CONSERVATION PLANS…
a benefit or a burden?
Kate Clark
There is a new buzz phrase sweeping through the world of historic building conservation; 'conservation plans'.
Everyone from Heritage Lottery Fund applicants to English Heritage and
the National Trust seem to be writing them. But are conservation plans
the product of just another bit of bureaucracy, dreamed up to make it
even more difficult to care for a historic place? Or do they simply
reflect a return to the good old fashioned principle of understanding
places before you conserve them, which will benefit owners and buildings
alike?
Conservation
plans can be used to inform a wide range of projects from the
conservation of a ship to a whole town and its surroundings.
WHAT IS A CONSERVATION PLAN?
At
its simplest, a conservation plan is a document which explains why a
site is significant and how that significance will be retained in any
future use, alteration, development or repair. The same approach can be
used for historic gardens, landscapes, buildings, archaeological sites,
collections or even a ship, and is particularly relevant when a site has
more than one type of heritage.
Conservation
plans have many different uses. The preparation of a conservation plan
should be the first step in thinking about any new alterations, repairs
or management proposals. It could be useful for prospective buyers or
anyone planning development on an historic site. An owner will find a
conservation plan particularly useful when planning the use of space and
when establishing what might need listed building consent. Conservation
plans also make it possible to work cumulatively - so often we waste
time and money when the understanding or recording work of previous
generations is lost.
Conservation
plans are not new. There are already several publications on recording
and analysing historic buildings and English Heritage have two useful
leaflets - Development in the Historic Environment and Management Guidelines for Listed Buildings,
which explain how understanding historic buildings can help developers
and managers. However, the Heritage Lottery Fund found that they needed a
standard approach to assessing different types of heritage, which would
help to ensure that the funds they dispersed were beneficial. So, in
March 1998 they published a new guidance note Conservation Plans for Historic Places.
Based on the work of James Semple Kerr who developed this approach in
Australia, it nevertheless reflects the fact that most UK sites are
older, more complex and encompass different types of heritage. Speaking
at a conference in Oxford to launch the guidance, Kerr stressed the
flexibility of the approach.
However, to produce a conservation plan which is effective can take time
and specialist expertise. As a result the Heritage Lottery Fund only
requires a conservation plan to be submitted for large applications or
where the project is particularly sensitive to change or particularly
complex, such as sites in multiple ownership. Nevertheless, many other
projects could not be effectively managed without one, just as a
business could not be run properly without a business plan.
Conservation
plans can be used to inform a wide range of projects from the
conservation of a ship to a whole town and its surroundings, such as
Whitby.
THE CONSERVATION PLAN PROCESS
The important
thing to remember is that a conservation plan is not a list of headings
but a thinking process, and one which anyone who cares for historic
sites probably goes through already. The
first stage involves understanding the site. Most people assume that
they already do this, but the complexities of day-to-day site management
means that there is rarely an opportunity to set
it down systematically. So the first part of a conservation plan
involves background research, drawings and the assessment of the
'physical history' of the site.
ASSESSING SIGNIFICANCE
Once the development of the place is clear, the next stage is to explain
the significance of the site both in general and in terms of its
different components. Here is an opportunity to explore the values we
place on historic sites - be they community, social, educational or
aesthetic; local, regional or national. Untangling this mosaic of values
makes it much easier to think about what we are trying to achieve when
we conserve a site.
VULNERABILITY
Before writing policies, it is useful to pause in order to think more
about the process of change. If policies are going to help manage change
you need to first understand change. The conservation plan should
identify all the things that are happening to a site that make it
vulnerable - including, for example, any small cumulative alterations,
loss of fabric, problems with mixed ownership, conflicts between
different types of heritage, the pressures of visitors, and the need for
better access.
