draft PPS15, please visit the Government PPS15 page
You can also download a copy of the Practice Guide.
English Heritage's Position
We welcome the launch of the PPS15 consultation - it is a very positive development in the management of the historic environment. PPS15 represents a significant leap forward for England's programme of Heritage Protection Reform.
As the Government's statutory adviser for the historic environment, English Heritage has made significant contributions to the drafting the PPS and taken the lead in preparing the Practice Guide.
We are pleased that the Government has taken time to listen to the views of stakeholders and that their input has significantly influenced this consultation document.
We strongly support the principles contained in the PPS . It is a modernisation that brings heritage planning guidance in line with wider changes to planning legislation and English Heritage's own best -practice.
We are confident that there is no loss of protection for the heritage.
In a handful of places we feel that the clarity of the PPS text could be improved. We will be putting forward suggested modifications in our response to the consultation.
What does PPS15 actually do?
It deals with all types of heritage in a single document. The PPS brings in a new, integrated approach to the historic environment and 'heritage assets', moving beyond the outdated distinction between buildings and archaeology.
It maintains the same level of protection to the historic environment as the current PPGs 15 and 16 but expresses the policy much more succinctly. Decisions will, of course, continue to be made on the individual merits of a scheme.
It offers a new rigour for decision-making , putting greater emphasis on pre-application planning and discussion focussing on evaluating the significance of the heritage asset in question. This should reduce subjectivity to a minimum.
It puts more emphasis on the benefits of pre-application discussion as a way of collaboratively resolving consent issues at the earliest stage of the planning process.
It ensures there is a focus on understanding what is significant about a building, site or landscape and from that it becomes easier to determine the impact of the proposed change . It uses the 'values' approach of Conservation Principles as an underlying philosophy to inform decision-making.
It supports constructive conservation. The new PPS is in line with English Heritage's adopted Constructive Conservation approach . This encourages active exploitation of the heritage and instrumental values of the historic environment as assets rather than seeing them as potential barriers to development.
It emphasises the importance of the principles of sustainable development applying to the management of change in the historic environment.
It fills in policy gaps. There are new clearer policies on setting and design. These issues are frequently the source of the most contentious cases involving the historic environment.
It provides greater clarity on key topics e.g. archaeological interest, conservation areas and their preservation and enhancement, World Heritage Sites, conflicts with other planning priorities and recording.
It encourages best practice within local authorities . For example, local authorities will be urged to create publicly-accessible Historic Environment Records.
