Local Heritage List Campaign – Call for Expressions of Interest from Councils
Historic England is supporting the Government’s local heritage list campaign to encourage communities to nominate those important historic buildings and sites that they value most for inclusion in their local authority’s local list.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is calling for expressions of interest from local authorities keen to take part in the campaign and work up projects.
Local listing is the creation of a non-statutory record of historic buildings, sites and structures, helping to protect them through the planning system. Community involvement in the production of local lists is key to the campaign.
This new £700,000 scheme run by MHCLG will provide funding to councils in 10 English county areas to develop new or updated local lists. Each county area selected will receive up to £70,000 to support local projects. MHCLG is also considering ways of supporting existing programmes of work to promote local heritage in London, working with Historic England.
Although some local authorities have had local lists for a number of years, there are considerable gaps, and this very welcome initiative will help local authorities and communities bring greater protection to local heritage. We are delighted to work with Charles O'Brien, the Government’s independent adviser, to ensure this funding will help create new and better lists in places lacking them by investing in their preparation. We will update our advice on local listing to support communities in making the most of this opportunity.
The closing date for councils to submit expressions of interest is Friday 13 November. Funds will be paid out before the end of this financial year, with the expectation that projects will be completed by the end of 2021.