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Local Strategic Partnerships

Effective community planning needs to reflect what local people value about their area from the very beginning of the process. Stakeholder consultation should include the community’s aspirations for the local historic environment.
Attractive and well maintained local environments are likely to lead to increased use. The character and distinctiveness of Norwich city centre helps to ensure its continued success as a regional hub.

Local Strategic Partnerships and the Historic Environment

“The condition of our surroundings has a direct impact on quality of life and the conservation and improvement of the natural and built environment brings social and economic benefits for local communities” (Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development, DCLG 2005).

English Heritage supports the concept of delivering regeneration through the combined efforts of the wide range of interested parties which form Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) and believes that the historic environment plays an important part in ensuring success.

This position statement sets out the broad principles of English Heritage’s vision for the historic environment as an integral part of Community and Local Neighbourhood Renewal Strategies. It outlines how the historic environment contributes to regeneration in both social and economic terms. It is intended to be of assistance to LSPs as their strategies are developed and updated.

  • Community Strategies aim to enhance the quality of life of local communities and contribute to the achievement of sustainable development through action to improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of an area and its inhabitants. The historic environment, whether in urban, rural or suburban areas, has much to offer in the pursuit of these goals.
  • The added weight that Community Strategies now carry in the development plan system means that they need to address a wide range of topics. The historic environment warrants specific consideration as part of this process, both as an asset in its own right and also for its wider contribution to social and economic goals.
  • Heritage is all around us. Every LSP area will include historic buildings, monuments, landscapes and areas. The majority of these will not have statutory protection but will be of local importance. Once lost they cannot be replaced. Community Strategies are strengthened when they start by understanding the role the historic environment plays in the future success of a place.
  • Our historic environment is the product of many centuries of cumulative development and change. Further change is both inevitable and necessary if we are to meet today’s challenges. The best way of securing a sustainable future for the historic environment is to keep it relevant through continued use. At the same time we have the task of ensuring that change is managed in such a way that it enhances rather than damages the setting in which it takes place.
  • The historic environment can often be used in a proactive, positive way as a focal point for community action, cohesion and development. If it is only considered at a late stage when local people feel it is directly threatened then huge opportunities can be missed.

Why is the Historic Environment Important to Communities?

The historic environment can have a positive influence on a wide range of local activities including regeneration, housing, education, economic development and community engagement. It can also contribute towards the achievement of the shared priorities agreed between central and local government, because:

  • Reusing the historic environment, particularly buildings, lies at the heart of creating sustainable communities.
  • The historic environment adds value to regeneration projects.
  • The historic environment is a proven source of employment and helps underpin the local economy.
  • An attractive environment can assist in attracting external investment as well as maintaining existing businesses of all types, not just tourism-related.
  • People are immensely proud of their local history. Surviving heritage, even if hidden below ground, is synonymous with local identity. People don’t always express how much they value a place until it is threatened. Heritage is a fundamental element that contributes towards local character and distinctiveness.
  • The historic environment is a powerful focus for community action.
  • Outcomes such as increased community cohesion and greater social inclusion can be achieved through a renewed focus on the historic environment. Involving communities at a grass roots level in their local heritage can be a vital medium in bringing communities together through a shared understanding of their diverse histories.
  • The historic environment is a local educational resource for people of all ages. For example, archaeological remains can be used to explain the history of a place and the communities that have lived there, so helping to make people feel at home.
  • The historic environment has an important place in local cultural activities.
  • Local environments that are understood and valued tend to be better looked after than those that are not linked to communities, and can help to foster civic responsibility and citizenship. This in turn can have positive implications for anti-social behaviour problems and community well-being. The historic environment contributes to everybody’s quality of life.

Checklist for Local Strategic Partnerships

English Heritage believes that the key issues facing a Partnership can best be tackled if its members reflect local views as well as having an understanding of the wider environmental, social and economic issues that need to be tackled. Where a Partnership identifies historic environment issues as an opportunity, English Heritage believes that it should consider the following steps:

  • having at least one person at Board level who can champion the historic environment;
  • establishing a policy/implementation group responsible for environmental matters which is representative of all local stakeholders. It should include specialists who understand the heritage sector and who, working with interested local people, can position the historic environment at the heart of the LSP’s work while helping to harness its economic and social potential;
  • identifying the ‘Unique Selling Points’ or most valued aspects of the area that constitute its character, local distinctiveness, sense of place and identity. Consultation with the local community is often the most effective way of achieving this;
  • taking steps to ensure the use of these assets through a mix of promoting, protecting, renewing and re-using, as well as clearly incorporating them in the Strategy for the sustainable future of the area;
  • taking appropriate specialist advice on site-specific heritage issues and projects by ensuring the involvement of historic environment specialists in the plan preparation.

