Councillor Brett welcomes proposed Heritage reforms

The Labour Group leader, Councillor Allen Brett, has welcomed the publication of the Government’s Draft Heritage Protection Bill, which proposes to simplify the heritage protection system and encourage greater public involvement in heritage decisions.

Released earlier this month, the Bill is the first legislation to be published in this area for 30-years and will make the system of heritage protection more democratic and more effective.

“This draft legislation will now be scrutinised by Parliament but it could mean a very welcome departure from some of the bad decisions taken by a small clique of councillors in Rochdale,” said Councillor Brett. “There have been a number of heritage designations, which, when challenged, have been shown to be very poor.

“It is right that we should be encouraging more people to take more interest in their local areas, in the buildings and open spaces. Such involvement will, I believe, prevent a repeat of daft decisions like slapping a conservation order on Rochdale Fire Station, which, in turn, made it impossible for firefighters to carry out repairs and forced them to operate from a damp, drafty and ramshackle building. We should not be riding roughshod over the public’s views and this Bill will hopefully put a stop to that.”

Under the proposed reforms, a simplified, single system for designation will be created – to be called the Heritage Register – which will replace listing, scheduling and registering, and give the public greater say in what gets protected with new consultation rules. The Government also plans to devolve responsibility for designating land-based assets in England from the DCMS to English Heritage.

Secretary of State, Andy Burnham said: “Heritage protection is as important as anything else we do in this Department. But nobody can sit in an office in London and decide what is heritage or not. Heritage is in the eye of the beholder - local communities have strong feelings about their own heritage and it is important that those voices are heard.”

Lord Bruce Lockhart, Chairman of English Heritage, added: “The publication of the draft Heritage Bill is a major step forward towards the way England's heritage is identified, protected and managed. Although most people believe the present system has served us well, it has grown over the last 100 years through incremental legislation. We are left with a system which is over-complex, with confusing overlaps, and hard to understand.
“We now need reform which simplifies, which brings efficiency and effectiveness, which involves the public and adds clear and visible accountability.”

Date article online: 15/04/2008