42 C O N T E X T 1 0 8 : M A R C H 2 0 0 9 ENGLISHHERITAGE Produced by theGIS&MappingTeam www.english-heritage.org.uk NationalMonumentsRecord,Swindon,SN2 2GZ Maps are based uponOrdnanceSurveymaterialwith the permission ofHMSO. ©CrownCopyright.All rights reserved.EnglishHeritage 100019088 (2009). 1. Conservation Areas risk data received from English Local Planning Authorities 2. Conservation Areas GIS data received from English Local Planning Authorities 0 50 100 Kilometres 0 50 100 Kilometres North East North West Yorkshire and the Humber East Midlands West Midlands SouthEast SouthWest East of England London English Heritage Regions Information correctasat theend of2008 Complete (183) In progress (88) Not started (92) Information correctasat theend of2008 Received (201) Not received (162) Conservation areas at risk Capturing conservation area data with the CLG and the DCMS. We also want to engage the public, especially local groups which take an interest in their conservation area. We may ask all local authorities that filled in the questionnaire about local support and involve these people in our campaign. We have asked for several different types of information from local planning authorities since last summer.We will need your help again to develop the campaign side of Conservation Areas at Risk. In parallel with collecting risk data for conservation areas the National Monuments Record has been compiling GIS information by collecting boundary data from local authorities. This has been equally successful, with 56 per cent supplying the data requested and a further 31 promising to supply it. Map 2 shows the spread of authorities which had supplied GIS data by the end of 2008. A small number of authorities questioned why English Heritage needed the data, and if we were even entitled to it. The National Monuments Record is trying to gather a national data set for the historic environment. Although conservation In Context 105 (July 2008) I wrote of the proposed online conservation areas at risk survey that English Heritage would be running in the autumn of 2008.We formally closed the survey on 19 December. By that time over 5,750 survey forms had been completed online. This represents information returned on over 60 per cent of the designated conservation areas in England. It may be, with forms still coming in and promised, that we get to a two thirds figure as a total response, though we are using the cut off date for completing online information to analyse the data, but all data will go into the ongoing gathering of a complete set of data for all conservation areas which will be built up when we repeat the exercise in a couple of years and ask local authorities what factors have changed. Thank you to the planning authorities which responded so thoroughly to our survey. The responses will enable us to identify national and regional trends, and ensure that our conclusions are based on firm evidence.We accept that filling in the forms was an extra resource commitment. Map 1 shows the spread of local authority participation. Our findings will be published at our Heritage at Risk launch on 23 June. Focusing on conservation areas at risk, we will present the results and launch a campaign. Until then we will be working through the data, to look for repeated areas of concern, and to identify the conservation areas that respondents regarded as being most conspicuously at risk of change through loss of character and degradation of appearance. We may approach local authorities, to ask about using some of the most threatened areas to illustrate the risks to conservation areas.We look at the perceived causes of risk to conservation areas and will think about how these can be addressed. This may be by making sure that conservation area management and protection issues are better explained in the planning policy statement on the historic environment that we are working on areas are locally designated, they are a national designation. There is a legal requirement for authorities to inform English Heritage when they designate or modify conservation areas. GIS data will make it easier to check the accuracy of our records and update them.We are keen to complete this data set, so the cooperation of all planning authorities is essential. We would like to thank all those who have supplied conservation area boundary data as part of this project and to urge others to send in their boundaries. One of the first uses of this data will be as part of the spatial analysis for Heritage at Risk 2009.We are looking at other ways in which to use the compiled GIS database of conservation area boundaries to work with data held by other government bodies such as the Valuation Office and the CLG statistics department. In future this may allow us to highlight the benefits of conservation area status or identify those conservation areas in need of assistance in terms of physical repairs, contributing towards the revival of deprived communities. CharlesWagner, head of planning and regeneration policy, English Heritage NOTE The website for the conservation areas at risk survey has been reopened for March and April. All local authorities who have not finished filling in the survey will be emailed shortly and invited to complete it using a new access code. English Heritage will also be approaching all non-participating local authorities to see if they now feel they can contribute.
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