Civic Voice today announces the shortlist for `England’s Favourite Conservation Area`

Civic Voice today announces the shortlist for `England’s Favourite Conservation Area` and is calling on the public to help decide the overall winner

Laura Sandys Civic Voice Vice-president said: “With 249 conservation areas being nominated, it shows that people are proud of where they live. The shortlist comprises conservation areas that have been revived through community leadership, through to areas which has been revitalised through financial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Conservation areas designated in recent years are on the shortlist, along with some of the very first conservation areas designated in the 1960s. Conservation areas that are at the heart of Heritage Action Zones have made the list, so too have areas that are still on the Heritage at Risk register. Conservation areas with Article 4 Directions have been selected, so too, ones with up to date appraisals and management plans. Conservation areas in the North, South, East and West, Urban and Rural, large and small are all on this shortlist as we work together to help identify England’s favourite conservation area.”

The awards were created to highlight the positive impact that conservation areas have had on the country since first being designated in 1967. Civic Voice wants this award to help celebrate best practice across the country and to be the annual antidote to the Conservation Area at Risk register. Civic Voice asked community groups to submit their nominations, qualifying their proposals against a range of criteria, including community involvement, successful reuse of heritage assets and explaining how the area is being conserved and enhanced for future generations.

Ian Harvey, Executive Director of Civic Voice said: “Civic Voice is delighted to be working with Laura Sandys on this new campaign to identify England’s Favourite Conservation Area. Together we are celebrating all that is good about England’s historic environment and we hope this award will shine a spotlight on not just the conservation areas, but also the community stories behind them. The one common factor is that these are all conservation areas that are real places loved by real people and we are proud to announce this shortlist today. We now want people to vote and decide which one should win England’s Favourite Conservation Area for 2018. We look forward to celebrating the winners at the Civic Voice conference in Birmingham on 19th/20th October.”

Sandys finished by saying: “With 56% of people not knowing they live in a conservation area Civic Voice wants to inspire more people to play an active role in the place where they live. These 18 conservation areas have been selected by Civic Voice to ensure that as wide a range of conservation areas were shortlisted. We want people to visit the website, read the stories, vote for their favourite and learn the lessons by visiting the shortlisted areas as we build a national network of civic and conservation champions protecting our conservation areas for future generations.”

Think your conservation area should have been on this list? Get in touch with Civic Voice at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and submit for England’s Favourite Conservation Area 2019, and don’t worry, if you haven’t been shortlisted this year, you can apply again in the future.

NOTES FOR EDITORS
The winners will be announced at the Civic Voice Annual Conference on 19/20 October in Birmingham http://www.civicvoiceconferenc.com
To vote, people simply need to visit http://www.bigconservationconversation.com and click the heart on the conservation area that they think should win. The vote will close two weeks today on the 16th October with the winner announced at the Civic Voice conference on 19/20th October.

The conservation area with the most votes by the closing date will be awarded the accolade of England’s Favourite Conservation Area and the winners will be highlighted over the coming year for other areas to be inspired. An invitation to speak at an event in Parliament will also be offered to the winning conservation area. 

FURTHER INFORMATION
Some people may say you cannot compare 10,000 conservation areas, and we agree, that is why we asked community groups with a connection to an area to nominate and make the case for their area. It is also why we are asking the public to vote and decide on the overall winner.

We have exercised our discretion in the shortlisting process to ensure that as wide a range of conservation areas as possible were shortlisted, as we want to make sure that people can learn the lessons from the diverse range of areas shortlisted. We established these awards to highlight the positive impact that conservation areas have had on the country since 1967.

CONTACT

Ian Harvey

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

07877096968