This policy statement sets out the broad principles of English Heritage’s vision for long-term national transport policy. It is intended to inform decisions at local and regional levels as well as stating English Heritage’s position on Government policy.

1. England’s historic environment is one of the richest in the world. It is valued in its own right and as the setting in which we all live and work. It is a significant contributor to the national economy and to quality of life.
2. Our historic environment is the cumulative product of many centuries of development and change. Further change is both inevitable and necessary if we are to meet the challenges of the future. Our transport infrastructure needs to adapt and develop in the face of new technology and needs. In doing so it will inevitably impact on the historic environment. At the same time it is an important historic asset in itself; from prehistoric track ways and Roman roads, through medieval bridges and harbours, to the explosion of canal and railway transport during the Industrial revolution and the development of motor transport and aviation in the twentieth century.The new stations on the Jubilee Line in London and the Millennium Bridge between Newcastle and Gateshead are merely the latest in a long line of transport developments whose quality has enhanced the environment in which they have been placed.
3. English Heritage welcomes change; 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 are tasked by the Government to ensure that change is managed in such a way that it enhances rather than damages the historic environment in which it takes place. This means ensuring that when any development, including transport schemes, is being designed its impact on significant elements of the historic environment is fully assessed, and the necessary steps are taken to avoid or at least mitigate any adverse effects, to record that which must be lost, and to achieve a high standard of design in any new development.
4. We recognise the importance of transport and mobility in modern life. Good transport links are key to our social and economic well being and most transport improvements do no significant harm to the historic environment, and can sometimes enhance it. Increased mobility has also enabled unprecedented access to the historic environment – to historic towns, cities and countryside as well as designated sites and buildings. But there has been insufficient investment over recent decades in sustainable forms of transport, and the vast majority of journeys are now by car.
5. Transport can impact on the historic environment in two ways: existing traffic, and the construction of new infrastructure. Increasing levels of congestion have an impact on towns, cities and countryside. Queues of traffic affect quality of life; they detract from historic areas and buildings, communities are severed, and parking requirements take up increasing acreage.New transport infrastructure can present a greater – and often irreversible – threat to the historic environment.Development can affect historic landscapes and may cause direct damage to archaeological sites, monuments and buildings.In some cases there is scope for mitigation and careful routeing, but safety requirements and engineering limitations can mean that damage is sometimes unavoidable.Although these limitations may be greater for new rail infrastructure than for a new road, rail has greater potential capacity than road so is likely to be more sustainable in the long term
6. English Heritage’s main concerns arise where there is significant new infrastructure, or where there are schemes which may be small scale but could have a disproportionate impact on particularly sensitive historic sites. We are also concerned about the effects of incremental changes, such as the piecemeal dualling of trunk roads, or the cumulative impact of increasing numbers of signs in town centres.

English Heritage’s vision for long-term transport policy is one where Government, its agencies, and local authorities :

• Encourage a switch to less damaging forms of transport and promote planning policies that help to reduce the need to travel. Increasing levels of traffic are gradually eroding the quality of the historic environment, both through road building and simply by traffic blight. Walking, cycling and use of public transport should be encouraged, both by increased and sustained investment to improve services, and by soft measures such as improving public places, including streets, stations and bus stops, to make alternatives to the car appealing and accessible. Economic measures such as road pricing may have a role to play in encouraging a modal shift. Any such proposal would need to carefully consider the potential impacts on different groups of people and different areas including rural and urban.
• Seek imaginative solutions to transport problems. The multi-modal approach to transport planning (which considers the solutions offered by different forms of transport) is a very welcome development. It should be used for transport evaluation in the future for both strategic and local transport problems. However, concerns remain that the outcomes of the multi-modal studies have so far been mainly road-based. More imaginative thinking is needed to find alternative solutions that are likely to cause less damage to the historic environment, and funding must be equally available for such proposals.
• Ensure that transport appraisal properly assesses the impacts on the historic environment to an appropriate level of detail. The appraisal process needs to be undertaken with a full understanding of the potential impacts on the historic environment, and where appropriate with early English Heritage involvement. Work should continue to fine-tune the existing appraisal process to ensure the historic environment impacts are properly measured and given due weight in the subsequent decision-making process. Whilst English Heritage can offer advice and assistance, those carrying out the appraisal and making the decisions need to have full information on the historic environment and the potential consequences of transport proposals.
• Take account of the wider historic environment. Appraisal should use a broad definition of the historic environment, not just designated sites, and should recognise that the historic environment also has social and economic benefits. It needs to take account of conservation areas, locally designated sites or buildings, and historic landscapes and townscapes, and to consider the contribution these make to quality of life and the economic value to local businesses and tourism. It should also be recognised that there are still significant gaps in our understanding of the historic environment. To minimise the risk of encountering unexpected remains during construction, assessment and, where necessary field evaluation, should be undertaken at an early stage.This will inform the design of the transport scheme and any strategies to mitigate its impact on the historic environment.
• Continue to promote good design and push hard for proposals that recognise local and regional distinctiveness. Well-designed transport proposals that take account of and complement local character can be a positive addition to the historic environment. Traffic management measures that may have a positive impact in terms of traffic calming or reduction may nevertheless have a detrimental visual impact. The English Heritage series of publications Streets for All gives guidance on taking account of local and regional distinctiveness. It stresses the benefits of good design and the removal of clutter from streets – improving the environment for all users. There is a need for more awareness of the historic environment in design, for example by highways engineers and other transport professionals.
• Encourage innovative transport management strategies. Small-scale measures can be an effective means of addressing transport problems and help reduce the impact on the historic environment. The Government should build on existing research in this area and encourage local authorities to include soft measures in local transport plans, such as bus priority schemes and car pools.
• Minimise the impact of air travel on the historic environment. We welcome the Government’s commitment in the aviation White Paper to continue to explore and discuss the use of economic instruments to tackle environmental impacts. We would like this to consider ways in which such instruments might address the impact on the historic environment. We will work with Government and airport operators to assess in more detail the impacts of airport development and identify the scope for mitigation.

This document is also available on-line to download as a PDF document.