A Matter of Degree: Significance, Spatial A Matter of Degree: Significance, Spatial Planning, and the Historic EnvironmentPlanning, and the Historic Environment

Kae Neustadt, Kae Neustadt, BA, MABA, MA

Centre for Archaeology, Anthropology and Centre for Archaeology, Anthropology and HeritageHeritage

School of Conservation SciencesSchool of Conservation SciencesBournemouth UniversityBournemouth University

Significance:What does it matter what matters? The act of ‘valuing’ is embedded into

human nature Heritage resources are finite Development and change are inevitable Governments are accountable Decisions must be made Transparency in decision-making is required “If you do not understand what is important,

how can you possibly make decisions about it?”

The first step in an effective heritage protection system is “identifying those aspects of the past that are most important to us and explaining why they are important.”

Planning and Significance How to meet the demands

of the modern world without sacrificing history, identity, and a ‘sense of place’?

Necessary to answer this question to be able to achieve “sustainability.”

Everyday decisions relating to development control and infrastructure maintenance must answer this question.

Planning: Where does the Historic Environment fit in? National Level: Planning Policy Statements (to replace

Planning Policy Guidance Notes) General policy guidance such as PPG 15/16

Regional Level: Regional Spatial Strategies Must contain a vision statement, a spatial strategy with a key in

diagrammatic form, sustainability appraisal and an implementation plan.

Other strategies may be integral with the RSS, but prepared as separate plans and documents

May be sub-regional or extra-regional. Regional authorities develop regional plans, but also involve county

authorities, national parks, unitary districts, and others.

Planning: Where does the Historic Environment fit in? cont’d Local Development Framework

Includes local development schemes, statements of community involvement, site-specific allocations and proposal maps, monitoring reports, planning zones, and supplementary documents.

Long-term spatial strategies and broad policies. The historic environment is not specifically addressed.

Development Control Should refer to the local development plan/ framework. Most of the day-to-day planning operations fall under this

category. Heritage management is a critical issue at this level.

Planning: Where does the Historic Environment fit in? cont’d Archaeology, Listed Building Consent, and

Scheduled Ancient Monument Consent. Case-by-case consideration May correspond to development control measures and

planning permissions, but are not the same Perceptions of limited options: excavate archaeological

sites, refuse other requests. Other types of heritage resources (parks and gardens,

battlefields, conservation areas, trees and woodlands, AONB) will have separate procedures and guidelines which may be apart from listed building/ SAM consent procedures.

The intersection of Heritage and Planning Legislation is based on the presumption

in favour of preservation of “special architectural and historic interest” (per PPG 15/16)

Therefore, these special architectural and historic elements must be defined in order to comply with heritage management legislation.

Decisions taken in the course of development control have long-term impacts and can profoundly effect societal welfare and quality of life.

Significance and value are thus the cornerstones of developing proactive and sustainable plans for the management of the historic environment.

The case for and against valuing significance

FOR Ease and transparency

in decision making Platform for public

input Ability to prioritize

management needs Increased opportunity

for education and promotion

Management & Planning Issues

AGAINST Significance varies

depending on individual perceptions

Fear of introducing bias into the system

Desire to remain ‘scientific’ in approaches to heritage management

Fear of creating an imperfect system

Academic & Theoretical Issues

The Big Philosophical Questions Does the historic environment

have any inherent value absent human perception?

If it does not, whose perception matters when determining what the best treatment for the historic environment?

Ask yourself: Is this trip necessary?

Bridging the Gap A tool for planning and

management of the historic environment, easily accessible in a format understood by heritage management professionals, planners, and presentable to the general public.

Something that could build on what has already been done by other amenity organisations and can adapt to the changing needs and resources of both planning and heritage management.

A tool that can be both locally specific and cross-sectoral.

Historic Landscape Characterisation: A Holistic Approach HLC was designed to be a

comprehensive approach to the historic landscape.

Practical tool for planning and management.

HLC is presented as a value-neutral approach to the historic landscape.

In practice, HLC “permits all degrees of importance to be considered against differing spatial and temporal parameters, relating importance for its own sake to importance for its contribution to the present, and to local character.” (Bishop 1999).

The Role of English Heritage’s Conservation Principles The historic environment is a shared resource Everyone should be able to participate in sustaining the

historic environment Understanding the significance of places is vital Significant places should be managed to sustain their values Decisions about change must be reasonable, transparent, and

consistent Documenting and learning from decisions is essential

HLC: Character, Distinction, Significance and Value

HLC is mostly informative – it provides information without guidance.

Begins with the premise that all is of interest and value (Herring 2007).

HLC is useful in providing information regarding character, but does not identify distinctiveness, significance or value in the landscape.

Planning guidance focuses on preserving and promoting what is distinct and special within the historic landscape.

Four key concepts that connect HLC and the planning agenda: character, distinction, significance and value.

Character

Identifies primarily morphological characteristics related to historic processes that created the existing landscape.

Includes field patterns, ancient and modern woodlands, settlement patterns, enclosures, recreational space and common land.

Reflects mostly historic and modern use of landscape.

Distinctiveness Combination of innate

visual harmony, functionality of natural systems, human scale of cultural features and time-depth.* Time-depth Traces of struggle and

occupation Evidence of production Amenity attributes Natural qualities Customs and practices

* from Selman (2006)

Significance “Understanding and articulating the values and

significance of a place is necessary to inform decisions about its future” Fabric and evolution Who and Why Values Values related to fabric Relative importance Contribution of associated objects and collections Contribution of setting and context Comparison to places with similar values Articulation of significance (“legibility”)

Value:English Heritage’s Heritage Values

Evidential Value Historical Value

Illustrative Associative

Aesthetic Value Design

Communal Value Commemoration and symbolism Social value Spiritual value

Broad categories can be used for determining effect of proposed change or for identifying appropriate treatment/ mitigation measures.

Evaluation Model Character forms the base of

evaluation. Without it, other aspects cannot be identified.

Distinctiveness articulates how character differs between places

Significance indicates what people consider important within a distinct place any why.

Value is a label applied for management purposes that can be useful for determining treatment when proposed change is inevitable.

Character

Distinctiveness

Significance

Value

Summary Spatial planning and development control measures do not

always provide adequate guidance for addressing the historic environment.

Planning decisions require judgments to be made about the value and importance of historic resources. If archaeological professionals are not making these judgments, someone else will.

Historic Landscape Characterisation has the potential to act as a platform and a tool to bridge the gap between planning and heritage management.

In order for HLC to fulfill this role, the issue of significance needs to be addressed.

Significance can be addressed by applying the concepts and guidelines already developed for other planning and conservation issues

THANK YOU