12 our designations statically as a means of identification and recognition. More park.lands remain to be designated but our main thrust today is to encourage owners to come forward with long-term conservation and management plans. The new challenge is to see what financial resources Conservation Area starus might attract. CANAL CONSERVATION AREAS Staffordshire was the hub of James Brindley's concept of the Grand Cross - a network of canals linking the country's four great rivers: Trent, Mersey, Thames and Severn. In the event, although the connections were made, that with the Thames was not quite as envisaged by Brindley, but the first two trunk canals, the Trent and Mersey, and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire, were built and run the greater part of their respective lengths in the county. As pioneers in the transport revolution of the late 18th century, these two canal routes were recognised as of major industrial archaeological significance by the County Council not withstanding the intrinsic interest of surviving individual buildings, locks, or other artefacts. The demise of the waterways as commercial undertakings and their subsequent redesgnation as Cruising Waterways, posed in their separate ways, potential threats to the survival of their historic interest. In 1978 the County Council determined to designate a linear Conservation Area, 48 miles in total, along the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal from Great Haywood junction with the Trent and Mersey to Whittington on the Worcestershire border. Wyre Forest District Council subsequently agreed to include the eight miles from the county boundary to Stourport to create a Conservation Area 56 miles long. This has been followed by the designation of the Stourbridge Arm (1984); Shropshire Union (1984); and Trent and Mersey (1989) Canal Conservation Areas (the latter a joint exercise by six District Councils and the Counry Council). The boundaries have generally been drawn narrowly to include only land in British Waterways Board ownership, broadening out to take in a privately owned wharf, cottage, or copse when it was particularly significant to the history or setting of the canal. The guiding principle throughout has been, as wirh historic parkland, to highlight the historical significance and to influence change and development rather than extend the mechanisms of control. This is largely dictated by circumstance. First, it would be impracticable to include all the land which forms part of the setting which in open country might extend for great distances on either side, and anticipates development control in the viciniry of the canal safeguarding the setting of the Conservation Area. Secondly, BWB is a statutory undertaker enjoying extensive permitted development rights under the General Development Order including the power to fell trees and demolish unlisted structures for operational reasons. Fortunately the Waterways managers operating in the county are sympathetic to the historic environment. It would be very easy for the wide powers to be used prejudicially bur a working arrangement was reached with BWB in Andrew Millar explores the priorities when considering new build in Conservation Areas. 1978 (and modified since) defining works for which consent is required; planned maintenance works including siring of dredging tips on which the local authoriry will be consulted whether permitted development or otherwise, and day-to-day works (including emergencies) for which no prior notification need be given. The latter is the Achilles heel of the arrangement for although such matters as mortar mixes and brick types for these routine jobs may be agreed with the local engineer, the lengthsman doing the work all too often varies the specification of his own accord. In all other respects the agreement has generally worked well. Although BWB developed a number of partnerships with local authorities to undertake towparh improvements and other enhancement works, the Conservation Area status of the canals in Staffordshire enabled the authorities to target sires of greater conservation significance, sometimes in conjunction with enhancement of visitor amenities. Alas, the withdrawal of most forms of Employment Training has put an end to such co-operative projects. Regrettably these were where the responsibiliry to enhance enjoined in S72(1) was being most actively pursued. I hope that such co-operative ventures might be resumed at some future date; in the meantime it is likely that the remaining branches of the canal network in Staffordshire - the Caldon and the Coventry - will be brought under Conservation Area protection. Alan Taylor is Conservation Officer with Staffordshire County Council. ENSURING QUALITY It is a general objective to get rid of derelict, underutilised brownfield sites and it is of even greater importance when they lie at the heart of an outstanding ConservationArea. Equally, how do we ensure environmental quality and good design in new building as opposed to mediocrity or pastiche? This short article aims to show how one small planning department (eight professional staff) is meeting these objectives on a particular site. A number of mechanisms were utilised, namely site assembly, a developer/design competition and the useof a builder-licencescheme. The location of the site is almost immaterial to this article bur for the record it lies in Dollar, on the edge of rhe Ochil Hills within Clackmannan District. Dollar has a population of 2,500 and has a significant core of Georgian and Victorian buildings including Playfair's Academy. The site includes the old Burgh Yard, handed over at re-organisation, but was subsequently expanded by sire assembly to include the former gasworks and a petrol filling station bought on the open marker for £60,000. The site, which now extends to 0.71 acres, is very awkwardly shaped with lots of external walling and has significant problems of contamination. A number of small businesses also had their leases terminated. The reason for rhe sire assembly (which took four years) is rhar ir represents the last opportuniry for a significant redevelopment scheme within the Conservation Area. The site, by virtue of its location, conservation profile and marker value, is rhe ideal opportunity for the Department explicicly to 'jack up' rhe role of design and layout in the evaluation process. Ct>NTEXT 36
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