4 C O N T E X T 1 2 6 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 2 that these officers are recognised by the general public as, in the main, being independent and not influenced by external factors. We should be investing in conservation departments, not looking for further ways to decrease their capacity and knowledge. If in the long term councils pursue this approach and in doing so reduce the number of conservation area officers, there could be an unintended consequence that the default position would be to require ‘expert’ input for all applications, which could actually disincentive building owners to pursue expert advice due to costs involved, which is contrary to the aim of the proposed bill. Planning Officers Society It is important that any change does not undermine the integration that already exists in local planning authorities. All too often planning officers, ecological specialists and listed building specialist officers work very closely together. This unified approach benefits both the applicant and the buildings’ integrity. There appears in both the consultation and Penfold Review acknowledgement of the importance of this joint working. It is difficult to see how the introduction of accredited agents would produce any advantage to the applicant in instances where planning permission is also required. Given that the responsibility for consulting on the application and making the decision will remain with the local planning authority, there is every likelihood that a non-binding recommendation from the applicant’s agent would still need the same scrutiny From The Making of the English Landscape by WG Hoskins, 1955 As the railways extended rapidly to all parts of the country their effects on local building and building materials grew correspondingly wide. In Middlesex the impact came soonest, and was most violent. The older houses had been built of a homely and native brown stock brick, and the farm-buildings largely of wood. Between 1800 and 1850, however, a hard soapy-looking yellow brick was pouring up the Thames from Suffolk, and most of the new Middlesex churches were built of it. ‘From 1850 onwards’ – with the triumph of the railways – ‘every kind of material was poured on to the unprotesting soil: harsh red bricks, sometimes glazed; in the north, yellow-green brick from Three Counties, near Hitchin; slates, pantiles, green tiles; stucco, artificial stone, and concrete’ (RM Robbins, Middlesex). What happened in Middlesex eventually happened all over England, and as Midland bricks and Welsh slates – and later more unspeakable materials like asbestos and corrugated iron – flooded into every corner of provincial England, the ancient local materials that fitted their own regions so well, for they came out of their very soil, disappeared one by one. In Oxfordshire the Stonesfield slate-pits and mines shut down one by one during the second half of the nineteenth century; in Leicestershire the Swithland slate-quarries, which had been worked since Henry III’s time, shut down altogether in 1887; and so it was in nearly every county in England. All regional styles and all local materials were exterminated except where the well-to-do could afford to build deliberately in the old manner, with the aid of an architect. What had been the living style of a whole region, modified to suit all classes of people, became a piece of pleasant antiquarianism for a rich man. as they would if it were submitted by a professional agent under current arrangements. There is potential for additional financial burdens being placed on applicants, as well as raised expectations. It is considered that greater certainty would be achieved through effective pre-application engagement with the local planning authority. This accords with the approach prompted in the National Planning Policy Framework. The submission of well-researched reports that assess the impact of the proposals on the special interest of the listed building benefits all parties. This is already part of best practice regarding listed buildings and other heritage assets. Every applicant should in any event submit sufficient information and reports to allow the local planning authority to assess the development proposals. English Heritage Judgement as to the nature of impact and whether it is genuinely positive or justified can be exacting. It may require expert input from consultees such as local amenity societies, English Heritage and the national amenity societies. It may be something that is sufficiently concerning for the secretary of state to wish to consider. Determining the optimum viable use of a listed building can require a thorough consideration of the impact of alternative uses on long-term conservation. It is something that could require substantial evidence and would benefit often from the input of consultees and the public. If the choice of use is wrong, the long-term impacts on conservation could be serious and irreversible.
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