Tessa Jowell pictured here at a Museums and Galleries Month launch in 2004. © 24 Hour Museum

The government has set out its future vision for the protection of the UK’s heritage with the release of a white paper.

Revealed by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell on March 8 2007, Heritage Protection for the 21st Century is the first white paper on the historic environment for a generation.

It includes proposals for a unified and simpler heritage protection system; more opportunities for public involvement in planning issues and a simpler approach to the planning system for historic properties.

“We all want a system that provides the right levels of protection, but we also want one that is easy to use and allows everyone a stake in it,” said the Culture Secretary. “The benefits of getting this right are great. In a time of rapid change, our reforms will put heritage protection on a sound footing for the future.”

A key policy proposal is the replacement of the current overly complicated and bureaucratic system of listing, scheduling and registering of historic properties with a single, easy to understand system.

The responsibility for this is to be devolved from the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) to English Heritage with the promise of a faster, simpler, and fairer system of designation that will cut red tape and strengthen the protection of vulnerable sites.

The new proposals should strengthen protection for World Heritage Sites like the mining landscape of Cornwall and West Devon designated in 2006. Photo Adam Sharpe, courtesy The National Trust

The public are to be involved in the process of what is to be protected and how via a new consultation and appeal process while access to the new lists of designated properties is to be improved through new internet portals.

For larger, more complex heritage sites a single ‘Historic Asset Consent’ will replace separate Listed Building Consent and Scheduled Monument Consent. The reforms are also designed to clarify and strengthen protection for World Heritage Sites, while local planning authorities are to be given more tools to protect locally designated buildings from demolition.

The proposals have been welcomed by English Heritage; its Director Simon Thurley said the white paper was a ‘vote of confidence’ for the expertise and ability of his organisation.

“These suggestions are the results of years of research, testing and advice from English Heritage and we are confident they will provide a more efficient and open system,” said Mr Thurley. “It simply gives local councils and ourselves better, more modern tools for the job of protecting the historic environment.”

However the other major guardian of our national heritage assets, the National Trust, has only given the reforms a cautious welcome.

Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, has welcomed the proposals. © English Heritage

Tony Burton, the Trust’s Director of Policy and Strategy, said that he welcomed the reforms but added, “the success of the reforms depends on whether the extra capacity, skills and resources are put in place to deliver them.”

“The new protection regime will only be successful if measures are introduced to equip the sector with the skills and resources required to deliver the more consultative protection framework. A guarantee of extra resources for local authorities in particular is essential to the success of the white paper.”

The Trust says it is concerned with government’s failure to provide any wider vision recognising the importance of heritage and points to an increasing pressure on resources and funding.

The white paper is largely focused on reforming the position in England and Wales. However it also contains UK-wide proposals for a new system of system of marine heritage protection including broadening the range of marine historic assets that can be protected.

Legislation to enact the proposals will come before parliament when parliamentary time allows. The white paper, Heritage Protection for the 21st Century, can be seen the DCMS website www.culture.gov.