Old buildings, structures and monuments bring character and interest to towns and villages and losing them can be a bit like saying goodbye to an old friend.
Most of the time they can only be preserved if they are listed nationally – the Grades I, II and II* that apply to structures such as Kingston Lacy and certain churches – but that’s going to change in the Dorset and the BCP area after both councils appointed a consultancy to manage the forthcoming Local Heritage List Campaign.
Dorset Council says the campaign will enable communities across Dorset to nominate locally important buildings, sites, monuments and features to be included on new Local Heritage Lists.
It has been funded by a grant of £70,000, from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Local Heritage Lists will provide a free, publicly accessible record of non-designated heritage assets, whose conservation will then be a material consideration in planning decisions.
Put simply, it’ll mean places such as small parks or designed outdoor spaces – perhaps the garden in front of a public building – historic village halls or fine examples of the use of local materials can be put up for consideration for the list.
Historic England warns that while local listing provides no additional planning controls: “The fact that a building or site is on a local list means that its conservation as a heritage asset is an objective of the National Planning Policy Framework and a material consideration when determining the outcome of a planning application.”
It says that in deciding any relevant planning permission that affects a locally listed heritage asset or its setting: “The NPPF requires amongst other things that heritage assets are an irreplaceable resource and should be conserved in a manner appropriate to their significance.”
It also states that local planning authorities should take note of heritage assets and the desirability of putting them to viable uses that are ‘consistent with their conservation’. “They are also obliged to consider the positive contribution that conserving such heritage assets can make to sustainable communities including their economic vitality,” says Historic England.
The Local Heritage List campaign will provide a baseline list for each authority and will be regularly updated with new additions, with the records of all assets being added to Dorset’s Historic Environment Record.
An eight-week public call for nominations was announced last month on the Dorset Council and BCP Council websites and through other media channels, along with guidance on the criteria for assessment. These employ Historic England’s standard criteria for Local Listing, but opportunities will be taken to identify local criteria specific to Dorset’s wide range of communities and heritage.
Dorset’s Portfolio Holder for Planning, David Walsh, welcomes the move. “It is very important that we help to promote and protect local heritage and forge stronger connections between people and their local areas, at a time when we are reconnecting with what surrounds us and valuing it more than ever,” he says.
BCP Council’s Mohan Iyengar said the campaign provided a “great opportunity for people to nominate sites that should be preserved across Dorset”.
“We’ve much to be proud of and this is recognised by residents and our many visitors,” he says.
Find out more about submitting a nomination, the assessment criteria and examples by searching Dorset Council or BCP Council Nominate an Asset.

by Faith Eckersall