C O N T E X T 8 4 : M A Y 2 0 0 4 23 SHANE GOULD Analysing and recording historic buildings A survey of local authorities provides the basis for an assessment of current practice in analysing and recording historic buildings within the English planning framework. Using the results of a questionnaire survey of 56 local authority conservation advisors, this article aims to provide further information on the application, among conservation officers and archaeologists, of Planning Policy Guidance Note 15 (PPG15) Planning and the Historic Environment1. The survey was undertaken on behalf of the Association of Local Government Archaeological Officers (ALGAO), but the research was originally submitted in 2001 as a dissertation in support of a Masters Degree in Historic Conservation at Oxford Brookes University. The basic premise of the paper is that historic building assessment and recording should be an integral part of the English development control framework. Poor decisions are likely to result when the impact of a proposal on the historic fabric of a building is not fully understood. Records are needed for both effective conservation management and future research. Historic buildings have been studied for many years, but it is only following the introduction of PPG15, that this activity has been recognised by government as an important component of good conservation practice. However, unlike its sister document for archaeology,2 PPG15 continues to be under-used. Conservation professionals only rarely ask for impact assessments in support of planning/listed building applications, or attach conditions for the recording of features that may be lost or destroyed during the course of works for which consent is being sought. Record systems for the conservation of the historic built environment and the management of information arising from the development control process are also poorly developed. The research and its findings are highly topical given the government’s intention to reform the planning system, amalgamate PPGs 15 and 16 into a new Planning Policy Statement 15, and review the current regime for heritage protection.3 Following the introduction of PPG15 in 1994, an effective framework was established for the assessment and recording of historic buildings, in accordance with the principles that already exist for the management of archaeological remains.Where the potential impact of a proposal on the special interest of a site or structure is poorly understood, it is reasonable for the local authority to defer any planning/listed building decision, pending the submission by the applicant of an impact assessment. Once agreement has been reached on a suitable mitigation strategy, conditions can be used to facilitate the recording of those attributes that do not warrant in-situ preservation, or for the purposes of a watching brief during the course of works. An impact assessment may include historical research, fabric, plaster, paint or mortar analysis, treering dating, exploratory works, or an examination of any surviving fixtures and fittings. The assessment is potentially quick and inexpensive, but it needs to be Recording 13th century siege damage in a tower at Chartley Castle, Staffordshire ©Northamptonshire Archaeology
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