What can the Historic Environment Contribute to the Strategy Document?

Each Strategy will be different and respond to local issues and priorities. English Heritage believes that it is essential that the historic environment should be reflected in Community Strategies in both the long-term vision and the action plan. Such issues will often be relevant to Local Neighbourhood Renewal Strategies too.

English Heritage believes that the Strategy should seek outcomes which enable social, environmental and economic objectives to be achieved together.

English Heritage recommends that the following questions are considered in the preparation of any strategy:

  • Is the full scope of the environment considered; natural, built and historic?
  • Is the potential of the historic environment to improve an area recognised in the main targets? If not, could local heritage make a greater contribution?
  • Are the partners aware of good practice examples of successful heritage-led regeneration? Can lessons be learned from these projects?
  • Can the historic environment act as a catalyst to improve local situations and resolve problems?
  • Are there potential educational and recreational gains from making better use of the historic environment?
  • Has the local community been consulted about which elements of the local historic environment they value, and how they might be put to use?
  • Are there ways that employment opportunities in the historic environment can be encouraged?
    For example, training in traditional building craft skills as part of a regeneration project creates at least two outputs; an improved environment and local employment.
  • Have the potential economic, social and environmental gains from protecting, interpreting and re-using historic environment remains and sites, such as scheduled monuments or historic buildings, been considered?
  • Have the links been made with the issues identified in relevant regional documents such as the regional environmental strategy and the historic environment or heritage strategy?
  • Is the relationship between the area’s Cultural Strategy and Community Strategy clear?
  • Is there sufficient understanding of the historic environment resource? For example the number, condition, quality and location of assets?
  • What tools might help to develop understanding of the historic environment? If there are conservation area appraisals, historic landscape characterisation or other studies that would inform any strategy, then local authority historic environment staff should be able to advise on these.
  • In your area, is the historic environment and its condition one of the indicators for measuring the success of the partnership? If it isn’t, should it be?

The English Heritage View

English Heritage fully supports the aim of delivering regeneration and renewal through the combined efforts of Local Strategic Partnership members and others with an interest in the well-being of an area. Whilst recognising that there are a wide range of issues that an LSP needs to encompass, English Heritage believes it essential that historic environment issues are given recognition in Community Strategies. This will allow Local Development Frameworks to be based on a full understanding of the local circumstances, needs and aspirations of the community (see The Relationship between Community Strategies and Local Development
Frameworks DCLG, October 2003).

The involvement of representatives of local environment groups, or other parts of the voluntary sector, is an excellent way of getting a heritage input from people who understand local circumstances. Societies affiliated to the Civic Trust, Council for British Archaeology, building preservation trusts, local groups of the Campaign to Protect Rural England or other community societies might be able to help.

Where historic environment issues are identified by the LSP as a high priority for action then English Heritage will do what it can to promote the type of partnership which will assist the LSP in delivering successful heritage led regeneration. Although there is no statutory requirement to consult English Heritage on drafts of Community Strategies, it may be able to provide focussed input in certain circumstances.

Where to get More Information

  • Local authority historic building and archaeological officers. Historic buildings and archaeological officers understand local circumstances, potential and whether there are any constraints. Most local authorities maintain or have access to an historic environment record which contains information on the local historic environment.
  • Local societies. Tap into local knowledge, perhaps through civic societies, local history societies and museums or others who can contribute to a better understanding of local ‘place’.
  • English Heritage. Our regional team may be able to provide advice about the historic environment such as sources of information to help develop studies, methods of engaging local communities in historic environment projects, educational initiatives and grant-aid.
  • Many local authorities have now appointed an elected Member to act as their Historic Environment Champion. Champions are responsible for leading on heritage issues within their authority, and their involvement with an LSP may enable ‘joining-up’ of initiatives.
  • The Historic Environment Local Management (HELM) website. Find out about heritage training opportunities and download relevant documents – www.helm.org.uk.
  • Heritage Dividend 2002 measured the impact of investment in heritage regeneration in a number of towns and neighbourhoods and can be viewed at www.english-heritage.org.uk.
  • Look at Heritage Counts – the regular audit of the historic environment which includes both national and regional documents.The current versions can be viewed at www.heritagecounts.org.uk.

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