Barber's
Yard, Hertford A conservation plan (prepared by Acanthus Lawrence &
Wrightson Architects) secured a difficult planning application to
convert these former maltings at Old Cross Wharf, Hertford. ©Acanthus
Lawrence & Wrightson Architects
WRITING POLICIES
Writing policies is the last stage. These should provide
practical guidelines which explain how the significance of the site can
be retained in any future uses, alterations, maintenance regimes or
development. They can relate to individual topics - such as disabled
access, restoration, lighting, setting or fabric - or to individual
areas of the site. A policy on restoration might, for example, be
appropriate for one part of the building and not another.
Good policies are hard to write. They can involve real debate and a good
deal of consultation, which should extend to anyone who has a stake in
the site, whether landowners, local authorities, local people or
conservation advisers.
The final production should be a document which is well presented, easy
to read and informative, but not too long (the hard work nd research can
go into appendices) and one which represents as good a degree of
consensus as can be achieved.
AFTER DRAFTING
Once the plan is in place, it is a relatively simple matter to draft
management proposals, prioritise expenditure or begin to think about new
design opportunities, each of which will benefit from the information
in the plan.
This does not mean that a conservation plan is a straight-jacket which
constrains future development. This is partly because a plan should be
reviewed as often as necessary and also because, the better the site is
understood, the more flexibility there is. The conservation plan should
help to manage change intelligently, where change is appropriate, and
not constrain it forever.
All of this sounds complicated and bureaucratic, and, if badly handled,
it can be. But it is surprising how often a clear understanding of a
site and what it needs can help in the tricky process of finding
acceptable solutions for historic sites.
FURTHER INFORMATION
'Conservation Plans for Historic Places' is available from the Heritage Lottery Fund (020 7591 6000).
Copies of 'The Conservation Plan' by James Semple Kerr are available from ICOMOS UK (020 8994 6477).
Conservation Plans in Action: proceedings of the Oxford Conference (edited by Kate Clark and published by English Heritage in 1999) is available from English Heritage.
Further advice on commissioning and preparing plans is available from
Kate Clark at English Heritage (020 7973 3724). It includes a standard
brief to help with commissioning a conservation plan.
a benefit or a burden?
Kate Clark
There is a new buzz phrase sweeping through the world of historic building conservation; 'conservation plans'.
Everyone from Heritage Lottery Fund applicants to English Heritage and
the National Trust seem to be writing them. But are conservation plans
the product of just another bit of bureaucracy, dreamed up to make it
even more difficult to care for a historic place? Or do they simply
reflect a return to the good old fashioned principle of understanding
places before you conserve them, which will benefit owners and buildings
alike?
 | إضغط هنا لرؤية الصورة بحجمها الطبيعي. |
Conservation
plans can be used to inform a wide range of projects from the
conservation of a ship to a whole town and its surroundings.
WHAT IS A CONSERVATION PLAN?
At
its simplest, a conservation plan is a document which explains why a
site is significant and how that significance will be retained in any
future use, alteration, development or repair. The same approach can be
used for historic gardens, landscapes, buildings, archaeological sites,
collections or even a ship, and is particularly relevant when a site has
more than one type of heritage.
Conservation
plans have many different uses. The preparation of a conservation plan
should be the first step in thinking about any new alterations, repairs
or management proposals. It could be useful for prospective buyers or
anyone planning development on an historic site. An owner will find a
conservation plan particularly useful when planning the use of space and
when establishing what might need listed building consent. Conservation
plans also make it possible to work cumulatively - so often we waste
time and money when the understanding or recording work of previous
generations is lost.
Conservation
plans are not new. There are already several publications on recording
and analysing historic buildings and English Heritage have two useful
leaflets - Development in the Historic Environment and Management Guidelines for Listed Buildings,
which explain how understanding historic buildings can help developers
and managers. However, the Heritage Lottery Fund found that they needed a
standard approach to assessing different types of heritage, which would
help to ensure that the funds they dispersed were beneficial. So, in
March 1998 they published a new guidance note Conservation Plans for Historic Places.
