Changing planning practice in English Conservation Areas

Leo Hall, a postgraduate planning student at Sheffield University supervised by Peter Bibby, has been undertaking a review of evolving planning practice in English conservation areas, focused primarily on the impact of post-2010 policy changes and on understanding the principal areas of current tension.To support this work he has constructed a short online survey, which has been circulated to a large number of LPAs with significant heritage assets and has so far received responses covering a good proportion of English conservation areas. However, in addition to the LPA perspective, Leo is also keen to canvass opinion from community groups, civic societies and others with heritage interests, to understand whether there is any material difference in perceptions.

Leo has asked us to circulate a link to his survey, to give anyone with an interest in this topic a chance to represent the views of their local organisation. The survey combines a number of short 'rating' style questions with the opportunity to add perspective on salient issues and potential case studies based on your own experience. It is designed for organisations focused on a specific geographic area, but can also be answered from a broader perspective if desired, omitting locally specific questions. Leo stresses that the survey is very quick to complete, and would like to encourage as many people as possible with views on this topic to take part.

The survey can be found at https://goo.gl/forms/JTnkLCXfrL433tN72 and responses would be welcomed as soon as possible, as the survey closed to LPAs on 28th July. Please feel free to forward these details to others who you feel may be interested.

If anyone has any other comments or suggestions for Leo, he can also be contacted direct via .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Laura Sandys, Vice-President of Civic Voice said “Today there are approximately 10,000 Conservation Areas across the UK. Conservation Areas are as much a part of the fabric of this country as the Green Belt is in shaping our cities, towns and villages. I recommend people responding to this survey and adding their own local knowledge to the national picture".