Heritage Alliance CEO, Lizzie Glithero- West attended the launch of DEFRA’s 25 Year Plan with the Prime Minister and Michael Gove. The Prime Minister’s speech is here.
Following a positive meeting that Loyd and Lizzie held with Michael Gove in autumn the Alliance has been working with DEFRA officials to feed in comment and suggestions to the draft 25-year plan. It’s very encouraging to see that there are 39 references to heritage within the draft. Key points include:
- ‘Enhanced beauty, heritage and engagement with the natural environment’ are explicitly listed of one of the plan’s 10 main goals;
- Gove’s foreword notes: ‘We will also extend the marine protected areas around our coasts so that these stretches of environmentally precious maritime heritage have the best possible protection.’
- ‘Initiatives to protect and improve our natural world and cultural heritage are acts of stewardship by which we discharge our debt to it, and so are moral imperatives in themselves, but they are also economically sensible’;
- ‘We should take a long view of how our stewardship today can lead to a healthier and culturally richer planet tomorrow. We have already set out our plans to better conserve our heritage assets’. (links directly to the Heritage Statement);
- ‘Long-term action requires us to take difficult choices, some with considerable economic consequences, about conservation. In the past, our failure to understand the full value of the benefits offered by the environment and cultural heritage has seen us make poor choices.’
- ‘We will conserve and enhance the beauty of our natural environment, and make sure it can be enjoyed, used by and cared for by everyone. We will do this by: · Safeguarding and enhancing the beauty of our natural scenery and improving its environmental value while being sensitive to considerations of its heritage. · Making sure that there are high quality, accessible, natural spaces close to where people live and work, particularly in urban areas, and encouraging more people to spend time in them to benefit their health and wellbeing. · Focusing on increasing action to improve the environment from all sectors of society.’
- ‘As we leave the EU, we have a once-in-a-generation chance to change our approach to managing our land so that we secure and enhance the benefits of the environment far into the future. The new approach will recognise good practices that build up and bolster natural and heritage assets. It will also take account of the negative effects of a range of land uses and activities. It will require a balance of incentives and regulations – influencing decisions so that we use land in a way that supports cost-effective, sustainable growth.’
- ‘Leaving the CAP means we can do much more for our environment. After a period of stability to ensure a smooth transition, we will move to a system of paying farmers public money for public goods. The principal public good we want to invest in is environmental enhancement. We will introduce a new environmental land management system to deliver this. It will incentivise and reward land managers to restore and improve our natural capital and rural heritage. It will also provide support for farmers and land managers as we move towards a more effective application of the ‘polluter pays’ principle (whereby for costs of pollution lie with those responsible for it).’
- ‘We will assess the potential role of conservation covenants to enable landowners to create a legally-binding obligation with respect to their land that delivers lasting, conservation benefits for future generations. Covenants would be overseen by a responsible body to maintain standards, and could allow landowners to protect treasured features on their land such as trees or woodland for purely altruistic reasons. In some cases, they might also be used in a business context to secure the long-term maintenance of existing or newly created wildlife or heritage assets.’
- There’s a section on designated natural assets (National Parks etc…) …’ the Government will commission a review for the 21st Century. This will consider coverage of designations, how designated areas deliver their responsibilities, how designated areas are financed, and whether there is scope for expansion. It will also consider opportunities to enhance the environment in existing designations, and expand on the existing eight-point plan for National Parks to connect more people with the natural environment.’
- ‘We are also committed to protected cultural and natural heritage around the world. The UK’s heritage organisations deliver education, training, consultancy, conservation and renovation programmes to many parts of the globe. Many heritage professionals and practitioners from other countries come to the UK each year to develop their skills, learn about heritage protection and management in the UK, and benefit from the knowledge of our heritage sector.’
- ‘The HLF uses money raised by National Lottery players to help people across the UK explore, enjoy and protect the heritage they care about. This includes natural heritage and HLF provides around £100m of grant funding to UK landscape and nature projects each year, with a particular focus on connecting people with nature. Defra will work with HLF, as recommended in the recent DCMS-led tailored review, 44 to consider how HLF can engage with the 25 Year Environment Plan and to explore whether alternative options to pure grant-giving would support the sustainability of the natural heritage sector.’
The House Commons Library has published a note on the plan.
Read CPRE’s [Alliance member] response or read the National Trust’s response.