The main purpose of the Register of Historic Parks and gardens is to help safeguard the features and qualities which make the park or garden of special interest. The Register does this by helping owners and planners to anticipate the effect of any change that is being considered on those features of special interest.
Making small scale changes
Many small-scale changes to registered parks and gardens will not require planning permission and owners should enjoy their stewardship of these sites without fear of disapproval.
Even so, some important parks and gardens are vulnerable to gradual small-scale change, such as where planting schemes or paths through the landscape are part of what makes the gardens historically important.
English Heritage encourages responsible stewardship, guided by the Register and by expert advice where appropriate, so that future generations may enjoy the same benefits as current owners.
A conservation management plan is often helpful in ensuring that gradual changes over several years or even decades serve to enhance the special qualities of the landscape rather than detracting from them.
Making larger changes
Where owners and occupiers propose change on a more substantial scale, planning permission is likely to be required from the local planning authority, or in some cases from the Secretary of State.
This applies to all registered parks and gardens, whether graded I, II* or II.
It is usually the case that owners' wishes for material change to registered landscapes can be accommodated without harming the features and qualities that make them important.
Early consultation with the local planning authority, and with English Heritage in the case of Grade I or II* registered parks and gardens, will often help to identify ways of achieving change without harm.
What happens if I don't get permission?
If material changes are made without first having obtained planning permission, local planning authorities may require the changes to be reversed.
In extreme cases a prosecution may result.
