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Are you concerned ‘significant’ heritage assets will be overlooked or demolished over time?

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Picture of Natwest Bank, Gainsborough

Now is the time to act, as Heritage Lincolnshire is leading on a county-wide programme to ensure key heritage assets are accounted for and taken into consideration during the planning process.

Many of the county’s significant heritage assets are protected by national designation such as Listed Buildings, Scheduled Monuments, Registered Parks and Gardens or through being located within a Conservation Area.

But there are many assets including historic buildings, landscapes, archaeological remains and civic structures, which have a special local interest and shape the character of the area, which are not listed.

Working in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council and with support from all planning authorities in the County, Heritage Lincolnshire is developing a new framework that all authorities can adopt.

Communities and local groups across Lincolnshire will be able to get involved by identifying and nominating significant heritage assets in their locality. They will also be offered opportunities for training and volunteering and the identification of assets for inclusion on the local list.

These assets will then be added to a Local Heritage Lists, which will be held by the local authority as it will be used as a material consideration in the planning process.

The project has been possible thanks to funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). It covers all of the historic county of Lincolnshire including North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire.

The successful bid was written jointly by Liz Mayle Conservation Officer, West Lindsey District Council, Emilie Wales, Heritage Environment Officer, East Lindsey District Council, Matt Bentley, Conservation Project Manager, Heritage Lincolnshire, and Ian George, Historic Places Manager, Lincolnshire County Council.

Liz Mayle who instigated the project said she was thrilled the project had received the funding.

She said: “West Lindsey is a large district with many lovely heritage assets, but only a small proportion are recognised in the planning system through national statutory protection.

“We do not currently have a local list of heritage assets, although some of our conservation area appraisals and neighbourhood plans do identify locally important buildings, it is a requirement of our adopted Local Plan to have a local list. I am delighted that our joint county bid for government funding was successful, and that we can now begin to create a local list for West Lindsey.”

Cllr Paul-Howitt-Cowan member champion for Heritage and Tourism at West Lindsey District Council said: “There are so many great examples of unlisted buildings in West Lindsey from the Nat West Bank building in the Market Place in Gainsborough to the Village Hall at Holton Le Moor, The Old Fire Station at Caistor and The Syfer Spring in Caistor. I would encourage communities to think about local sites that are important and interesting to them.”

The Central Lincolnshire Local Plan has adopted a policy stating each area should have a list, as none of the LPAs signed up to CLLP have one at present.

Cllr Anne Welburn, Deputy Leader of West Lindsey District Council added: “This new local list will recognise not only buildings that may hold heritage significance across our district, but can also include places and sites, as well as important designed landscapes and public art. The local list will ensure our district’s unprotected heritage is formally recognised and appreciated, and that it can also be given full consideration in the planning process”.

Felix Mayle, Conservation Project Officer, Heritage Lincolnshire said: “ The project is an exciting opportunity to be a part of shaping the future of the historic environment in your area. Local Listing works best with community involvement and we are really interested to hear from local communities and groups about what they feel should be put forward for inclusion on Local Lists of Heritage Assets.”

The project will:

  • Focus on preparing a first local list or on improving, extending or updating existing local lists for each local and unitary authority and their respective Historic Environment Records.
  • Ensure local lists cover all types of non-designated heritage assets (buildings, monuments, sites, places, areas or landscapes which have been identified as having a degree of significance meriting consideration in planning decisions, because of their heritage interest), but must include buildings.
  • Will ensure that Local list information will be recorded and made publicly available in digital form, and will be added to the local Historic Environment Record (HER).
  • Create a new one year post for an historic environment specialist to take the project forward with the local authorities.

For more information about the project please visit: Lincolnshire Local Listing Campaign - Heritage Lincolnshire, or email: felix.mayle@heritagelincolnshire.org / locallisting@heritagelincolnshire.org

Alternatively visit the project’s Social Media pages Heritage Lincolnshire (@lincslocallistingproject) • Instagram photos and videos / Lincolnshire Local Listing Campaign (@LincsLocalLists) / Twitter/ Lincolnshire Local Listing Campaign | Facebook

How is a site chosen for a Local Listing?

This is a two stage process. A local heritage asset must first be nominated for inclusion on a Local List.

The second stage of the process is assessment of the heritage asset against a set of Selection Criteria, with the final decision about the inclusion of the asset resting with the Local Authority.

For the latest news on West Lindsey District Council visit our council news pages

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