Early cottages near Huyton Cross (image courtesy National Museums Liverpool)
Farmhouse in Altcar (image courtesy National Museums Liverpool)
Cottage Priest Lane, Formby (image courtesy National Museums Liverpool)
One of the benefits identified from the Local Heritage Listing project is the opportunity to engage with owners of historic assets. This can be a simple as advising them their asset has been nominated or providing advice and guidance on managing historic properties.
Involving Owners
It is important that we inform owners if their asset has been nominated and what is considered significant about their property so they are aware of what should be retained, how to protect its significance (including appropriate management techniques), to comment on the proposed nomination or provide additional information that supports the nomination. Owners can also help the process by enabling access to the interior of the building so a more complete understanding of significance values can be sought. This is not a requirement of owners, but it does help us to ensure the quality of the assets included are based on sound evidence.
Similarly to the statutory designation process, owners may appeal a decision to list on specific grounds of inaccurate information at the time of listing, or irregularity in process (see Appeals Process for more information). Therefore, Officers in each local authority will advise owners if their property has been nominated to begin the dialogue. Any information relating to the asset collated during the process will be added to the Historic Environment Record, which is the repository for all known information on heritage assets in the area.
What does it mean if my property is added to the List?
As things stand, locally listed building are not subject to statutory protections in the way that listed buildings, or conservation areas are, but as Non-Designated Heritage Assets (NDHA) they are a material consideration in planning applications. Although the thresholds that trigger the need to submit planning applications are unchanged by a building being included on the Local heritage List, in some circumstances this is likely to be regarded as leaving locally listed assets at risk of inappropriate changes,
To address this Local Planning Authorities do have powers to alter these thresholds through the use of Article 4 Directions. If in the future the Local Authority chooses to propose the use of an Article 4 Direction for locally listed sites, this would be subject to further specific consultation.
Therefore, if your property is nominated and/or included on the Local List, and you are looking to make changes to it, we recommend that you speak with the local planning authority or Conservation Officer to understand if and how the identification of your property on the Local Heritage List may affect any proposals you bring forward.
Looking After Historic Properties
Historic England is the body that oversees the national listing programme but is also a great source of information on how to manage historic buildings. Owners are effectively custodians of these important buildings, so if you have a heritage asset whether locally or nationally listed, you can ensure it is appropriately maintained and repaired so that it can be enjoyed by current and future generations.
The following links take you to the Historic England website where there is a wealth of advice and guidance.
LOCALLY LISTED HERITAGE ASSETS