The Heritage Alliance has submitted its response to the Government’s consultation on its Housing White Paper.
We argue that heritage is vital to the housing market. It creates and shapes the places where people want to live and invest (as we set out in our response to the Government’s industrial strategy consultation).
We state that the Government should ensure that a proportion of the money raised from planning fee increases is specifically ring-fenced for conservation expertise within planning departments.
The proposals in question 4 would see the list of examples of types of policies which justify preventing development turned into an exhaustive list. This new exhaustive list excludes several areas of historic environment protection, such as conservation areas, and adds new protection for veteran trees. While simplifying the NPPF is something we agree with, this must not undermine existing protections for the historic environment.
Question 13 addressed the scope to extend buildings upwards in urban areas. A permitted development right which allows building up could have negative effects on our historic townscapes and should be controlled by planning permission.