Have Your Say On Local Heritage Assets

People are being asked how to decide which local buildings and green spaces make a positive contribution to the character of the borough.

Swale Borough Council is consulting on the criteria for a new local heritage list to promote awareness of the area’s local heritage assets and highlight their importance.

As part of its heritage strategy the council committed to creating a local heritage list and wants to work with the community to identify local assets that are valued as distinctive elements of the local identity. If a building, structure or green space is designated as being of local interest, it will be given the status of heritage asset. This makes its conservation a material consideration in any planning applications. To decide if an asset can be added to the local heritage list, the council needs to agree the criteria they must meet.

The criteria being proposed are:

• Historic interest – buildings/structures/spaces that are of special social, cultural or economic interest to Swale, and/or have proven affiliation with important local people or events, or other community associations.
• Architectural interest – buildings/structures/spaces that are of special architectural interest to Swale for reasons of their vernacular, aesthetic, type, form, style, plan technology, townscape, unity, or association with important architects.
• Age or rarity – buildings/structures/spaces that are: legibly pre-1700 in interest; of appreciable interest from between 1700–1840; of a high level of interest post-1840; of an outstanding interest and less than 30 years old.

Cllr Mike Baldock, Deputy Leader at Swale Borough Council and Cabinet Member for Planning told SFM News:- “We have such a rich and diverse range of local heritage assets, and we want to make sure we formally recognise their importance to the borough. They might not reach the nationally set benchmark for grade I or II listing, but they do have special interest or value to the local area. Any local heritage listing needs to be fairly and consistently applied across the borough, so we need as many people as possible to help us decide the criteria heritage assets will be judged against. Being on the list will not only be taken into account when considering planning applications but will also – for the first time – create an accurate record of our local heritage assets.”

The consultation will be asking people for their views on the criteria being suggested and is running until Friday 9th July.

To take part, and find out more, visit: www.swale.gov.uk/lhl-criteria