Historic England, working with Civic Voice (CV) and the IHBC [Alliance members], has released results of two parallel surveys of IHBC and CV members’ perceptions of conservation areas in their 50th anniversary year.
Key points include:
Almost all respondents from both groups felt that conservation areas had been in some way successful at protecting heritage, with nearly half thinking they had been ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ successful.
Respondents felt that most conservation areas appear to be in a stable condition.
Most of them from both groups (roughly half) felt that the appearance and vitality of their known conservation area had not changed significantly in the past 3 years.
On the sensitive issue of design, very few believe modern design to be inappropriate in Conservation Areas (Only 4% of Civic Voice respondents and no responding IHBC members).
However, only 2% of IHBC and Civic Voice members believed the general public have a good understanding about the extent of additional controls in place with more than half feeling that the public had ‘little’ or ‘no’ understanding. And of the respondents who did report significant change in their local conservation area in the last three years, more were likely to perceive a deterioration rather than an improvement. Street clutter, the loss of traditional paving materials, advertisements, a lack of maintenance and loss of historic details were the five most significant concerns identified by both groups. When the problem of the loss of historic detailing was examined in more detail the most frequently mentioned concerns were with doors and windows, signs and advertising, shopfronts and the deteriorating condition of front elevations generally.