Conservation Principles, Policies and Guidance - English Heritage

OVERVIEW
10
15 Changes which would harm the heritage values of a significant place should
be unacceptable unless:
a. the changes are demonstrably necessary either to make the place
sustainable, or to meet an overriding public policy objective or need;
b. there is no reasonably practicable alternative means of doing so without
harm;
c. that harm has been reduced to the minimum consistent with achieving
the objective;
d. it has been demonstrated that the predicted public benefit decisively
outweighs the harm to the values of the place, considering:
• its comparative significance,
• the impact on that significance, and
• the benefits to the place itself and/or the wider community or society
as a whole.
16 Enabling development to secure the future of a significant place should be
unacceptable unless:
a. it will not materially harm the heritage values of the place or its setting
b. it avoids detrimental fragmentation of management of the place;
c. it will secure the long term future of the place and, where applicable,
its continued use for a sympathetic purpose;
d. it is necessary to resolve problems arising from the inherent needs of
the place, rather than the circumstances of the present owner, or the
purchase price paid;
e. sufficient subsidy is not available from any other source;
f. it is demonstrated that the amount of enabling development is the
minimum necessary to secure the future of the place, and that its form
minimises harm to other public interests;
g. the public benefit of securing the future of the heritage asset through
such enabling development decisively outweighs the disbenefits of
breaching other public policies.
17 We conclude with a general statement about Applying the Principles (page 67),
acknowledging that the cultural and natural heritage values of significant places,
including those reflected in landscape designations, should be managed in
parallel, fostering close working relationships between cultural and natural
heritage interests. Finally, we provide a set of key Definitions (pages 71-72).