Based on the work of James Semple Kerr who developed this approach in
Australia, it nevertheless reflects the fact that most UK sites are
older, more complex and encompass different types of heritage. Speaking
at a conference in Oxford to launch the guidance, Kerr stressed the
flexibility of the approach.
However, to produce a conservation plan which is effective can take time
and specialist expertise. As a result the Heritage Lottery Fund only
requires a conservation plan to be submitted for large applications or
where the project is particularly sensitive to change or particularly
complex, such as sites in multiple ownership. Nevertheless, many other
projects could not be effectively managed without one, just as a
business could not be run properly without a business plan.
Conservation
plans can be used to inform a wide range of projects from the
conservation of a ship to a whole town and its surroundings, such as
Whitby.
THE CONSERVATION PLAN PROCESS
The important
thing to remember is that a conservation plan is not a list of headings
but a thinking process, and one which anyone who cares for historic
sites probably goes through already. The
first stage involves understanding the site. Most people assume that
they already do this, but the complexities of day-to-day site management
means that there is rarely an opportunity to set
it down systematically. So the first part of a conservation plan
involves background research, drawings and the assessment of the
'physical history' of the site.
ASSESSING SIGNIFICANCE
Once the development of the place is clear, the next stage is to explain
the significance of the site both in general and in terms of its
different components. Here is an opportunity to explore the values we
place on historic sites - be they community, social, educational or
aesthetic; local, regional or national. Untangling this mosaic of values
makes it much easier to think about what we are trying to achieve when
we conserve a site.
VULNERABILITY
Before writing policies, it is useful to pause in order to think more
about the process of change. If policies are going to help manage change
you need to first understand change. The conservation plan should
identify all the things that are happening to a site that make it
vulnerable - including, for example, any small cumulative alterations,
loss of fabric, problems with mixed ownership, conflicts between
different types of heritage, the pressures of visitors, and the need for
better access.
Barber'sYard, Hertford A conservation plan (prepared by Acanthus Lawrence &
Wrightson Architects) secured a difficult planning application to
convert these former maltings at Old Cross Wharf, Hertford. ©Acanthus
Lawrence & Wrightson Architects
WRITING POLICIES
Writing policies is the last stage. These should provide
practical guidelines which explain how the significance of the site can
be retained in any future uses, alterations, maintenance regimes or
development. They can relate to individual topics - such as disabled
access, restoration, lighting, setting or fabric - or to individual
areas of the site. A policy on restoration might, for example, be
appropriate for one part of the building and not another.
Good policies are hard to write. They can involve real debate and a good
deal of consultation, which should extend to anyone who has a stake in
the site, whether landowners, local authorities, local people or
conservation advisers.
The final production should be a document which is well presented, easy
to read and informative, but not too long (the hard work nd research can
go into appendices) and one which represents as good a degree of
consensus as can be achieved.
AFTER DRAFTING
Once the plan is in place, it is a relatively simple matter to draft
management proposals, prioritise expenditure or begin to think about new
design opportunities, each of which will benefit from the information
in the plan.
This does not mean that a conservation plan is a straight-jacket which
constrains future development. This is partly because a plan should be
reviewed as often as necessary and also because, the better the site is
understood, the more flexibility there is. The conservation plan should
help to manage change intelligently, where change is appropriate, and
not constrain it forever.
All of this sounds complicated and bureaucratic, and, if badly handled,
it can be. But it is surprising how often a clear understanding of a
site and what it needs can help in the tricky process of finding
acceptable solutions for historic sites.
FURTHER INFORMATION
'Conservation Plans for Historic Places' is available from the Heritage Lottery Fund (020 7591 6000).
Copies of 'The Conservation Plan' by James Semple Kerr are available from ICOMOS UK (020 8994 6477).
Conservation Plans in Action: proceedings of the Oxford Conference (edited by Kate Clark and published by English Heritage in 1999) is available from English Heritage.
Further advice on commissioning and preparing plans is available from
Kate Clark at English Heritage (020 7973 3724). It includes a standard
brief to help with commissioning a conservation plan.
