Historic Buildings & Places is deeply disappointed by the Government’s decision to remove the Gardens Trust’s statutory consultee role in the English planning system.
HB&P raised significant concerns about the proposals during the Government’s consultation, and we remain deeply concerned about what this decision means for the protection of historic parks and gardens.
The Gardens Trust will retain a role in the planning process, but it will now be limited to applications within Registered Parks and Gardens, rather than proposals that may affect them or their setting.
This distinction is particularly concerning. For many historic landscapes, their setting is integral to their significance. The greatest threats can come not from development within a registered landscape itself, but from development around it, which can damage important views, relationships and the character of the landscape.
Rousham, near Bicester, provides a powerful example of why this matters. Its pleasure grounds were reshaped by William Kent between 1737 and 1741 and have remained virtually untouched since. The garden relies on borrowed vistas and surrounding landscapes, whose integrity is threatened by proposals for a vast new town development at Heyford Park, the former RAF airbase.
Cases such as Rousham demonstrate that historic parks and gardens cannot be considered in isolation from their surroundings. Understanding the significance of these landscapes and the ways in which development can affect them requires specialist expertise. The Gardens Trust has provided this expertise within the planning system for decades, offering an important safeguard for the nation’s historic parks and gardens.
This is particularly important because Registered Parks and Gardens do not benefit from a dedicated consent regime equivalent to listed building consent or scheduled monument consent. The statutory consultee role has therefore provided an important mechanism for ensuring that their significance is properly understood and considered when development proposals come forward.
As one of the National Amenity Societies with a statutory role in the planning system, HB&P understands the value that specialist national organisations bring to heritage protection. Our experience demonstrates the importance of ensuring that heritage expertise is available at the right point in the planning process, particularly where specialist knowledge may not be available within individual local planning authorities.
We stand alongside the Gardens Trust in expressing our disappointment at this decision. The historic environment is not simply made up of individual buildings or sites. It includes the landscapes, settings, views and relationships that give historic places their meaning and character.
We will continue to advocate for a planning system that properly recognises, understands and protects historic buildings, landscapes and places for future generations.
Read the Gardens Trust’s response to the Government’s decision on its statutory consultee role here.
