PRESS RELEASE: Parliamentary meeting discusses future of the nation’s conservation areas

Call comes as Civic Voice publishes new resources to support communities to make the case for conservation areas

Civic Voice – the national authoritative voice for the civic movement – has today called for communities to join the Big Conservation Conversation campaign by getting involved in the Big Conservation Conversation Count to to help Civic Voice build up a richer picture of the state of the nation’s conservation areas. The call comes today at a Parliamentary meeting where MPs, community groups, and policy makers debate the 512 conservation areas at risk.

Joan Humble Chair of Civic Voice said; “We are gathering evidence through the Big Conservation Conversation to ensure conservation areas are given greater resources and protection because we want to see improved community awareness and understanding of the nature and value of conservation areas. Our campaign has been made possible to due to the donations from many civic societies across England, but we would call on all communities across England to join Civic Voice and help us make the case for conservation areas going forward.”

Laura Sandys Vice-president of Civic Voice said; ““This new report brings together in one place various pieces of research looking at the different issues putting conservation areas at risk. It is clear that more than 512 conservation areas are at risk and we need communities to get involved to help paint a true picture. The new website http://www.bigconservationconversation.com is a fantastic one-stop shop for civic societies and other community groups to find out how they can play a greater role in reducing heritage at risk. We want communities to go on the website and share examples of conservation areas at risk.”

Craig Mackinlay MP, Chair of the APPG for Civic Societies said: “The new Civic Conservation Area Audit developed by Civic Voice is a simple yet effective tool. It can be a great campaigning tool for communities to make the case for conservation areas at risk to their local authority. I applaud groups such as Aldershot and Bewdley Civic Society for participating in the pilot to make this civic idea come to life”

Laura Sandys Vice-president of Civic Voice said; ““This new report brings together in one place various pieces of research looking at the different issues putting conservation areas at risk. It is clear that more than 512 conservation areas are at risk and we need communities to get involved to help paint a true picture. The new website http://www.bigconservationconversation.com is a fantastic one-stop shop for civic societies and other community groups to find out how they can play a greater role in reducing heritage at risk. We want communities to go on the website and share examples of conservation areas at risk.

Craig Mackinlay MP, Chair of the APPG for Civic Societies said: “The new Civic Conservation Area Audit developed by Civic Voice is a simple yet effective tool. It can be a great campaigning tool for communities to make the case for conservation areas at risk to their local authority. I applaud groups such as Aldershot and Bewdley Civic Society for participating in the pilot to make this civic idea come to life.”

• The new report “The Future of our Conservation Areas” is available here.
• The new national map showing the location of all Conservation Areas at Risk is available at https://www.bigconservationconversation.com where communities can search by postcode.
• The Civic Conservation Area Audit and toolkit is available to download from https://www.bigconservationconversation.com/conservation-audit

NOTES FOR EDITORS
• Civic Voice is the authoritative voice of the civic movement and represents 75,000 individual members affiliated to 275 civic groups across England. More information at http://www.civicvoice.org.uk

FURTHER INFORMATION
Ian Harvey .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
T: 07877096968
T @civic_voice