1. What can you do with this knowledge?
Volunteer on behalf of your CGT to participate in the next CMP / Parkland Plan consultation with NE, EH etc
Start to include statements of significance in your research reports
Articulate significance when making the case for local listing of a landscape
Talk to your Conservation Committee about using CMPs and significance in addressing planning issues
Pinpoint what is important to convey about a site in visits, research reports, leaflets etc
Finally, we’ll look briefly at what use this can be for CGTs:
Understanding and applying these principles can be used to
-Another perspective / input on to the CMP process can be invaluable. Especially when NE officers are usually more expert in the ecological aspects of a site. Also, if you are researching a site and think that a PP could help, or know it to be complex if it comes up for HLS then you will know what potential there is from a CMP
-Can look at aspects of the potential impact of development both from the perspective of the overall site and particular areas or features of the site – what effect do the proposals have on the values and therefore significance of the landscape? Is a lost feature (e.g. clump of trees, avenue, eyecatcher) of such importance in the landscape that consideration should be given to its restoration? Is there a CMP for a site included in the planning proposals? Should one be requested?
Under the National Planning Policy Framework (from April 2012), developers or those wishing to make material changes to a place, must describe the significance of heritage assets affected by development and demonstrate that they have considered the impact of the proposals on the significance of the site. If they cannot identify what is significant about the site this leaves it vulnerable to erosion and loss.
Local listing considers landscapes of local significance – in the same way that an application for a site to be nationally designated would need to have a case made for it against certain criteria, so for local listing. We need to be clear what is significant about a site that makes it important at a local level
Education and researched information can have a greater impact if the key ‘hooks’ of a site, what makes it special, are drawn out – ie why should people care about this landscape?