This week I convened a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which I chair, where we discussed planning reform.
Currently, our planning laws don’t maximise the benefits of our World Heritage Sites.
For sites that need conserving – in particular living sites like the Derwent Valley Mills – our planning laws too often frustrate proposals to maintain and enhance their potential for the public.
Yet, when conservation work is successful, it can be really powerful. The Saltaire World Heritage Site, which I recently visited, has been revitalised. The galleries, shops and cafés on-site allow residents and visitors to engage with its history, as well as driving local economic growth.
Our planning laws are too obscure and inaccessible, creating real challenges for developers and community organisations seeking to protect and celebrate the outstanding universal value (OUV) of their diverse sites across the country. Better use of digital methods can also help them to understand how best to plan regeneration projects in a way that respects the OUV across larger World Heritage Sites.
At the same time, my colleagues and I have expressed concerns that, in the government’s important mission to streamline our planning system, some protections for World Heritage Sites might have been weakened.
I am delighted that the government has now recognised this and put forward an amendment to maintain protections for World Heritage Sites in its flagship Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
This shows an understanding that we can deliver national renewal and regenerate our localities in a way that complements and honours our heritage. And it shows that groups like this can work with the government to maximise the potential of its legislation.